Exclusive EI Interviews

There are many bands out there in the metal genre who wish and pray for a record label to come an knock on there door well these lads (the Amenti), from the UK midlands managed to get there release out in the shop with out a label. They play good old hard-nosed thrash metal but in the UK vein not the American or German style, which many bands are, seems to do. So have a read of these guys the Amenti and at what Mike their vocalist had to say to see where hard work and intelligence can and does get you.

E.I: Hi guys, our readership is worldwide here and we'd like to know where you guys hail from, so what's it like where you are?

Amenti “Hey Jo, we reside in the Midlands UK, Stoke-on-Trent to be specific (just outside of Birmingham). Although 3/4 of the band are from other areas in the UK. The band was founded here and all the members moved here to work on the band. The rent for housing is cheap here and the metal scene is some of the best in the UK.”

E.I: Musically you have a deeper darker edge to yourselves, one that mingles well with the lyrical content you produce, painting a picture of a dying world while humanity blunders on blindly. What drives you all to produce such a dark view of reality, what lies in your collective pasts to produce such a cohesive view of this reality?

Amenti “I think as a group in general we're just sick to death of a world ruled by greed and blind ambition. Humanity has had so many chances to redeem itself and still we stumble along making it worse not only for ourselves but also for everything else on this planet. One day we're gonna wipe ourselves out and that's the day that nature will flourish and the cycle will start all over again. What so many people seem to forget is that humanity itself has been on this planet for so little time, we're not the first and we definitely won't be the last and we're CERTAINLY not as important as so many are convinced we are. To be honest I don't think it's any direct influence on our pasts (certainly not mine anyway - Mike Vox/Lyricist) that’s brought about this worldview, it's just watching and listening and reading. I guess the influence of me studying Philosophy though has had some impact, suddenly I've been forced to think about things much more, rather than just accepting that this is how it is as I was before. However I don't see my lyrics as prophesising or story-telling I see them more as a social commentary, however dark and bleak they may seem.”

E.I: In your release 'Under The Dying Sun' you mention Milton's Paradise Lost on the last track of the album who chose the piece and do you think your listeners will understand the message your trying to convey to them?

Amenti “That was me (Mike) although it didn't actually feature on there in the final cut. For anyone who doesn't know Paradise Lost is to do with the Great War between heaven and hell set before Genesis in the bible and ends with the fall of Eden due to Eve's disobedience and her curiosity. This links directly to the underlying theme of the album, what we had in this world was paradise, whether you believe it was here by accident, due to the big bang for example or by some God or creator (far be it from me to criticise your personal beliefs) yet, through curiosity and egotistical squabbling we have somehow managed to fuck it up. Paradise Lost to me is just a simile as to what’s happening now.”

E.I: You had difficulty getting 'Under The Dying Sun' released, what with labels and ex-members doing their own thing, has this made you appreciate the process of creating an album or do you wish it all had been a little easier? And could you tell us what if anything you've learned from the process?

Amenti “Yeah you could say we had some difficulty getting the album out, however that would be an understatement. We originally signed to Hangmans Joke Records, a small but underground UK label with some great contacts (and a good first step for us up the label ladder). However with the release date of the album on the horizon the director of the label died, he took his own life. It was a very tragic situation as he was young, only mid 20's. It was a bad situation for us, as now we had no idea what to do next. After some time out thinking, we made some calls and managed to organise UK distribution of the album (which saw it hit all major retail shops) and was available via popular online merchants. We arranged promotion via a serperate company, which again saw the album, reviewed by all major Rock/Metal magazines (like Kerrang and Terrorizer). For an 'unsigned' band this was pretty good going. We toured the album in Russia with Vader, Krisiun, Rotting Christ and Incantation before the official release. We are still unsigned, and we own our own music’s rights. But we work with a lot of the same people that bigger record labels work with. So we've learned that maybe being signed isn't the only way for a band.”

E.I: Over here in the UK your style of music isn't seen as 'mainstream' but is gaining ground and acceptance slowly, with your experiences of other nations and their scenes what could your own local scene learn from the rest of the world?

