AS I LAY DYING – CONVERGE – BARONESS – BLEEDING THROUGH

HOUSE VS HURRICANE – REALITY – THE SMITHS

ENDLESS HEIGHTS

ISSUE SIX – JUNE 2010

Bleeding Through ... p.6As I Lay Dying ... p.10Converge ... p.16Baroness ... p.24House Vs Hurricane ... p.30

Editor’s Letter ... p.4Quickfi re: Endless Heights ... p.5Bands You’ve Never Heard Of ... p.34New Music ... p.35Obituary: The Smiths ... p.38

EDITORS LETTER

If I’m going to be completely honest wth myself, this issue has been a complete and utter strug-gle from start to fi nish and I am SO GLAD it’s done!

Just nothing went right. Or rather, nothing went the way that it was supposed to.

During the fi rst six or seven min-utes of the Baroness interview, I thought John Dyer Baizley was go-ing to hang up on me because he didn’t like my questions. Turned out he’s a super nice guy and just had to warm himself up.

This was supposed to be a Bleed-ing Through cover, but we didn’t get the complete band for the tour so instead we get portraits of some members and not of others.

We had problems with lighting at the As I Lay Dying cover shoot. It was either not do it or have a 50/50 shot of getting some-thing. Fortunately, that was one instance where everything turned out great.

The audio for the Converge in-terview was completely screwed. What you get isn’t a complete

interview because the majority of the audio is completely inaudible. I have no idea what even hap-pened there.

Adobe Illustrator on my Mac hates me, and as the weeks went on bugs started to crop up in InDesign as well so I’ve had to restart this issue twice and even now can’t properly export the fi les that I need to.

On the upside, the interviews are some of the most interesting. the photography is some of the best we’ve ever featured, I’m psyched on every single band between the pages and I get to welcome three amazingly talented people to the team.

First up is Chad Sexington – clearly a pseudonym, but all you need to know is the dude is a ruler! Then there’s Lindsey Cuthbert-son, who is writing for us. He actually started out last issue but I forgot to mention him then.

And fi nally is Ben Clement, who’s work you will be seeing a lot of in forthcoming issues.

On the whole, even though things may not have worked out the way they were supposed to, I am happy with this issue: from the Quickfi re with Sydney’s Endless Heights to the Obituary on The Smiths.

You also get a frank conversation with Marta and Brandan from Bleeding Through, I interviewed Jordan Mancino from As I Lay Dying while he’s at Disneyland, Chris from House Vs Hurricane talks about their debut album and John Dyer Baizely talks us through the philosophies of Bar-oness.

The most important thing is the feature on Converge. I had the amazing good fortune of inter-viewing the INCREDIBLE Kurt Ballou. That’s another of my fa-vourite bands I get to cross of the “Wish To Interview List”.

Anyway, check the issue out and any comments or suggestions, hit us up on the email on the con-tents page.

Until next time...Sarah x

ENDLESS HEIGHTSINTERVIEW with DRUMMER, INTERVIEW with DRUMMER, JULIAN DIAZJULIAN DIAZby SARAH PETCHELLby SARAH PETCHELLLIVE PHOTOS: LACHLAN HICKSLIVE PHOTOS: LACHLAN HICKS

How did you get into hardcore in How did you get into hardcore in the fi rst place? What attracted the fi rst place? What attracted you to it? you to it? “In my early teens I was really into my metal and I think the fi rst hardcore band I got into and from there one of my friends leant me Blacklisted’s The Beat Goes On and as that one minute some-thing of the opener, ‘Tourist’, was done I knew I was listening to something refreshing.

“I don’t really know how to de-scribe it. I guess I felt it had the same aggression as metal but without the cliché and with more soul. After that I started check-ing out more bands and going to shows.

“As for the scene’s attractiveness, the community aspect defi nitely roped me in as it was really dif-ferent to what I had experienced in my old band. The reactions we received when Your Ghost Is A Gift (what we used to be called) started doing things was differ-ent too. We got a huge hand from people like Dan Misztal from Strike Hard Bookings, who put us on shows, and bands such as Armed With Courage and Mary Jane Kelly giving us kind words.”

What sort of aims and goals did What sort of aims and goals did you have when you started out? you have when you started out? How have they changed from How have they changed from then to now?then to now?“To become rock stars! Nah, we didn’t expect anything when the band was starting out as none of us really knew what we were doing. I think opening up for The Broderick and Antagonist was good enough. When I think back to then, our goals were to be as melodic and as heavy as we could be in the same equation. There was a lot of The Ghost Inside, Misery Signals, The Acacia Strain and For The Fallen Dreams wor-ship going on.

“I think we’ve all really matured in our approach to music and we’re exploring new avenues in our sound. We’ve all become some-what jaded with our old material as we have started to get on our

own feet, musically. We dropped all the bullshit.” What would you say is the most What would you say is the most memorable thing to have hap-memorable thing to have hap-pened to you while being in the pened to you while being in the band? band? “That would undoubtedly be opening for Have Heart at St. Ives. The show was completely sold out and the amount of kids singing back our lyrics was overwhelming. I felt like I was in Killswitch Engage! Apart from that, probably the drunk middle aged punk telling One Vital Word to play Heresy covers at the Town and Country in St. Peters who pro-ceeded to take one of the mics and just began to yell. I guess you had to be there…”

What gets you the most psyched What gets you the most psyched about playing in your band?about playing in your band?“I think hanging out at the shows is the best part, getting to catch up with the dudes in the band and also catching up with people you don’t usually see unless at shows. The crowd participation always helps as well.”

What’s it like playing as a part What’s it like playing as a part of the Sydney Hardcore scene? of the Sydney Hardcore scene? What are it’s positives and nega-What are it’s positives and nega-tives?tives?“It’s great and I’ve made a lot of new friends because of it. I guess the older bands are some-

what skeptical of new bands that come through, especially if your members hadn’t been seen to do anything contributing to hard-core, but sticking through it, they softened up and am now great friends with a lot of these guys. On the fl ipside though the posi-tives are huge: all the bands look out for each other, with bands putting other bands on their bills.”

What local bands are you What local bands are you psyched on at the moment?psyched on at the moment?“All of them, although bands you should listen to are Legions, Fixtures, Empires, Pledge This, El-egy, Fistmouth, Reality and Never Content. The new Phantoms CP is going to be ridiculous, as is Hand of Mercy’s, Relentless’ and Shinto’s.”

Will you guys be releasing any-Will you guys be releasing any-thing new in the upcoming thing new in the upcoming months? Written months? Written any new tracks?any new tracks?“We’re currently trying to sort out all the miscellaneous stuff such as artwork for our forthcoming EP, Prologue that was recorded with Sam Saljooghi of Ghost Town in January. This should be out in the next couple of months.”

Endless Heights’ EP, Endless Heights’ EP, ProloguePrologue, is , is available now at available now at endlessheights.bandcamp.comendlessheights.bandcamp.com

BLEEDING THROUGH

No Heroes: So how’s the tour go-No Heroes: So how’s the tour go-ing so far?ing so far?Marta: “It’s terrible. It’s not fun at all.”

Brandan: “It’s pretty much the worst tour...Just kidding! The tour’s been good, it’s been great! It’s our fi fth time in Australia and it’s defi nitely one of our favourite places to play because it’s one of those places that reminds us of home: the same weatherwise, the same temperament of people. And anytime that you get to play a tour to a whole bunch of new kids, that’s great! Anytime that you can get more exposure on top of the fans that you already have is great. A lot of bands don’t get to do that.”

NH: This defi nitely isn’t the sort NH: This defi nitely isn’t the sort of tour that I would see you guys of tour that I would see you guys normally play, so I guess that’s normally play, so I guess that’s good as well.good as well.B: “We defi nitely have a lot of cross over with these kids, but Machine Head have sold a tonne of records here so there’s go-ing to be a lot of people that we haven’t reached.”

M: “And we’ve always been the band that’s been willing to take chances with touring with any band. So it might seem uncom-mon or an unlikely band, but we’ve also toured with a lot of even less likely bands.”

NH: What’s it like being on tour NH: What’s it like being on tour

with those sorts of epic heavy-with those sorts of epic heavy-weights like Slayer or Marilyn weights like Slayer or Marilyn Manson?Manson?M: “It’s actually pretty casual. Es-sentially, we’re all doing the same thing and we all have the same goals. It’s not as if they’re doing something, or have done some-thing that we’re not trying to do ourselves.”

B: “It’s a lot of like-minds on tour, even with bands like Slayer or Marilyn Manson. That’s the thing, a lot of people can be total rock stars if their band has had suc-cess. But, the thing is, they’re just trying to do the same thing as every other band in the world but the pieces have aligned a little better for them in doing that.

“This tour is great though. We’re a band that respects the bands that we tour with, but we’re not impressed by them. Just be-cause you have fame and fortune doesn’t impress us. I don’t really care. But this tour, we’ve had the great fortune to tour with Ma-chine Head and Hatebreed who have had a lot of success, but the thing that sets them apart is that they’re impressive people. They are down-to-earth the whole time and they understand that all of us are just trying to do the same thing. There’s a really good kin-ship with all these bands as well.”

NH: How important is the live NH: How important is the live show and playing live to Bleeding show and playing live to Bleeding

Through?Through?B: “I think a lot of bands on records, especially these days, don’t need to perform on their records. A prime example is that I’m involved in a side-project at the moment where it’s me and one other person and we do ev-erything ourselves with the drums being programmed. It’s easy. A lot of bands can get a really decent recording and not even have to play. The sign that they can actu-ally do it is when you see them live. If they’re really good players live and they put on a really good show then that’s great.”

NH: What’s the actual experience NH: What’s the actual experience of being on-stage like for you of being on-stage like for you guys?guys?M: “I think it’s different for every-one. I think some people experi-ence calm and some people ex-perience anxiety. I think, though, there’s defi nitely (assuming things are falling into place and there isn’t issues onstage) some-thing motivating by seeing the crowd respond. It’s the reason you do what you do. I think that’s hopefully common amongst musi-cians, otherwise why would you do it?”

NH: How much of this whole NH: How much of this whole experience of being in a band is experience of being in a band is a cathartic experience for you a cathartic experience for you guys?guys?M: “That’s probably individual. For me I love, love playing live. I love performing. I feel that it is

my release. It’s everything that I want to be doing at that point. And when things are good, that’s everything that I could ever want.”

B: “And it’s the same for me. For me it was a way for me to get out certain emotions that I had. When we were starting Bleed-ing Through, my anxiety was just crazy at one stage and I used to look at the crowd differently to what I do now. I can honestly say that I would look at the crowd and just hate everybody. I would feel like I just wanted everyone to stop looking at me, because I was sort of thrown into the singer role, that wasn’t exactly what I wanted to be.”

NH: I guess I have to talk about NH: I guess I have to talk about the new, self-titled album a bit. So the new, self-titled album a bit. So now that it’s done and all in the now that it’s done and all in the can ready to be released how do can ready to be released how do you feel about it?you feel about it?M: “Stoked! Totally stoked! We just want it out and we just want to be out playing those songs already because we’re not playing any of them this tour for a num-ber of reasons, like the smaller set, that we’re not playing with our usual drummer and that we’re playing as a fi ve-piece right now. We’re just excited.”

NH: Where are you drawing infl u-NH: Where are you drawing infl u-ences from musically and lyrically ences from musically and lyrically this time around?this time around?B: “What I did on this record was that I listened to a lot of Bleeding Through stuff. I listened to a lot of our past records and picked up the stuff that was defi nitive to what Bleeding Through is and things that we did consistently through every record to make sure that it was a part of this record. It’s not that we’re trying to be unoriginal and do the same record, but I just wanted to take those things and kick them up a notch to improve them.”

NH: If it’s not too personal a ques-NH: If it’s not too personal a ques-tion, what kind of message are tion, what kind of message are you trying to get across with the you trying to get across with the lyrics on this record?lyrics on this record?B: “This time it’s a little bit about the journey of doing this for as long as we have. It’s a little bit about the heartbreak and the sacrifi ce that it kind of takes to do this and make a career out of

it. There are so many things that you have to exclude from your life and so many people and things you have to sacrifi ce. Dreams and aspirations get put on hold to do this and it’s sort of about that.

