NIGHTMARE

Hanna Tsepesh: Hello Jo! Thanks so much for accepting this interview and Welcome to THE GATES OF METAL! First of all: how are you guys and how are the things doing with your concerts?

Jo: Hello Hanna, Thanks to you for the support! Our first concert for promoting the new album will be this week end in Portugal at the Ilha Do Ermal festival in Braga… I am very excited about it… we are up to start a brand new season of touring and this is the first step.

Hanna Tsepesh: You are very welcome Jo! For those who do not know Nightmare could tell us a little how it all started?

Jo: the band exists since 1979 … the story is pretty long and from this time only me and Yves the bass player are still there… David was 7 years old and was our first fan, so he evidently took my place on the drums when I left it for the microphone 20 years after… the main hightlights from this old time was the opening slot for Def Leppard back in 1983… we have made two albums for cult British label ebony records : “Waiting for the twilight” in 1984 and “Power of the universe” in 1985… then we had a long break to finally come back in 1999 for a reunion show that was in fact a new start for a new career… from then we have released so far 5 albums and made several nice concerts… The band and their music evolved with their time with his line up so this can explain our long existence
Hanna Tsepesh: What inspired you the most to create the lyrics? The band writes the lyrics first or first the band creates the riffs and the melody to comply with the lyrics?

Jo: We use to work like your second proposition: the band creates the riffs and the melody to comply with the lyrics… The Guitar players offer us a riff and I try different vocal melodies and we change what we have to change after this Lyric is written at the end to match with the melodies. We give a big space to emotion and interpretation, to give the song a theatrical dimension!

Hanna Tsepesh: What are your favorite bands? You have any singer that you admire the most?

Jo: The singers I admire the most are powerful voices and vocalists who display lots of emotions I like a lot of singers but the mains are: Jorn Lande from Masterplan and Russel Allen from Symphony X, but also Ronnie James Dio…

Hanna Tsepesh: I would like to know if you had or have any singing lessons or any other preparation? You have a fantastic voice I am very surprised with your work in this album! Congratulation!

Jo: Thanks a lot! I had lessons during 3 years at the beginning of my singing career with a teacher who does gospel music… it helped me a lot to strengthen my voice and to learn some technics… then over the years with hard work and perseverance and healthy way of life, the voice gets stronger over the years… now I am a bit lazy and I can’t say that I practice a lot!

Hanna Tsepesh: You have another project in hands or your time is only for Nightmare? You ever think of having another band or project? What you like to do when you have free time?

Jo: Nightmare takes me all the time I can give to music… Maybe I will be able to work for another project in the next life! (laughs)

Hanna Tsepesh: (laughs). The band has a new album called” Insurrection”. This album for me is the best of Nightmare, don’t you think? Is very powerful album and energetic…I really liked! I send my congratulation for the entire band for this great work and also when we listen to this album we can feel that you sing with a lot of passion! For people who don’t listen yet can you talk about” Insurrection “and what is the big different for you between this album and the previous one? Also, what the band want to accomplish?

Jo: Alex was the main guitar composer, and when he left the band, Franck took his place with success and determination. He had a big facility to propose to us real killer riffs, without forgetting to let space to the vocal melodies: it was easier for me to find melodies; I really took pleasure to sing on this album! The difference with this album is that we have more hooks when it comes to the chorus of the songs don’t you think? And that people can remember the chorus more easily…

Hanna Tsepesh: Yes i think the same! Everything went well at recording studio? It was an easy process? The band feels proud with the final result or you think that miss something?

Jo: We recorded this album for the first time in different places and we had more time to think about the songwritings… when you record a whole album in one take, you have often to hurry up at the end of the recording session and this let down the overall work on the album… but due to budget restrictions, sometimes you have no choice when you enter big studio with big producer… Everyone in the band had good condition ..; we finalized everything the way we wanted. Today, I wouldn’t change anything on it we have made it for the best!

Hanna Tsepesh: How has the response been to the album by the media and fans?

Jo: So far it’s a bit early to say so… we only had great feed back from the press conference of our label AFM records who presented our album at Wacken open air… also we had a 08/10 on rock hard Germany which gives a lot of promises to this album..; we are very happy so far…. We just hope now that the fans will like it !

Hanna Tsepesh: The art cover is very cool! How was the person behind this cool work? You think that the cover art transmit what” Insurrection” are?

Jo: For the second time we choose to work with Par Oloffson, a Swedish artist because we consider that his match with our music… he is really talented artist and we like his work a lot ! he was the artist who made the previous cover of “Genetic Disorder” also… if you look carefully the layout and the warrior with this dark sky and the space shifts, don’t you think of an insurrection feeling?

Hanna Tsepesh: Yes, I really like it! looks great! If one of our readers wants to buy your album safely, what they can do?

Jo: Go to the shop and buy it! (laughs)
Don’t download it because the lyrics need to be read and fits with the music and the artwork of the cover is important also…

Hanna Tsepesh: (laughs). what is your favorite music in this album and why?

Jo: I can’t choose one best song or one which is under the rest, I need more time to give my favorite, maybe after having played them live … maybe “Legions of the Rising Sun” is a very good song and one of my favorite chorus…
Hanna Tsepesh: You guys going to play in Portugal very soon (30 August at Ilha Do Ermal Festival). What can we expect from Nightmare?

Jo: We are going to give our best! It’s the first time we play in your country and we want to make the fans happy after they have seen us… We are going to play a new song from “Insurrection” for this show and it will be a surprise! it’s the only thing I can say for now ! hope a lot of people will show up in front of the stage and that we can party together ! Remember 19:55 main stage on Sunday!

Hanna Tsepesh: Do you want to send any message for the people who going to read this interview?

Jo: We will be happy to meet you at Ilha Do Ermal fest! And hope you will like us and buy the album after you have seen the show…

Hanna Tsepesh: Thanks o much for your answers and time. THE GATES OF METAL wishes the entire band a big success with” Insurrection”! See you guys at Ermal.

Jo: Thanks a lot for the support! See you all on Sunday to make party!

Hanna Tsepesh: You are very welcome! thank you!

By: Hanna Tsepesh
To listen to some more NIGHTMARE music’s and for future information’s go at:
www.myspace.com/nightmareofficial
www.imeem.com/nightmareofficial
www.facebook.com/pages/NIGHTMARE/8046134285
www.youtube.com/nightmaretv

*** This interview was made before the concert!

DEADLOCK

Hanna Tsepesh: Thanks so much for accepting this interview and Welcome to THE GATES OF METAL!

