Interview with Byron (Dead River Runs Dry)

  "...real brutality, rawness, fragility and darkness"

 

Dead River Runs Dry have received rave reviews (like this one here) for their debut demo, 'Winter 2012' - and rightfully so.

Dead Void Dreams' scribe Alice used the chance for a quick chat with the band's guitarist Byron - and here's the outcome:

Alice: First off, I would like to thank you for your time conducting this interview.

Byron: No worries. Thanks for the questions.

Alice: Dead River Runs Dry is a new band, being active for only one year. Do you want to tell us more about your decision to form this band?

Byron: To date, we’ve actually been active for about 7 or 8 months. We recorded the material because it seemed like a good idea at the time and it went from there.

Alice: Your demo 'Winter 2012' is a black metal album, but at the same time is something new concerning its sound. Please, tell us more about these musical compositions.

Byron: I don’t think we’re doing something all that new, really.

I see us as a solid metal band inspired very much by black metal as opposed to something more orthodox in the black metal vein. Playing metal untainted by the essence of black metal is difficult for us to do, so it was inevitable we’d retain aspects of the genre, musically and otherwise. Black metal is obviously a huge part of what this band is, but it’s not the be all and end all. It’s more the ever present, hovering shadow that aids in guiding us.

Sonically, there are certain tones which are important to use in the context of our sound. I wanted a big resonating sound on one of my guitar tracks…similar to the one on the album 'Love' by The Cult but less polished…and a more traditional, straightforward, specific ‘metal’ tone on the other track. The kick drums sounded like the blades of a Black Hawk chopper from the outset, and we have the bass rumble beneath the surface in a part low end/part rhythm guitar kind of way, so we didn’t need to do too much in mixing at all. I really like the sound of the demo, we got good results straight away from the pure signals of our respective instruments.

Alice: The atmosphere of the demo is very dark and pessimistic, revealing anger, hostility and misanthropy. Is this final outcome exactly the original idea that you wanted to express with your music?

Byron: Yes.

Alice: What about your lyrical concept? What are the lyrics about and where did you draw the inspiration from writing them?

Byron: The previous question is a good indication. Some of the things scrawled out read strangely on paper but took on a whole new level in the delivery. Enter Murmur. Listening to what he recorded was unsettling when heard back for the first time so it was perfect for the rest of the mix. 

Alice: Which are the main influences of the band?

Byron: Generally, I tend to go easy on namedropping influences because as soon as you do that people start comparing you to those names. At this point in metal’s history most people are aware of the key bands that make certain genres appealing so I don’t need to repeat them. But I will say that I was listening to a lot of Eastern European stuff around the time DRRD got going musically, Roman Saenko’s bands in particular. There’s plenty of disparate elements that go into this band. We all explore diverse areas and it usually ends up playing a part in our musicianship and sound whether we’re conscious of it or not. I doubt I’ll ever completely move away from the hard rock/heavy metal, early thrash, hardcore punk, doom, primal black, death and general “extreme” metal albums that got me and most people into metal in the first place though. 

Essentially though, Australia herself is probably the largest influence on DRRD. The bleak unforgiving hostility of her nature, the bizarre and alien landscapes that overwhelm the “civilization” of her outposts or cities, the absurd measures and actions of the political establishment, the entrenched greed of the corporate sector, the restlessness and fury of her oceans and surfing those waves that break in them while constantly realizing how very alone and vulnerable you are…its a source of inspiration that’s endless. To me, that is the real brutality, rawness, fragility and darkness of what we seek to channel in this band.

Alice: For the time being, you’re not signed to any label; your demo is self-released. Is your intention to continue like this, or do you prefer to be under a certain label? 

Byron: We’ve gotten a lot of things done for this band in 7 months of being unsigned so that’s reassuring. It’s not surprising though, this is 2013 after all and it’s possible to get your material out there more than ever before. I have no problem self releasing or going the independent route if need be, but we’ve been contacted by a few labels lately so I guess something might happen eventually. There’s talk of a tape release soon of the demo for people who want something tangible, like me. [Make that "us" - ED]

Alice: You’re coming from Australia, a country which is not so known for its metal band tradition. How do you see and evaluate the metal scene in Australia?

Byron: Not sure I understand what you mean by the first part of that question but I don’t really evaluate it, I look at it as any other place with metal bands. Good bands and not so good bands.

Alice: What are your plans for your first full-length album?

Byron: We’ll probably have physical copies available this time.

Alice: Have you already arranged any live performance for 2013?

Byron: We’ve got shows lined up in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane which should see us through the first few months of 2013. Check here for details: www.facebook.com/DeadRiverRunsDry


'Winter 2012' is available for free download / streaming on Bandcamp.


 

Interview with John Gelso (The Royal Arch Blaspheme)

The Royal Arch Blaspheme?

 Not a band for the mainstream metal public, let me tell you. 

Things are different here at Dead Void Dreams and when Patrick interviewed band's founder John Gelso I knew this is gonna be a great reading for all you cursed souls out there. Do you agree?

Originally published on Winter Torment Zine

DENIAL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

 

Patrick: Hails John! Thank you for taking the time to fill out this interview! Please introduce yourself to the readers.

John Gelso: Greetings, it all began in 1986 when Paul Ledney and I disbanded a punk project to begin the death/black metal band Toten. Since then, I’ve played guitar in a handful of bands. The only noteworthy ones I care to mention would be Profanatica, Contrivisti, and The Royal Arch Blaspheme.