“But there’s a little bit of bitter-ness in this record too, and a lot of that is aimed at the show-goer who has no fucking idea what we do go through. They see rock stars that get to travel the world and, yeah, that’s the plus bit. But the shitty thing is that I get to see my wife half the year and my friends maybe two months out of the year.”

NH: I don’t know if you still even NH: I don’t know if you still even consider yourselves a hardcore consider yourselves a hardcore band anymore, but the thing is band anymore, but the thing is that a lot of hardcore bands don’t that a lot of hardcore bands don’t really have that long a life-expec-really have that long a life-expec-tancy. How then have you kept tancy. How then have you kept this up for 10 plus years now?this up for 10 plus years now?B: “Yes, Bleeding Through came up through the hardcore scene and we’ve always considered our-selves a part of that community, and still do.

“The thing is that, when we fi rst started out it was mostly hardcore kids and then all of a sudden there’s that heartbreak I told you about. It’s like you’re a band for three or four years, you start sell-ing records and headlining shows. You start going on tours and bumping up the venues. And a lot of those kids don’t like bands like that anymore. As soon as a band has some sniff of success, they’re gone because they want to be elite. That’s got nothing to do with hardcore, it’s with metal and punk rock and everything.

“We know that kids are always go-ing to be into a band for like three years, so you’re always trying to grab onto new people. But that makes the kids that have been there since day one to now that much more special too. Challeng-ing yourself is the way to kind of do it.”

NH: What’s the worst trend you’ve NH: What’s the worst trend you’ve seen so far in your 10 years doing seen so far in your 10 years doing this?this?B: “I’m going to say this. It’s not the worst trend, but I’ve seen a lot of trends come and go and

it was the fastest moving trend. And I’m talking about the whole deathcore thing. It literally turned from hearing about a band like Job For A Cowboy, then all of a sudden every single show we played, all the local bands sound-ed exactly like that. But it was weird because it was just odd! It just swept through and now you’re hearing it’s death rattles.

“My new term for bands is ‘death-core denial’ – it’s all the bands that got big through deathcore but they still have a career at this. But now it’s a taboo thing where they’re calling themselves death metal and have all grown their hair and are writing death metal records.”

NH: What do you think is your big-NH: What do you think is your big-gest achievement to date?gest achievement to date?M: “The lawn bowling tournament that we won today!”

B: “Yeah we beat Emmure at lawn bowls today. You know what, I think the biggest achievement is the longevity because we fought for so many years. You’re always going to run into adversity and naysayers, but to stay headstrong through that is something that a lot of bands don’t get to do.

“There’s a lot of frustration in this business and there’s a lot of ups-and-downs, but that makes it the biggest achievement: the fact that we just keep pushing through it.”

NH: Is there anything left for you NH: Is there anything left for you to cross off the Bleeding Through to cross off the Bleeding Through to-do list?to-do list?M: “There’s probably a few places that we probably still have left to play. But as far as big, big goals are concerned, I don’t think that we are actively pursuing those. We’re not saying that we want to write a Platinum-selling album.”

B: “But if it would happen it would be cool. It probably – actually, not probably. I’m going to put down 110 per cent and say that it would never happen.”

INTERVIEW: SARAH PETCHELLINTERVIEW: SARAH PETCHELLLIVE PHOTOS: LACHLAN HICKSLIVE PHOTOS: LACHLAN HICKSPORTRAITS: CRAIG NYEPORTRAITS: CRAIG NYE

AS I LAY DYING

ONE THING I NEVER EXPECT-ONE THING I NEVER EXPECT-ED WHEN I TOOK THE CALL ED WHEN I TOOK THE CALL FOR THIS INTERVIEW WITH FOR THIS INTERVIEW WITH JORDAN MANCINO, THE JORDAN MANCINO, THE DRUMMER FOR METALC-DRUMMER FOR METALC-ORE OUTFIT AS I LAY DYING, ORE OUTFIT AS I LAY DYING, WAS THAT I WOULD BE DIS-WAS THAT I WOULD BE DIS-CUSSING THE BAND’S NEW CUSSING THE BAND’S NEW ALBUM, ALBUM, THE POWERLESS THE POWERLESS RISERISE, WITH HIM WHILE HE , WITH HIM WHILE HE WAS SITTING IN THE COURT-WAS SITTING IN THE COURT-YARD OF DISNEYLAND WAIT-YARD OF DISNEYLAND WAIT-ING TO JOIN THE TICKET ING TO JOIN THE TICKET QUEUE. YES, YOU READ COR-QUEUE. YES, YOU READ COR-RECTLY – DISNEYLAND!RECTLY – DISNEYLAND!

A FAR CRY FROM THE STU-A FAR CRY FROM THE STU-DIO THEY WERE HOLED UP DIO THEY WERE HOLED UP IN WITH ADAM D WHILE RE-IN WITH ADAM D WHILE RE-CORDING THE ALBUM, THIS CORDING THE ALBUM, THIS WAS PERHAPS THE PERFECT WAS PERHAPS THE PERFECT SETTING TO DISCUSS THE SETTING TO DISCUSS THE ALBUM DUE TO THE COM-ALBUM DUE TO THE COM-PLETELY CONTRADICTORY PLETELY CONTRADICTORY NATURE OF BOTH. ON THE NATURE OF BOTH. ON THE ONE HAND, THERE’S THE ONE HAND, THERE’S THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH. HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH.

THEN THERE’S THEN THERE’S THE POWER-THE POWER-LESS RISELESS RISE – AN 11-TRACK – AN 11-TRACK METAL MASTERPIECE THAT METAL MASTERPIECE THAT SEES AS I LAY DYING AT THE SEES AS I LAY DYING AT THE HEAVIEST, FASTEST AND HEAVIEST, FASTEST AND MOST TECHNICAL THEY’VE MOST TECHNICAL THEY’VE EVER BEEN.EVER BEEN.

THE NEXT TIME I SPOKE TO THE NEXT TIME I SPOKE TO JORDAN WAS WHEN THE JORDAN WAS WHEN THE BAND WAS IN AUSTRALIA BAND WAS IN AUSTRALIA BACK IN MARCH. THE GUYS BACK IN MARCH. THE GUYS WERE LATE TO THE SHOOT WERE LATE TO THE SHOOT FOR THIS COVER BECAUSE FOR THIS COVER BECAUSE THEY HAD JUST RECEIVED THEY HAD JUST RECEIVED THE FINAL MIX OF THE AL-THE FINAL MIX OF THE AL-BUM AND HAD TO LISTEN TO BUM AND HAD TO LISTEN TO IT TO REGISTER ANY LAST IT TO REGISTER ANY LAST MINUTE CHANGES.MINUTE CHANGES.

AND NOW THAT THE ALBUM AND NOW THAT THE ALBUM IS HERE, IT’S EVERYTHING IS HERE, IT’S EVERYTHING THAT JORDAN PROMISED IN THAT JORDAN PROMISED IN THE INTERVIEW THAT FOL-THE INTERVIEW THAT FOL-LOWS…LOWS…

So I guess you’ve fi nished the So I guess you’ve fi nished the new album and that’s all ready to new album and that’s all ready to

go now?go now?“Yeah, it’s almost done. We’ve been in mix for the last two and a half weeks and we’ve got about another two weeks left. But everything is all recorded and it’s sounding great! We’re really, re-ally happy with it!”

How are you feeling about it at How are you feeling about it at the moment? Excited? Nervous?the moment? Excited? Nervous?“Very, very excited actually! I think it’s our best record by about a thousand. All the performances are really good, the songs are just that much better than the last record, so yeah, I’m really excited about it.

“You know, it’s hard to really describe it before people have ac-tually heard it. I think the record is actually heavier, the songs are better and there are a lot more hooks. There are just a lot more things to related to within lyrics for one thing.”

Did you do anything different Did you do anything different this time around in the writing or this time around in the writing or recording process? Or even musi-recording process? Or even musi-cally?cally?

“Well, the writing process we went about in the same way as we did the last one: we get song skeletons from everybody and pick our favourites and then kind of try and construct songs from them before jamming them out in a room. We then give them to our producer and he would give us his notes and change things and that would be it.

“But the thing we did do com-pletely different is that we did two different recording sessions this time around. We started the fi rst one in late October and recording eight songs until about the begin-ning of December when we got back on the road again. We then recorded another fi ve songs in January and February.

“So we broke up the record into

different recording sessions and that was kind of cool because it gave us time to really focus on a smaller number of songs and get those done. It really gave us a chance, ahead of time, to get all the details in that we always run out of time to do.

“So that was really cool: there wasn’t really anything we wanted to put on this record that didn’t make it on there.”

I think it’s always interesting to I think it’s always interesting to know what was going on in your know what was going on in your lives while you were writing the lives while you were writing the album, so what was happening?album, so what was happening?“We were actually at home and I guess that’s monumental due to the fact that we hadn’t been home for more than a month or two since probably 2002. This is the fi rst time we’ve been at home

for more than a couple of months, but we’ve been home since June of last year, actually.

“It’s kind of bizarre being able to fall asleep in my own bed every night, especially when it doesn’t happen very often, so I think that’s cool. We get to spend time with our families, which is really important, and kind of create a home life for ourselves in the very short amount of time that we have.

“It’s pretty different and cool because all we’re focused on is writing and writing only. We had a couple of one off shows here and there in December, but other than that we’ve just been focusing on writing and practicing.”

Is it a weird transition to do that? Is it a weird transition to do that?

“It’s kind of bizarre being able to fall asleep in my own bed every night, “It’s kind of bizarre being able to fall asleep in my own bed every night, especially when it doesn’t happen very often...We kind of recreate a especially when it doesn’t happen very often...We kind of recreate a

home life for ourselves in the very short amount of time that we home life for ourselves in the very short amount of time that we actually have at home...”actually have at home...”

To go from being on the road for To go from being on the road for so long and then coming home so long and then coming home for a relatively long amount of for a relatively long amount of time to what you’re used to?time to what you’re used to?“Yes, it’s super weird! I’m still kind of getting used to it but I haven’t gotten used to it enough where I feel like I need to bail and I’ve got to get back out again and tour. I guess you would call it cabin fever, but it’s just being ready to get back on the road and start playing shows again.

“It’s been really good. I think a lot of us have been missing our fami-lies and only being able to see them for a couple of weeks at a time. So being home and spend-ing time with them as much as we have been, has been a really cool thing for us.”

Where did the name for the al-Where did the name for the al-bum actually come from?bum actually come from?“It’s one of the lyrics to the song called ‘Upside Down Kingdom’ which is later on the record. But the general idea of The Powerless Rise, the meaning of it, is tall the oppressed people or forgotten people of society and how it’s their time now to rise up. I think that’s what the general idea is.

“Obviously there is more to it than that, but Tim would be the better one to answer those questions because he wrote most of the lyr-ics. Well, all the lyrics actually…”

What are you hoping that people What are you hoping that people will get out of the album?will get out of the album?“I think, lyrically, there’s a lot of thought-provoking and emotion-ally provoking topics that we hope people take to hear and that people that the time to think about and take action on. We hope that people just enjoy the songs because they are just that much better than the last record. We really put our hearts and souls into this record, as we’ve done with every record.”

What exactly is it like working with What exactly is it like working with Adam Dutkiewicz as a producer? I Adam Dutkiewicz as a producer? I know it’s your second time work-know it’s your second time work-ing with him, but I’ve heard very ing with him, but I’ve heard very mixed reports of what he’s like.mixed reports of what he’s like.“D’s great! He’s an amazing producer. He’s a well-rounded musician – great guitar player, great drummer and a great singer

– so he’s able to be involved with every part of the recording process. This time around, espe-cially, he was able to spend a lot more time with Tim on his lyrics, vocals and vocal lines, and it re-ally shows through in the songs. When people hear it they’re going to hear the progression from the last album to this album. Every-body played so well that it was just incredible.

