Hail the Sound of Thunder!

It was a randomly awesome coincidence in which I discovered this Washington DC based band that blends the fundamental heavy elements of Black Sabbath with the high octane dynamism of a Primal Fear/Hammerfall lovechild.  I spoke to the operatic queen of hell---vocalist Nina Osgueda---about everything a new fan needs to know about A Sound of Thunder and everything that their devout fan base has always wanted to know.  Hear what their version of heavy metal thunder sounds like at the links below!

First of all, what artist or event got you into heavy metal?

My first Dragonforce show, combined with a sudden obsession with power metal (Hammerfall, Blind Guardian, mostly) is what inspired me to become a metal vocalist.

Would you consider yourselves more of a hard rock or heavy metal group? Does it really make a difference to you? Does it make a difference to your fans? Definitely heavy metal. 

It personally makes a difference to me because I just can't get into most "hard rock". It's usually not fast enough or doesn't have enough dragons.

What is the metal community like in the DC/Virginia area? What metal genres are most popular out there? How are the dynamics of all the local bands in the area? 

We have a very thriving community. You'll find everything from power to prog metal, death black and everything in between. I think the most popular is probably thrash and death, but there's plenty of room for everyone.

I think you guys are interesting in the way you present yourselves image-wise. For the most part it's relatively simple: basic black and the occasional pair of steampunk goggles and a superhero graphic tee; not drab, but definitely not leather clad/spikes and studs, etc. Tell us about your visual aspects as a band and how that contributes to your music! 

We all have different personalities and they go into our "look". Josh and myself are into comic books, so there's often a superhero element in our wardrobe (I'll wear a comic t-shirt and my usual Decepticon belt buckle), but I also love the look of a good metal vest and spikes so I like adding those too.

What is your most prized music item (vinyl, cassette, CD, etc)?
For me, it's the Blind Guardian box set. The band bought it for me for my birthday and it's the most thoughtful gift I've ever gotten from friends. 

Your music videos encompass a lot of visual interpretations of a variety of themes, but "I'll Walk With You" stands out because it is so culturally relevant with its working class Walking Dead-esque theme. But it's not a vicious death metal or thrash metal "beer zombie" tune, it's a power ballad! Can you explain the connection between how the song was written and how the video was created? 

The song was written almost as a dare to myself. Josh and I were talking about how I hate singing ballads, so I decided to write one under the condition that it not be boring. Josh was kind of addicted to Dead Island at the time, so I decided to include zombies and wrote it for him as a birthday present.

You will be touring in certain spots around the US this fall. What are your hopes or expectations for the Los Angeles show, given we are a California publication? 

I'm really hoping we can see all of those CA fans who keep asking us to visit! I think no matter what, the shows will be fun. We'll be bringing all we've got! 

In what ways did being in opera help you become a confident frontwoman both musically and performance-wise? 

It made me confident because I'm not as classically trained as my experience might lead one to believe. I always sang in school choirs, things like that, but my mom took me to auditions because she thought I was really good. I always met other girls and women who took private lessons, went to college for music, things like that. I was not like that. I was mostly self taught, but I made it anyway. From then on I decided that if I was going to pursue music, I should get some training (and I did take a few private lessons), but my confidence came in knowing what I was capable of on my own. 

As a long-time booking agent, how important do you feel it is for smaller bands to be their own businessmen?

I think it's super important to know how to handle business, because unfortunately, most of the time there is nobody who is going to do it for you. If you sit around waiting for someone else to do it, it might never happen. I've never been one to sit and wait, so I just go ahead and book us myself. 

And now a question for everyone in the band! Tell me about your favorite experience meeting a metal musician!

N: My favorite experience was meeting Fabio Lione. He was so personable, and we drank vodka together! It doesn't help that I always had a big crush on him, so I was very starry-eyed the entire time.