Patrick: When did you and N.Imperial first meet? What gave you guys the idea to form The Royal Arch Blaspheme? How did the two of you choose the name of the band? How would you describe the band's music for the readers who have never heard The Royal Arch Blaspheme?

John Gelso: I met N. Imperial in Texas at the 2009 Sacrifice of the Nazarene Child Fest. I created RAB as a side project while Paul worked on Havohej in the autumn of 2008. The name was taken from Aleister Crowley’s “Energized Enthusiasm: A Note On Theurgy“ written in 1913. After creating the majority of the hymns, I needed someone with a strong voice to complete the work. I thought of asking Ledney, but felt the album would be viewed as an odd Profanatica album. In addition, I wanted RAB to be its own entity. At Sacrifice of the Nazarene Child Fest, N. Imperial gave me a copy of March Into The Sea. After one listen, I knew he was the perfect fit for RAB. 

I would describe RAB as dark, inward, haunting, and powerful. Both N. Imperial and I pen the lyrics that vary on themes from self-empowerment and ancient truths, to the disgust of religious hypocrisy and it oppressive nature. 

Patrick: Originally the band was just yourself and N.Imperial but for the new release 'II' you decided to add more members for a full-band. Why did you guys decide to add more musicians? Are you happy with the decision so far? Please introduce the new members of the band.

John Gelso: It was my idea to expand RAB, I encouraged everyone to contribute to this album. I’ve worked with Alex and Blake while recording Profanatica’s 'The Grand Master Session'. There is strong chemistry between us when we perform. Everything comes together very quickly. They are both part of the RAB going forward.

Alex and Blake are both previously from Demoncy. In addition, they have both done live session work with Profanatica. Alex also runs and operates Negative Existence.

Patrick: Are you all interested in playing any "live" shows/fests/tours in the future, or would you prefer to keep The Royal Arch Blaspheme a studio-only band?

John Gelso: I would be interested in doing a few live performances with RAB, preferable a fest. I’m more interested in working on the next album.

Patrick: The band recently released their second CD 'II' through Hells headbangers Records. How long did it take to write and record the songs for this release? Which usually comes first in the writing process - the lyrics or the music?

John Gelso: Music comes first, then titles, then lyrics. This album is a bit unique when it comes to the writing of it. I’ve purged ideas I’ve been holding on to for a while. The first riff you hear in “Vama-Marga” was written in 1987. It was taken from a Toten hymn titled “Dreary Proximity.” It was never recorded, but the riff remained in my memory over the years. "Resurrection of Depravity" was written in 2004 in homage to Quorthon. The song “Call from the Grave” inspired the vocals style and is meant as a tribute. 

Patrick: Everyone has their own ideas/opinions on what black metal means/stands for, so I was interested in what you what yours were. What does "black metal" mean to you?

John Gelso: In my opinion, black metal began with Venom. It’s a true dishonor to them when people say it was stared in Norway. To me it’s all about the music and the feel. Its roots are in punk music. While punk is against the establishment, black metal is against religion and what is perceived to be moral. They both have rage within it core. 

Patrick: I know you have been a part of the black metal scene for many years now. How do you feel the scene has changed over the years? Do you feel it has gotten better or worse over the years?

John Gelso: It can never be the same. While there are a lot of great artists out there, and a greater amount of people that truly appreciate the music, the newness of it can never return.

Patrick: I also remember in the early/mid 90's the USBM scene was not really respected or taken very serious from the Europeans. Do you see much of a change in this over the last 10-15 years?

John Gelso: For USBM in general, I feel it’s changed a little. Some bands are getting more respect, though Profanatica still remains possibly the most passionately hated within Europe and the US, especially amongst critics.

Patrick: What is your personal opinion of the scene in the US? Who are some of your all-time favorite USBM bands? Are there any new bands you feel will make an impact and people should watch out for in the near future?

John Gelso: There are many great bands in the U.S. All time favorites: Demonic Christ, Demoncy, Black Witchery. 

Patrick: How do you feel about the black metal bands that use keyboards, synths and female vocals etc. to add "atmosphere" to their music?

John Gelso: I’m not into keyboards or synths in black metal. While its not something I would choose to do, I don’t mind if its in an intro or outro. Overall, black metal should have a more punk feel. I like female vocals. Fuck, Demonic Christ is killer!

Patrick: If you don't mind a few personal questions I had wanted to ask - would you consider yourself a Satanist or just anti-all religion? At what age did you really start to question religion and god etc.?

John Gelso: I started questioning religion at a very early age. I was around 4 or 5 old when I started attending C.C.D (Confraternity of Christian Doctrine), not by my choice. From the beginning I saw many flaws in Catholicism. I quickly developed a true hate for all the ignorance and hypocrisy that I was being "taught.” Catholicism is a plague of misogyny, paedophilia, fear, and destruction of self will. It was created to enrich a few and lure the sheep by providing a false sense of security. Throughout my life I’ve studied other world religions and found the same shit.

Patrick: Who are some Satanists/Occultist you study and follow the most? Do you have any kind of philosophy you try to live by?

John Gelso: I’ve studied Anton LaVey, Aleister Crowley, and Helena Blavatsky to name a few. Years ago I did some work for Tracey Twyman and Boyd Rice, helping them with a website. It provided me with access to a healthy amount of compelling articles and spoken word audio files they created. I have much respect for the amount of knowledge they’ve gathered over the years.

Patrick: How do you feel the world would be different if the religion of any kind (Christianity, Satanism, Paganism etc.) was never introduced to humanity?

John Gelso: Our species would be much farther evolved. Or we would have annihilated ourselves.