“You know Adam D (for people who have seen him live or seen videos of him) he’s a goofy dude – a hilarious dude. He’s got these little things about him that he does in the recording studio to make it easier to bear. He’ll put little, funny sound bytes into the songs you’ve already recorded. The main thing is that he’s a really good friend, fi rst and fore-most, then a great engineer and producer.”

You guys ran a competition to You guys ran a competition to guess the album title through guess the album title through your Twitter page. It kind of raises your Twitter page. It kind of raises the question as to how important the question as to how important is the internet to As I Lay Dying’s is the internet to As I Lay Dying’s success as a band, both past and success as a band, both past and present?present?“It’s very important, I think, be-cause of the style of music that we play. It’s been underground for a long time and the fans are underground, so the internet was the perfect way for us to get our music to the people who wanted to hear it.

“I think now the type of metal that we’re in, it’s a little bit more mainstream than it used to be, but I still think the main com-munication method we have with our fans is the internet and so we obviously try to make the most of that and try to interact with them as much as possible. Like using Twitter and having fun with them with a competition.”

How excited are you guys to be How excited are you guys to be coming back to Australia?coming back to Australia?“Very, very! Australia is what we consider to be our second home. I think a lot of it has to do with the people there and just our fans there: we feel welcomed. Also, because we’re from South-ern California, I think Australia is probably the closest place to the

vibe Southern California has. We always feel at home there and coming back, it always feel like we never left, minus the wife and the accent of course. We love it there. Honestly, if there is any other place in the world I’d want to be living, it would be there.

“We’re really glad to be going back there and playing smaller venues is kind of cool for us. You know, the last time we were over there we were playing Sound-wave, which is that big festival setting, so I’m really excited to play smaller venues and have a real personal reaction and inter-action from the crowd.”

That’s actually something I’m That’s actually something I’m really curious about, because really curious about, because you’re playing venues that are you’re playing venues that are considerably smaller than what considerably smaller than what you could probably play and still you could probably play and still draw a decent crowd. Why is that draw a decent crowd. Why is that exactly?exactly?“One of the reasons is obviously because we just played a festival tour over there so we thought it would be important to go over there and have a more personal and closer interaction with our fans and it’s obvious that this would be the best way to do it.

“Also, because the album isn’t go-ing to be released yet, we didn’t want to make it think like grand production that we’re trying to pull off. We wanted to wait until the record was out and go over there and kind of do something a little bit more substantial, a big-ger production.”

Is this going to be the fi rst tour Is this going to be the fi rst tour since you guys took that break?since you guys took that break?“Yes, it will be. And we’re excited to get back on the road for sure!”

You guys are playing Easterfest You guys are playing Easterfest and I know that’s a Christian and I know that’s a Christian rock festival. Obviously, you guys rock festival. Obviously, you guys don’t like being pigeon-holed as a don’t like being pigeon-holed as a Christian band but I’m wondering Christian band but I’m wondering how important is it for you guys how important is it for you guys to hold true to those values with to hold true to those values with your music?your music?“No, it’s very important for us to stick to those values and to stay true to those values, like you said. You know, we’ve never actually played Easterfest before so we’re not sure what it’s like, but we do

a lot of Christian festivals over in the States because I think that’s a market that gets lost.

“We know a lot of Christian bands that tour in consecutive tours like we do and a lot of people forget about those fans – those kids who don’t get a chance to go to those regular shows. So we’re not partial to one crowd or the other. We just want to play to our fans and to those people who want to hear the music. That is what’s im-portant, not whether it’s a Chris-tian festival or an Easter festival or whatever. The title or venue of the show isn’t as important as fi nding those people.”

What’s it like for you getting on-What’s it like for you getting on-stage. Does anything go through stage. Does anything go through your head or does it become sort your head or does it become sort of a whitewash really?of a whitewash really?“Actually, I do a lot of thinking and

a lot of concentrating, trying to get my body in a place where it’s ready to perform. I mean, I warm up for a minimum of an hour, usu-ally around like two hours, before I play by doing different types of cardio and stretching and stuff. I’m just getting myself ready to put on the best show possible.

“As a drummer, there’s a lot of concentrating involved as I’m try-ing to interact with the crowd, but I’m also trying to make sure that I perform well, keep it quite tight and give the crowd the best show that I can. That’s what we’ve always tried to do, whether it’s a small club or a big show.”

What does it mean to you to be What does it mean to you to be in a band like As I Lay Dying, and in a band like As I Lay Dying, and I guess what does your music I guess what does your music mean to you as well?mean to you as well?“It’s hard to put into words, but

basically I love our band. You know, since I started it’s always been a passion of mine and heavy music has always been a passion of mine. What we do as a band is very important to me because of the lives we’ve been able to change and the topics we’re able to discuss lyrically.

“I think we try to write and play what is very genuine music to us and I think that people see that. It’s how people are able to related to us in a genuine way.

“I mean, we’re not trying to be like a cookie-cutter, pop band. We’re trying to be a band that plays what they love, whether people like it or not, and I think they can appreciate that. We’re not trying to impress anybody, so we just do what we do and con-nect with our fans on a different

“We’re not partial to one crowd or the other. We just want to play to our “We’re not partial to one crowd or the other. We just want to play to our fans and to those people who want to hear the music...The title or fans and to those people who want to hear the music...The title or

venue of the show isn’t as important as fi nding those people...”venue of the show isn’t as important as fi nding those people...”

level than most bands.”

So when you formed As I Lay Dy-So when you formed As I Lay Dy-ing with Tim back in 2000, did ing with Tim back in 2000, did you ever think that this would be you ever think that this would be how far you guys would actually how far you guys would actually come?come?“I had no idea! When Tim and I started the band we were just excited to be on the road and to play some shows, maybe put out a record or two. We didn’t realise we would eventually be able to do all of that full time and that we would be able to make a living out of it.

“It’s something that we’ve been very fortunate and very blessed to be able to do, but it’s something that we never expected. That is why we always strive to write the best that we can and to play the best that we can. Because that is our motivation, it’s help us grow

and be part of a genuineness as fans see in our music and in us.”

Looking back now from when you Looking back now from when you started, is there any advice that started, is there any advice that you would give to a band that’s you would give to a band that’s just starting out?just starting out?“Well I would say be ready to put in a lot of work and a lot of time. And just be able to focus in on what you’re doing and the songs that you’re writing. If you just try to make the right decisions and don’t expect things to happen overnight, then you’ll be ok!

“Play the music because you love it, not because you want to get girls or whatever – it usually doesn’t last long for people with those motivations. You’ve got to do it because you love it! It’s a lot of work, a lot of hard work, but it’s also very, very fulfi lling.”

I’ve got one last question for you I’ve got one last question for you and then I’ll let you get to Disney-and then I’ll let you get to Disney-land. If you weren’t in As I Lay Dy-land. If you weren’t in As I Lay Dy-ing, where do you think you would ing, where do you think you would have ended up?have ended up?“Oh gosh, I don’t even know! Actually, I’m going to college right now, getting my history degree and eventually my masters. I would actually like to be a college professor eventually.

“Maybe I would be closer to that if I weren’t in the band but at this point my music is my main priority and it’s my passion, so I’m going to keep doing this for as along as I can and for as long as it makes sense for me to.”

“I mean, we’re not trying to be like a cookie-cutter, pop band. We’re “I mean, we’re not trying to be like a cookie-cutter, pop band. We’re trying to be a band that plays what they love, whether people like it or trying to be a band that plays what they love, whether people like it or

not, and I think they can appreciate that...”not, and I think they can appreciate that...”

INTERVIEW: SARAH PETCHELLINTERVIEW: SARAH PETCHELLLIVE PHOTOS: BEN CLEMENTLIVE PHOTOS: BEN CLEMENT

CONVERGEINTERVIEW: SARAH PETCHELL – LIVE PHOTOS: NIC BEZZINAINTERVIEW: SARAH PETCHELL – LIVE PHOTOS: NIC BEZZINA

IT’S PRETTY OBVIOUS FROM IT’S PRETTY OBVIOUS FROM THE NAME OF THIS MAGA-THE NAME OF THIS MAGA-ZINE THAT CONVERGE ARE ZINE THAT CONVERGE ARE ONE OF THOSE BANDS THAT ONE OF THOSE BANDS THAT HAVE MOST DEFINITELY HAD HAVE MOST DEFINITELY HAD THE MOST IMPACT ON MY THE MOST IMPACT ON MY LIFE. JUST THAT PHRASE – LIFE. JUST THAT PHRASE – NO HEROESNO HEROES – HAS SO MANY – HAS SO MANY CONNOTATIONS WHETHER CONNOTATIONS WHETHER YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT HARDCORE OR RUNNING A HARDCORE OR RUNNING A MAGAZINE OR EVEN JUST MAGAZINE OR EVEN JUST EVERYDAY LIFE. IT IS ALSO EVERYDAY LIFE. IT IS ALSO ONE OF THE GREATEST ONE OF THE GREATEST ALBUMS THAT I HAVE EVER ALBUMS THAT I HAVE EVER HEARD FROM ONE OF THE HEARD FROM ONE OF THE GREATEST BANDS THAT I GREATEST BANDS THAT I HAVE EVER HEARD. HAVE EVER HEARD.

I DON’T REMEMBER THE I DON’T REMEMBER THE FIRST TIME I EVER HEARD FIRST TIME I EVER HEARD OF CONVERGE. I REMEMBER OF CONVERGE. I REMEMBER THAT I WAS WORKING IN A THAT I WAS WORKING IN A

“We’re all about live expression – it is more important to us “We’re all about live expression – it is more important to us than having a product...”than having a product...”

RECORD STORE AT THE TIME RECORD STORE AT THE TIME AND THE ALBUM NO HE-AND THE ALBUM NO HE-ROES HAD JUST COME OUT ROES HAD JUST COME OUT (YES, I GOT INTO THE BAND (YES, I GOT INTO THE BAND LATE). I’M PRETTY SURE I LATE). I’M PRETTY SURE I ASKED ONE OF THE GUYS ASKED ONE OF THE GUYS THAT I WAS WORKING WITH THAT I WAS WORKING WITH ABOUT IT AND HE TOLD ME ABOUT IT AND HE TOLD ME TO LISTEN TO TO LISTEN TO YOU FAIL MEYOU FAIL ME JUST BECAUSE ‘EAGLES BE-JUST BECAUSE ‘EAGLES BE-COME VULTURES’ IS ON IT. COME VULTURES’ IS ON IT.

I think I listened to it, thought it was pretty cool and then just left it alone. Six months later I picked it up again and had my mind com-pletely and utterly blown!

To this day You Fail Me is my fa-vourite album. It’s not their best, but it’s my favourite. And their show at Manning Bar when they were here in 2006? Yep, that’s right up there with one of my favourite live shows.

The reason why I’m telling you all this is to set the scene for just how nervous I was to do this in-terview with Kurt Ballou about the band’s most recent album, Axe To Fall, which undoubtedly was my Album Of The Year in 2009.

It’s a magnifi cent piece of brutal goodness and it was intimidating and nerve-wracking to speak to someone who’s talent as a musi-cian and song-writer is something that I respect so much!

Even now as I write this, I’m listening through their albums and getting distracted by certain parts of songs – like the guitar riff of ‘Dark Horse’ or the impas-sioned scream of “I need you to be the strength of widows and soul survivors/I need you to be as fearless as new mothers and new fathers” during the fi rst lines of ‘Last Light’.

“When you’re young you just want to get records out but as you “When you’re young you just want to get records out but as you get older you start...to grow and gather new infl uences on each get older you start...to grow and gather new infl uences on each

record, while still making this version of Converge.” record, while still making this version of Converge.”

The other remarkable thing about this band is their longevity. Estab-lished in 1990 (incidentally when Jacob Bannon was just 14 years old) the level of popularity – and I’m not saying this as a negative thing – the band has achieved in the time since is remarkable given the fact that the music is hardly accessible and the media attention, minimal, while label changes and line-up changes over the years have helped rather than hindered.