Josh Schwartz [guitar]: We were lucky enough to have former Iron Maiden vocalit Blaze Bayley sing on our song "My Disease."  I talked with Blaze over Skype about the song before he recorded his parts, and I was struck by what a friendly and down-to-earth person he was.  I told him that if he wanted to change any of the parts from what we had written that he should go ahead and do that because we liked his writing and singing styles.  He thanked me for saying that and told me that that gave him confidence going into the recording session.  It blew my mind that the former singer of one of the world's biggest bands would assign any value to my words, but Blaze did!

Jesse Keen [bass]: I met Marco from Lacuna Coil in 2007.  He was hanging outside of the club, signing autographs, taking pictures, and chatting with fans.  The band's eagerness to hang out and chat with their fans is something that I'll never forget and something that I keep in mind at our shows.

The Kult of Khaotika: Why You Should Keep Your Eye On the Disciples of Mayhem

While this page was set up to primarily promote the wonderful local people of San Diego, I've gotta do a plug of my own because this band is too exceptional not to acknowledge. Founded in Atlanta, Georgia, Khaotika is a "female fronted occult metal" band whose brand new EP "Bloodline Empire" is a promising debut in what will hopefully be a long career of high-octane, spine-chilling darkness.  Lariyah Daniels unleashes the furious demons inside her that just could not be released as authentically as when she was in Hessler.  This is a gigantic step forward for her creatively, musically, and spiritually; the banshee screams and echoic harmonies of her vocal range is terrifyingly seductive.  The woman is sinfully beautiful too, but she doesn't let aesthetics hinder her from impaling your ears with a gratuitous amount of demonic energy.  Check out the band's debut video, and you'll see exactly what I mean.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GKaWPG2ADQ

When you purchase the "Bloodline Empire" EP, you will be exposed to a myriad of gothic-infused grooves, ambient black riffs, and an incredibly thoughtful cover of Watain's "They Rode On."  But the song that most captured my attention and made me want to call dibs on being the first Khaotika groupie ever was "Masters ov Mayhem."  What starts as a swelling chorus of shrieks and black metal riffs erupts into a typhoon of sinister harmonies that pack a high-octane punch matched only by Daniels's powerful vocal range.  If you are looking for original material that is sinister like a female-fronted Watain but packs the high-energy punch of Arch Enemy, Khaotika is what you're searching for.  Check them out on iTunes now, and join the Khaotika cult before everyone else!

Hanging Ten With Ghoul

April 10, 2014; Soda Bar, San Diego, CA--By far one of the most enjoyable shows I have ever been to since moving to San Diego was the Weapons of Mosh Destruction tour featuring Occultist, Iron Reagan, and the fiendish demons of Ghoul.  The Soda Bar is such an intimate venue and one in which you would think a metal show would just be a giant disaster.  And although the already miniature aisles of the venue were crowded with gothic punks and brutish metalheads, the show was a radical success.  The "venue" has a puny 2 inch platform for a stage, but in a sense this made the show more intense, as it was all too easy to pounce onto the speakers and sing "Cycle of Violence" with Iron Reagan's Tony Foresta.

Hailing from Virginia, The Occultist kicked off the night with a medley of metal tunes that directly reflected who the band was trying to imitate.  The frontwoman seemed to strain her vocals in an attempt to sound like a crossover between Angela Gossow and Tony Foresta while the guitarist seemed to thrive more in his Chris Barnes backing vocal moments than when actually holding down a solid melodic riff.  While every other song was a blur to me, maybe because I wasn't up front or maybe because the muddled sound and the plain aesthetics of the band just put me off, I will give them credit for the title song off of their LP Death Sigils.  I think I may just have to go back and listen to some studio work before making a completely negative judgment about the band.

https://www.facebook.com/0ccultist/info

Audience reaction surprisingly took a while to climb to its full potential when Iron Reagan came front-and-center.  The high energy hardcore/punk crossover band is lead by Tony Foresta, whose energy is all but infectious.  While it is difficult to mosh with the steel pole obnoxiously structured in the middle of the room, there was very minimal headbanging.  Two minutes (which is the equivalent of three songs for the band) later, Foresta yelled "WAKE THE FUCK UP" multiple times; indirectly it felt like he was saying "Fuck that pole, it's just a pole, NOW MOSH."  The place erupted into a beautifully violent mosh pit, and the band continued the rest of their set in fiery fury.   Ryan Parrish was berserk on the drums, Rob Skotis killed on bass, and Mark and Landphil were the dynamic guitar duo of the night.

