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By Avinash Mittur

Cormorant are a San Francisco black metal act with influences all across the heavy metal spectrum. Blast beats, harmonies, shrieked vocals and bluesy guitar solos are all fair game for Cormorant.  The band features Arthur Von Nagel on bass and vocals, Nick Cohon and Matt Solis on guitar and Brennan Kunkel on drums. They released their second album, Dwellings, last year to great acclaim- the album made many end of the year lists and was even declared the number one metal record of the 2011 by NPR. Last Saturday I finally got to see Cormorant play a set at Slim’s in San Francisco, and I had the opportunity to talk with them about their famous D.I.Y. attitude, the recording of Dwellings and their upcoming tours with Primordial and YOB among other topics. Read our conversation below, check out the song “Unearthly Dreamings” off of the album using the YouTube player embedded near the bottom of this page, and be sure to interact with the band on their facebook and twitter pages. Continue reading “Cormorant Talk In Detail About “Dwellings” Recording Process, Artwork & Future Plans”

By Avinash Mittur

Recently, I had the chance to talk to Sean McGrath, Ross Sewage, Jason Kocol and Raul Varela of Oakland’s legendary goregrind act, Impaled. After releasing “The Last Gasp” in 2007, the band has toured and played shows sporadically and have been working on a re-recorded version of their first album, “The Dead Shall Dead Remain.” We got to discuss the band’s current level of activity live and in the studio, the hair competition between them and Exhumed, and how they feel about the band’s career up to this point among other topics. I hope everyone who reads this has as much fun as I did conducting this interview- if you haven’t laughed a few times by the end of this article, you’re probably doing something wrong. Read on, and be sure to check out Impaled’s facebook page for updates on future shows and the re-recording of “The Dead Shall Dead Remain.” Continue reading “A Light-Hearted Conversation With Impaled”

By Avinash Mittur

About a week ago at the Slaughter By The Water festival I had the opportunity of talking to Michael Chavez of Hemotoxin, a young East Bay death-thrash band. I was impressed by his drive and his attitude towards spreading the band’s music, and I also enjoyed their performance on the Rock the Bike stage at SBTW. During this interview, Michael gives us a primer on Hemotoxin’s origins, their progression from his garage to a festival environment and his future goals for the group. Despite his young age, Michael has a very realistic and pragmatic take on the music industry today, and I’m excited to see where he and Hemotoxin will be in the future. Read our conversation below, and be sure to check out the band’s facebook page to listen to plenty of their songs and receive information on their future shows. Continue reading “Hemotoxin’s Michael Chavez Discusses Beginnings, ‘Slaughter By The Water’ & Future Goals”

By Avinash Mittur

When I was in high school, Fog of War weren’t just any young thrash metal band out of the bay area- they were an institution. A Fog of War show was an immediate guarantee of a fun time for me and my friends and their tight, dialed in live sets were, and still are, something truly remarkable to see from a band barely out of their twenties. Fog of War has always been one of the most consistently reliable thrash bands that a metal fan can see in the Bay Area, and it was truly a pleasure for me to speak with the band – Mosh Branum on lead guitar and vocals, Jon Fryman on lead guitar, Alex “Wink” Winkley on lead guitar, Nick Mamere on bass and Matt O’Connell on drums. We got to talk about the band’s unique situation as a thrash metal band with three lead guitarists, the current state of heavy metal, touring outside of the bay area and the band’s upcoming album, “Here Lies Humanity.” Read our conversation below, and be sure to check out the band’s facebook page for updates on their upcoming shows and the new album. Continue reading “In-depth Interview With Fog Of War”

By Avinash Mittur

 Throughout my stay in the bay area this summer, I’ve had the opportunity to attend many small shows featuring young, talented bands fighting their way to success in the heavy metal world. A few days ago I chatted with members from one such band, Speed. They are a new thrash metal band hailing from San Jose, a part of the bay known more for its contributions to metalcore and hardcore music than thrash. I talked with drummer Mario Diaz and guitarist Lenny Gray about the band’s beginnings, what makes them standout from the dozens of other young thrash groups, and their onstage chemistry among other topics. Listen to the interview below, and be sure to check out Speed’s facebook page to listen to their demo and receive news about their upcoming events. Continue reading “Speed Discuss Origins, Influences And Future Plans (Audio)”

By Aniruddh “Andrew” Bansal

San Jose, California-based death metal band Exhumed are ready to embark on this year’s Summer Slaughter tour which starts tomorrow in Los Angeles at the House of Blues Sunset Strip. The band will be part of a massive lineup featuring Cannibal Corpse, Between The Buried And Me, The Faceless, Periphery, Veil Of Maya, Goatwhore and others, and will continue supporting their latest album “All Guts No Glory”, for which they’ve already done some significant tours. A couple of days ago, I had the pleasure of chatting with frontman Matt Harvey to talk about this upcoming tour, and he also shared his “Death To All” experience, as well as discussed his work with Gravehill. Read this insightful and light-hearted conversation below, check out a song off of the new album using the YouTube player below, and visit Exhumed’s facebook page for more info. Continue reading “Exhumed Frontman Matt Harvey Discusses Summer Slaughter, Death To All Tour & Future Plans”