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By Andrew Bansal

The New England Metal & Hardcore Festival, a massive annual event that takes place at the Palladium in Worcester, Massachusetts, is set for its 16th edition to be held April 17-19, and as always, the lineup for this ever-growing festival this year is enticing for anyone and everyone who claims to be a metal/hardcore fan. A couple of days ago, founder/organizer Scott Lee spoke to Metal Assault about the festival. Read the conversation below and check out the full lineup for this year’s NEMHF. Continue reading “Interview With New England Metal & Hardcore Festival Founder/Organizer Scott Lee”

By Andrew Bansal

San Diego-based Carnifex have been spreading their brand of extreme metal since 2005, and after a brief hiatus, they’re ready to release their fifth studio album ‘Die Without Hope’ on March 3rd in North America and March 7th in Europe, their debut on Nuclear Blast Records. The album presents a new creative incarnation of the band and sees them take a more exploratory direction. A couple of weeks ago, vocalist Scott Lewis spoke to Metal Assault about the new album, touring, the ‘deathcore’ label, and other things. Read the conversation below, check out a new track and catch them on their ongoing US headline tour. Continue reading “Carnifex Frontman Discusses New Album ‘Die Without Hope’ + More”

Interview by Jason Williams

Swedish melodic death metal stalwarts Dark Tranquillity toured North America in 2010 to promote the release of their ninth studio album ‘We Are The Void’, and after making their fans in the continent wait nearly four years, they are finally back on a full headline run with opening acts Omnium Gatherum and Exmortus, and the latest album ‘Construct’ their main item of focus this time. To coincide with this tour, they’re also selling a limited edition 7-inch single called ‘The Memory Construct’. The tour paid a visit to the House Of Blues Sunset Strip in West Hollywood on February 22nd, and a few hours before Dark Tranquillity tore up the stage, our man Jason Williams sat down with vocalist Mikael Stanne for an interview to discuss the tour, ‘Construct’, future plans, beers and more. Enjoy the conversation below. Continue reading “In-depth Interview With Dark Tranquillity Frontman Mikael Stanne”

By Andrew Bansal

Chicago-based doom metal band Indian have been in existence for more than a decade now, bringing their punishing brand of extreme music to ears worldwide. The band just released their fifth full-length album ‘From All Purity’ via Relapse Records on January 21, an album that comes across as more dynamic and cohesive than the last couple of Indian albums, and has been garnering high praise from fans and critics alike. On February 18, Metal Assault spoke to guitarist/vocalist Will Lindsay to discuss the making of this album, the Chicago scene, the band’s live sound, gear setup and more. Read the conversation below and check out a music video for ‘Rhetoric Of No’, a tune off of the new album.  Continue reading “Interview With Will Lindsay Of Chicago Doom Metal Band Indian”

By Andrew Bansal

Back in its heyday, the Sunset Strip was a prime spot for giant billboards advertising legendary rock acts. Sadly, that tradition faded away quite rapidly with the advent of the digital age and the decline of the music industry over the past couple of decades, but veteran Los Angeles-based photographer Robert Landau took photographs of these billboards in the 1960s and ’70s, capturing a tremendous volume of history in his collection of photos. He compiled them into a photo book simply titled “Rock ‘N’ Roll Billboards Of The Sunset Strip” and released it in 2012, and is available on Amazon.com and locally in West Hollywood at the Book Soup. On February 19th 2014, at the Gibson GuitarTown media reception, Landau was present with a display of some of his billboard photos, and spoke to Metal Assault about these billboards. Continue reading “Robert Landau Talks About Rock ‘N’ Roll Billboards Photo Book”

By Andrew Bansal

Despite the recent surge in popularity of the sub-genre, Finnish folk metal band Finntroll are successfully able to distinguish themselves from the pack and are among a rare breed of bands that find the right balance between the ‘folk’ and the ‘metal’. Their latest album ‘Blodsvept’ which was released in early 2013 via Century Media Records is sheer vindication of this statement, and their live shows are an even more accurate portrayal of it. Currently on a European tour, the band did their first North American headline run in support of this album in late 2013 with opening acts Blackguard and Metsatoll, and visited the Grove Of Anaheim for the only Southern California show of the tour. Vocalist Mathias “Vreth” Lillmåns and guitarist Mikael “Routa” Karlbom spoke to Metal Assault about the tour, songwriting, folk metal and other topics. Enjoy the conversation below. Continue reading “Finntroll Discuss Touring, Folk Metal & More”