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By Andrew Bansal

One of the first ever American power metal bands, Helstar are celebrating their 30th anniversary this year with the release of the ’30 Years Of Hel’ live CD+DVD. Consisting of the live audio and video recording of the 20 songs played by the band at the special 30th anniversary show at Warehouse Live in their hometown of Houston, Texas, this package was put out on October 2nd by AFM records. Earlier today, on October 6th 2012, I had the pleasure of catching up with vocalist and founding member James Rivera to discuss this release, among various other things. Listen to the 19-minute conversation below, and visit the official Helstar facebook page for more info. Continue reading “Helstar Vocalist James Rivera Discusses ’30 Years Of Hel’ (Audio)”

By Andrew Bansal

It’s been more than eight years since Wintersun released their self-titled debut album, and the eternally long wait for the fans to hear new material is finally almost over. The Finnish metal band are all set to release their new album “Time I” on October 19th in Europe and October 23rd in North America via Nuclear Blast Records. It’s the first part of a double album, with the second album to follow next year. The band will immediately promote the album’s release by doing two special hometown shows, followed by a European tour, and a North American tour with Eluveitie and Varg. A couple of weeks ago, I caught up with guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari to talk about the process behind this colossal album. Read the conversation below, and visit the official Wintersun website for more info. Continue reading “Wintersun Guitarist Talks About Creative Process Behind ‘Time I’ Album”

By Aniruddh “Andrew” Bansal

Bangalore’s stoner doom lords Bevar Sea are all set to release their eagerly anticipated self-titled debut album this month, and are playing a launch gig in their hometown, at Counter Culture on October 19th along with support acts Kryptos and Shepherd. This is an album that’s been in the making for a while, and the songs on it are already popular amongst the band’s fans, and followers of the stoner doom sub-culture in the country. Yesterday, I caught up with guitarist Srikanth Panaman to talk about the making of the album, the launch gig and other things. Read the conversation below, and visit the official Bevar Sea website for more info. Continue reading “Bevar Sea Guitarist Talks About Making Of Debut Album & Launch Gig”

By Andrew Bansal

For heavy metal fans worldwide, the names Sam Dunn and Banger Films are well-known, but in case you’re new, Banger Films are the makers of the 11-episode Metal Evolution series, in addition to award-winning heavy metal documentaries like “Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey” and “Global Metal”, along with band-specific films like “Iron Maiden: Flight 666” and “Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage”. Now, they have set out on a campaign to make an episode on the genre they couldn’t include in the Metal Evolution series, i.e. extreme metal. Sam Dunn and Scot McFayden are calling out to the metal community to contribute to their IndieGoGo campaign to raise money for the production of Metal Evolution: Extreme Metal – “The Lost Episode”. Earlier today, I had the pleasure of talking to Sam Dunn about this campaign, among other things. Listen to the 15-minute conversation below, check out the trailer from Banger Films, and visit this location to contribute! Continue reading “Sam Dunn Talks About ‘Metal Evolution’ Extreme Metal Episode (Audio)”

By Andrew Bansal

Los Angeles-based thrash veterans Hirax are working actively on their fifth studio album, which is expected to release soon. Right from their beginnings in 1984 up till now, they have been cult heroes in their own right. My first experience of Hirax as a live band was seeing them open for fellow LA veterans Armored Saint at the Key Club in July last year, and to say that I was blown away would be saying too little, such was the venom in Hirax’ performance. Since that night, I’ve considered them as one of the fiercest live acts going around. If you’re a thrash metal fan, and if Hirax is coming to your town any time soon, theirs is a show you cannot afford to miss. Today, on October 1st 2012, less than an hour ago, I caught up with the legendary frontman Katon W. De Pena to talk about this new album, and lots of other things. Enjoy listening to this -minute chat below, and visit official Hirax website for more info. Continue reading “In-depth Interview With Hirax Mainman Katon De Pena (Audio)”

Interview by Avinash Mittur

September 26th 2012, The Avalon, Hollywood CA: German thrash legends Kreator released their new album “Phantom Antichrist” earlier this year, and followed it up with their first ever India show as headliners at the Bangalore Open Air. Now, they are on the North American Teutonic Terror Attack tour with fellow German veterans Accept, and opening act Swallow The Sun. A couple of days ago, at the Avalon in Hollywood, our man Avinash managed to pull off a rare interview with guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö, and for once it’s not Mille Petrozza doing the interview. Watch the 11-minute video as Avinash talks to Sami about the new album, the fans, lineup and other things, and check out the official Kreator facebook page for more info. Continue reading “Kreator Guitarist Discusses Making Of New Album, Fan Loyalty & Lineup (Video)”