Setlist:
1) Mini Lights 
2) Drop the Gun                      
3) Insanity Plea(se)                    
4) Walking Out                                     
5) Paycheck                         
6) Snake Chopper 
7) Rats in a Cage     
8) Tongue Tied    
9) The Living Skull   
10) Zero Gain     
11) Spoiled Identity      
12) The Hungry Male (of Wall St)
13) Cycle of Violence
14) I Ripped that Testament a New Asshole 
15) Eyes Piss Tears 
16) Eat Shit and Live 



Finally, the devilish ensemble of Ghoul raided the stage with raggedy vests, polished instruments, and the punk-ass attitudes that make them so popular with our local rowdy metalhead brothers.  Demon babies' throats were slit, rapidly gushing blood all over the crowd.  A few songs later, the Swamp Hag appeared with a bucket of god-knows-what and dumped THAT all over the ecstatic blood-soaked crowd.  With every absurd character interaction, the fervor of the crowd only grew more and more vigorous.

Setlist:
1) The Midnight Ride of Cannibals MC                   
2) Inner Sanctum
3) Sewer Chewer
4) The Mark of Voodoo
5) Brain Jerk
6) Maniaxe
7) Blow Up the Embassy
8) Rise, Killbot, Rise!!!
9) Destructor
10) Spill Your Guts
11) Gutbucket Blues
12) As Your Casket Closes
13) Metallicus Ex Mortus 
14) Americanized (Dave Brockie tribute)

Encore: Numbskull

And while you're still here, check out the interview I conducted with Ghoul's witty and brutally sarcastic bassist/vocalist Cremator at the link below!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADUJ07hPpqg

How Nihilist Can Teach You A Lesson In Metal

One trend that has been making its rounds through present-day heavy metal is the "New Wave of Thrash."   Approximately originating in the late '00s, the movement is commonly known to be lead by the dynamic youths of Havok, Warbringer, Bonded by Blood, and the resurgence of Municipal Waste as well as their various side projects (one could argue that Foresta's Iron Reagan and Ryan Waste's Bat are subsidiary movements of a sideways resurgence of punk and thrash metal).  These bands do not as of yet frequent San Diego for touring (except look out on April 10 when Ghoul and Iron Reagan come out to play at the Soda Bar); however, we have a band of our own to look upon with pride when talking about prominent names in new thrash metal.  And that band is NIHILIST.

Not to be mistaken for the Swedish death metal group, Nihilist hails from Carlsbad and thrives on high-quality adrenaline pumping speed and thrash.  They released their latest full length album Blood Portraits in 2009, but their latest release is a 2011 EP by the title Dethmacheen.

Overall, Dethmacheen gives off the vibes of a less jittery Municipal Waste but a more vibrant version of some new wave rock band like Adrenaline Mob.  This EP has a lot of heart and soul, keeping you alert in wondering what the next groove is going to bring.  But despite the name of this work, I find Blood Portraits to be a lot less tame and a lot more exciting.  There's a lot of Slayer and early Metallica influencing this work from beginning to end, and it's worth more than one listen.  "It's On" is one of my favorite tracks as it is clearly a huge homage to skater thrash, with an intro that D.R.I. would definitely be tempted to sample.

Another huge reason why I admire this band is that they are not ashamed of flaunting their skills through a series of old-school covers that they have ready to pull out of their repetoire at any moment.  I have seen them play "Tornado of Souls" and "War Ensemble" among others, and I thoroughly enjoyed their techniques in both replicating the beauty of the song and simultaneously adding a Nihilist flair to the song.  