Patrick: Coming back to music besides The Royal Arch Blaspheme you are also a part of the legendary Profanatica! Whats new with Profanatica - any band news/updates you would like to share at this time?

John Gelso: There’s should be a new Profanatica album coming out later this year. We finished recording it about a year ago. I’m not clear on why it hasn’t been released yet. Last I hear, Hells Headbangers where waiting for Paul’s artwork. It has 9 new songs, our best effort yet.

Patrick: We have reached the end the of interview,thank you for taking time to fill this interview out. do you have any final words for the readers?

John Gelso: Praise to those who support. 

Interview with Mongrel's Cross

 

You might go on and check out the review I did for Mongrel's Cross debut album, 'The Sins Of Aquarius', to see how impressed I was by the music of this Australian band. And when you're this impressive and 101 per cent metal, you get interviewed by Dead Void Dreams.

In this case, this is an interview done by our contributor Patrick, who's busy with his own Winter Torment zine as well. Huge thanks for the good work, pal!

Grab a beer - ready, set, GO!!!

Patrick: Metal hails! How are things in Australia? Please introduce yourself to the readers?

Grand Mongrel: Hails mate, Grand Mongrel reporting. Things are great here, I've just moved in to a place in the hills where I found a 3 m snake skin so this may be the last interview I do.


 

Patrick: At what age did you first discover metal? Who were some of the first bands you listened to? Who are some of your "current" favourite bands?

Grand Mongrel: When I was 12 years old the first drummer from Blood Duster moved up to Queensland, two doors down from my house. I lived right on the beach back then and one day I was walking down for a surf and heard this maniac bashing the fuck out of his kit. He and I became mates and he introduced me to Entombed, Morbid Angel, Impaled Nazarene, Pungent Stench amongst many others. I immediately became possessed and devoured everything he gave me. I was reading Steven King novels and watching "Rosemary's Baby" and shit so when I found a musical equivalent it was a significant turning point.

Patrick: When did you and the other members of Mongrel's Cross first meet? What gave you all the idea to form the band? How did you come up with the name of the band?

Grand Mongrel: I have know Goet Euryn since we were teenagers. He and I met Necros Craigos in Brisbane and we asked him to play drums for us as we were without a drummer. A mate of ours, Richard, helped me come up with the name. I wanted it to be Mongrel's... so over a beer we tried out a bunch of things and then Rich threw in the Cross and I said that's it.

Patrick: What is the current line up of the band?

Grand Mongrel: Myself, Grand Mongrel - guitars and vocals, Goet Euryn guitars and Necros Craigos on drums. We have two session members for live combat being Baaruhl on guitar and now m.k.h. on bass.

('Whoresanna' EP)

Patrick: The band recently released its debut full-length CD 'The Sins Of Aquarius' through the US label Hells Headbangers Records. How did you guys come in contact with the label? Are you happy with their work so far?

Grand Mongrel: I sent Chase a few tracks from the 'Whoresanna' 7" and he wrote back saying he'd like us on board. We are really happy with HHB so far. They have been really easy to work with and have the right amount of professionalism too.

Patrick: How has the response been from the press and the fans for the new release so far? Does the band have any upcoming shows / tours in support of the album? If yes, where are some places the band will be playing? Any chance the band will get to tour outside of Australia?

Grand Mongrel: The response has been great and it seems maniacs worldwide have been banging it hard. We have done a few shows over the last few months which have served as a platform to exhibit the new album. We have recently talked about taking Mongrel's overseas and it's certainly on the cards in the near future.

Patrick: Who are some bands you have played / toured with in the past? If you could set-up a "dream" show / tour who are some bands you would love to play with?

Grand Mongrel: We have banged alongside heaps of Aussie legends. Innsmouth, Destruktor, Astriaal, Cauldron Black Ram and Assaulter are some to mention. We supported Mayhem and Goatwhore when they were here also. A dream show for me would be a killer festival in Europe with Abigor announcing a one off headline spot.

Patrick: The band comes out of the legendary Australian metal underground, so I was interested what is your opinion of Australia's metal scene? There seems to be a lot of variety of metal genres - thrash, death, black, doom etc. - do most of the bands get along or is there a lot of competition among them?

Grand Mongrel: There is a lot of variety here. The black thrash tag gets thrown around a lot but there are many unique bands doing doom, death and heavy metal stuff. If there's any competition it's healthy and only breeds more creativity and killer bands.

(Split 7" with Innsmouth on Abysmal Sounds)

Patrick: Who are some of your all-time favorite Australian metal bands? Are there any new metal bands you think the readers should check out soon? What about good Australian labels / distros that people should check out?

Grand Mongrel: Armoured Angel, Bestial Warlust, Destroyer 666, Grenade, Gospel Of The Horns, Sadistik Execution are legends, Anatomy. Sacriphyx aren't new but they have been active as of late and doing some very killer shit.
Check out Abysmal Sounds which is a good label ran by a top bloke and amazing poo auteur. Another label / distro worth checking is the Coffin's Slave which is operated by the main man from Trench Hell.

Patrick: In your opinion, what is the best and worst thing about the underground today? And what does the term "underground metal" mean to you?

Grand Mongrel: The best and worst things, a hard question and one I don't think I really have an opinion on. I can say that underground metal is something I think is truly unique in a very plastic world.

Patrick: When you are not working on band music or band business, what do you enjoy doing in your free time? Any hobbies?

