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By Andrew Bansal

Hailing from Dhaka, Bangladesh, Orator is a death/thrash trio that has been around for the past five years, playing gigs in the Bangladesh underground scene, and sometimes beyond, in places like India. Following the 2010 release of their debut EP ‘Dominion Of Avyaktam’ and the 2011 demo ‘Live Crematorations’, they put out their debut full-length album called ‘Kapalgnosis’ earlier this year and will be taking part in the upcoming ‘Banish The Posers’ Fest in their hometown on November 16th. To talk more about this gig and the band’s past, present and future, I caught up with vocalist/guitarist Amit ‘Skullbearer’. Read the conversation below. If you’re in Dhaka, make sure you attend the gig next month. And for those elsewhere, this is a great underground extreme metal band worth checking out. Continue reading “Orator Frontman Talks About ‘Banish The Posers’ Fest & More”

By Andrew Bansal

Longstanding Brazilian metal veterans Sepultura are ready to release their thirteenth studio album on October 29th via Nuclear Blast Records, an album with the tongue-twisting title ‘The Mediator Between Head And Hands Must Be The Heart’. The band’s previous album ‘Kairos’ came out in 2011 and turned out to be a success in every sense. With this new album, Sepultura have taken inspiration from Kairos’ success and blended in musical elements old and new into this 47-minute, 10-track set of hard-hitting heavy music. A week ago, I spoke to guitarist Andreas Kisser to discuss the length of the album’s title, the making, musical style, artwork, production and lots more. Read the in-depth conversation below along with a taste of the album, and folks in North America should check them out on their upcoming tour. Continue reading “In-depth Interview With Sepultura Guitarist Andreas Kisser”

By Andrew Bansal

Based out of East Bay Area, California, hard rock band SpiralArms are ready to release their second album ‘Freedom’ on October 22nd via SPV/Steamhammer Records. The band’s six-piece lineup features Craig Locicero, known in the metal universe as guitarist of thrash band Forbidden. The first SpiralArms album took a while to come together, but ‘Freedom’ has materialized much more quickly for the band, and fans can probably expect them to be more active than what they were in the past. A couple of weeks ago, I spoke to Craig about this new album, the breakup of Forbidden, and lots of other things. Listen to the chat below. Continue reading “Ex-Forbidden Guitarist Craig Locicero Talks About New SpiralArms Album ‘Freedom’ (Audio)”

By Andrew Bansal

Maor Appelbaum is a mastering engineer who is deeply immersed in our favorite genre of music, having worked with several established rock and metal artists and continues to have plenty on his plate. His extensive and impressive list of clients include Halford, Armored Saint, Sepultura, Cynic, Yngwie, Angra, and many, many others. So, to give you a better understanding of how studio albums, live albums and DVDs are mastered, I spoke to the man himself and delved into a conversation to get his perspective on things. In this interview he talks in detail about how he goes about his business, talks about some of the bands he’s worked with, and lots more. Listen to the 16-minute chat below, and check out all his work at MaorAppelbaum.com. Continue reading “In-depth Interview With Mastering Engineer Maor Appelbaum (Audio)”

By Andrew Bansal

Death metal pioneers Master released their eleventh studio album ‘The Witchhunt’ on September 27th via FDA Rekotz records and have embarked on the ‘Slaughterfest 2013’ European tour with Onslaught, M-Pire Of Evil and Tantara. Formed in Chicago in 1983 by bassist/vocalist Paul Speckmann, giving rise to the band Death Strike in 1985 and later being renamed to its original incarnation, Master was one of the earliest death bands to pursue the death metal genre, influenced a ton of younger bands, and are still going strong with solid albums like ‘Slaves To Society’, ‘The Human Machine’ and ‘The New Elite’ released in the recent past. With ‘The Witchhunt’, Paul Speckmann continues the legacy of the band and gives death metal fans exactly what they want. Shortly before the release of the album, I spoke to him about the making of the album, among other things. Check out the conversation below, along with a music video for a song off of ‘The Witchhunt’. Continue reading “MASTER Bassist/Vocalist Paul Speckmann Talks About New Album ‘The Witchhunt’”