Johannes: Hi Hanna. What a huge feeling that I made it to The Gates of Metal finally!

Hanna Tsepesh: Thank you! For those who do not know Deadlock could tell us a little how it all started?

Johannes: It all started back in 1997, when Tobias, Sebastian and Me were sitting together an decided to start a band. Back in the days it all was more like a hardcore band in the vein of Madball or Hatebreed, but soon we developed our style and turned more and more into a melodic death metal machine.

Hanna Tsepesh: What inspired you the most to create the lyrics?

Johannes: Most of our lyrics deal with our vegan lifestyle. On Manifesto the message is split up in two parts, in the first part of the CD we talk about the perversion and brutality we see in our everyday life and take a look at some special situations from the perspective of mankind, seeing it as a job and expecting anybody to accepted it as normal. For example the song „martyr to science“ deals with the pharmaceutics industry and how they want to make us think that animal testing is important for assuring our health and that some animals are not worth living and should be proud that they get the chance to become part of something that important. Another song called „Fire at Will“ is about the hunters, that are always searching for the adrenaline rush and one crazy hunter shots his own daughter because she was playing behind the trees and he was totally blinded by the will to bring home a trophy. For song 9 and ten of the CD we have decided to play with two extreme scenarios which mankind could choose for the future. One good way, by respecting all living things and starting to live a life concentrating on „Altruism“ and that is also the title of that song; and one dead end road, where the extreme is put to the next level and mankind starts to search for the final execution to become godlike. The new song material will lyrically deal more with personal and maybe some political topics.

Hanna Tsepesh: What are your favorite bands? You have any singer that you admire the most?

Johannes: The list of my favorite bands is really huge. I love to listen to mercenary, evergrey, soilwork, scar symmetry but also to stuff like pendulum or enter shikaru. I am not really admiring a special singer, but for example Christian Älvestam, scar symmetry / miseration, who did those amazing guest vocals on our song “dying breed” is a fantastic singer, who proves that being a metal singer means a lot more than just a good live performance.

John: I admire Johannes!

Hanna Tsepesh: I would like to know if you had or have any singing lessons or any other preparation? Your voice is better in this album. Great work!

Johannes: Thank you! but to be honest I have never been to a singing coach or something like that. I guess when you scream for more than 10 years you know how to do it sooner or later … its like with everything else people do, you try again and again, harder and harder and you get better in what you do. But it is really cool, to hear that people realize that you are developing in what you do.

Hanna Tsepesh: Deadlock has a new album called “Manifesto”. This album is really different, I listen more mature musicians on this album! Very interesting album with great voices and cool riffs! For people who don’t listen yet can you talk about this new album and what is the big different for you between this album and the previous one?

Johannes: Recording “manifesto” was really cool and relaxed. We recorded 80% of the CD in our guitar players very own studio “slaughters palace”, which made the recording process extremely professional and smooth. There was not that typical kind of pressure to be in time not to produce unnecessary high costs. We had the chance to finish a song, make a rough mix, take it to our flats and houses, check it out and then meet again and give it a second facelift. That was something really cool, which made it all way more professional. The main progression in DL`s new sound is that Sabine is much more implemented into the whole song writing process. In comparison to “Wolves” her and my performance is put much more to the extreme and less predictable, combines with all these samples and ideas, “Manifesto” delivers a perfect mix of melody and brutality- simply our best record so far, but what else did you expect me to say?

Hanna Tsepesh: You already answer it, thank you! The band feels proud with the final result or you think that miss something? Everything went well at recording studio?

Johannes: Yeah, I think it is the best DL output so far. We are really satisfied with the final product and for me it is just a perfect sequel to our former album “wolves”, same style but way more intense, more brutal and packed with lots of crazy ideas.

John: Furthermore (I guess) we succeeded with our various games of sounds and different genre influences. The vocal-interaction between Sabine and Johannes is much more consistent as well as the music in general. We increased all our skills for better melodies, more variety and also for more aggressive, fast parts that are much more neck breaking... But everyone is able to hear the differences on his/her own
Hanna Tsepesh: The album cover is very beautiful! Who was the person to create this amazing work? You think that the album cover transmit “manifesto” album?

Johannes: It just gives the listeners a perfect imagination of what they have to expect, because „Manifesto“ is different to any other metal record they may have listened to so far. The light blue color shows that DL is more than just dark brutal metal it is also about beauty in its melodies and Sabine`s vocals. This masterpiece was done by Adam ... Adam and Eve ... äh ... no... John tell me how that crazy motherfxxxer was called ...

John: Adam Wentworth...maybe some people know him as bass player of The Red Chord or former guitarist of Beyond the Sixth Seal. A very talented guy with lot’s of ideas and different styles (I guess he also did some Beyonce-Shirts).

Hanna Tsepesh: How has the response been to the album by the media and fans?

Johannes: The first reactions and reviews have been really amazing and on tour we tried how the crowd reacts to our new material and what should I tell you, bouncing asses and love on the dancefloor! Deadlock is on its way to become Germanys Disco Metal Band number one.

Hanna Tsepesh: If one of our readers wants to buy your album safely, what they can do?

Johannes: Send me all your money and I will send you a copy of manifesto. Or go to your next record dealer and tell him to order the material of your favorite German metal band.

John: Safely – so you better wear welding glasses, gloves and a suspensor while ordering the album online because every good mail order should have it in stock.
Hanna Tsepesh: what is your favorite music in this album and why?

Johannes: The male vocals (laughs). My personal favorite song is Dying Breed. The mixture of brutality and beautiful melodies combined with those amazing guest vocals make that song something very special for me. And I love the lyrics, because mankind more and more pushes itself to become a dying breed and we all should wake up soon.

John: It differs…The best song in the current live playlist from Manifesto is Mathyr to Science because of his catchy structure and the great refrain. When I only listen to the album I like Fire at Will most. Sabine’s vocal lines are a little bit laid back and the rhythm is a bit dodgy what makes that song unique. But unfortunately this is also the reason what makes it nearly impossible to perform it live in a good way – but luckily there are many other good song available
Hanna Tsepesh: How are the things doing about metal in your country? It is easy for a metal band have some support in your country?