Grand Mongrel: Playing guitar is definitely a hobby for me and I try to fit it in to many hours of my week. Other hobbies include RPG abuse and I surf and skate when I can too. [Fuck, no Aussie rules stories here? Laaame..ha-ha - ED]

Aussie rules!

Patrick: Coming back to the band for a moment, you play the guitars in the band, when did you become interested in playing the guitars? Are you self-taught or did you take lessons when you were younger? Who are some of your influences/favourite guitarists?

Grand Mongrel: I played guitar at school very briefly and got the basics down so I'm primarily self-taught. Favourite guitarists....Hetfield, Demonaz, P.K., Quorthon (RIP)., Iommi, Infernus, [Nocturno] Culto, Trey, The Count....fuck there are too many to name.

...Aussie rules!

Patrick: You also handle the vocals for the band, when did you start singing? Do you do anything special to keep your throat / voice healthy? Again -who are some of your favourite vocalists?

Grand Mongrel: I started screaming my head off when we started Mongrel's. I certainly do nothing to look after my throat. It gets abused with liquor and smoke which is no good for vocal chords. Not recommended. My all time favourite vocalist is Grishnackh, nobody sounds like he did on the first Burzum recordings and I don't think anyone ever will again.

Patrick: Mongrel's Cross music is pretty intense and fast so I was wondering when the band plays live, do you find it difficult to sing and play guitars?

Grand Mongrel: I do, so I don't play and sing live I just bang and scream my head off. I find I can't give the vocals as much as they need if I'm concentrating on balancing guitar duties and vocals.

Patrick: Well man, thank you for taking the time to fill out this interview, do you have any final comments for the readers?

Grand Mongrel: No worries mate. Bang the album fuckers!!! 

Mongrel's Cross Facebook 

Mongrel's Cross at Hells Headbangers 

Interview with Matt McGachy (Cryptopsy)

This fall sees the return of Cryptopsy, one of the most loved and talked about technical death metal bands.

Dead Void Dreams jumped on the opportunity for a quick chat with band's vocalist Matt McGachy and here's what he has to say about the new, self-titled, album by the Canadian extremists.

Interview by Dark Alice's Nightingale

 

Dead Void Dreams: After four years of silence you return with a devastating mind-blowing album. The new album is regarded to be your turning back to your roots. What was your aim through this work?

Matt McGachy: We just focused on the songwriting this time around. We wanted to write a record that would reflect the evolution of Cryptopsy while remaining relevant in today's extreme music scene.


Dead Void Dreams: It's been stated on your website that 'Cryptopsy' is gonna be the “most brutal, technical and dynamic offering as of yet”. Do you believe that you have achieved that?

Matt McGachy: I am completely satisfied with our new album, it's technical and dynamic while remaining brutal through and through.


Dead Void Dreams: Is there a specific reason for abandoning the ‘experiments’ with the vocals and the sound of your latest albums and writing something that reminds us of the old Cryptopsy?

Matt McGachy: Flo had Jon to work with on this one. Keep in mind that they are the writing force behind 'Blasphemy Made Flesh', 'None So Vile', 'Whisper Supremacy' and 'And Then You'll Beg'. So once they teamed up again it was almost as if the album wrote itself. As for leaving the experiments behind, yes we did. No point in beating a dead horse, there is no place for clean vocals in Cryptopsy. That's why I started my progressive rock project called The Era Of.


Dead Void Dreams: Does your decision have something to do with the reaction by portion of the fans that were not pleased with 'The Unspoken King'?

Matt McGachy: I guess being reminded of how much they disliked 'The Unspoken King' every day on the net might have been implicitly placed in our minds.

Dead Void Dreams: According to the info, 'Cryptopsy' is both self produced and self released. Do you want to tell us more about the production of this album? What's the pros and cons of being the ones releasing the album, in comparison being on a label?

Matt McGachy: The pros of releasing your own album is that there is no time limit. The cons of releasing your own album were that there was no time limit.

We took our time during the mixing period to make sure that everything was exactly at the level it needed to be. We also took our time for the mastering, we tested out a few different options but in the end it was our bud JF Fortin that gave us what we needed.

We felt no pressure throughout the entire process; we took our time.

On the other hand it has been a lot of work releasing the album ourselves. We had to pick up a lot of the PR work which our label used to do for us. Luckily most of the hard work has been done, like the distribution deals and such. And thank god for easy Internet platforms such as Bandcamp which helped make our life a lot easier.

We could not be releasing this album without the help of Galy Records in Canada, Revolution Harmony and Candlelight Records in the US, PlasticHead in EU, JVC in Japan and Clawhammer PR. These people have helped us unbelievably and we owe them a big thanks!

Dead Void Dreams: Apart from your tour in Ontario and Quebec do you plan visiting USA and / or Europe in 2012 – 2013? How crucial is gigging for a band nowadays?

Matt McGachy: I am really looking forward to touring the new album. As of right now, we have Loud Park 2012 in Japan, as well as you mentioned a few shows in Canada (Ontario and Quebec). We are currently in the process of looking at some tour offers for EU but we have nothing to confirm as of yet.


Dead Void Dreams:Any future plans for a new live album?

Matt McGachy: You never know, I personally would love to!


Dead Void Dreams: How did you come up with the idea of releasing on September 11th the 30-minute documentary 'Making of Cryptopsy'? What should the fans expect from the documentary?

Matt McGachy: We wanted to share ourselves throughout the entire process so we filmed everything. I would expect lots of studio footage, interviews and live jam footage as well.
 