Amenti “Recently lots of bigger labels have been picking up a lot of Thrash Metal bands and giving them a lot of push. We play Thrash (of sorts) and I think within the Metal genre Thrash is gaining a lot of ground. The UK is very, very competitive and often quite suffocating. Local feuds and rivalries for example exist everywhere. That can be healthy for bands and due to this the output of quality in UK Metal can be very high. I think some bands here in the UK could possibly learn that birthrights do not make them a good band. It's kind of sad how some bands get a lot of coverage in some countries because of where they are from, when theres many more awesome bands and musicians out there who hardly get a second look by the media because of where they are from. Quite a lot of awesome Polish and Scandinavian bands have been breaking through with a real impact.”

E.I: You did a recent eleven date tour of the UK (2007), covering most of the country, what were their reactions to you and where if anywhere in the world would you like to tackle next?

Amenti “Yeah that was not such a recent tour I guess but it was still great. We missed the first few shows because we played Hard Rock Hell festival with Cradle of Filth, Twisted Sister and Saxon (Plus my personal favourites Turisas and Fintroll) before we set off on the UK tour with UK Thrash band Onslaught and German Thrashers Destruction. It was a great tour and we had a great time. It was our own country and we'd been to most of the venues before so we felt quite comfortable.”

E.I: You have your own dedicated web-space, have you found this to be a useful tool to your progression, getting you noticed in the world as well as your own back yard?

Amenti “Yeah! The Internet has opened up so many doors for us. I can't imagine how we'd do anything without it. A lot of promoters in the UK though can be very old fashioned and like to do a lot of talking on the phone. But the internet is still a great way for bands to meet promoters, promote there band via internet forums and of course without the internet we wouldn't have great webzines.”

E.I: Thanks for sharing your views with us all and we hope to hear more from you very soon, so if theres anything you'd like to tell our readers out here please feel free!

Amenti “No problem thanks for the interview!”

As we all know Sweden is the ancestral home of death metal with the likes of Dismember and Entombed. But not many fans know of the countries black metal legacy apart from Dark Funeral. Well let me introduce you to these guys Avsky who are determined to shake the world out of its black metal apathy with a full on Swedish assault of old traditions and hatred.

EI: - You formed in 2002 but didn’t record any material until 2006/7 why was this?

AE “We kind of lost interest in the band and decided to put it on hold, and we were not skilled musicians enough to create the music we wanted to play. In 2006 we felt that we were ready to re-animate Avsky again.”

EI: - In your bands Bio you wrote when you formed originally you “Wanted to create Blackmetal with the right feeling”. Did you feel at the time that blackmetal had somehow lost its originality and direction? (If so in what way).

AE “Black metal has become more or less mainstream. Especially around 1999-2000 the black metal scene were really bad. Many of the bigger bands had become really crappy (just listen to “Grand declaration of war”). But things have gotten better now, and I think that black metal is somewhat back on track again.”

EI: - With you being a duo do you feel that your lyrical and musical concepts that you have created have been fulfilled to their fullest extent? Or do you think that if you had a few more members of the band the concepts could be projected in a deeper way and to a highest plane of professionalism?

AE “I believe that a few more members could be helpful in the songwrinting process. With just the two of us it’s difficult to rehearse vocals and guitar leads for example, with more members I believe we could improve these these parts. On the other hand it works very well with just us two. We have the same thoughts and ideas of how black metal should sound.”

EI: - The music on your newest release “Malignant” seems to be built around simple but devastating musical compositions which in some ways hark back to the very roots of blackmetal, was this intentional or is it a reaction to what seems now to be a mainstream musical genre? (If so why).

AE “Yes, Avsky is a reaction to the fact that black metal nowadays is mainstream. Avsky is Scandinavian black metal the way it sounded back in the early nineties, when black metal still was something obscure and dangerous. Nowadays you see 8-10 year old kids running around with Darkthrone t-shirts. There almost no danger left in black metal any more. With Avsky we want to bring black metal back to what it was like back in the days. Black metal should be cold, raw and minimalist music; it’s not for everybody.”

EI: - Now that “Malignant” is out. Do you feel that the progression that you have made from your earliest demos through your self released album “humanity’s Plague” to “Malignant” has really captured the essence of yourselves on a personnel level or is there quite a way to go for this to happen? (If so why and how).