John: We have a huge scene in Germany and the near countries – many bands, clubs, fans and scene supporters on the one hand side. One the other hand side it’s hard for a german band to be accepted in Germany. You know the adage “A prophet has no honour in his own country”. Foreign bands especially from Scandinavia or overseas have it much easier here. But we have no reasons to complain, because there is a good number of loyal Deadlock-fans over here.

Hanna Tsepesh: The band is thinking about a European tour? You guys have plains to include Portugal in your tour or something?

Johannes: We would love to come to Portugal. Deadlock has never been there before, so it is time to veganize your beautiful country, before we are getting too old

Hanna Tsepesh: Do you want to send any message for the people who going to read this interview?

Johannes: Hey girls and boys! Or just girls! Ok, boys too. I wanted to tell you that you should definitely check out our music, check our myspace profile, go to see our new video to “the brave- agony applause” and tell your local promoters that the should bring Deadlock to Portugal! And then lets have a party! see you!

Hanna Tsepesh: Thanks o much for your answers and time. THE GATES OF METAL wishes the entire band a great success with “Manifesto” album! We hope to see you guys very soon in here…

Johannes: Thank you Hanna! Thank you ladies and gentlemen for reading! And hopefully we will meet all of you girls and boys at one of our next shows, maybe in Portugal – would be amazing!
Take care folks, veganize!

Hanna Tsepesh: You are very welcome and thank you! all the best...

By: Hanna Tsepesh
To listen to some DEADLOCK music’s and for future information’s go at:
www.myspace.com/deadlock
www.deadlock-official.com

HAZY HAMLET

Hanna Tsepesh: Hello Hazy Hamlet and how are you guys? Thanks so much for accepting this interview and Welcome to THE GATES OF METAL! For those who do not know your band could tell us a little how it all started and also make a little introduction about yourselves?

Julio: Hi Hanna, we are great, thanks! I am Julio Bertin, 26, guitar and synth player, and well, you know, in the beginning we were just a group of friends, going to the same rock bar to have some fun together.

Fabio: Hi Hanna, I am Fabio Nakahara, 27, Hazy Hamlet bassist. Indeed, we enjoyed the same metal styles, so I decided to gather some friends, including Julio Bertin, to establish a band and play some cover songs of 80s heavy metal.

Arthur: Hail Hanna and The Gates Of Metal readers! I am Arthur Migotto, 27, lead singer and composer. I had the opportunity to become part of the group in the beginning of 2002, to help promoting Hazy Tales demo-CD, as singer Mario Bertin, Julio's brother, was leaving to another city to give continuity to his academic studies.

Cadu: Hi everybody, here is Cadu Madera, 24, and I have joined the group a bit more than one year ago, as Hazy Hamlet needed a new drummer. We were already great friends, always going out to have some fun together. We shared the same musical tastes, enjoying practically the same bands, and have playing together before with Fabio and Julio in a 70s hard project. It is being great to play with these guys.

Hanna Tsepesh: What inspired you the most to create the lyrics? The band writes the lyrics first or first the band creates the riffs to comply with the lyrics?

Arthur: We write about wars, death, human degradation and also about motivation and metal itself. There is a bit of everything, sorted inspirations, but we mainly like to use mythological elements to present metaphors on our reflexions, so the listener can draw his own conclusions about what we are trying to say. That is why you will so commonly find viking elements in our tunes, which Is a theme that we love since the beginning. About compositions, there is really a bit of the two methods. Sometimes we get some riffs together in studio while improvising, and then we think: “Hey, this song looks like it should tell about human disillusions!” - then I go there and write down some lyrics to fit the tune style. Sometimes I have a main Idea in my head that I want to develop. Then I go and sit there with a guitar and try to get some riffs that match the style and energy of the idea I want to write about. Usually when I take these ideas to the group, they are very well accepted, and the guys finish the work awesomely! Both are working 'til now, so I don't see why we should changing anything.

Hanna Tsepesh: What are your favorite bands?

Julio: Queen, Black Sabbath, Rick Wakeman, Manowar, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Testament, Grave Digger, among many other bands and groups of heavy and classical music, etc.

Fabio: Black Sabbath with G. Butler, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Grave Digger, Running Wild, White Snake, Deep Purple...

Cadu: Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Thin Lizzy, ZZ Top, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Rainbow and a lot more I can't remember right now.

Arthur: Rainbow, Dio, Judas Priest, Chariot, Cloven Hoof, Testament, Grave Digger, Running Wild, ZZ Top and a bunch more from 70s, 80s and NWoBHM.

Hanna Tsepesh: Arthur, you have any singer that you admire the most? And also, I would like to know if you had or have any singing lessons or any other preparation? You have an amazing voice! Your voice remembers me the old heavy metal! Congratulations!

Arthur: Absolutely, and that is Ronnie James Dio. Besides being master of one of the best voices ever, he is someone who have being playing classic rock since its beginning and have accompanied heavy metal evolution in all its history - 70s hard, NWoBHM, 80s hard and metal, and had only stopped in the great heavy low-tempo classic metal he does today, having not flirted with disaster (I mean, new metal stuff). He is the grandfather of rock, and a true inspiration! About me, first of all thank you so much for your praises – I am delighted and honored, really! Indeed, when I was 15 or 16, I have tried one month of singing lessons. Then I realized that they could be great for lyrical and classical music, or maybe some melodic metal – you know, clean voices – but that was not what I wanted, and I decided I should find and develop my own style, resonance, posture, etc. Then I quit, and despite my limitations, I am happy with what I have. If you think it remembers old heavy metal, it is enough! (laughs)

Hanna Tsepesh: This question if for the other members: When did you start to play your instruments and why did you pick them?

Cadu: I have started playing some keyboard with 6 years. I have studied for about one year and then I quit. I tried acoustic guitar, and did not last long too. Only when I was about 16 years I have returned to music, now playing drums. It is the only instrument I have never had lessons, and it is the one is taking longer. I have always being influenced by rock, that I have been listening to since I was young.

Fabio: Influenced by 80s bands, like Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Grave Digger, Running Wild, I have begun activity as a musician. It started with a covers band, for the pleasure of playing heavy metal and the style I love. Geezer Butler and Steve Harris are my greatest influences.

Julio: I had initiated my studies with acoustic guitar from mid 90s on, and developing electric guitar techniques in the following years. I have opted for guitars influenced by my rock idols.