However what Converge have done is completely established themselves and their music as a style and an ethic all of it’s own. One that many frequently at-tempt to replicate. Even though evidence of this brilliance existed early in their careers, it was Jane Doe that cemented this place.

And with a DIY ethic and absolute

control over everything they do (thanks to their relationship with current label, Epitaph, and the fact that Kurt Ballou runs Godcity Studios as well as self-produces the band’s albums), this is not a band that is going to fold to out-side pressures anytime soon.

The band have seminal albums like Jane Doe and No Heroes to thank for this. Both showcase the talents of a band that are com-pletely at peace with who they are and nowhere is this more evident than on Axe To Fall. Kurt and I take this as the starting point for the interview that follows.

Okay, I have to ask you, how Okay, I have to ask you, how excited are you about releasing excited are you about releasing your new beast of a record onto your new beast of a record onto the world?the world?“Very. We’re all really excited about this record, and about all these songs from a writing stand-

point and a recording standpoint.

“We’re also really excited about playing live shows again. We’re all about live expression – it is more important to us than having a product, so were defi nitely excited to play these songs.”

Was there anything different you Was there anything different you found in the writing and recording found in the writing and recording process for process for Axe To FallAxe To Fall from what from what you had done before?you had done before?“Well, we try to take a different approach to every album we write, whether it’s in how we start songs or what key the songs are in.

“You know with each song, they’re affected by everything around you. Like as we get older things do slow down and we do try different things, particularly with frequency, so it gives us time to take a break and move on with

other things.

“You know when you’re young you just want to get records out but as you get older you start focus-ing on things like evolution. So that’s important to us to grow and gather new infl uences on each record, while still making this ver-sion of Converge.”

You said that you guys do take You said that you guys do take quite a break between records, quite a break between records, but I have to ask where in the but I have to ask where in the scheme of things does Converge scheme of things does Converge fi t into your life?fi t into your life?“It’s a pretty important part of all of our lives. I can’t really imagine where my life would be without it at this point.”

Just to go back to the album for Just to go back to the album for a second, one of the things that a second, one of the things that I think really makes Axe To Fall I think really makes Axe To Fall standout is just how defi ned the standout is just how defi ned the guitar lines actually are. It’s just guitar lines actually are. It’s just really forward in the mix and really forward in the mix and they’re really catchy as well, and they’re really catchy as well, and these are both things I don’t re-these are both things I don’t re-ally associate with your previous ally associate with your previous albums. albums. “Well I think that my ability as a guitarist are a little greater now, than on previous records.

“But also, from a personal per-spective, the last record was my fi rst time completely producing and mixing a Converge record so I was probably a little bit preoc-cupied with making everyone else sound better because the outcome of the record was what meant the other guys were going to get paid.

“As producer, I got paid irrespec-tive of whatever happened with the album. The result of this is that I probably focused a little too much on what made the other guys happy rather than what was better from a production perspec-tive or what was going on with my guitars.

“This time around, because it was the second time that I was producing, there wasn’t that pres-sure to make everyone else as happy. The individual parts in the songs were less important than the songs as a whole, so it was more about the songs being pre-sented in the best way possible.

“I wasn’t afraid to let the guitars come out on this record.”And this is the thing with Kurt and his work as a producer and engineer within his own Godcity Studios. The fact of the matter is that he is a very well sough after producer of hardcore and metal material.

If you look at his resume, he’s worked with the bands that you see plastered over the tshirts and hoodies of the majority of kids at any hardcore show – bands like, The Hope Conspiracy, Killing The Dream, Rise & Fall and Blacklist-ed. Following Converge’s Austra-lian tour here earlier this year, he holed himself up in Melbourne with Samsara to produce their forthcoming sophomore release, after having already produced their fi rst.

Just talking about you and pro-Just talking about you and pro-duction for a second, because duction for a second, because you are a sought after producer, you are a sought after producer, so does the work you do with so does the work you do with other bands give you new insight other bands give you new insight and inspiration into the way that and inspiration into the way that you produce your own band?you produce your own band?“Yeah absolutely. In the fi rst place it’s really good practice and I think it’s really good to get other people’s perspective on how they not only assemble songs, but assemble sounds and work as an ensemble.

“For the most part, once in a while it just gives me ideas to cherry-pick from, which will then inspire me to create music. I think it has more to do with the prac-tice of learning the composition of songs and also the composi-tion of sounds within a recording. And this helps me give, person-ally, the tools in order to be the best guitarist and member of an ensemble that I can.”

You guys have been around for You guys have been around for almost 20 years, so does there almost 20 years, so does there get to be a point where creatively get to be a point where creatively you’ve drawn on all the inspira-you’ve drawn on all the inspira-tion that you can and you’re at a tion that you can and you’re at a point where you’re purely creat-point where you’re purely creat-ing? Or do you still feel like you’re ing? Or do you still feel like you’re pulling references from music you pulling references from music you hear or work on?hear or work on?“Yeah, I know what you mean. I think that at a certain point, like

when a band is young and start-ing out you can pick out their infl uences pretty well. Then the more that they evolve and prog-ress, the more that they start sounding like themselves and less like the things that have infl u-enced them.

“I think also, when a group of like four guys get together and start a band, you know, they’re talk about their shared infl uences or the particular direction that they would like to take with their band. But, at least in the case of the line-up that we have now [Jacob Bannon, Kurt Ballou, Nate New-ton and Ben Koller], the four of us have been playing together for 10 years.

“At this point, our shared experi-ence as a part of Converge has more to do with our musical lineage rather than any kind of shared infl uence. I mean, we do certainly appreciate a lot of the same music.

“The other thing we do, in terms of our infl uences, is that we like to draw infl uence from places sort of outside our genre. We then reinterpret those things and see if they can fi t into a place that is more like Converge. Like a lot of progressive rock references and things like that. Like you have to pull that into a song and think that it sounds like Genesis or Yes, or something like that.

“We’re kind of taking a certain approach and a certain mentality from that approach and then fi nd-ing a way to funnel it through the Converge aesthetic.

“I think the skills of the people that are actually involved with the band have a lot to do with how we cherry-pick where we take infl u-ence from and how we do actually write our songs.”

I know that the DIY discussion I know that the DIY discussion has been discussed to death with has been discussed to death with you guys, but one thing I’m really you guys, but one thing I’m really curious about is how is it that curious about is how is it that Converge has managed to refrain Converge has managed to refrain from being forced into things by from being forced into things by labels for so long? And how much labels for so long? And how much of this has to do with the fact that of this has to do with the fact that Jacob does have Deathwish and Jacob does have Deathwish and

you do have Godcity?you do have Godcity?“I think that in relation to Death-wish and Godcity, these things do sort of allow us to maintain a sense of autonomy. But the DIY thing for us has never been any sort of elitist thing where we were doing it for status or we desired to be DIY.

“The kind of music that we play, the risk and the reach that it has means that there is just no profi t-ability there. So no one with any money or any business sense re-ally had any desire to get involved with what we were doing. Then we were forced to do everything ourselves.

“And even the things that we didn’t do ourselves, even to this day, we kind of farm out to people that are friends of ours from years ago, who has maybe toured with us before, or whatever. Like our booking agent in the States is a roadie of ours and our book-ing agent in Europe is a guy that was on our fi rst tour in over there. Even the people at Epitaph, they’re all punk rock people.

“We just feel more comfortable working with those sorts of peo-ple. I mean, we have a lawyer and our manager has a lawyer (even though he does play in bands and stuff). It’s important to us as people that we just maintain a

sense of control over our music and a sense of ownership over it. The more that we can keep the creative and the business ele-ments of the band internalised, the more ownership we feel over the music.

“It really isn’t a business deci-sion. It’s just something that we’re driven to do and it would be something that we would be do-ing regardless of whether or not people like us or not. We’re just feel fortunate that enough people like us that we can continue to make records.”

Just with the new album coming Just with the new album coming out and everything, do you actu-out and everything, do you actu-

ally read what’s written about you ally read what’s written about you guys in the music press? Do you guys in the music press? Do you pay attention to reviews or any-pay attention to reviews or any-thing?thing?“I don’t seek it out, but the peo-ple at our record label, when the press does come out they will for-ward the press clippings to us. So we do get a chance to read what people are saying about us. But personally, no I don’t seek it out.

“It’s nice and yeah I enjoy a certain amount of affi rmation from other people about what I’m doing, but it’s certainly not why I do it.

“Like I said earlier, I’m just happy that enough people like our mu-

sic and like what we’re doing so that we’ve continued to be able to write records. But knowing that someone likes what we’re doing, and most importantly gets what we’re doing, is nice to hear.”

You and Jacob are the only origi-You and Jacob are the only origi-nal members of the band. So how nal members of the band. So how have you managed to keep that have you managed to keep that relationship going for so long, relationship going for so long, especially because you would especially because you would have been in your teens when you have been in your teens when you started out?started out?“I think it’s just a long-standing friendship more than anything. You know, we have known one another since we were teenagers and we grew up knowing a lot of the same people and having a lot

of the same experiences together. We also have a lot of the same musical roots.

“But the main thing is that be-cause of all this, we’re under-standing of one another’s quirks and strengths and weaknesses.

“Plus we have a great respect for one another’s abilities and we don’t really get in each other’s way. So because it’s been such a positive working relationship, we just suck it up.”

Did you ever think that Converge Did you ever think that Converge would ever get to this point and would ever get to this point and this level of notoriety that you’re this level of notoriety that you’re at now?at now?

“No I totally didn’t. I really did not think that we would still be together at this point in our lives. But I also had no idea that this sort of really underground type of music that we play would have such a prominent role in modern counter-culture.”

Just on that note of notoriety, Just on that note of notoriety, there was actually a fake rumour there was actually a fake rumour that went around that you guys that went around that you guys would be touring here at the would be touring here at the beginning of 2009. What’s your beginning of 2009. What’s your take on when that sort of thing take on when that sort of thing happens?happens?“I did hear about that. But that rumour kind of bummed us out because it makes us look bad, you know. People don’t think that that could be a hoax, and no one really thinks about the conse-quences of that hoax or how it

affects the band.

“We then feel like we’ve let people down because we’re not doing this tour that we know people would have wanted to have seen.

“So I’m really disappointed that that happened, but we’ll be there sooner rather than later.”

My last question then is if Con-My last question then is if Con-verge were to end tomorrow, verge were to end tomorrow, what’s the one legacy that you what’s the one legacy that you would want to leave behind?would want to leave behind?“I guess I would just hope that the people out there got some-thing positive out of our music and that they enjoyed what we did so that we would be remem-bered.”

“It’s important to “It’s important to us that we main-us that we main-

tain a sense of con-tain a sense of con-trol and a sense of trol and a sense of ownership over our ownership over our

music. The more music. The more that we can keep that we can keep

the creative and the the creative and the business elements business elements of the band inter-of the band inter-nalised, the more nalised, the more ownership we feel ownership we feel over the music.”over the music.”

BARONESSTALKING TO JOHN DYER BAI-TALKING TO JOHN DYER BAI-ZLEY WAS PROBABLY ONE ZLEY WAS PROBABLY ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING OF THE MOST INTERESTING CHATS WITH A MUSICIAN CHATS WITH A MUSICIAN I’VE EVER HAD. HIS PHI-I’VE EVER HAD. HIS PHI-LOSOPHIES ON WHAT MUSIC LOSOPHIES ON WHAT MUSIC IS, WHAT THE ROLE OF THE IS, WHAT THE ROLE OF THE MUSICIAN AND ON THE CRE-MUSICIAN AND ON THE CRE-ATION OF BAND IDENTITY ATION OF BAND IDENTITY WERE ALL NEW IDEAS THAT WERE ALL NEW IDEAS THAT HAD ME STEWING OVER THE HAD ME STEWING OVER THE IMPLICATIONS FOR WEEKS.IMPLICATIONS FOR WEEKS.