Dead Void Dreams: As far as I know, the Canadian metal scene is very active, with a lot of bands, especially black metal bands. Can you tell us more about the "metal fever" in your country?

Matt McGachy: I think it's our cold winters, nothing to do but to stay inside get drunk and play metal!


Dead Void Dreams: Yup, seems reasonable, especially with the NHL season on hold, ha-ha.What's next for the band?

Matt McGachy: Right now we need to focus on sharing our self-titled album with the world.


Dead Void Dreams: I hope that we will have soon news from you about extensive Euro tour, that would be great! Thank you Matt for the interview!

Matt McGachy: Thanks, it was a pleasure.

Cryptopsy Official Site 

Cryptopsy Facebook 

Interview with Alex Blume (Ares Kingdom)

RESTORATION OF THE UNDYING METAL FIRE

In the following interview Alex Blume, vocalist/bassist for the amazing Ares Kingdom, truly embodies the strong spirit of this unique band.Read on and enjoy!

Interview by Vladimir Petrov

Dead Void Dreams: Hello Alex, how's it going in these much dreaded Summer days? Isn't Kansas City, Missouri, a hellish oven at this time of the year? What's your favourite beverage to keep you sane, beer? What's your fave brands, both locally and nationally? Any comments on European vs. US beer, do you prefer one over the other or you can't be arsed save it's properly cooled and in large quantities?

Alex Blume: Kansas City definitely has pretty extreme summers and winters. It doesn’t matter much, since I mostly hide indoors all the time anyways. Heh. I’m definitely a beer drinker & hell raiser, but try to avoid hard liquor as it tends to get one in too much trouble, especially whiskey or as I like to call it ‘devil piss’! Favorite brands: Leinenkugel’s Sunset Wheat (Wisconsin), Blue Moon (Colorado), & Shiner Boch (Texas.) Europe definitely has the superior beers, every time we’re in Germany, the cheapest beers rival the fancy stuff from over here. My favorite beer on earth so far is Zywiec from Poland, which we can’t get here in KC so I have to smuggle cases back from Chicago!

Alex Blume (Photo by Carmelo Espanola)

Dead Void Dreams: How did you first become interested in metal music, which were the first bands and albums you've heard and owned? At what age you've first discovered this music and what was you area like in terms of fellow metalheads? How did you start playing in bands, were there any before Nepenthe? What are your memories playing with said band? How did you pick the bass guitar - out of your own will or by necessity? Or was it pure laziness 'Sure, it has only four strings', ha-ha?

Alex Blume: I inherited my mom’s old Black Sabbath vinyl when I was 13 and everything pretty much went from there. When high school began some buddies and I began tracking down all the thrash stuff like Metallica, Testament, etc, but once I started getting into more extreme (at the time anyways, heh) stuff like Slayer & Celtic Frost and such they weren’t having it and I had to leave them behind, musically. Another metal head named Kevin and I proceeded further on our own looking for more and more extreme stuff. Everything changed radically once we started hanging out with the Order From Chaos guys, as I’ll get into later.

Nepenthe was my first band, and it was formed from Order From Chaos fans entirely, and we had a lot of great times, but didn’t really produce a whole lot. (Living under the long shadow of Order From Chaos really stinted our output when we got more serious and were trying to stack up to their greatness.) I was always attracted to bass guitar, not sure why, bought one when I was 16 and started messing with it. I also currently play in Blasphemic Cruelty with Gene from Angelcorpse, we put out our debut ‘Devil’s Mayhem’ a couple years back on Osmose, and just played our first live show in Tampa, Florida a couple weeks back!

Dead Void Dreams: Were you part of the tape trading scene back in the day? Wasn't that an amazing time for the underground scene or are we, the aging bastards, simply looking back to our former days through the rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia?

Alex Blume: Yeah, I remember the tape trading days, waiting 4-6 weeks for packages to arrive, writing letters to bands and trading 90 min tapes, and so forth. The stuff you heard back then was treasured and played over and over and studied at length. It’s great nowadays to be able to instantly hear anything you want, but I feel that nothing is really studied like it was before. We’re in a culture of disposable entertainment even in the metal world, which has leaked into even most band’s thinking. Now the norm is thousands of forgettable shallow albums each year are cranked out, fans rave about some of them for a month or so, and then are never spoken of again. The really dense, amazing albums (Negative Plane’s ‘Stained Glass Revelations’ being the latest big example) are passed over by most - they just require too much attention to really get into. [If that's not true, nothing is! - ED]

Ares Kingdom : Too loud for the crowd!

Dead Void Dreams: Order From Chaos...the CULT! At which point you became friends with them and how inspirational they've been to you, both musically and personally? What are your memories hanging around with the band at various parties, venues and gigs? From what they've stated in interviews it's clear that Kansas City wasn't exactly a hotbed for the heavier type of music back then, what did the locals thought about you, the metal guys and your camaraderie? Did you guys gave a fuck or were there some violent stories involved?

Alex Blume: Back in 1989 when I was 16, I got Order From Chaos’ 'Crushed Infamy' demo and recently after that I ran across a guy in a record store with Order From Chaos stuff on his leather jacket, so I asked him about the band. Turned out it was Pete Helmkamp and he invited me over to their Friday night open practices at the infamous ‘road house.’

Kevin and I went over to witness the insanity that was Order From Chaos live in their basement and the drunken mayhem that ensued after that. We left and the Order From Chaos guys and their pals thought they had run us off and would never see us again, like 99.9% of the people who wandered by to check them out. They were dead wrong, and I spent nearly every weekend over there for the next 6 years until the dissolution of Order From Chaos and became a core member of the group.