Hanna Tsepesh: I read that you guys don’t have any record label and also don’t are looking for one. I stay very surprised with that because so many bands are looking for one and you guys are also very proud of it! What is the reason that you guys don’t search for a record label? The band doesn’t believe in labels or something? You guys have so much talent that I believe that soon you get one…

Arthur: Yeah, we have some friend bands that worked with renowned companies in Brazil and did not tell us good stories about them. Added to that, we strove and spent a lot of time and resources to get this album done the way we wanted, and it would not be fair letting it in hands of a fancy record company. We also are not in Europe or USA, and we live far from capitals or metal centers in our country, and so we believed that for a first album we could do a promotion work similar to or better than any small label really – with a lot of hard-work, passion and patience. It is still early to tell results, but we can clearly state that we love to be independent. It has the beauty of you keeping close contact to redactors, promoters and mainly bangers, what some signed bands miss. Besides, you can look back and see your conquers and be sure they are yours, not others. So yes, we are really proud of it all. However, we don't discard chances of accepting a good metal label in the future. It all have to be studied, but we want one that we feel really loves rock/metal spirit. And we are also open for distribution partnership, so if you are a label runner reading this and enjoyed our music, write us and you will be very welcome.

Hanna Tsepesh: You guys have a debut album called “Forging Metal”. Truly heavy metal sound and I really love it all the music’s and the feeling that you transmit to us! We can feel with Arthur voice that he sing with a lot of passion and you guys make a fantastic work! I love the music’s like “The Beginning of the end. Part 2” and “Forging Metal”, this music’s transmit a lot what Hazy Hamlet is in my opinion! For people who didn’t listen yet can you talk about this album and what the band wants to accomplish?

Arthur: Well, almost a decade on the road and having already released two demos and a single, we thought it was time to release our debut, a full-length. Forging Metal is completely independent, and presents 5 reworked songs and 5 previously unreleased tracks. We found that would be a great way of gifting old fans and yet present new tunes and all transition work we are doing, directing our music to a more “vintage classic metal” approach. Cover artwork was beautifully done by very talented and friendly Brazilian professional illustrator Celso Mathias. Being independent is hard, and although some media press like yours support us with great enthusiasm, filling us with praises that we had never expected before, many do not even reply to our mails. So if you ask us what we want to accomplish, we can say we want to show everybody our energy and passion for vintage metal, but also prepare structure to get an even better acceptance in our next one – so we can keep growing and playing for farther audiences.

Hanna Tsepesh: The band feels proud with the final result or you think that misses something? Everything went well at recording studio? It was an easy process for the band?

Arthur: Although we worked hard to present a good sound production - and we can say we are proud of what we achieved for a first work – we know it could be a bit better if we had better recording sessions. It was a tough and troublesome long process that took 4 years to be completed as we wanted. We had problems like former drummer with injured foot, bassist with broken finger, burnt tubes in guitarist's valve amp, lack of money, problem with liar studio guy, re-recording a lot of things, bureaucratic stuff, exchange of drummer, mixing the material and even problems with the factory. So no, it was not easy, but that makes us even prouder.

Hanna Tsepesh: How has the response been to the album by the media and fans?

Cadu: It is being great! Much more than we expected for a first album, really. We are receiving awesome reviews worldwide, and the critics are usually very constructive, what motivates us a lot. With these results, we are being invited to some secret projects that will soon be promoted. And despite piracy, bangers are buying the album to support us, writing, and motivating us a lot!

Hanna Tsepesh: If one of our readers wants to buy your album safely, what they can do?

Julio: The greatest manner of supporting us and a really safe one is visiting our website, choosing what you want and write us a mail directly or through the form in contact page. We will get in touch and give you the cheapest shipping values we can offer, and we accept Paypal payment, that is fast and secure. You can also buy our album from the stores: Indie Rhythm, CD Baby, Sonic Age Records (Greece) and Rock Stakk Records (Japan). Our digital songs are also available from Amazon MP3, iTunes store (USA), Lala, Napster, Amie Street and WaWaWa (China).

Hanna Tsepesh: what is your favorite music in this album and why?

Arthur: Chariot of Thor, because of its variations and atmosphere, and Forging Metal, for being a purely classic piece!

Fabio: Metal Revolution and Chariot of Thor, because of their energy and for presenting traces of my influences.

Julio: The Faces of Illusion, because of the analog synths sounds and for sounding so different from other songs.

Cadu: Field of Crosses and Chrome Heart, for their energy and atmosphere.

Hanna Tsepesh: The band is thinking about a European tour? You guys have plains to include Portugal in your tour or something?

Fabio: Surely we think about that, and playing in Portugal would be great! However we have in mind that being independent makes things much harder for us, at least for now. We will work hard for about a year to promote this album and build a better structure for the band. If until there we find support and a manner to travel Europe, we will absolutely do so!

Hanna Tsepesh: What are the things doing about Metal in your country (Brazil)? Is easy to get some kind of support? Like places to play, radios, webzines, etc.?

Arthur: In the passionate side it is awesome. Headbangers here are faithful, passionate and motivating. The media is fine, and we are getting some airplay in specialized radios and receiving some huge support from some nice webzines and blogs – but not all of them. About concerts, it is a bit hard. Metal in here lacks resources, and underground is commonly mistaken as amateurism. Some promoters really have intention of taking us to their cities, offering a good equipment, reasonable hosting, and seeing you rock on stage, but lack some resources. For those, we do our best to close a deal and play! Others just want to make some money and offer nothing for the bands – and as beginning groups want to play and accept that, things unfortunately never get better. We will keep working hard to conquer our space.Hanna Tsepesh: Do you want to send any message for the people who going to read this interview?

Julio: Yes, musical scenery has changed a lot in the last years. The great music industry is declining and with Internet, new music is democratic and spreading a lot faster. So, if you want to help your local scene, please support your independent artists.

Arthur: Indeed, we are living in a new era and every support to independent artists, like you Hanna do, is essential, extremely valuable.

Fabio: Thank you so much Hanna and The Gates of Metal readers for your support. Keep pushing independent metal and motivating your local artists.

Cadu: I would like to say thank you for your opportunity and say to all your readers: Keep rocking! Stay metal!