ADD TO THIS THE FACT THAT ADD TO THIS THE FACT THAT BARONESS RELEASED ONE BARONESS RELEASED ONE OF THE BEST METAL AL-OF THE BEST METAL AL-BUMS OF LAST YEAR WITH BUMS OF LAST YEAR WITH BLUE RECORDBLUE RECORD AND THIS AND THIS MAKES FOR ONE INTEREST-MAKES FOR ONE INTEREST-ING READ. ING READ.

THE ONLY OTHER THING I’LL THE ONLY OTHER THING I’LL SAY IS DON’T LET HOW PAS-SAY IS DON’T LET HOW PAS-SIONATE JOHN IS ABOUT HIS SIONATE JOHN IS ABOUT HIS MUSIC (AND HIS ART) PASS MUSIC (AND HIS ART) PASS

YOU BY. THIS IS A GUY THAT YOU BY. THIS IS A GUY THAT TRULY LOVES EVERYTHING TRULY LOVES EVERYTHING HE DOES – HE’S ALMOST IN HE DOES – HE’S ALMOST IN AWE OF WHAT HE’S ACCOM-AWE OF WHAT HE’S ACCOM-PLISHED – AND I FIND THAT PLISHED – AND I FIND THAT TRULY INSPIRATIONAL!TRULY INSPIRATIONAL!

First up I have to say congratula-First up I have to say congratula-tions on the new record because tions on the new record because it’s mindblowing! So you must it’s mindblowing! So you must be pretty over the moon at the be pretty over the moon at the moment with all the positive re-moment with all the positive re-sponses that you’re getting for it...sponses that you’re getting for it...“Yeah, you would think. Unfortu-nately I’ve been so busy recently that I haven’t had time to enjoy any of this stuff. I know that it’s going on but it comes at such a hectic time for me that I don’t really get to sit back and enjoy it yet, but I’m sure in six or eight months I’ll be more relaxed and happy about the whole thing.”

If you don’t mind me asking, what If you don’t mind me asking, what have you got going on that’s keep-have you got going on that’s keep-ing you so busy?ing you so busy?“We’re going out for our fi rst tour in two weeks. We just did a CD re-

lease show last weekend. I’ve got a solo art exhibition opening up in four or fi ve days. And I also have a little three month old daughter.”With the CD release show, how With the CD release show, how was the response to the new was the response to the new material?material?“That’s pretty much all we played. But we were doing it in our home-town so we had home ground advantage. It was an incredible night but it seems that all of our fans here, that are all of our friends who have been coming to see us play shows for seven or eight years now, there was such a positive and overwhelming vibe that it’s made us real excited about heading out.”

When being overwhelmed by fam-When being overwhelmed by fam-ily and work and everything else, ily and work and everything else, do you still pay attention to the do you still pay attention to the facts and fi gures side of releasing facts and fi gures side of releasing an album?an album?“I would be lying if I said I wasn’t aware of it, because all the label tell us these things, but I should be really clear that this isn’t how

INTERVIEW: SARAH PETCHELLINTERVIEW: SARAH PETCHELLLIVE PHOTOS: NIC BEZZINALIVE PHOTOS: NIC BEZZINA

the guys in the band, this isn’t how we defi ne ourselves. They’re not accurate descriptions of suc-cess. They’re accurate descrip-tions of a reviewer’s opinion, but for us it’s more about connec-tions at shows.”

So is that how you guys would So is that how you guys would measure success? By that con-measure success? By that con-nection?nection?“Yeah, that amongst a whole other host of things. But really I think that commercial success and artistic success are just op-posites. They’re most defi nitely not the same thing.

“And success in this band is always having something else to do. It’s always having a full plate of work in front of us. It’s about always being challenged and in-terested in what we’re doing. And by that defi nition we’re feeling really good right now.”

Writing a follow up to an album Writing a follow up to an album that was as critically acclaimed that was as critically acclaimed as your debut, as your debut, The Red AlbumThe Red Album, , did you feel any pressure to de-did you feel any pressure to de-liver something as good because liver something as good because of this?of this?“Just let me be really, really clear about how I word this. There was a lot of pressure with this record, but it was all from the guys in the band.

“That type of external pressure just doesn’t matter to us and I think that anybody that listens too closely to that is going to write core music. We know that it’s going on. You can only hope that you’re fans hope you’ve written a better record than your last. If they don’t hope that then they’re not your fans. That’s a core as-sumption for me.

“But what it really boils down to is that we wanted to improve things. We wanted to understand that we are an intrinsicly fl awed band. I’m not the most brilliant singer on the planet. There’s always stuff to improve. And since we under-stand that there’s always work for us. There’s always something that’s going to be on the next record that we couldn’t quite get onto this record.”

Do you feel like you’ve written an Do you feel like you’ve written an

album, in album, in Blue RecordBlue Record, that is bet-, that is bet-ter than your previous one?ter than your previous one?“Yeah, I do. I’ve made a record that I feel more strongly about. I think we wrote a record that I think when we were writing it, when we were rehearsing it, when we were recording it and now that we’re playing it, the music means more to us.

“Because it’s more personal: it speaks of something that is more intimate and exposed of us than we’ve been able to do in the past.”

Talking about this album being Talking about this album being more intimate and exposed, do more intimate and exposed, do you feel that it’s then a better you feel that it’s then a better refl ection of what Baroness is?refl ection of what Baroness is?“Yes, because in Baroness we defi ne ourselves and the band and the music as a direct refl ec-tion of the members making it. Not to say that all bands should defi ne themselves that way, but that’s just how we have chosen to defi ne ourselves.

“As musicians we feel that there

is a level of communication going on and our goal is to communi-cate that which is inside of us and however that happens. So when we were doing this record, the question when writing and recording was is this the best that we can express ourselves. Is it the most accurate portrayal of this narrative that we fi nd our-selves in? Is there a better way to do it and, if so, what is that?

“Because we were able to ask questions like that and not judge the answers outright we were able to do things which, musically speaking, some bands I think might shy away from.

“For us there’s no concepts or ideas that are not worth inves-tigating or looking into because even through our failures we actu-ally learn more about ourselves and how we are able to express ourselves.”

Personally, what’s your favourite Personally, what’s your favourite thing about the album that you’ve thing about the album that you’ve created?created?

“That’s a good question! It’s like you’re asking me to compliment my own record and that’s too hard for me.

“I think what really surprised me the most about this recording is how much I can hear each mem-ber performing and how they’re performing. I think Summer, our bass player, has really estab-lished himself on this record. Like I can here him and no other bass player playing this record. And the same goes for Allen and the same goes for Pete.

“That was part of the goal: that it sounded like that and that it didn’t sound like somebody else. That’s diffi cult to do in music because essentially you’re just building upon ideas, concepts and sounds that other people

have arrived at long before you’ve got there.”

It’s that whole post-modern idea It’s that whole post-modern idea that nothing is original anymore.that nothing is original anymore.“Yeah, and it’s not original. But I think the originality is in the per-sona. It’s why a thousand people could cover the same song and it would be a thousand different songs. What we’ve done is that we’ve chosen to take that kind of idea that it doesn’t matter what we’re playing, it’s entirely how we’re playing it.

“So, by extension, we felt freed in a way to kind of cut off the chaff from the proverbial wheat with this record and leave off things that were unnecessary, or redundant, or pretentious. It was just something that we wanted to do to express who we are as

people.”

You had a change in guitarists You had a change in guitarists between between Red AlbumRed Album and and Blue Blue RecordRecord. What has Pete brought . What has Pete brought to the recording sessions for the to the recording sessions for the album that previous guitarists album that previous guitarists maybe hadn’t?maybe hadn’t?“When I talk about our old gui-tar players, it’s diffi cult for me to say they brought this or they were lacking that because I grew up with everybody that has ever played in this band. So when Bri-an was with us on the Red Album he was our drummer’s brother so there was this palpable fraternal bond and it played itself out like that.

“When Pete joined the band, I was able to reconnect with some-one who I grew up playing music with. In fact, he was the fi rst per-

“No decision I’ve ever made has ever been a purely fi nancial one. If I “No decision I’ve ever made has ever been a purely fi nancial one. If I wanted to talk smart, commercial decisions, I wouldn’t have been a wanted to talk smart, commercial decisions, I wouldn’t have been a

musician or an artist. It’s too hard, the hours are too long and the pay musician or an artist. It’s too hard, the hours are too long and the pay isn’t good at all...”isn’t good at all...”

son I grew up playing music with and the person that I discovered and feel in love with classic rock and heavy metal and The Melvins and Jesus Lizard – everything that formed me. He was some-body who we have always talked about playing together but have never been able to geographically or from a time perspective meet up.

“He joined the band and it’s like the type of unspoken connection that’s incredibly rare with me. I couldn’t have been happier.

“So a lot of the songwriting this time came more fl uidly because there was this like “call-and-response” kind of thing going on with the writing that our last record hasn’t.”

Does your surrounding environ-Does your surrounding environ-ment have much of an infl uence ment have much of an infl uence on the music that you guys pro-on the music that you guys pro-duce?duce?“Yeah, it does because if you’ve ever been to Savannah you will know and notice instantly that you in a distinctly and uniquely Southern landscape, and that has physical, social and histori-cal implications that you cannot escape, you cannot hide from and you cannot glaze over.

“This band is, for lack of a bet-ter term and I really hesitate to say this, a Southern band, but that has nothing to do with the Skynardy, Nascar, Mellow Yellow, Walmart, stereotypical Southern thing.

“It’s more like there’s a sensibility and a pace and a respect for our environment that comes through in our music because it’s who we are. And it’s totally amazing. I think our music has a lot to do with that.

“Even as we grew up in Virginia, it’s still two completely differ-ent and unique sides of a very Southern experience. So we grew up with all that history – whether Civil War or whatever – all around us. And it pertains to literature, and a music tradition, it’s all there in one shape or another.”

I’ve got a kind of personal ques-I’ve got a kind of personal ques-

tion to ask you, but I guess what tion to ask you, but I guess what attracted you to music and art? attracted you to music and art? What made you decide to pursue What made you decide to pursue these as your career?these as your career?“Honestly, I was never aware of an attraction. It’s been the only that I’ve consistently done throughout my life. I have no memory of starting and I have no notion of stopping.

“It sounds a little cheesy to say it, but it’s almost like I didn’t choose it. If I had done anything else I would have been denying it. And it is a passion of mine.

“I’ve just been incredibly fortu-nate that I’ve been able to do this fulltime and that is making music and making art. I’m self-employed and everything I do in completely based on a creative impetus.

“No decision I’ve ever made has ever been a purely fi nancial one. If I wanted to talk smart, commer-cial decisions, I just wouldn’t have been a musician or an artist. It’s too hard, the hours are too long and the pay isn’t good at all.

“This is just what I have to do. There are probably a number of directions I could have gone and a number of paths that I have yet to go but this is what I do and there’s nothing else for me to do.”

You’re coming to Australia for the You’re coming to Australia for the fi rst time for Soundwave, so what fi rst time for Soundwave, so what are you expecting from these are you expecting from these shows?shows?“I have no idea! I honestly have no idea. This festival thing that we do do from time to time are always a complete surprise and there’s no way to anticipate what-ever it is that you’re going to get yourself into.

“But I will say that I’m very much looking forward to coming to Aus-tralia. We’ve been aware of a Aus-tralian fanbase, however small it may have been, since about 2003 or 2004. So it’s always been sort of a dream destination for touring for us. I just assumed I would never make it there unless I was on vacation.

“But that’s just me. I consider myself, again, at this point to be a very fortunate person and our

band has become travelers in the sense that touring is what we do.

“But as we tour, we always soak in the experience of a new place and try to have as many new experiences as possible. So while we’re there we won’t be partying all night. We’ll be more likely to be looking like idiot tourists dur-ing the day. I mean, hopefully.

“I mean, if you’ve been to one show, you’ve been to them all. It’s just a different uniform, different shoes and socks. It’s really what’s happening outside the club when we’re on tour that we’re really in-terested in. Being that none of us have ever been to Australia we’re quite excited about the prospect.”

