Category: Uncategorized

By Andrew Bansal

San Francisco Bay Area thrash stalwarts Testament have not put a foot wrong in the last ten years, releasing a triad of highly impressive albums ‘The Formation of Damnation’ (2008), ‘The Dark Roots of Earth’ (2012), and most recently, ‘Brotherhood of the Snake’ in 2016. Besides the strong new material, their live show has also maintained and enhanced their reputation and legacy. Testament are now gearing up for an extensive North American headline tour, the first in support of the latest album, with support acts Sepultura, Prong and Infernal Tenebra. Vocalist Chuck Billy recently spoke to Metal Assault about preparations for the tour, live shows, his training methods, weed smoking, and more. Enjoy the conversation below, and catch Testament on tour this Spring! Continue reading “Maintaining The Stronghold: Testament Vocalist Discusses Tour Preparations, Training Methods & more”

By Andrew Bansal

Tampa, Florida death metal legends Obituary began their quest for global domination in the mid-’80s, and in the year 2017, are not only still going, but going stronger than ever, as proven by their tenth full-length album, the self-titled effort released via Relapse Records on March 17th. A band that has retained their legacy, reputation and style throughout the years, and in the unpredictable, bizarre world we live in, one thing is for sure, Obituary delivers the goods every time. A few days before the release date, vocalist John Tardy spoke to Metal Assault about the making of the newest album and much more. Enjoy the conversation below, along with a good chunk of the new music, and North American readers, make sure you catch Obituary on the Decibel tour! Continue reading “The Death Metal Blueprint: Obituary vocalist John Tardy discusses New Album”

By Andrew Bansal

Dallas, Texas thrash/crossover/hardcore punk group Power Trip have taken the world of heavy music by storm in 2017 and have grabbed the genre by its throat with their sophomore full-length ‘Nightmare Logic’, released February 24th via Southern Lord Recordings. The quintet has shown great improvement and progress since the 2013 debut album ‘Manifest Decimation’, in both songwriting and production, and ‘Nightmare Logic’ truly comes across as an album metal needed in the year 2017. Just before departing for their ongoing extensive North American headline tour, vocalist Riley Gale spoke to Metal Assault about the writing and recording process, what he has done differently on vocals, what he learned from Lamb Of God singer Randy Blythe, and Power Trip’s status as a metal band. Enjoy the conversation below, let your ears bleed from ‘Nightmare Logic’, and rage with Power Trip at a show near you soon! Continue reading ““We Can Be a Metal Band But Still Stay True to Our Hardcore Roots”: In Conversation with Power Trip vocalist Riley Gale”

Interview by Lane Steele

Southern California group Suicide Silence has dared to do what most other deathcore bands don’t, by venturing into newer stylistic territories on their newest album, the self-titled effort, released on February 24th via Nuclear Blast. Introducing clean vocals as well as other variations from their past work, Suicide Silence have generated quite a reaction from fans and critics alike. Currently the band is on a short North American tour to perform a good chunk of the new album along with older tunes, and as part of the tour, played a show at The Observatory Orange County in Santa Ana CA on the day of the album release. Lane Steele sat down with guitarist Mark Heylmun to discuss the new album and lots more. Listen to the conversation below. Continue reading ““We Knew we would Shock People”: Suicide Silence guitarist Mark Heylmun discusses New Album (audio)”

Interview by Rosie Walker

San Francisco Bay Area group Death Angel are currently out doing what they do best, scorch stages with their unrelenting brand of thrash metal. On the ‘Bound By the Road’ North American tour as main support to DevilDriver, Death Angel are playing tunes off of their latest album ‘The Evil Divide’ (2016) as well as selections from their recent and classic albums. The tour visited Dayton, Ohio for a gig at Oddbody’s last Tuesday February 21st, and moving away from the seriousness of all things metal, our writer Rosie Walker conducted an out-of-the-box interview with guitarist Ted Aguilar, as we get to know Ted’s thoughts and opinions on a whole variety of topics. Listen to the entertaining conversation below, and be sure to catch Death Angel on this touring cycle. Continue reading “20 Questions with Death Angel guitarist Ted Aguilar (audio)”

By Sebastian Vazquez

A black metal band from the pits of San Diego, Ruines Ov Abaddon is a six-piece group that has an extensive history dating back to late 2008. With their recent studio release ‘Chaos Reborn’, the band has recently announced a tour in promotion that will trek across seven states. A group that has dealt with several lineup changes over the last 8 to 9 years, the band has solidified a lineup capable of creating powerful blackened metal music, with all the frills of blast drumming and fast strumming, but still capable of retaining a gravitating pull of originality. Continue reading “Into Blackened Chaos: An intimate discussion with San Diego black metal outfit Ruines Ov Abaddon”