Author: admin

By Andrew Bansal

North Carolina progressive metal band Between The Buried And Me are currently in the midst of a North American headline run, as part of their still ongoing touring cycle for their latest concept album ‘The Parallax II: Future Sequence’. Having existed with success for more than a decade now, they’ve always been known as a band that audaciously blends a wide spectrum of sonic landscapes all within the spectrum of heavy music, and their live shows are an apt representation of it. They played a typically incredible show at the Glass House in Pomona last Wednesday March 12th, and a few hours before the show I sat down with bassist Dan Briggs to discuss this touring run, his favorite shows as a fan, plans for the next BTBAM album, his other band Trioscapes, and more. Enjoy the detailed conversation below. Continue reading “In-depth Interview With Between The Buried And Me Bassist Dan Briggs”

By Andrew Bansal

Based out of Winnipeg, Canada, sludge/post-hardcore trio KEN Mode started out in 1999 and have enjoyed a colorful career thus far, releasing five impressive studio albums and touring all over the place in the process. They were the winners of Canada’s prestigious Juno Award in the best metal album category for their 2011 effort ‘Venerable’, and have again been nominated for this year’s Juno Awards for their latest album ‘Entrench’. Currently on a US tour with Russian Circles and Helms Alee, the relentlessly touring KEN Mode are the definition of the term ‘full-time band’, as they continue to spread the noise to the masses wherever they go and as often as they can. The tour paid a visit to the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles on March 10th, and shortly after they were done playing a devastating 30-minute set, I spoke to vocalist/guitarist/bassist Jesse Matthewson about the Juno nomination and all other things KEN Mode. Enjoy the quirky conversation below. Continue reading “KEN Mode Frontman Talks About Juno Nomination + More”

By Andrew Bansal

British eclectic rock band Anathema have been exploring a broad range of musical horizons over the nearly 25 years of their existence and have traveled a greatly diverse stylistic journey. While they’re not heavy on a sonically superficial level as they were in their early death/doom metal days, there’s still a large section of fans of rock and metal fans that can appreciate the band’s modern-day approach towards creating and portraying their art. After completing an overwhelmingly successful and long-awaited first ever tour of the United States last fall, they have returned to these shores for another run of dates, this time as main support to Finnish goth rockers HIM. The House Of Blues Sunset Strip in West Hollywood played host to the first show of this tour on Friday March 7th, and about 30 minutes before Anathema took the stage, I sat down with vocalist/guitarist Vincent Cavanagh to discuss the tour, mixing stages of the next album, and more. Enjoy the insightful conversation below, along with live photos from the LA show. Continue reading “Anathema Frontman Discusses Next Album, Touring & More”

By Andrew Bansal

Firewind mastermind and guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne’s band, Gus G has had an illustrious career thus far, and even at a young age, he has accomplished a lot. Now he’s ready to take the next logical step in his musical creativity in the form of his solo debut album ‘I Am The Fire’, due out on March 17th in Europe and March 18th in North America via Century Media Records. The album features plenty of guest musicians and portrays a different facet of Gus’ musicianship. A couple of weeks ago, I spoke to Gus to talk about the making of the album, the guest musicians, future plans and more. Check out the conversation below.  Continue reading “Gus G Discusses Solo Debut Album ‘I Am The Fire’”

By Andrew Bansal

Japanese experimental rock band Man With A Mission formed in 2010 but due to their unique presentation, eclectic musical style and extremely entertaining live shows, they’ve gained widespread popularity in their home country and have broken out to the United States and other territories as well. They did a short US tour a few months ago and played a sold-out show at the Roxy in West Hollywood, with a special appearance from guest collaborator Sid Wilson of Slipknot. Before the show, I sat down with Sid and MWAM guitarist/vocalist Jean-Ken Johnny to talk about the band and their collaboration with Sid. Sid has done a remix on the song ‘Distance’ which features on the band’s latest EP ‘Don’t Feel The Distance’, released on March 4th and available on iTunes here. Check out the conversation below. Continue reading “Joint Interview With Sid Wilson Of Slipknot & ‘Man With A Mission’”

By Andrew Bansal

Stand-up comedian and co-host of VH1 Classic’s ‘That Metal Show’, Don Jamieson has been successfully blending the worlds of comedy and metal in the recent past, specially since signing to Metal Blade Records and putting out his debut album ‘Live & Hilarious’ in 2011. Now, he’s ready to release the follow-up to that album, the sophomore effort called ‘Hell Bent For Laughter’. Recorded in December 2013 at Uncle Vinnie’s Comedy Club in Pleasant Beach, New Jersey and set to release on Tuesday March 18th via Metal Blade, this is Jamieson’s uninhibited take on music-related as well as daily life topics. A couple of days ago, I did a detailed interview with him to discuss this new album, live comedy shows, Metal Blade, That Metal Show, Ted Nugent, awkward moments and lots more. Enjoy this light-hearted yet insightful conversation below. Continue reading “In-depth Interview With Don Jamieson”