AE “First of all “humanity’s plague” is the label that released our debut album (which is titled “Mass Destruction), it’s not self-released.

It’s a difficult question, I guess its representative for our personal level at this moment. But still I feel that we have more to give before we really can capture that essence. We will continue to evolve both as musicians and as human beings, and so will the music of Avsky.

EI: - With you being Swedish how do you think your music differs from the many other Scandinavian bands out there and do you think you are able to break the mould of Scandinavian blackmetal?

 AE “I think that only a handful of band, besides us, manage to successfully recapture that feeling that black metal had back in the early nineties. Only a few bands that successfully takes the legacy of the early bands and forge it into something of there own.”

EI: - With you only being a duo do you ever see yourselves touring and do you think that it might be difficult to reproduce your recorded material live? (If so why).

 AE “We haven’t played live yet. But we would like to do so in the future. I don’t think the material should be too hard to reproduce live. The most difficult part is if TO will be playing the drums or doing the vocals in a live situation. If we could find the right musicians to help us out we might play shows in the future.”

EI: - When translated your name means “Hatred” in English does this in your own mind sum up the overall out look of yourselves as a band and the music you write? (If so how).

 AE “Yes, Avsky is very much about hatred. Most our lyrics deals with hatred. Contempt and disgust for the human race in its current state, and the type of world it has created. We think that Avsky is a name that fits the theme of the band very well.”

EI: - Well thanks for the interview is there anything you would like to add that I might have missed?

AE “No, not really. Thanks for the interview!”

Hanzel Und Gretyl are something of a phenomena, musically different, avant garde and forward looking, never the same song twice, always searching for the ‘extreme’ edge of music, no matter where it took them. So read on, come and find out a little about the strangeness that surrounds you in the mundane minutiae of life on earth, see it from their point of view and music will never be the same again.

E.I: Hanzel Und Gretyl have been around for over ten years now, experimenting and showing the American public that there’s more to Industrial Music than they ever imagined. What avenues are you

considering at the moment and what style influences have you incorporated into your new work?

VAS: “Yes, it's been 13 years since our first CD was released back in 1995! ..wow.. time flies. We've been through a lot of influences, from twisted techno space metal, to evil disco metal to uberdeath party festival metal...where the hell are we going next?! Only my psychic knows ....”

Kaizer: “2012 is basically pure aggression! If you look across our body of work you see a metamorphic change that Kafka himself could not dream up in his most fevered state of mind!! We started out very experimental in the early 90's. We did not fit anywhere. What was called "electronica" then was not a home for us and even today, we are not really embraced by the metal community!! creatively and in a lot of other ways, we are very too much of a pariah. We still have no niche even though our sound has taken on a decidedly industrial deathmetal crunch, Just like our name suggests, we are very much lost in the darkness, discovering things as we go with very little resources! breadcrumbs you might say!”

E.I: Now you’re with Metropolis Records have you received the support you’ve needed to expand your visionary work? And if so where?

VAS: “Well, Metropolis is the kind of label that does not get involved with the artist and their vision. We're pretty much on our own with everything. So we took our vision around the galaxy and then some.”

Kaizer: “As far as I know, they have no health coverage in place for eye care.”

E.I: Touring with stadium fillers must have been a blast but what did you learn from the experience and what would you do if you were the headliner? Is there anyone you’d give the support slot to and if there is why them?

VAS: “Yes! it is best to tour with a big band and get to play in front of thousands! I am very grateful for that experience! We've been doing it for so long there is nothing much more to learn except that you need a good crew and a lot of sleep. If we had the opportunity and the budget to put on a headlining arena show, I would say there would be revolving planets, huge pillars and pyramids shooting out blood, beer and pretzels as we would both arrive in our own private spaceship. There also would be sirens, strobe lights and chaos. I want to make the audience laugh, cry and headbang until their schnitzels fall out of their pants! Who's gonna open for this? a crew of nurses handing out diapers and protective headgear ! Jawohl!”