Hanna Tsepesh: Thanks o much for your answers and your words. THE GATES OF METAL wishes the entire band a big success! We hope to see you guys very soon in here…

Arthur: OK, we will work as hard as we can to get there soon. A huge hug, thank you all and see you!

Hanna Tsepesh: You are very welcome! Thank you so much and all the best for you guys!

By: Hanna Tsepesh
To listen to some HAZY HAMLET music’s and for future information’s go at:
www.hazyhamlet.com/
www.myspace.com/hazyhamlet

LAAZ ROCKIT

Hanna Tsepesh: Hello Michael Coons! Thanks so much for accepting this interview and Welcome to THE GATES OF METAL! First of all: how are you and how are the things doing with your concerts?

Michael Coons: Hello Hanna! I'm doing great. We recently played Graspop and Bang
Your Head, and they were awesome, completely off the hook. Right now, the guys are doing summer stuff with their kids, but we will be looking at some opportunities to play out when the kids are back in school. As you can tell, things have changed for us quite a bit over the years!

Hanna Tsepesh: For those who do not know Laaz Rockit could tell us a little how it all started? It was formed in 1982 by you and Aaron, right?
Michael Coons: Yeah, Aaron and I met through a mutual friend, Craig Behrhorst (Ruffians), and we started jamming back in 1982. I was still in high school with Craig, and finished before that summer. At that time, Aaron and I started playing gigs and we got popular really fast. So much so that I passed on a soccer scholarship to attend college that fall! As we progressed through
that year and into 1983, we came across Phil Kettner, Vic Agnello, and then Willy Lange. We knew we had put together a special line-up, and from here we were on a way.

Hanna Tsepesh: What inspired you the most to create the lyrics for the band? The band writes the lyrics first or first the band creates the riffs to comply with the lyrics?

Michael Coons: Inspiration for the lyrics have come from many places over the years.
When I was younger, I would write about world events, history, social issues and topics of interest of the time. It was viewing from the outside looking in. Most of the time, the riffs would come first, and we would shape the vocals around them. But now, Aaron and I have a different system. I will write stuff all the time, most of it coming from a personal standpoint rather than an observational one. The years of life perspective, especially one's own, feels far more relative to me and is also quite satisfying. Aaron can still feed me music that fits certain writings, but I don't wait for it now. We collaborate as we go along, and the writing feels more mature that way.

Hanna Tsepesh: What are your favorite bands? You have any singer that you admire the most?

Michael Coons: Most of my favorite bands are the classic rock one's...Thin Lizzy, UFO, Zeppelin, AC/DC, Aerosmith ( OLD STUFF! ), Van Halen, and the like.
Metal bands like: Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Metallica and the like came along later. There are so many singers I enjoy, but I always related to the front men who could dominate an audience. People like Steven Tyler, David Lee Roth, Bon Scott, and Phil Lynott had a big influence on me. They brought such energy live, and looked like they had a great time doing it.

Hanna Tsepesh: I would like to know if you had or have any singing lessons or any other preparation?

Michael Coons: Sure, I took a lot of vocal training when I was younger, but now I spend my preparation time working out in the gym as physical fitness is the biggest asset to a singer. Especially in the high-energy world of metal.

Hanna Tsepesh: Laaz Rockit has a album called “No Stranger To Danger”. You guys have an excellent album I really like it and also I liked the riffs and your voice! Great work in here! For people who don’t listen yet can you talk about this album and what is the big different for you between this album and the previous one?

Michael Coons: Actually, "No Stranger To Danger" is a re-release from Massacre...it is from 1985! Thank you for the compliments, but that was a long time ago!
We recorded that pretty close to "City's Gonna Burn" , and we were starting to learn a bit more about song structure. Mind you, we were still very young then, and were still figuring out our musical style. But once again, thanks for the compliment!

Hanna Tsepesh: Oh really…sorry for my mistake and thank you for your answer! The band feels proud with the final result or you think that miss something? Everything went well at recording studio? It was an easy process?

Michael Coons: We were very proud at the time! We didn't have a huge budget for the record, so we did the best with what we had. We were in L.A., and it was the middle of the '80s, so we partied VERY HARD during that time! But we still dragged ourselves into the studio every day, and worked hard. It was easy back then, because we were young!
Hanna Tsepesh: How has the response been to the album by the media and fans?

Michael Coons: It is great that so many young fans are reaching in to the past and
discovering us for perhaps the first time. The computer age of today has certainly helped ignite the interest in everything we have done in our careers. The fans and the media have always been so kind to us, and we are grateful for all they have done for us, and continue to do for us.

Hanna Tsepesh: If one of our readers wants to buy your album safely, what they can do?

Michael Coons: You can buy all of our albums safely...I hope! Go to Massacre.com for any info and check out our new album, "Left For Dead" ( 2008 ). You can also go to myspace and type in "thelaazrockit" for our link, and of course www.laazrockit.com for all things Laaz Rockit, including merchandise, tour info, blogs, and other cool stuff.

Hanna Tsepesh: what is your favorite music in this album and why?
Michael Coons: My personal favorite Laaz Rockit music is all of it...but then again, I may be a little biased!

Hanna Tsepesh: The band is thinking about a European tour? You guys have plains to include Portugal in your tour or something?

Michael Coons: We hope to return in the fall, and are working on some possibilities to help make that happen. We would love to come to Portugal; I have heard so many great things about your country.

Hanna Tsepesh: Cool! Do you want to send any message for the people who going to read this interview?

Michael Coons: Thank you guys for supporting us! We are always amazed by the people
around the world who reach out to us. We are humbled by the devotion they continue to show us!

By: Hanna Tsepesh
To listen to some LAAZ ROCKIT music’s and for future information’s go at:
www.myspace.com/thelaazrockit
www.laazrockit.com/

MACBETH

Hanna Tsepesh: Hello Patrick! Thanks so much for accepting this interview and Welcome to THE GATES OF METAL! First of all: how are you guys and how are the things doing with your concerts?

Patrick: Hell awaits, Hanna! We have to thank for the interview! It seems to be a bit strange to us that people in Portugal are interested in our band, but it feels fine. Everything is good...our new album was released on July 24th and we got some positive reactions from all over Europe! A lot of magazines and fans wrote mails to tell us that they are very impressed about our new work! At the time we don't play concerts, because until September there are many festivals and people are not interested in indoor concerts so far, so we spend our time to write new songs and to practice for upcoming live battles!