Obviously, unless they’ve seen Obviously, unless they’ve seen you play overseas, no one here you play overseas, no one here has seen you play. What can has seen you play. What can we expect from a Baroness live we expect from a Baroness live show?show?“You would have to ask some-body else’s opinion. You know, the thing about our band is that we’ve always been a live band. Ever since day one.

“It just seems even crazy to me sometimes that we’ve even re-corded anything, because when we started off we were just play-ing shows. We played 300 shows before we released anything and we toured Europe three times with just an EP in our hands.

“So, that’s what we do! I don’t think that what we do is intrin-sicly any different to what anyone else does. It’s guitars, a bass and drums. What we’re all out to do is to play every show as powerfully as every other show.

“With us, it’s all about a crowd interaction. When we’re in front of an audience that understands or respects or feeling the same thing that we’re feeling, it drives our performance and drives our show. I hope that there’s some-thing like that waiting for us, otherwise we’re going to have to work for it and not back down from a challenge like that.”

HOUSE VS HURRICANEOk, so for people who have been Ok, so for people who have been living under a rock for the past living under a rock for the past few years, tell us a little bit about few years, tell us a little bit about HVH’s sound and what sort of HVH’s sound and what sort of bands have infl uenced you?bands have infl uenced you?“Well I guess we are a pretty mod-ern blend of heavy music with keyboards. In terms of infl uences, we draw our infl uences from a whole bunch of places. We’re all into different types of music, but the collective ones would be bands like Circa Survive and Misery Signals, and we all really love Minus The Bear. Then there’s obviously a lot more straight up stuff, like a lot of old hardcore records like No Warning.”

What are the differences between What are the differences between recording an EP and an album. Is recording an EP and an album. Is it much harder to take the album it much harder to take the album route?route?“Originally we didn’t think so, but we quickly learned that this wasn’t the case when we got there. We were kind of approach-

ing it like we’re just recording an EP with double the amount of songs, and it won’t be a problem. We really learned a lot about making records and being a band while we were in Baltimore.

“It’s a diffi cult conversation be-cause recording this time around was pretty full on. Especially in a comfort zone we had never been in before: Baltimore was a very interesting city. Anyone who has been there before would understand what I mean by that. There’s a drug dealing culture and a lot of poverty, but we met some really cool people and hopefully the record shows that we made it out alive.”

It must have been pretty hard It must have been pretty hard being so far away from family being so far away from family and going through that intense a and going through that intense a process.process.“Most of us had never been overseas before, and to go over-

seas for six weeks to record every single day, it was an excellent experience for me. I think we learned a lot as band members and as people as well. We defi -nitely had some pretty intense times, but it was worth it and I think the record is better for it.”

What do you think was the most What do you think was the most important thing that you learned important thing that you learned about yourself and your band was about yourself and your band was while you were over there?while you were over there?“I suppose about communication between the group. That’s some-thing that really improved just from being around Brian McTer-nan [producer]. It’s only because Brian has worked with so many different bands and has made so many records and has been doing it for so long.

“He really stressed the value and importance of things like brain-storming – we had never really held much value to that kind of

stuff but he showed us a way in which our songwriting processes would be more productive. But I think the main thing was that we learned to communicate between each other without somebody getting ticked off when their idea was being discussed or criti-cised.”

It’s pretty massive that you got to It’s pretty massive that you got to work with Brian McTernan. How work with Brian McTernan. How did that come about and how did did that come about and how did you choose him?you choose him?“Basically, we decided we wanted to do the record and we wanted to get the best production we could get, without it being completely fake drums and overworked gui-tars. So I basically emailed Brian over his MySpace like, ‘Hey dude, I’m blah blah blah, and if you’d like to record a record at this time.’ He hit us back two days later saying ‘Guys, I listened to the EP and I really loved it. I want to do the record. I’m not available at that time, but I’m really keen to fi gure out a time.’ We’ve got a manager over in the US that really buckled down and found us the money for fl ights and stuff. But it

basically came from me emailing him and asking him if he wanted to do our record.”

That just goes to show how That just goes to show how powerful the internet actually is. powerful the internet actually is. I mean, just the fact that you can I mean, just the fact that you can get in contact with someone like get in contact with someone like that is pretty powerful.that is pretty powerful.“Yeah, that’s the thing about the internet: anybody is just one click away. We had this conversation with Brian and he was talking about when he used to play in a hardcore band called Battery, and back when he was younger, it was all letters. Everybody was sending letters to each other and that’s the only way you could contact anyone. Like I wanted to work with this guy so I just hit up this guy on MySpace. It makes everything so much easier and anybody can listen to your band at any time.”

What are you hoping that people What are you hoping that people will get out of the album?will get out of the album?“I hope that people read the lyr-ics and take them onboard. The record is a pretty personal record. It’s about different circumstances

in my own life that I don’t think are right: trying to fi gure out the world that we live in and things we all know shouldn’t be like that.

“The main point of the record is to get people thinking a bit about what’s important and what’s not important. Things that we value everyday, like going to work nine-to-fi ve and buying too many pairs of shoes, that shit doesn’t mean anything!”

Did you go into the writing pro-Did you go into the writing pro-cess of this album with a plan cess of this album with a plan of what you wanted to do both of what you wanted to do both lyrically and musically or is writing lyrically and musically or is writing a much more organic process for a much more organic process for you guys?you guys?“In terms of writing, because there was a long time between releases and we were writing pretty much straight away after we fi nished the EP, obviously we wrote a lot of songs that didn’t make it. But we kept writing until a month before we left.

“Musically it was the best of what we have produced in the past few years and we really got to the

point of what we want. We got a new drummer and a new bass player, both really talented and really awesome dudes, and it has been great in that sense.”

What were your infl uences on What were your infl uences on the new CD? Because there is the new CD? Because there is defi nitely a change in sound from defi nitely a change in sound from that of the EP.that of the EP.“I defi nitely think it’s the sound of progression. When we wrote the EP we were just like 15 or 16 years old. This time around we had a much more mature upbringing and approach. Like we had been touring so much while we were 17 and 18, so we learned a lot out on the road and by watching other bands. Obvi-ously, we’re still always buying al-bums always getting new records, and that hasn’t stopped. So I think that we have a much more mature perspective of music now and I think that defi nitely shows on the new record.”

What are you stoked on musically What are you stoked on musically at the moment?at the moment?“Well obviously the new Circa Survive track is ruling my world.

They are still my favourite band and have been since I heard Juturna in 2004. But I listen to a lot of more straight up hardcore bands, like No Warning and Rise & Fall and Lewd Acts that’s really what I’m into at the moment. Deathwish stuff pretty much, but basically more thrashy stuff.”

You’ve come a long way since You’ve come a long way since winning that Battle Of The Bands winning that Battle Of The Bands Contest 2 years ago, did you ever Contest 2 years ago, did you ever think you would get to be this think you would get to be this big, you’ve played with some big big, you’ve played with some big bands and toured all of Australia bands and toured all of Australia now, so your not really under-now, so your not really under-ground anymore?ground anymore?“Honestly we never thought we would. We played in garage to four kids because we just wanted to play music, and I attribute that to why it did work. When we were 17, we were driving to Brisbane for one show and it was cost-ing us like $100, but we would do it because we wanted to play shows.

“We consistently did that until we started got offered tours and we were like, ‘If they want us to do

tours, let’s go and do it.’ We all quit our jobs and we had $200 for a month to live on, but let’s just go do it.”

You tour with bands like Mary You tour with bands like Mary Jane Kelly and City Escape a fair Jane Kelly and City Escape a fair bit, how important is it that your bit, how important is it that your friends bands are involved in friends bands are involved in what you do?what you do?“I feel like I would want somebody to do that for us when we were young and just starting the band. I know a lot of our own headline tours, we’ve always taken a band along that are good friends. It’s really important.

“It’s a hard climate right now for a band to become fulltime or busy, because every time a local band has a show there are four or fi ve international bands with a show the same night. So you’ll see only like 15 or 20 dudes at a local show. I’ve seen some really good bands recently playing local shows to 10 or 15 people. It’s re-ally hard so you’ve got to do what you can to help.”

What is your take on the local What is your take on the local

hardcore community here in Aus-hardcore community here in Aus-tralia?tralia?“It has defi nitely changed after I got back from America. I went to a couple of hardcore shows in the States and it just makes me laugh because, hardcore in America, I can understand why it is the way that it is. When you look around the cities and you walk around the streets, shit is really bad. It defi nitely is a lot dif-ferent from here.

“But when I see hardcore bands here and they’re singing about how terrible their city, how fucked everything is and just blantantly negative shit, it’s like ‘Fuck man, you live in one of the best cit-ies on the planet – how can you have that perspective and be true and be real?’ That’s why I love hardcore bands. To me that’s truth and that’s them being real. But when I see a lot of Australian bands singing about that shit, we’re not even exposed to any of that. We’ve got one of the best lives and we’re born into privilege, basically. It seems so fake to me when hardcore bands in Australia

sing about that kind of stuff.

“As far as the community goes, it’s great! It’s pretty widespread as hardcore is a pretty big style of music in Australia. There are always shows on and it’s good. You never want that to end.”

Do you think living in East Mel-Do you think living in East Mel-bourne – like you live in Mount bourne – like you live in Mount Evelyn – shaped you differently Evelyn – shaped you differently from what the band would have from what the band would have been if you were a city band?been if you were a city band?“I defi nitely think so! I think it’s had a big part in shaping, not so much as a band, but hugely as individual people. I walk out onto my porch every morning and see this full view of a mountain, obvi-ously that’s going to have some profound effect every morning.”

What advice would you give to What advice would you give to kids that want to start a band?kids that want to start a band?“Don’t follow trends! Don’t do something because its cool at the time, do something that means something to you, make music that speaks to yourself and don’t give a fuck what anybody else says. That’s pretty much it.

I mean a lot of local bands that I see are just replicating something another band did like six months ago. It’s a real bummer to see.

“A lot of young bands I talk to even think there is a formula for getting big, like if we have clean singing and we have this sort of part and we look like this or present our band in this way we will get big. I don’t think that’s the right attitude to even start with.”

After everything you guys have After everything you guys have achieved now, what do you see achieved now, what do you see left to do?left to do?“Tour overseas. We really want to do that, because going overseas rules and you make legitimate friends. We’ve now got friends in Baltimore, so next time we go back there there’s no doubt that we can go and hang out with them. Its freedom, we love playing shows, so if we can get paid to go overseas and play shows, then that’s the dream.”