And this is why I believe Nihilist will end up being more successful than a lot of our other local bands when it comes to reaching out to counties other than ours.  The ability to showcase original abilities through covers is a tough one.  Local bands tend to perceive doing covers live in the same vein as doing karaoke; that there's no other way to do the original than to copy every riff, every solo, and every vocal nuance.  And I'm here to tell you that is NOT EVEN CLOSE to the truth!  We as daily internet users are constantly bombarded by a Pacific-Ocean sized amount of wannabe bands and original songs that--90% of the time--find themselves sinking in mediocrity.  As a result, young listeners grow frustrated in their prospects for new talent; thus I believe the best way to show new fans your style is by putting a spin on a cover.  There are two ways in my mind that you could accomplish this:

1) Like Nihilist, embrace the genre that you love and the bands that inspire you.  Show that you worship Slayer but in a way that nobody has seen before.  This is probably the better way to go for amateur bands who are just starting off.

2) Make people shocked that perhaps a thrash band is covering a doom metal song (it'll make people talk, but make sure it's good talk.).  I have a feeling I could talk about this for hours.  And maybe I'll make an entire blog post based on my opinions about bands and covers and why the hell we need more of them.

All rants aside, the dedication, solidarity and determined commitments of Nihilist will hopefully see them through the tough times we are experiencing in our local music industry.  Check out all the "Metal & Mayhem" that Nihilist has to offer in the links below!

http://www.reverbnation.com/nihilistkills

https://www.facebook.com/pages/NIHILIST

Fit for a Prince: How We Celebrated a Legend's Birthday

On February 2,  musicians, skaters, close friends, acquaintances, and family all gathered at the Boar Cross'n to celebrate the life and memory of Michael Prince.  Guitars were shred, tears were shed, and heads were banged to the wild beats of San Diego's classiest rock and metal bands.  It seemed the only way to properly commemorate a man who reveled in being the life of every party and in the pulse of every drum beat he played.

We kicked off the night with the sleaziest rock n' rollers this side of San Diego County, Slut Machine.  Former Purple Church bassist Rattle Jake took the stage alongside Jonathan, James, and new drummer Scott.  The crowd was warming up with a few Jack n' Cokes while Slut Machine brought the pre-game heat with their rock star presence.

The physicality, style, and musical abilities of this glam and rock-n-roll infused band make Slut Machine very interesting and appealing.  Sleazy, edgy, and just plain fun, Slut Machine is just one of those bands that I can't wait to hear more recorded material from.  However, you could tell that tonight just wasn't a night where the band was out to edify themselves or get their name out to the masses.  They were playing in honor of a close friend who would want all of them to make sure they never lose sight of that heavy metal inspiration that brought them together in the first place.

Next up was Great Electric Quest, the self-described "working class rock n roll" band with some flared-up hints of blues and classic rock.  Despite the band having a very long set time, they captured my attention greatly, and [vocalist] Tyler's intermittent dialogue about Prince got me choked up for the first (and certainly not the last) time that night.

Finally, it was time for the band of the hour to make their appearance.  Friends and family gathered close to the stage to hear Purple Church perform for the last time in the near future, and the set did everything but disappoint.  Filling in some big shoes was the drumming machine we all know as Sean Elg (Nihilist, Deathriders, Beast).  While he is known for incredible technicality, Elg executed that Purple Church finesse that had us believing Prince could have been causing mischief behind those drums.  I know every time I looked back to the drum set, I'd have these mixed emotions of extreme pride and confounded disbelief.  You could see it in everyone's faces, even between the bouts of headbanging or polite nodding, depending on which track of the emotional roller coaster you were on.

But once "Til Death Do Us Party" blasted its way through the amplifiers on stage, the whole place seemed to erupt.  It was our last shot---for band and audience---to show Prince just exactly how steadfastly united our party spirit could be.  A collective sea of headbangers with tear-stained cheeks joined arms, shouting the lyrics up to rock n' roll heaven with Daywalker, Jeremy, Rattle, and Sean fearlessly leading the charge.