Hanna Tsepesh: For those who do not know Macbeth could tell us a little how it all started?

Patrick: Macbeth started around 1984/85. In 1985 they recorded a four-song-demo tape for a metal radio station in East Germany (the only one) and got much airplay. The band played many concerts and had a huge fan base. In 1986, after a legendary concert in Erfurt, the law and government of GDR decided to stop all the activities of Macbeth and the band became forbidden. It was a very hard way to be a metal maniac or a musician in East Germany and you got a lot of trouble...
In 1987 the band reunited under the name CAIMAN and in 1988 singer Detlev Wittenburg became imprisoned because of some stupid activities...Ralf Klein started singing and the band continued...
After the fall of the wall in 1989 Detlev returned, but after his prison he was a broken man...so he decided to commit suicide. Two other members left the band to search for new activities in west Germany and Macbeth was buried...
In 1993, with a different line up, the band decided to reunite again, but after the second suicide (the drummer) they split up again.
More than 10 years later, Macbeth played a just-for-fun birthday show for an old comrade and some fans from the early days asked about possible future activities...so they decided to create a new line up with two young guys and recorded another demo. In 2006 the first album was released and some concerts followed. In early 2008 Macbeth decided to kick the drummer and the second guitar player and just a few weeks later two new members joined (Alex - guitar / Patrick - drums).
Now the band is complete again and we all are sure that this line up will be the ultimate one until the end...watches out for the next attack!

Hanna Tsepesh: What inspired you the most to create the lyrics for Macbeth? The band writes the lyrics first or first the band creates the riffs to comply with the lyrics?

Patrick: Well, it is not easy to say which one comes first or after...sometimes we have an idea for the lyrics, before we try to create the music, other songs were finished completely before we think about the right words for it...
The main things of our lyrics are war, destruction or strange kind of people like mass murderers etc. We play metal and it fits perfectly to our kind of music we think. If you play a hard and aggressive kind of music, the lyrics should melt with the sound to create a good and unique work.

Hanna Tsepesh: What are Macbeth favorite bands? You have any singer that you admire the most?

Patrick: Well, we are two generations in the band... (Laughs) Our singer is 46 years old; our new guitar player is 23...so our influences are very wide open. Hanjo, our bass player, is a big BLACK SABBATH and old METALLICA fan, Ralf (guitar) likes bands like SLAYER, RAINBOW, DEEP PURPLE or old ANTHRAX and he is also interested in movie soundtracks, Olli (vocals) is our Bay-Area-Maniac, Alex (guitar) is a big fan of PANTERA and DOWN and I have my roots in the old thrash/death/black metal way and I worship bands like ACHERON, MORBID ANGEL, NECROVORE, INFERNAL MAJESTY or old MAYHEM. But each member of Macbeth is also interested in the musical taste of the other guys and so we spend some time to share and listen different kinds of music to fill our minds with lots of inspiration.
The best singers in my opinion are gods like Bruce Dickinson, Johan Langquist (old CANDLEMASS), Ronnie James Dio or Eric Adams! I think the other guys would make their signature under these words !

Hanna Tsepesh: I would like to know if Olli had or have any singing lessons or any other preparation and the rest of the band had any musical education or something?

Patrick: Olli has no real education etc., but from time to time he gets some lessons by a private local coach to form his voice a little bit.
The rest of the guys never had any musical education (except me, normally I am a classical guitar player).
Hanna Tsepesh: You guys have a new album called “GOTTESKRIEGER”. This album is fantastic! My favorite music’s are: Maikaefer flieg and Mein kleiner soldat. For people who don’t listen yet can you talk about this album and what is the big different for you between this album and the previous one?

Patrick: Thank you very much! It is really great for us that you like the album!
There are two very important different things between both albums: At first the new one is more aggressive, more metal and I think the arrangements of the songs are much better than the first record. The second thing is the kind of production of "Gotteskrieger". It sounds more brutal with a taste of modern metal sound, but it has also some old fashioned feeling because of the heavy metal riffs...
It is not easy to describe the album to people who are unable to listen to our stuff...I would say that we have influences of Heavy, Thrash, Speed, Doom and a very little bit Black Metal in our music and if you are open minded enough to like all these genres, you should listen to "Gotteskrieger"!

Hanna Tsepesh: The band feels proud with the final result or you think that miss something? Everything went well at recording studio?

Patrick: When we finished the studio sessions in November 2008, we were really proud of the final result - and we still are! I think we did a very good job without any other person involved into the process to produce "Gotteskrieger" ! It was recorded at RAPE OF HARMONIES, a well-known studio in Germany (were I work since nearly 12 years) and I decided to do everything - engineering, arranging of some additional parts, mixing and mastering and I am sure I did a very good job! There is nothing on the album we don't like or we would change if we could - everything sounds good to our ears and I am sure the next record will be another step to continue our path!Hanna Tsepesh: How has the response been to the album by the media and fans?

Patrick: At the time we got more than 50 reviews and some mails from fans all over Europe...
Of course, you can't create an album that everybody likes (it would be very strange to us if something like that would happen...), but most of the media reviews are very good (like 8 or 9 points of 10 / 90 or 99 % of 100% etc.) and our fans are very impressed by the new album and daily we got responses from new maniacs!

Hanna Tsepesh: also the cover album is amazing! Who was the person behind this cool work? You think this cover art transmit what “GOTTESKRIEGER” are?

Patrick: Our guitar player Ralf did the cover and he is also responsible for the entire design and layout of the booklet. I think he is a very creative guy and he has a lot of good ideas and - last but not least - he is really able to work them out! I am very proud that we don't had to use some artists who made cover artworks for a lot of other bands who simply looks like the same sometimes...when we decided to call the record "Gotteskrieger" (God's Warrior), Ralf had the idea to create that monster you can see on the cover. I think on this album everything fits perfectly - the music, the lyrics and the entire layout! And it was very important to use the skull with the crown on the cover - this is our "Eddie"(laughs)…, and he will return on every record!
In September we will release the album on limited vinyl format, cause some of our fans and me are big LP collectors and it will be a nice thing to have it on vinyl! We think about to change something in the layout to make it very special...be patient!

Hanna Tsepesh: Very cool! If one of our readers wants to buy your album safely, what they can do?