INTERVIEW: SARAH PETCHELLINTERVIEW: SARAH PETCHELLLIVE PHOTOS: LACHLAN HICKSLIVE PHOTOS: LACHLAN HICKS

TITUS ANDRONICUSTITUS ANDRONICUSMySpace: http://www.myspace.com/titusandronicusMySpace: http://www.myspace.com/titusandronicusLabel: XL RecordingsLabel: XL Recordings

Hailing from New Jersey, Titus Andronicus are a punk rock band who have made quite the name for them-selves in a relatively short amount of time. Their newest album, The Monitor, sounds like Bruce Spring-steen and Bright Eyes had a jam in a sweaty, suburban garage and liked the result so much they wrote a concept album based on the American Civil War. This is Titus Andronicus’ sophomore release after a swathe of EPs and 7”s that show the band is pushing the indie-punk boundaries. Add the fact that the band are named after one of Shakespeare’s most brutal plays and that they are as accomplished musi-cally as lyrically, it’s then clear that this is a band with a scope and focus not many of their peers possess. Lindsey Cuthbertson

BISON B.C.BISON B.C.MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/bisoneastvanMySpace: http://www.myspace.com/bisoneastvanLabel: Metal Blade RecordsLabel: Metal Blade Records

Born from the ashes of a seminal, Vancouver skate-thrash band, S.T.R.E.E.T.S. Bison B.C. are every head banger’s wet dream! Drawing comparisons with the likes of Kylesa, High On Fire and Baroness is no easy feat, but with colossal riffs that easily move into sheer fuzzed out shredding and with enough punk-rock angst to keep things raw and exciting, this is defi nitely a band that don’t deserve to be passed by unno-ticed, even if metal is becoming over-saturated with Mastodon wannabes. Their latest album, Dark Ages, is a defi nite culmination of the promise they showed with their debut, fi nely tuning their sound to riff-based metallic perfection. Even if that perfection is housed within loud and sludgy tunes played by hairy dudes in dirty denim jackets shredding on Flying V’s. Sarah Petchell

THE SECRETTHE SECRETMySpace: http://www.myspace.com/thesecretMySpace: http://www.myspace.com/thesecretLabel: Southern Lord RecordsLabel: Southern Lord Records

Southern Lord are one of those labels that if they announce they’ve signed someone new, I’ll immediately check out exactly who they are, or if a new album comes out I’ll automatically get it. So the announce-ment of the signing of Italy’s The Secret to the label, meant these guys immediately needed to be given a shot. Their version of metallic hardcore is relentless and uncompromising: completely anti-melody but pro-cacophony, combining elements of crust/grind, primitive black metal, dark soundscapes and mono-lithic riffs that steamroller the listener. They spent April holed up in Kurt Ballou’s Godcity Studio recording their Southern Lord debut, Solve Et Coagula and I can’t wait to hear the results! In the meantime pick up everything else they’ve done and get ready for an aural assault of epic proportions. Sarah Petchell

THE OMINOUS ORDER OF FILTHY MONGRELSTHE OMINOUS ORDER OF FILTHY MONGRELSMySpace: http://www.myspace.com/beastfuckanimalMySpace: http://www.myspace.com/beastfuckanimalLabel: Chainsaw Safety RecordsLabel: Chainsaw Safety Records

If D-beat bands (think Disfear or Discharge) are your thing, then The Ominous Order Of Filthy Mongrels are defi nitely for you! A sonic concoction that is as equally fast as it is heavy, it had vocals that attempt to be as abrasive as possible! With memorable riffi ng and emphasis on the groove, these guys are defi nitely not the type of punk you’re going to show your 14-year-old sister! With a demo available through their label’s website (soon hopefully) in the meantime you have to deal with listening to their tracks on MySpace but you’ll fi nd yourself going back again, and again, and again, just to have your ears raped by this aggres-sive combination of speed, heaviness and sheer brutality. And everyone lived angrily ever after… Sarah Petchell

ASH POOLASH POOLWebsite: http://www.hospitalproductions.comWebsite: http://www.hospitalproductions.comLabel: Hospital ProductionsLabel: Hospital Productions

This could be one of the most raw-as-fuck, black metal things happening at the moment. The riffs sound like a rusty chainsaw at times, but when they slow down they take on a more brooding tone. The drum-ming will hit you at blistering speeds and then just follow along like someone is creeping up behind you in a dark alley. The production is so dirty that it should make any fan of old school black metal rejoice as someone out there still knows what it feels and sounds like! Sure to keep your attention with their use of light and shade, loud and soft, and fast and slow making this band engaging to all the sense. For Which He Plies The Lash is out now and it’s killer! Michael Anderson

CASPIANCASPIANMySpace: http://www.myspace.com/caspianthebandMySpace: http://www.myspace.com/caspianthebandLabel: The Mylene Sheath (US)/Make My Day (Europe)Label: The Mylene Sheath (US)/Make My Day (Europe)

This post-rock/post-metal instrumental trend that’s going around at the moment, while enjoyable, has made me skeptical of bands that attach those tags to themselves. In the case of Caspian, all skepticism has been put aside and I’m a believer! With two full-lengths under their belt, Tertia (the most recent) is as close to a sonic masterpiece as you can get! Combining the sonic sophistication of Brian Eno, the crush-ing heaviness of Isis or Tool, and the emotive ambience of Sigur Ros or M83, these guys have defi nitely hit upon a musical formula that will one minute make you feel like you’re being crushed by heaviness to being uplifted and fl oating across a soundscape of chiming guitars. Defi nitely an emotional listening experience, but one well worth the effort! Sarah Petchell

Bands Youve Never Heard Of

Bears, Mayors, Scraps & Bones – Cancer BatsBears, Mayors, Scraps & Bones – Cancer BatsROADRUNNER RECORDSROADRUNNER RECORDS

From the opening riff, it is clear that Canada’s Cancer Bats have stepped it up yet again on their third full-length, Bears, Mayors, Scraps & Bones. Who would have thought it possible that they could have out-muscled 2008’s Hail Destroyer, but Bears, Mayors, Scraps & Bones is like a musical trip down a seedy back alley of some god-forsaken slum. And almost literally with ferocious tracks like ‘Sleep This Away’ and ‘Dead Wrong’ just waiting in the shadows to stick a blade between your ribs and leave you gasping in the gutter. Liam Cormier’s vocals have continued to im-prove with each album and it would be a fair statement that Bears… is the album where he truly shines…or should that be roars? Either way, this head-banging slab of hardcore-metal leaves one hell of a lasting impression! Lindsey Cuthbertson

Sounds like… Every Time I Die, Gallows, This Is Hell

The Powerless Rise – As I Lay DyingThe Powerless Rise – As I Lay DyingMetal Blade/RIOT!Metal Blade/RIOT!

Half a decade ago As I Lay Dying crept quietly from being just another metalcore band amongst the herd to being perhaps the premier exponent of the genre in 2010. While other bands have disappeared or changed styles com-pletely, As I Lay Dying have perfected their particular brand of hardcore tinged metal and with that The Powerless Rise is 11 songs of technically profi cient aggression. Tim Lambesis and co. don’t look to reinvent the wheel with this release, but with songs such as ‘Condemned’ there is no need to. Each song is fi lled with headbanging riffs and catchy chorus’, representing As I Lay Dying in perfect form. If you liked previous records by the band, you will more than likely be thrilled by The Powerless Rise. Chad Sexington

Sounds like… Parkway Drive, August Burns Red, All That Remains

Bleeding Through – Bleeding ThroughBleeding Through – Bleeding ThroughROADRUNNER RECORDSROADRUNNER RECORDS

The latest of six releases from Orange County band Bleeding Through is a self-titled full-length. Over the past decade these guys (and girl) have been putting out their mixture of hardcore and metal, and you’ll be pleased to know that with this record not a lot has changed, asides from the addition of new guitarist Dave Nassie. The tracks are fi lled with badass blast beats, pedal tone riffs and symphonic keys, so take notes kids as this is the secret to Bleeding Through’s success. Personal favourites include ‘Anti-hero’ and ‘Distortion Devotion’ both of which are melodic yet brutal, although I know there are some other gems which other fans may enjoy more. It’s good to see Bleeding Through in their eleventh year as a band and still producing the goods. Brett Muskett

Sounds like… Bleeding Through being Bleeding Through

Blue Sky Noise – Circa SurviveBlue Sky Noise – Circa SurviveAtlantic/UNIVERSALAtlantic/UNIVERSAL

After a three year absence, Philadelphia experimental rock group Circa Survive return with an album that blows anything the band has ever done out of the water. Their second album, 2007’s On Letting Go, was a disappoint-ment, so for Circa Survive to achieve what their talent always hinted at is a breathtaking experience. The biggest improvement on Blue Sky Noise is that from beginning to end it is a succinct and fl uid record; whether they are treading familiar territory on ‘Glass Arrows’, exploring balladry during ‘Frozen Creek’ or just simply rocking out in ‘Get Out’. Circa Survive hit the nail on the head each and every time. Expect to see this album on many people’s shortlists for Album Of The Year come December. Lindsey Cuthbertson

Sounds like: The Sound Of Animals Fighting, meWithoutyou, Thrice

Human 7” – HopelessHuman 7” – HopelessTRIAL & ERROR RECORDSTRIAL & ERROR RECORDS

In their short career, this Melbourne hardcore outfi t has certainly made its mark, and their fi rst vinyl outing, Human 7” expands upon the promise that their live shows and debut full-length demonstrated. This time around, they’ve taken the bluesy riffi ng of Dear World, combined it with traditional hardcore infl uences, to create an amalgama-tion of tracks that set this band apart from their peers. EP opener, ‘Decades’ sees the guitars experimenting with grooves rarely heard in hardcore, while the almost six-minute ‘Warehouse’ takes on a slightly more poppy and upbeat tone, before moving into traditional hardcore structures. Overall, the EP is cohesive, catchy and lyrically relatable. A defi nite progression for a young band of exceptional talent. Sarah Petchell

Sounds like… Break Even, Miles Away, Carpathian

Spit Venom EP – Had ItSpit Venom EP – Had ItARREST RECORDSARREST RECORDS

Spit Venom is Had It’s fi rst release for Arrest Records and after a vicious demo released last year, the follow up is as equally pissed off! Obviously a band that are angry about a lot of things in life, Had It aren’t afraid to show it with straight up hardcore and some well placed guitar solos. Spit Venom is an appropriate title for the EP as each vocal line is delivered with bile. Re-recorded songs ‘Celebrities’ and ‘Fight For Nothing’ are the standouts here, truly displaying the message Had It are throwing in your face. There are no surprises here: you know what to expect after the fi rst 30 seconds, but if you like your hardcore old school and pissed off, this is exactly what you want. Chad Sexington

Sounds like… Ill Brigade, Bad Blood, The Dead Walk

New Music

Insuffi cient Funds EP – Like...AlaskaInsuffi cient Funds EP – Like...AlaskaPOISON CITY RECORDSPOISON CITY RECORDS

On the Indie Rock end of the spectrum here at No Heroes are this six-piece from Newcastle, and Like…Alaska have made a brilliant EP! Layered acoustic guitars, multiple vocalists and a real feeling behind their songs means this softly spoken EP is a beautiful testament to the songwriting skills of an amazing band. It’s one of those releases that is listenable from beginning to end. The songs really build within themselves and it was with anticipation that I waited to see what would come with each track. There is a real honesty to the lyrics telling tales of sadness, loneliness and the life of living in a town like Newcastle. Defi nitely an EP that grows on you more with each listen, Insuffi cient Funds is highly recommended. Craig Lukic

Sounds like: Chuck Ragan, The Loved Ones, A Death In The Family

The Fear Is Excrutiating – Red SparowesThe Fear Is Excrutiating – Red SparowesHydra Head/STOMPHydra Head/STOMP

After a few years in the wilderness, Red Sparowes returns with their third album, The Fear Is Excrutiating, which is most defi nitely on par with their previous efforts. I like the atmosphere of the album and the guitar tone is really nice. The calmer moments will keep you still but the hazy distorted moments will lift you to a completely other plane of listening. The thing I fi nd most interesting here is the way each instrument does its own thing. They blend well off each other but it is one of those albums where you can just focus on the bass lines in one listen, or to one of the guitars on the next listen and then perhaps the vocals on the third. This album captures an essence of won-der and beauty, certainly making it moving listen and defi nitely not an excruciating one. Michael Anderson

Sounds like: Mogwai, Explosions In The Sky, Mono

I: A Turn For The Worse – I ExistI: A Turn For The Worse – I ExistCommon Bond/SHOCKCommon Bond/SHOCK

A band’s debut album is usually a bit awkward and sometimes disappointing, much like two virgins having sex. I am happy to say that I Exist’s fi rst full-length effort 1: A Turn for the Worse, is far from this. It starts off with some feedback and a few drums here and there, which suddenly explodes with dredging guitar and the harsh vocals of front man, Jake Willoughby. Highlights of the record are ‘One Thousand Hooves’, ‘The Weak Shall Fall’ and the eight-minute epic ‘A-Bomb Blues’. The tracks have a unique sound for such a new band. Overall, the band have mixed doom and old-school metal elements into their brand of hardcore, while production-wise the vocals sit low in the mix giving a raw sound, letting the instruments boom and giving listeners something to bounce their heads to. Brett Muskett

Sounds like… Cursed, Trap Them, Coliseum

Acid Tiger – Acid TigerAcid Tiger – Acid TigerDeathwish Inc/STOMPDeathwish Inc/STOMP

What happens when you take the drummer of Converge and the guitarist of Thursday and get them to write music together? You would think it an unlikely partnership, but the result is Acid Tiger and their debut self-titled album effortlessly melds together enough energetic sway and sheer rock swagger to create a truly unique melding. For some reason this album reminds me a bit of Narrows meets The Bronx, with some old school, bluesy rock thrown in for good measure. So basically it’s crushing heaviness with enough rock & roll attitude and groove to get you dancing! Just take opening track ‘The Claw’ as an example. Vocal sass, fret gymnastics and a soulful darkness combine to make this the most fun you’ll have with a heavy record all year! Sarah Petchell

Sounds like… Dangers, Cancer Bats, The Bronx.