Order From Chaos

My education in underground metal began in a huge way then. The Order From Chaos guys were actively writing to bands all over the underground in Europe - Bathory, Beherit, Blasphemy, Impaled Nazarene, Samael, Rotting Christ, Varathron, Necromantia, the list goes on and on. I hadn’t even heard yet any of the Earache stuff that was exploding in 1989 and had a lot of catching up to do! Heh.

The Kansas City metal scene was and still is a desolate wasteland, but we didn’t give a fuck and just hung out by ourselves and did our own thing. Much hell was raised, but mostly good natured amongst our group. A million beers drank, furniture destroyed, windows broken, other local bands terrified, bones accidentally broken, girls hit on & horrified, etc, etc...

Musically, Order From Chaos can be considered almost the ultimate cult band. They did what they did for purely personal reasons and with an exact idea of what they wanted to accomplish, and in a total vacuum, hanging it up after 3 albums as had been the plan from the start. ‘An Ending In Fire’ is one of the best albums of all time to me, and "Plateau of Invincibility" is probably the heaviest metal song ever written. [You know you're right, Mr. Blume! - ED]

Order From Chaos 2010 reunion show (Photo by Carmelo Espanola)

Chuck Keller & Mike Miller are the best guitarist & drummer I’d ever seen live as well, and the fucked thing is to this day, that is still true, so obviously I’m lucky as hell to be playing with them all these years in Ares Kingdom! (Might sound like I’m kissing ass, but honestly, tell me who else out there stacks up to them???)

Dead Void Dreams: What were the reasons for the split up of Nepenthe? What did you do after that prior to joining Ares Kingdom? Work? Study? Were you and Doug Overbay approached by Chuck and Mike to the band, were there other people they may have considered to complete the line up besides you two? Whose was the idea of you being a vocalist next to playing the bass guitar? Were you nervous at first, having in mind it was none else than Pete Helmkamp who was in charge of both in Order From Chaos? Yeah, it's different bands, agreed, but for people of certain age and metal upbringing there's always gonna be a connection and comparison between Ares Kingdom and Order From Chaos...

Alex Blume: The break up of Order From Chaos was hard on everyone involved, and basically led to our entire group of friends splitting up. I was shortly kicked out of Nepenthe, and within six months they had disbanded, after (badly) recording 2 of our strongest songs as the band Ligeia. (Luckily one of those songs called "Oblivion" has now been recorded as it should have been on Ares Kingdom’s ‘Veneration’ release!) Soon after Gene Palubicki moved down to Kansas City to work with Pete and Angelcorpse formed at the same road house, I moved in for a couple years and hung out with the Angelcorpse guys and kind of lost contact with Chuck & Mike. After that I left the road house and concentrated on my career, but still kept up with metal stuff & traveled to Chicago many times a year for shows. Many years later I met back up with Chuck & Mike. Doug was already playing bass for them in Ares Kingdom, and after hanging out a couple times they asked me out of the blue to join as the singer. Years later after our first album, ‘Return To Dust’, Doug switched to rhythm guitar and I picked up the bass duties as well. Since I played bass and sang in Nepenthe it was an easy switch.

Doug Overbay (Photo by Carmelo Espanola)

We consider Ares Kingdom basically a continuation of Order From Chaos in spirit, except without some of the closed constraints that Order From Chaos lived under in its vision. Basically Ares Kingdom gives us room to breathe and produce more emotional & pure metal, instead of being solely focused on power & heaviness. I would never claim to be as good of a bass player as Helmkamp (with all his Martin Ain-like stylings), but I’m a capable bass player, and I feel my vocals fit Ares Kingdom much better than Pete ever would or could, due to my focus on emotion & fury, vs. his intense control & static delivery.

Dead Void Dreams: Would you like to comment on the friendship between the members of Ares Kingdom, you and Doug have been friends with Chuck and Mike since your teens, over 20 years ago, not to mention both of them being friends from the age of 5 or so... I'd assume this makes you more of an unit, a close circle of people sharing the same vision, thus helping you running the band more smooth and stress-free, right? Also, I've seen some quite amusing pictures of you partying together with your families...the bond seems to extends beyond the borders of metal, how important is that for you?

Alex Blume: Yeah, I’ve known all these guys for 23 years now, longer than some of fans who come to see us have been alive. We’re definitely a very close unit and have the same vision for what Ares Kingdom is and should be. (Hell, when promoters book us multiple rooms we tell them we only need one double cause we hang out and party the whole time together anyways! Heh.)

Chuck Keller

My band mates and all of our families essentially ARE my only family, and it’s been this way for many years now. We still get sick of each other’s shit occasionally but that happens with any old friends. Playing in one band for so long also is great, because you can almost ‘feel’ transitions by just gut instinct. There’s no pressure/stress of ‘Are we gonna play good at this show?!?’ There’s no question of that!

Dead Void Dreams: As far as I know all Ares Kingdom songs have been written by Chuck Keller and there's no denying he's amazing at that but I'd like to know how much free reign is given to you to work on the bass lines and the singing? As any band worth its salt there should be an endless stream of rehearsals to fine tune the songs, at what point the band would decide there's no need for future alterations to the given track? How's it working with Mike Miller getting the drums/bass patterns done, is there something extraordinary in his playing style that especially stands out for you? Do you guys share the same ground of fave drummers/bass players and which are some of those?