Patrick:Well, the album should be available on AMAZON.DE or AMAZON.COM. Otherwise EBAY would be another decision and we have also some copies for sale. Please contact us for postage costs and order details!

Hanna Tsepesh: what is your favorite music in this album and why?

Patrick: I think each song has its own musical taste. There are some Heavy rockers like "Unter dem Beil", some Thrash Metal bastards like "Hunde wollt Ihr ewig leben" or "Gotteskrieger", some epical stuff like "Maikaefer flieg" and a Doom monster called "Golgatha". As I told you, we are very much into different kind of music (not only metal) and so we try to combine all these influences to create our own and unique sound.

Hanna Tsepesh: The band is thinking about a European tour? You guys have plains to include Portugal in your tour or something?

Patrick: It would be very great to play a European Tour ! But I am not sure if we are big enough to fill some concert halls...until now Macbeth played in Germany only and I think there are not enough fans in the foreign countries who know who we are...and a very important thing is that many people don't understand our lyrics, cause they are all sung in German, so it would not be very easy for us to do some gigs out there...maybe we could play as support for a well-known metal band, maybe this could be happen in the future...time will tell. It would be a pleasure to play in Portugal!

Hanna Tsepesh: Do you want to send any message for the people who going to read this interview?

Patrick: Hey maniacs - thank you very much for reading this interview! Check out our new album "Gotteskrieger" and be sure we will kick your ass! And Hanna, thank you very much and all the best with THE GATES OF METAL!

Hanna Tsepesh: Thanks o much for your answers and time and your words! THE GATES OF METAL wishes the entire band a great success with “GOTTESKRIEGER”! We hope to see you guys very soon in here…

Patrick: Yes, we also hope so!

By: Hanna Tsepesh
To listen to some MACBETH music’s and for future information’s go at:
www.myspace.com/abendmahl
www.macbeth-music.de/

POENARIAN MIST

Hanna Tsepesh: Hola (Hello in Spanish) Belial! Thanks so much for accepting this interview and Welcome to THE GATES OF METAL! First of all: For those who do not know Poenarian Mist could tell us a little how it all started?

Belial: Hi Hanna, thanks to you.
I started this project in December of 2007. I wanted to make some stuff, with dark elements that could not be used in my main band, and if you have a PC and one or two little recording programs, it's very easy to make some interesting things.

Hanna Tsepesh: One little curiosity: Where came from the idea for Poenarian Mist?

Belial: I am a semi-professional drummer, always involved in Metal and Rock. But I love a lot of music that I can't play; too fast or too slow to be funny while I'm playing it. I know that I can't play blastbeats for a long time, and playing drums for a Doom band could be boring. I always have been writing songs with the basic drum track in my mind, but with Poenarian Mist I can express myself without any limitation.

Hanna Tsepesh: What inspired you the most to create the songs for Poenarian Mist?

Belial: Grey rainy days are the most inspiring thing for me. I couldn't write dark stuff on summer days.

Hanna Tsepesh: What are your favorite bands? You have any musician that you admire the most?

Belial: I have a lot of favorite musicians, but I like bands in their own concept. I love the good songs, not the best players.
I can say a lot of classic and new bands, Metal, Thrash, Black etc...but the most influential band for me is THIN LIZZY. Phil Lynott has written the best songs of all times.

Hanna Tsepesh: Why is the reason that you don’t create a band to play live shows or something? Because in my opinion I think this project have a lot of future!

Belial: (laughs), I'm not able to play a lot of parts of my songs, if I play live with PM it's obvious I will be on drums. But this need to find people with the same thoughts, and a lot of rehearsals to make a good work; and my main band requires all my time.

Hanna Tsepesh: I really hope you find (laughs)! You also create a blog to help the other band! It was a very amazing thing to do! Can you explain to our readers about it?

Belial: Well, I created Steelbald'sCourt for the promotion of my work with Poenarian Mist, but I have a lot of recordings with my previous bands too (a rare rehearsal, demos, first versions of some songs, bootlegs and never released stuff). I was the drummer of Crying Blood, Muro, Crienium, Omission and more, and my main band is Silver Fist, so I wanted to show all the stuff possible of these bands. For legal reasons there aren’t the two official albums of Silver Fist, but you have demos and live recordings of the band.
And I know that a lot of bands need free promo, so there is my blog for anyone who wants a little help to be known.

Hanna Tsepesh: You have a new album called “IN GIRUM IMUS NOCTE”. For people who don’t listen yet can you talk about it and what is the big different for you between this album and the previous one?

Belial: Listen to it, it's the only way to know if you like or you hate PM. You can find blastbeats, dark passages and agonic down-tempos.
In this new album I wanted to record the vocal tracks, as in the previous ones. But I dislike the final sound and it was the most boring part of create songs for me, so I finally decided to re-record all these parts with other instruments. I love the final results, and I think it's different to other bands who play Black or Doom Metal. However, change Poenarian Mist to an instrumental project was in my mind since the last year.

Hanna Tsepesh: What are the future plans for Poenarian Mist?

Belial: I'm still writing new stuff. I have two more albums in mind; one of them can be out after the summer. For this time I want to separate both ways of PM: the new EP will be only Black Metal, and for the second one I want to change some sounds and groove, probably it will be the most ambient album of Poenarian Mist...

Hanna Tsepesh: How has the response been to your albums by the listeners?

Belial: Very good, I have known a lot of people from the entire world who loves my music, and if you search in Google you can find my work in a lot of blogs, I think it is a good thing.
When I started PM, I thought it will be only listened by me (laughs).

Hanna Tsepesh: See Belial, one more reason for you start a band (laughs)! If one of our readers wants to listen to your work they can download, right? What is your goal to make these great albums for free?

Belial: All my work is in the Poenarian Mist MySpace, and in Steelbald's Court blogspot, you only need Google to find it.
Well, I make all the albums for free for only one reason: I don't want to be into the music business with this project, I know it and I don't like it. Poenarian Mist shall be only from composer to listener, nobody in the middle. I've got Silver Fist to fight with labels and promoters...

Hanna Tsepesh: what is your favorite music in this album and why?

Belial: Hummm, probably "When Dead Are Not Alone", I think is one of the most complete songs I've ever made.

Hanna Tsepesh: Do you want to send any message for the people who going to read this interview?

Belial: I want to be famous, so read the interview and spread the disease (laughs).