Kaizer: “When you tour with a bigger band, you get a sense of how they deal with situations and how they got where they are and how much every band is different in that regard. You basically identify with certain

things and not so much with others. If we were a stadium filling headliner, I would chose bands with laser like attention to my personal tastes! that's what Manson was doing in '95 when he picked us! And again in '96. You see it less and less in the business. it's very political and there's alot of money at the top!!

E.I: With the encroachment of ‘Foreign Language Music’ into the mainstream do you think your style and approach will be more accepted and understood than it was at your inception?

VAS: “I doubt our style of music would be ever accepted into the mainstream, foreign language or not. We are just little rebels always ready to shake shit up. But can you imagine if music like ours was the mainstream and the underground took over the world?”

Kaizer: “I hope so but I doubt it. I firmly believe we are one of the few "punk" bands in existence not stylistically but philosophically!. There are so few bands that really come off as if they would rather have their liver removed with a warm fucking spoon than become mainstream. It's a lost art! And we have perfected it apparently without even trying! we want everyone to hear our shit!! ...but there are things we will not do!”

E.I: This new release ‘2012: Zwanzig Zwölf’ is much heavier and darker in content than most other ‘FLM’ bands, the influence and drive behind it needs some explanation, could you enlighten our readers as to why

they should go get it?

VAS : “FLM?? Frustrated Lounge Music? Fukken Loud Music? .......... to answer your question, the drive behind our music is quite simple. We like aggression. We live in the chaos of NewYork City, and if you have never been here you won't understand. We’re simply a product of our environment and so is our music. '2012' is a CD for those who need to release the demons, have a few laughs and lots of beer! It's meant to be played LOUD! It is a means to spiritual cleansing. If you are in the need of these things in your life, PLEASE go out and get it NOW ! if not....move along, or dare to shift your energy. ...namaste.”

Kaizer: “I like the idea of something called Foreign Language Music as an established form. This way at least it won't be identified by the sound but by the languages used. So it could be a diverse genre!In the spirit of someone like Brian Eno. I looked to make a death metal record that was minimal and largely ignoreable!!(success!laffs) but not relaxing. Like instead of "music for airports" perhaps music for rioting or getting in a barroom brawl! just a noise that would compliment chaotic acts of violence by a large number of individuals or like driving your SUV off a cliff! ya know, background music or elevator music for an elevator full of German axe wielding maniacs. Like sprockets gone bad! "now is the time on sprockets when we KILL!!" you get the idea!”

E.I: You’ve always been on the cutting edge and have strained your imaginations and souls to create something worth remembering, what would you like your epitaphs to be, both in the musical world and the mundane?

VAS: “Not of this Earth...even though she tried to be.”

Kaizer: “GOTT HAST UNS ALLE!!!!!!”

When fans think of Greece the same few band names surface, these being Rotting Christ and Varathron. Which is shame because the country has many other Death Metal bands that are as good or if not better. These guys are trying to break the monopoly the aforementioned bands have on the Greek scene and seem to be doing a great job of it. So here we have them, the new boys on the scene Terrordrome!

EI: - With you being a Greek band that is following in the footsteps of such bands as Rotting Christ and Varathron to name but two. Do you think that you are going to be able to follow in their wake or do you think that fans will expect you to sound like them?

Sakis: “First of all Terrordrome’s music has always been far away from the music and image of the above mentioned Greek bands, Rotting Christ and Varathron and we do not want fans to think that we sound like them because we are from Greece as well. Rotting Christ is the biggest band in Greece and they are of worldwide fame, but Terrordrome never saw them as an influence and our music style is totally different. We have always been into Death Metal and we want to carve our path in the Death Metal scene, but if you mean whether we want to have the success they have, then yes we want to follow in their wake. Everyone would want such a success, but we do not know if we are able to do so. We have the determination and time will tell.”

EI:- Over the last couple of years you as a band have had a few releases out that are either promos or Mcd’s. When it came to recording your new release “Vehement Convulsion” which is a full album did you have to approach it in a different way to past release? (If so in what way and why).