Alex Blume: Yeah, Chuck writes all the music & lyrics. But I’m pretty much free for the most part to arrange the vocals and bass where and how I want in the songs. I’m not really a stellar type bass player like the master Geezer Butler who can fill an entire song with counter melodies so I just follow the guitar core notes for the most part.

Chuck gives Mike tapes of the guitar stuff and he stews on them for a couple of weeks to work on drum arrangements in his head and Doug and I go hang out at Chuck’s separately for ‘riff school’ before we all get together and start working on a new song together.

Mike Miller (Photo by Carmelo Espanola)

Mike Miller never gets enough praise for his drumming I don’t feel. He hits hard as fucking hammer, and plays really interesting patterns that really strengthen our songs. Nothing fruity or too technical or wanky, just pure power, but really adds an extra dimension to the music. ["Pure power" sums it perfectly, cheers Mike! - ED]

My favorite bass players would have to be Geezer & Cronos. (PS to bass players: ONLY FOUR STRINGS ARE REAL!!! All the bass gods played on four strings, are you telling me you’re so fucking good that you need five!!?!??) [Well done,ha-ha - ED]

Dead Void Dreams: I'm yet to read a single review or a comment stating the band sucks, yet your popularity is mostly limited to the underground fans - what the hell is wrong with metalheads nowadays? Does that bothers you at all and how 'big' you'd like to see the band becoming? Metal culture nowadays seems to be radically different than what it used to be and there's an overload of bands, could that be the biggest problem, or is there something else? From what you've seen on your gigs and speaking to fans, is there a healthy support to the band from the younger type of people, those who have been wee kids or hardly born to have any upbringing in the 80s/early 90s metal? How that compares to those who have been 'lifers' and know the development/mutation of the scene first hand?

Alex Blume: Ares Kingdom are strongly rooted in the old school metal sound & spirit, and we let our music stand for us. We feel like we deliver a pretty intense live show as well, but it’s been termed ‘meat & potatoes’ and I agree with that. We’ve been themed ‘metal for adults’ before, and definitely feel like we appeal more to older metalheads who like the ‘core’ metal stuff (Priest/Maiden/Sabbath/Fate etc) and get more what we’re trying to do.

But nowadays in the underground a band’s popularity is rarely based on their music first. Shit, it seems like the music is dead last. It’s more based on gimmickry (Are you satanic? How’s your stage show? Blood, fire? Do you sound exactly like a greater older band? Do you wear costumes? Do you have a chick in the band? Super limited releases? Mysterious stage names?) than musical quality, and being somewhat original even hurts you in today’s scene.

Though I gotta say, there’s a million fucking bands cranking out stuff nowadays, and still we’ve gotten more recognition and are getting to do a lot more than many underground bands out there, so I can’t complain too much! Heh. This thing has gotten bigger than I thought it ever would, even at our limited ‘fame’. Our intentions are pure though, just like Order From Chaos’ were, and if we never get to play alive again and just toil in our basement and put out new albums, I’m fine with that too.

Dead Void Dreams: How important is for the band to keep up the spirit and template of the glorious old metal alive, while at the same time keeping things fresh and interesting for the listener? In my opinion that's one of the main aspects in your music that keeps me in awe, especially considering how rarely this is done by other bands...and never nearly to the extend and class Ares Kingdom do it. Don't you think that this is also a 'curse' for you, I mean no one can pin down your style, besides the broad 'thrash/death' tag?

Alex Blume: Thanks for the compliment. Our goal is musical immortality, to release albums that we feel can be added to an elitist metal bastard’s collection such as ourselves alongside the greats of old, that honestly stacks up with them. We feel we’ve done that twice now [That's right! - ED], with ‘Return to Dust’ & ‘Incendiary’, two albums that have pure metal hearts but aren’t just rehashes and bring something new to the table. After each album, this will only get harder and harder, so expect us only to take longer and longer with future stuff. Heh.

But yeah, you’re definitely right about the curse thing. We can’t really be categorized easily, which makes it easier for us to get lost in the shuffle. Hell, sometimes I worry my death metal style vocals are holding us back from being exposed to the straight heavy or power metal folks who might otherwise really like our stuff!

Dead Void Dreams: How would you compare the style of the songs featured on your 'Return To Dust' and 'Incendiary' albums? Do you prefer one album over the other or that's an impossible task and thus a dumb question,ha-ha? The band seems to follow a certain path in its progression, what were the differences when rehearsing and recording those albums? There's a 4 year gap between the two releases, did you feel the band has matured during this time and broaden its vision as to what you've been intending 'Incendiary' to be? How hard it's been to achieve that task?

 

Alex Blume: ‘Incendiary’ is really considered by us to be ‘Return to Dust’ on steroids, the vision of the first album redone to a larger degree and with our Ares Kingdom style fully developed. That makes our third album that much of a bigger task, because we KNOW we’ve perfected that template and HAVE to do something pretty different.

In retrospect, ‘Incendiary’ was maybe too polished sound-wise, but I don’t regret that too much since it suits the more complicated/epic stuff on that album better. But don’t worry, we’re not getting ‘even more polished’ for ‘Veneration’! It’s a fucking ripper!!!

The greatest strength of Ares Kingdom vs. Order From Chaos is that there are no limits to our vision. We’re gonna do whatever the fuck we want. We’re not narrowing down to perfection like Order From Chaos was and ending up at a dead end of ‘Where the fuck do you go from ‘An Ending In Fire’?!?”. We’re expanding from where we’ve already been!

