Metal Assault: Interviews

Interview by Jason Williams

Canadian avant-garde/technical death metal group Gorguts released and EP called ‘Pleiades’ Dust’ in May 2016 via Season Of Mist, a concept-based 33-minute single composition with seven lyrical segments, created in a manner only Gorguts could, led by vocalist, guitarist and songwriter Luc Lemay. The band was formed in 2009 and with each album, helped inspire an innovative and forward-thinking approach to death metal. Gorguts recently concluded a North American headline tour with support from Intronaut and Brain Tentacles, and played a show at the Roxy as part of the run. Our writer Jason Williams caught up with Lemay for a detailed interview about all things Gorguts. Enjoy the conversation below, along with tastes of the new EP. Continue reading “Rewriting The Extreme Metal Language: In-depth Interview With Gorguts Mastermind Luc Lemay”

Interview by Jason Williams

Hailing from the Netherlands, Carach Angren is a symphonic black metal band that composes each of their albums based on a storytelling concept, the concepts and stories mostly horror-inspired. The band started out in 2003 but didn’t get to tour North America until very recently, and as soon as they did the first one in 2014 as support act to Deicide, the floodgates opened for them and the response from long-awaiting fans was instantaneously tremendous. They returned in 2015 with Fleshgod Apocalypse, and just concluded two legs of North American runs in 2016, first with Rotting Christ and then with Kataklysm. As part of the first leg, Carach Angren visited the Regent in downtown Los Angeles, and our writer Jason Williams sat down with keyboardist Clemens “Ardek” Wijers for an interview. Enjoy the conversation below. Continue reading “Black Metal Storytellers: An Interview with Ardek of Carach Angren”

Interview by Jason Williams

New Orleans, Louisana quartet Goatwhore is arguably extreme metal’s most rock n’ roll band on the face of the planet, as they’ve proven throughout their career, specially on their latest full-length effort ‘Constricting Rage Of The Merciless’, released in 2014 via Metal Blade Records. One of the most crushing metal bands in existence, both as a live act and on studio recordings in equal measure, Goatwhore are currently busy working on their seventh album, but still venture out for short tours in the US and Europe even whilst they do so. They just concluded their final US tour of the year 2016, a two-week run with support act The Blood Royale, revolving around their appearance at Ozzfest at San Manuel Amphitheater & Festival Ground in San Bernardino CA on Saturday September 24th, alongside the likes of Black Sabbath, Megadeth, Opeth, Suicidal Tendencies, Hatebreed and others. Goatwhore played one of the side stages in the afternoon, and after the set, singer Ben Falgoust took a break from selling his band’s merch to do an interview with our man Jason Williams. The conversation was about Ozzfest, Black Sabbath, touring, the next Goatwhore record, Soilent Green and more. Enjoy the chat below. Continue reading ““I Never Thought My Band Would Play With Black Fucking Sabbath”: In Conversation With Goatwhore Frontman Ben Falgoust”

By Andrew Bansal

After parting ways with Queensrÿche, veteran metal singer Geoff Tate has continued making music under the Operation: Mindcrime name, and has taken upon a massive undertaking of a concept album trilogy. ‘The Key’, the first album of the series was released in 2015, and the second part ‘Resurrection’ is now ready for release on September 23rd 2016 via Frontiers. Just like he did in Queensrÿche, Tate still focuses on the concept-based approach, but didn’t find the inspiration for this trilogy straightaway. In this candid interview with Metal Assault, Geoff Tate discusses how he came up with the concept, his love for hiking, live shows, performing old Queensrÿche material, future plans and more. Enjoy the chat below. Continue reading “Taking On The World: In Conversation With Geoff Tate”

By Andrew Bansal

Australian hard rock quartet Airbourne have been around since 2003 but have been a breakthrough band in the genre over the past six years, since the release of their second album ‘No Guts. No Glory.’ in 2010 and the worldwide touring that accompanied it. They made an indelible impact on American audiences through their appearance on the touring Uproar Festival the same year, and have not looked back. They followed it up with a strong third record ‘Black Dog Barking’, and are now ready with their newest full-length effort ‘Breakin’ Outta Hell’, due for release on September 23rd 2016 via Spinefarm Records. Led by brothers Joel (vocals, guitar) and Ryan O’Keeffe (drums), Airbourne enthrall with sheer energy, whether it be the studio recordings or the live show, and this new set of tunes might be the best embodiment of their ethos. As the band gets ready to embark on an absolutely must-attend North American headline tour, Ryan O’Keeffe took time out last Wednesday September 7th to talk to Metal Assault, and his answers to the questions were just as precise, fun and hard-hitting as Airbourne songs. Enjoy the chat below. Continue reading “All For Rock N’ Roll: An Interview With Airbourne Drummer Ryan O’Keeffe”

By Andrew Bansal

For nearly three decades, Los Angeles based extreme metal/grindcore group Brujeria have conveyed their politically charged tragicomic messages through songs sung in Spanish and an image portraying themselves as Latino drug lords. Initially a studio-only project because of the high-profile list of metal musicians involved, Brujeria soon began touring and expanded their fan-base. 16 years after the release of their third studio album ‘Brujerizmo’, Brujeria have finally ended the wait for their fans, and are ready with their fourth full-length ‘Pocho Aztlan’, coming out on September 16th 2016 via Nuclear Blast. They are also about to embark on a US headline tour with support acts Cattle Decapitation and Pinata Protest. On September 1st, Metal Assault spoke to vocalist and sole original member Juan Brujo to discuss the album, the lyrical themes, the band’s lineup and plans in detail. Enjoy the chat below. Continue reading “Viva Brujeria: In Conversation With Juan Brujo”