 Even as the song faded out, the cheering and chanting only grew louder.  Prince's mom and sister were brought up onto the stage, their faces weary yet glowing with eternal gratitude at our overwhelming support and love for him.  We are even more grateful; without Prince, many of us wouldn't have found the company of a man who always cherished the precious wild and crazy moments and never took any of his companions for granted.  On Prince Day 2014, every word was sung with dedication, every chord strung with passion, every heart filled with loving sadness knowing that this was goodbye.  But it's only goodbye for now.

Theosis: Death and Speed

Formed only in 2012, the youth of Theosis are gathering together to refine their musical practice in the name of true heavy metal to carry the torch for the next generation.  While they are assembling to put together their very first EP, I figured I'd help give them a headstart and introduce them to anyone here who doesn't know about these eager up-and-comers.

They've got one song up for viewing as of now that gives you a pretty good idea of the direction they are heading in.  "Bury Your Dead" is a concrete fusion of speed and death metal that feels fresh and nostalgic at the same time.  The band is working to balance intricate technique with dimensional songwriting, and so far "Bury Your Dead" is a good indication of their willingness to work hard in finding that delicate balance.  The song is reminiscent of a melting pot of Vital Remains, Lamb of God, and Deicide (just listen to that breakdown at 2:10!).  The only thing this song needs in my opinion is a little more bass; but then again, how much do you find yourself asking that question about a lot of bands, both signed and unsigned??

These guys will be performing at the Shakedown on February 15 with the fellow modern rockers in No Name Gang, so if you're looking for a fun way to spend a Saturday night, go grab a beer and support your local scene.  Theosis will also be opening for Metal Church at Ramona Mainstage on March 15, so come to support a local act and then stay for the classics.  Stay tuned for more on Theosis's EP release, which I will review once it gets released to the public.  Stay metal, San Diego! \m/

LINKS
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Theosis/530116280411366

http://www.reverbnation.com/theosis

theosis.bandcamp.com

MEMBERS

Hugh Marshall--guitar
Chris Olson--vocals
Dana Roselli--guitar
Shane Sharpy--bass
Omar Gutierrez--drums

San Diego's Bloodbath: Ashen Earth

Let's be real.  Life in San Diego can be stressful and make you uptight.  There is simply no better solution to this problem than banging your head against your wall, desk, or neighbor to the vicious beats of heart-pounding death metal.  Personally, a well-rounded playlist of Bloodbath, Entombed, Decapitated, and Cannibal Corpse is healthier for my soul than chicken soup.  And when I later discovered that local members of Ashen Earth live and breathe this playlist through original compositions, I couldn't say no to listening to their self-titled debut album.

As depressing as the San Diego metal scene is becoming, it is bands like Ashen Earth that give me hope that the scene will truly, hopefully sooner rather than later, arise from its ashes.  The album does not so much focus on technicality as it does power, the absolute key to a successful death metal piece in my strong opinion.  A perfect example would be the song "When Stars Die;" the infectious groove-laden intro trips the listener out of the comfort zone and immediately picks up into a vigorous down-tuned melodies that is sadistically pleasurable to the ears.  The ambient breakdown toward the end is accompanied by Behemoth-like vocals and gradually cuts out one of the coolest San Diego metal songs I've ever heard.  The day this band encounters a famous producer, all he's got to do is amp up that bass guitar so that songs like "Oculos Ad Veritatem" and "Blind to the End" can get the listener's undivided attention, and this band would be on the way to becoming Immolation Junior!

"Caress the Flesh," "Equations of Power and Pain," and "Vigil of the Woods" are all stand-out tracks as well, and I am definitely proud of the mark that this band is making on San Diego.  It won't go unappreciated for long.

For fans of:
Behemoth, Bloodbath, Cannibal Corpse, Decapitated

Members:

Jeff Meredith-Vocals
David Cox-Guitars
Pat Sissom-Guitars
Bryant Furman-Bass
John Cordes-Drums

Links:

http://www.reverbnation.com/ashenearth

http://www.youtube.com/ashenearthofficial

https://twitter.com/ashenearth

http://www.myspace.com/ashenearth

http://ashenearth.tumblr.com

http://ashenearthofficial.blogspot.com