Dead Void Dreams: Tell me more about the recording process, you're doing it all by yourselves, right? What kind of equipment do you use, what are the biggest obstacles you're facing while engineering, recording and mixing? All this should be helluva demanding work but evidently one that's paying off, since the production really suits the band, it has an warm 'old school' sounding to it...

Alex Blume: Thanks! We’re always pretty happy with our results and having complete control of our sound and no schedules or deadlines to have to meet. (Although that results in us taking fucking forever to get shit recorded. Heh.)

Order From Chaos, Ares Kingdom and Nepenthe have been doing home recording for 20 years now, and the recording gear has greatly improved since then. Ending Order From Chaos stuff was recorded on an 8 track cassette and old mixing bus and with generic mics, whereas Ares Kingdom stuff is recorded on a 16 track Digital Audio Workstation with real effects & mastering gear, and using real (cheap, but real) drum mics. We try to harness the advantages of more modern gear, without embracing all the horrible crutches & bad habits that drain the life out of stuff, i.e. drum triggers, click tracks, etc. We’ve also learned a lot over the years, learned to try to capture exactly what we sound like live, and to not fuck with things too much. Oh, and that only pure Marshall distortion is real!

Another thing that few know, but amazes them when they hear it, is that Mike records the drums in single takes! On every Ares Kingdom song you hear, that’s Mike playing the whole song once. No drum correction bullshit involved. (Good enough for Venom and bands of old, good enough for us!)

(PS to drummers: TRIGGERS ARE THE DEVIL!!! Why the fuck would you want to drain all the dynamics out of your instrument!?!?!? Cause you can’t record the song without studio corrections? Cause you’re playing too fast to be heard without them? Blast beats are 25 years old, no one's impressed anymore. Heh.) [I REALLY like your answers, Alex, ha-ha! - ED]

Dead Void Dreams: You're in the finishing stages of the mixing for the 'Veneration' mini album - can you give me as much info on that project as possible? How did you come with the idea of recording an album of cover songs, was it hard to choose the tracks for this? What's the final list of songs that will be featured? How hard was for the band to play/record songs written by other people? How close have you kept to the original sources? Any tentative release date for 'Veneration'?

Alex Blume: When we started recording ‘Incendiary’, we knew Chuck was gonna need a long time to write everything for our third album. We had already recorded some covers on our singles around ‘Return to Dust’ so we came up with the idea of learning and recording a whole covers album, to give Chuck breathing room to write and give Ares Kingdom something to release in between the 2nd & 3rd albums to keep us busy as a group. (Oh, plus we thought it’d be badass like old Metallica, hee, hee.) For me personally, I’ve wanted to cover "Die By Power" since the Nepenthe days, and thought it’d be the ultimate cover song to do, plus I’m very happy that "Oblivion" can finally come out properly.

We made huge efforts to make sure each song had Ares Kingdom’s signature stamped on it, but to maintain the original spirit of each song. (We’ve spent more time & effort on this than most bands spend on their albums, which is awesome, sad & pathetic, or just fucking nuts, depending on how you look at it. Heh.)

We chose songs that we feel are super obscure but also from bands we feel are amazing and vastly underrated, such as:

"Die by Power" (Slaughter Lord)

"The Captive" (Sacrilege)

"When Your Heart Turns Black" (R.U. Dead?)

"Act Dead" (Mefisto)

And decided to dig up songs from our previous bands, such as:

"Celestial" (Vulpecula)

"Oblivion" (Nepenthe)

We’re in final mixing/artwork stages now and hope to have ‘Veneration’ released before the NWN! 3 fest in November 2012.

Dead Void Dreams: 'Veneration' is gonna be released by Nuclear War Now! - they seem to be the perfect label for the band, do you agree? What makes them special..apart from releasing high quality products and those 'collectors porn' vinyl ones? :-)

Alex Blume: Yosuke from NWN! Productions has been a huge supporter and strong believer in the vision of Ares Kingdom all along from the beginning, regardless of our popularity and selling power or lack of. And he gives us the freedom to make sure our releases look EXACTLY how we want them to, with glorious vinyl editions also! We sometimes feel that we have not a lot in common with most of the other NWN! bands, but are perfectly home there nevertheless!

Dead Void Dreams: Speaking of NWN! you're once again playing their fest in Berlin this November. What are your memories from your previous visits, any particular highlights? Do you think there's a chance of Ares Kingdom properly touring Europe ? Say yes,yes,yes..ha-ha.

Alex Blume: My most fond memory is when Ares Kingdom played the first NWN! fest, the crowd was singing one of our songs louder than I was. Once I heard that I got choked up and stopped singing for a second even! That was just unbelievable to us!

This is the third NWN! fest and our third appearance there. We pride ourselves on the fact that our first two appearances had hardly any similar songs in our sets, and our third appearance will be no different! This time will be even more special, and live up to the spirit of ‘Veneration’ because for the last quarter of our set we’ll welcome Chuck’s old friend Stefan from Varathron up on stage and Ares Kingdom will back him playing a couple Varathron songs! This will occur right before Rotting Christ take the stage and play only their most ancient material. Since we were old pen-pals to all these guys back in the late 80s, this will be very special for us.

We’d be glad to do a proper tour of Europe someday, if we can just find a promoter who’s interested! [Fingers fuckin crossed for this!!! - ED]

Chuck & Stefan (Varathron)

Dead Void Dreams: Time to wrap up, Alex. I hope you've enjoyed this interview as much as I did. Thanks for your time and the excellent answers, cheers! Shout out loud, will you?

Alex Blume: CAN YOU FEEL THE POWER!?!?

DIE HARD!!!

 http://www.areskingdom.com/