Sakis: “After 2 Mcd’s and a Promo CD we felt that it was time for Terrordrome to record a full length album. We had a lot of material ready for a full length album and after Grindethic Records offered us a contract, we had a stronger motive to enter the studio and record an album. This material is also representative of how Terrordrome sounds nowadays; we thought it being mature enough so as to be recorded as well as exhibiting the band’s natural progress from its beginning. On all our releases we give 100% of our powers so as to get the best result? We have always been honest with the music we’ve created and played what we could play at the time. The same thing goes for “Vehement Convulsion” as well. But having the prospect of a label to release our material, we had to give more than 100% of ourselves. A bigger audience was going to hear our music this time; we worked in a more professional and more careful way. There was also the anxiety of the first album and the impressions that it would leave to the audience and our will to meet the label’s expectations.”

EI: - Since recording you last release the five way split cd with other bands do you think that your lyrical subjects have had to change. For you to reach further and break away from the rest of the stereotypical gore and murder genre, that many extreme bands seem to be exploring lately? (If so how and why).

Sakis: “Peter Ouzounis has always been the one and only responsible regarding the lyrics part of the band. He doesn’t have a favourite subject and he always writes Terrordrome’s lyrics after stimulation from personal experiences and inside thoughts. He has written about murder and splatter and gory scenes, subjects that are very common among Death Metal bands. But he has also dealt with sex and love both from a romantic or pornographic view, as well as religion and the damages they have caused on societies, environmental awareness and speculation, relations between people and much more. I am not exactly in his mind but the sure thing is that this is his pattern and we differ from other Death Metal bands in that we do not focus on a specific subject. He is not pressuring himself to stick on a subject or give Terrordrome a specific lyrical direction, he writes exactly what he wants to express at that time.”

EI: - Over the years you have had a few line up changes mostly of bass players and drummers. Now that you have Stavrianidis on drums and Varitimiadis on bass do you think that you are close to fulfilling the potential of the band that you set out to capture when you formed. Or do you think that it will never be perfect as ideas and members outlooks on life change?

Sakis: “I think that this is the most solid and strongest line-up we have ever had as a band and fulfils the potential of the band we have wanted from the beginning. Both Bill Stavrianidis and Anestis Varitimiadis are great players who come up with fresh ideas all the time, but they are also great people which is a very important factor for the healthy internal working of the band. We all share the same level of dedication and devotion and we all have the same target, to play the music we like and push the limits.”

EI: - On “Vehement Convulsion” you have a CD-ROM track does this track capture the overall power and technical expertise of your band in a live situation or do you think that it just enough to give fans a taster of what to expect when you play live? (If so why).

Sakis: “We added the CD-ROM tracks with the intent to make our CD more valuable and tempting for someone to buy it instead of only downloading it from the internet. There is an extra motive there and this is the main philosophy of Grindethic as well. They always add extra stuff as CD-ROM tracks to their releases. The live tracks are more like a taster for fans, so they know what to expect from Terrordrome and that we can actually play our material live. It is pretty disappointing when you see a band in a live situation and they can’t perform its material at least as well as in their actual releases. The overall power and technical expertise is not totally captured on this live video due to the fact that the filming is from a distance and the lights are not helping at all. But the sound is quite good, having it in mind that the recording was done by the microphone of the camera.”

EI: - The artwork of you album seems to be at odds with the tittle “Vehement Convulsion” is this on purpose to make fans think about your lyrical stance or does it actually capture the mood of your music. Also are you happy with the cover artwork or not and if not what did you want originally? (If so why)

Sakis: “Exactly, the album title “Vehement Convulsion” actually captures the mood of our music. We wanted the title to reflect the music of the album, a Vehement Convulsion of riffing, drumming and vocals. There is no link to the lyrical part of the album and as I have already said in a previous question, Peter Ouzounis does not want to give Terrordrome a specific lyrical direction. But there is also an indirect connection with the lyrics, a Vehement Convulsion of thoughts. Regarding the cover artwork we are 100% percent satisfied with it. We had a professional dealing with it, with the co-operation of the whole band. He created exactly the image of the Vehement Convulsion we had in our minds. A special credit here goes to Tom from Grindethic as well, for giving some final touches and embodying in it the Grindethic aesthetics.”

EI: - Well thank you for answering these questions is there anything else you might want to add that I have missed out?

Sakis: “Thank you very much for the opportunity to appear on your pages and we hope people like and embrace “Vehement Convulsion”.”