Hanna Tsepesh: (laughs). Thanks o much for your answers and time. THE GATES OF METAL wishes you a lot of success! We hope that someday you change your mind (laughs) and we start to see Poenarian Mist play live shows and of course play in here…

Belial: maybe....someday, who knows....
Thanks Hanna for all your support, you help me so much to keep this crap alive. Never forget...

Hanna Tsepesh: You are very welcome! Thank you so much for the worlds.

By: Hanna Tsepesh
To listen to some Poenarian Mist music’s and for future information’s go at:
www.myspace.com/poenarianmist

To DOWNLOAD the “IN GIRUM IMUS NOCTE...” album:
www.megaupload.com/?d=AY2PQYZ0

To go to Steelbald's Court blogspot:
steelbaldscourt.blogspot.com/

NOCTEM

Hanna Tsepesh: Hola (Hello in Spanish) Exo! Thanks so much for accepting this interview and Welcome to THE GATES OF METAL! First of all: how are you guys and how are the things doing with your concerts?

Exo: Hi Hanna! Everything is going really good, now we’ve finished the recording sessions from our next videoclip, based in the song “Across Heracles Towards” from our debut album “Divinity! And for the shows: We toured in Germany, Spain, now we have supporting gigs with Malevolent Creation and Vomitory, it’s going to be fucking amazing, and of course our Portuguese Tour 09: “Divinity Devastation Tour!

Hanna Tsepesh: For those who do not know Noctem could tell us a little how it all started?

Exo: We started with Noctem in 2001, we’ve changed our line-up a few times but we finally found the right members. After 3 mcd’s we finally signed with Noisehead Records, we started presenting our mcd “God among Slaves” in an European Tour in 2008. In January of this year we recorded our debut album: “Divinity” at the Noise Head Studios in Austria… and now we’re going to present our debut fucking album to Portugal!

Hanna Tsepesh: What inspired the most to create the lyrics? The band writes the lyrics first or first the band creates the riffs and the melody to comply with the lyrics?

Exo: Beleth writes all the lyrics; old cultures and primitive civilizations are a very strong inspiration for us. All our songs born from the guitar lines, then I add harmonies with the second guitar and the other instruments do the rest, finally the voice is the last one to fix into the song.

Hanna Tsepesh: What are your favorite bands? You have any guitar player that you admire the most?

Exo: Carcass, Cannibal Corpse, Dimmu Borgir, Mastodon, Nile, Behemoth… Karl Sanders or Michael Ammot is two of my favorite extreme metal guitar players; Karl means the speed, the technical one, and Michael has more feeling in every note.


Hanna Tsepesh: I would like to know when you start to play guitar and if is any reason for you pick this instrument?

Exo: At the age of 15, I started listening Metallica albums when I was 14, so it was the first experience that I had with metal music. The guitar in those albums is the most significant instrument so I established a connection with it.

Hanna Tsepesh: At the moment you have another project in hands or your time is only for Noctem? You are open a new challenges in the future?

Exo: No! Noctem keeps me busy 24 hours per day, it’s impossible for me now to think about different projects. Maybe in 10 years... (laughts)

Hanna Tsepesh: (laughs). Noctem have a new album called “Divinity”. I liked a lot the “Divinity (Orchestral version)”, “Under of seas of Silence” and “The call of Oricalco’s horn” music’s. For people who don’t listen yet can you talk about “Divinity” and what the band want to accomplish?

Exo: “Divinity” is the result of eight years of experience, a mix of different extreme metal styles, from death to trash and black metal, with modern influences. In this album we talk about the lost continent of Atlantis, their rituals to reach the immortality, society, acting in the battles…

Hanna Tsepesh: Everything went well at recording studio? The band feels proud with the final result or you think that miss something?

Exo: Yes! ‘cause we went to the Noisehead Studios so prepared, playing 5 hours per day…for that reason we recorded everything very fast, but it wasn’t an easy process at all; we used to spend like 8 hours in the studio every day.
Of course the band feels very proud, with “Divinity” we got the sound and quality we we’re looking for so many years ago.
Hanna Tsepesh: How has the response been to the album by the media and fans?

Exo: Really fucking great! Media and fans are receiving the album with a lot of energy, a lot of great comments about it in every country, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, Italy…

Hanna Tsepesh: How you describe Noctem style?
Exo: A mix of different metal and extreme metal sounds, including our dark point of view.

Hanna Tsepesh: If one of our readers wants to buy your album safely, what they can do?

Exo: Well, you have two options, buy the album in your stores; we are distributed there by Locomotive Records, or buy the album in our online store at our official MySpace.

Hanna Tsepesh: what is your favorite music in this album and why?

Exo: Well, my favorite song could be “The Sanctuary”, but I fucking love the entire album, for me all the songs are one, the album, the story as a unity. That’s a concept that keeps me very excited about it.

Hanna Tsepesh: The band will return to Portugal very soon. What we can expect from Noctem in live show? Can you tell to us the dates and places where Noctem will play?

Exo: A stage being destroyed under a rain of blood, a non stop headbanging show with axes and skulls falling to the arena.
Our final dates for our “Divinirty Devastation Tour 09” are:
17th September at Sede Paio Pires (Seixal)
18th September at Arcadia Rock Bar (Faro)
19th September at Metalpoint (Porto)
20th September at ADR (Lagoa)

It’s going to be fucking amazing!

Hanna Tsepesh: It was difficult to find a great label and have support in your country (Spain)?

Exo: Well, our label Noisehead Records is from Austria, so it was easy to find a good distribution in Spain, curiously we have the same partnership in your country for distribution: Locomotive Records. After a lot work and hard times, the support every day becomes stronger.
Hanna Tsepesh: Do you want to send any message for the people who going to read this interview?

Exo: Portuguese metalheads! We’ll be waiting for you at the battlefield! The” Noctem Portuguese Tour” presenting “Divinity” is here now!

Hanna Tsepesh: Thank so much for your answers and time. THE GATES OF METAL wishes the entire band a Big success with your debut album! See you guys next month…

Exo: We’re very fucking proud to tour Portugal the next month, you have the craziest crowd in the metal world! Horns up Portugal! See you soon!

Hanna Tsepesh: Thank you so much Exo!

By: Hanna Tsepesh
To listen to some Noctem music’s and for future information’s go at:
www.myspace.com/noctemofficial