Circle The Wagons – DarkthroneCircle The Wagons – DarkthroneSTOMPSTOMP

In all reality, the later punk/rock style of black metal Darkthrone is spawning these days is pleasing many while upsetting others. For me, I’m totally enjoying every moment of this ‘New Wave Of Black Heavy Metal’ and Circle The Wagons is possibly its best offering so far. These guys know exactly what they want to do and they are perfect at it. Whether it just be a good old thrashing riff, more doom like elements, or even traditional DIY tones, the thing is that they still keep that signature raw, Darkthrone sound and that is what makes them so distinctive. The vocals (even the singing) and lyrics work, the riffs work, the drumming works. The raw and fi lthy sound and production fi ts. Simple or not, Darkthrone has always been effective. Great album! Michael Anderson

Sounds like: Well, Darkthrone, and old school metal.

18.61 – 10818.61 – 108Deathwish Inc/STOMPDeathwish Inc/STOMP

I’m probably not the best person to judge a 108 album, but 18.61 was certainly not what I expected. Lyrically pow-erful and sonically dissonant, this is an intense album from the opening track, ‘God Talk’ until the closing seconds of ‘Early Funeral’. The standout track for me is most defi nitely ‘Crescent Moon’ which races at the topmost, manic speed before crashing into one of the heaviest parts of the album. With new drummer Mike Justian (Trap Them, Unearth) on board a new dimension has been brought to the sound with the album pushing the envelope rhythmi-cally, adding to the intensity and power of the album. Clearly, 18.61 is another reaffi rmation of why 108 are one of the most important and infl uential hardcore bands in existence right now. Sarah Petchell

Sounds like… Shelter, Unbroken, Trial

New Music

Days Above Ground – Paper ArmsDays Above Ground – Paper ArmsPOISON CITY RECORDSPOISON CITY RECORDS

The fi rst thing you need to know about this debut album from Adelaide’s Paper Arms is that is was produced by Walter Schreifels, and the exceptional production does perfect justice to the equally exceptional quality of song-writing and performance that the band shows on Days Above Ground. Melding intricate stop/start rhythms with anthemic punk-rock vocals that have a lot in common with Against Me and Hot Water Music, this is certainly an album that lives up to Paper Arms’ reputation for putting on a powerful live show. Tracks like ‘An Outbreak’ and ‘Breathing Solutions’ really stand out with their emotional vocals and guitar melodies. But the thing that sets this band apart is their honest, raw and mature take on their punk rock roots. Don’t let this slip you by! Sarah Petchell

Sounds like… Small Brown Bike, Fugazi, Rival Schools

Cavalcade – The FlatlinersCavalcade – The FlatlinersFat Wreck Chords/SHOCKFat Wreck Chords/SHOCK

The fi rst thing that you notice about The Flatliners is that vocalist Chris Cresswell has one of the best punk vocals that I have heard since Hot Water Music. And it is these vocals that standout as the thing that makes Cavalcade one of the exceptional pure punk albums that will come out this year. The entire album is fast-paced, raw and damn catchy, particularly in the gang-vocal-led choruses of tracks like ‘Carry The Banner’ and ‘Bleed’. Drawing on infl uences the likes of The Gaslight Anthem on ‘Monumental’ and even ska and reggae during ‘He Was A Jazzman’, but none of this detracts from the punk spirit that shines through! If you’re a fan of punk in general then Cavalcade is defi nitely an album for you! Sarah Petchell

Sounds like… A Wilhelm Scream, The Lawrence Arms, The Loved Ones

Heliocentric – The OceanHeliocentric – The OceanMetal Blade/RIOT!Metal Blade/RIOT!

One might have thought The Ocean was heading into a more post-metal direction with Precambrian. Not the case. Heliocentric is an album that, although keeping the atmospheric and sludgy elements, almost feels as though it is heading more ‘mainstream’ so to speak. This is not a bad thing as it still stirs the senses, plus there is much more to it than this over simplifi cation would suggest. A lot more singing, more of a verse and chorus type song struc-ture, but enough disjointedness in the riffs and experimentation with the pianos, cellos and violins to keep things interesting. It reminds me a little of a less bizarre Maudlin Of The Well, just without all the death metal elements also. Good listen. Michael Anderson

Sounds like:

Our Ashes Built Mountains – Beyond Terror Beyond GraceOur Ashes Built Mountains – Beyond Terror Beyond GraceUNSIGNEDUNSIGNED

Beyond Terror, Beyond Grace are a grindcore explosion from Sydney and Our Ashes Built Mountains is a brutal declaration of their intentions. An album that is unrelenting from start to fi nish, you only have time to breathe for a few seconds between songs before you are pulled back under for another pummelling of blast beats and demonic vocals. The album is claustrophobic and suffocating in the best way, possible like the best of Napalm Death, but even when BTBG bring down the speed, you still feel engulfed by their noise: the eight-minute long instrumental ‘Murakami’ showing the depth the band has. This is one for the true lovers of brutal metal to turn up loud and bang their heads to. Chad Sexington

Sounds like: Rottensound, Napalm Death, Darkthrone

Periphery – PeripheryPeriphery – PeripheryROADRUNNER RECORDSROADRUNNER RECORDS

A solid debut album after the lead vocalist left during its making, this prog metal outing is highly capable. Alternat-ing equally from guttural vocals to a clean sing, which overlays the stuttering guitars and interspersed keyboard augmentations. Coming in at over an hour it’s a massive effort and due to its length the album can sound repeti-tive at times. Sound-wise Periphery comes across as a little over-produced, which while it helps accentuate the technical side of the guitars and other instruments ultimately comes across sounding slightly sterile. However, this still remains a highly promising debut from a young and ridiculously accomplished band, with certain signs of genius to come. Craig Lukic

Sounds like… Meshuggah, Bulb, Between The Buried And Me

Coyote – Kayo DotCoyote – Kayo DotHydra Head/STOMPHydra Head/STOMP

The very fi rst spin of this record had me drawing comparisons to the great Miles Davis and his avant-garde jazz extravaganza Bitches Brew. Coyote, the fourth album by US experimental group Kayo Dot, is a sparse kaleidoscope of musical tastes. The group meshes together jazz, metal, rock and free time like it’s second nature – and consid-ering that Kayo Dot has forged a career out of composing sparse albums that challenge their listeners’ conception of music, Coyote sits at the top of their pile. I’m not usually one to drop an expletive in a review, but I’ll make an exception here: Coyote has to be one of the biggest musical mind fucks I’ve ever experienced. And that’s not a bad thing in the slightest… Lindsey Cuthbertson

Sounds like… Nothing you’ve ever heard before!

New Music

THE SMITHs(1982-1987)(1982-1987)

Lineup:Lineup:Morrissey (Vocals)Johnny Marr (Guitar)Andy Rourke (Bass)Mike Joyce (Drums)

Cause Of Death: Cause Of Death: Inner band disputes

Compulsory Listening:Compulsory Listening:

Hatful Of Hollow (1984)

The Queen Is Dead (1986)

“Strangeways Here We Come” (1987)

Sometimes music just hits you in the guts with a sledgeham-mer. Whether it’s a melody or a rhythm, a note sung or an un-derlying message, something about the music just gets you. It’s almost like it knows how to explain what you’re feeling in-side better than you could ever do yourself.

I know this because on my 17th birthday I was given The Smiths’ entire back catalogue as a gift, and that musical sledgehammer of theirs nearly knocked my head off my shoul-ders.

The effect wasn’t immediate. I don’t think I really understood the true power of the music of The Smiths until I turned 19.

Last issue I raved about Black Flag’s infl uence on my 19-year-old self as well, so there must have been something signifi -cant about that age for me. Mu-sically, my universe was in the throes of its very own Big Bang, and in amongst the shining stars the music of The Smiths burned brighter than most.

A lot of the credit of the band’s success usually goes to the velvet-voiced Morrissey and the spangly guitar work of Johnny Marr, but when com-bined with the equally talented rhythm section of bass player, Andy Rourke, and drummer Mike Joyce, it was undeniable that The Smiths had a special something about their music. Something that set them apart from the other poodle-haired, shoulder-pad wearing, cocaine sniffi ng wash ups who did their best posing as bands in the Eighties.

But back to The Smiths, and most importantly, their music. It was this strange juxtaposi-tion of melancholy with tongue-in-cheek humour, where 60’s pop infl uences walked hand-in-

hand with those of the post-punk movement.

The Sex Pistols had been and gone, The Clash had exploded and outgrown their punk begin-nings and Joy Division had left a musical black hole of disillusion-ment and soul-wrenching despair that was yet to be fi lled. The Smiths were the next logical band to fi ll that void.

As a vocalist and lyricist, Steven

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

Patrick Morrissey was head and shoulders above his rivals…liter-ally so with his large quiff-styled hairdo. However, when he deliv-ered wistful lines in his baritone voice – lines like “I would go out tonight, but I haven’t got a stitch to wear” in the 1984 single ‘This Charming Man’. I just didn’t know whether to laugh along with his predicament or embrace the se-vere lack of confi dence that this one line exudes.

In my eyes it’s practically genius! Back when I was 19, I thought the dude was my messiah. There’s so much tongue-in-cheek bravado in Morrissey’s lyrics, but dig beneath the surface and you fi nd his dark insecurities lurking like demons: case in point being the song ‘Stop Me If You Think That You’ve Heard This One Before’. Just look at the title for a moment and appreciate its many layers of meaning.

Being given all the albums The Smiths ever created made me miss out on the whole ‘search-for-the-holy-grail’ experience you have when you discover a band, but I didn’t care. Instead I was able to lay on my bed on a Sun-day and listen to every album in chronological order and hear their speedy progression from the hit-and-miss upstarts on their self-titled debut, to masters of their art they had become on “Strange-ways Here We Come” in the short space of only fi ve years later.

The problem with trying to pin-point a favourite album of theirs is the fact that on every release

that The Smiths ever put out (and please ignore the plethora of ‘Best Of…’ compilations that have come out since their 1987 break-up) there are at least two songs that sit in the list of the best songs that this band have ever written.

So how infl uential was the music The Smiths on my life, you may ask? I once used the lyrics of ‘How Soon Is Now’ for the inspira-tion of a short story assessment in my second year of university. When I look back on some of lines Morrissey penned for that classic tune (“There’s a club if you’d like to go / You could meet someone who really loves you / so you go and you stand on your own, and you leave on your own / and you go home and you cry and you want to die”).

I now realise that it perfectly summed up my mopey life as a single man. I ended up getting a High Distinction for the story, with those lines of Morrissey used as an epigraph. After the band broke up, the members went their separate way and have never publicly consid-ered a reunion.

Morrissey has since gone on to forge a career penning melan-cholic ditties on multiple releases under his own moniker, and in doing so has probably had the most successful musical career post-The Smiths.

Johnny Marr started a few bands and even played in Modest Mouse a few years back.

Earlier this decade Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce took Morrissey and Marr to court over the band’s songwriting royalties and won.

Countless bands have tried and failed to emulate that special little something that The Smiths possessed. And long may it re-main that way…

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

“Back when I was 19, I thought the dude was my “Back when I was 19, I thought the dude was my messiah. There’s so much tongue-in-cheek bravado messiah. There’s so much tongue-in-cheek bravado

in Morrissey’s lyrics, but dig beneath the surface in Morrissey’s lyrics, but dig beneath the surface and you fi nd his demons...”and you fi nd his demons...”

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