HEAVY Music Interviews

Interview by Kris PetersAlthough K.K. Downing and Tim 'Ripper' Owens only spent what amounts to a fleeting moment together as part of Judas Priest (they actually played on two albums together, Jugulator and Demolition) they still formed an integral part of one of the most loved and influential metal bands in history.While Downing spent some time in hibernation after leaving Judas Priest, Owens set about forging a music career in his own right, forming a solo project as well as performing with Spirits of Fire, the Three Tremors and A New Revenge.He still traverses the globe in various incarnations paying respect to Judas Priest and other bands, his distinctive voice ensuring his reputation continues to grow as a musician in his own right.Earlier this decade Downing and Owens reunited under the monicker KK's Priest, harnessing the DNA from that period of time and infusing it with a modern sensibility that spills over just enough to give their sound a fresher sonic platform while still having its roots in old school metal.The success of KK's Priest's debut album Sermons Of The Sinner meant it was always a matter of when, not if the band would release the follow up, with the next step in KK's Priest's evolution starting on September 29 with the release of The Sinner Rides Again.Owens sat down with HEAVY to bring us up to speed.We start by asking what feelings and emotions he goes through in the lead up to a new album release."I've done it so much now," he measured. "It used to be really exciting, and then you start releasing so many records like I do that it loses a little bit. But this one is back to being exciting again. This is two records in a row I've released. You and I talked about my solo EP Return To Death Row, so that was an exciting one, and I've got back to back exciting records. I'm really excited about this KK's Priest release because Sinner Rides Again is just a great record so I cannot wait to get this one out."As Owens said, he has released a large number of albums with various projects over the years, but we ask him if there is more pressure on this one just by virtue of the fact it is with himself and K.K. Downing in the band."I think so," he nodded. "It is for me because I want it to be... usually all of the pressure is totally on me and you want it to be good because it's your own but I want this to be successful and good for Ken. It means a lot to him. He's worked really hard at it and so I want it to be great and I want to be on the top of my game. It just adds a little bit more pressure to it."In the full interview, Ripper talks about the singles released and how they reflect the whole album, the other members of KK's Priest and what they bring to the table, how this album differs musically to the debut, keeping old school metal influences in his music, how the album process has changed from when Downing and himself were in Judas Priest to now, the chemistry between both of them, their upcoming run of shows and more.

Interview by Kyra-Jade Coombs and Kris PetersKickAss Festival successfully completed its second year last weekend with a bumper show at Kenilworth Showgrounds that emphatically proved rock music is alive, well and thriving.Held over two days with local acts appearing alongside established bands such as James Reyne, Kingswood, Dragon and the Choirboys, KickAss Festival did just that and more with thousands of music lovers taking advantage of the camping facilities on offer to spend the weekend in rock paradise.HEAVY was granted exclusive media access to backstage interviews on the Saturday, and we managed to corner Kingswood, Choirboys and Lecia Louise for some up close and personal time.Today Kyra-Jade Coombs and Kris Peters catch up with Choirboys vocalist Mark Gable for an entertaining chat not long before the boys hit the stage.*Please note, this was recorded live so the audio might be a little unclear at times*

Interview by Kris PetersBrazilian thrash outfit Nervosa are preparing to enter the next phase of their already successful career when they release new album Jailbreak onto the world on September 29.Jailbreak marks a decisive new beginning for the band, being the first album to welcome guitarist and founding member Prika Amaral to the mantle as lead vocalist, as well as premiering the new line-up completed by the immensely talented and well experienced Michaela Naydenova on drums, Hel Pyre on bass and Helena Kotina on guitars.Unrelenting and sonically vicious, Nervosa have decimated crowds the world over on four previous albums, but are set to spread their brutality even further with Jailbreak.Amaral joined HEAVY to discuss the album."I'm feeling super excited," she smiled. "We have been working for this new album since 2021 - so four months after we released Perpetual Chaos we started working for this new album - and for me it's the biggest step in my career because it's the first time that I have been singer (laughs). I can't describe how excited I am to show everyone what I was working very hard on."We ask Amaral to dive deeper into the musical side of Jailbreak."I think this album is super revolutionary," she measured, "because we have the second guitar right now. It was something that we had in the beginning, but we never recorded any albums with two guitars. So it's a big change in Nervosa life, and also me talking personally being a singer was a huge challenge in a very short time and period. I gave my best. I had a lot of fun. It was a very experimental album in some ways, but at the same time was the most fun composing this new album. We have a lot of diversity, and a different style of metal. Everything combined with thrash. We have thrash and death metal together. We have traditional heavy metal with thrash metal. We have punk with thrash metal and we have some melodic death metal, melodic thrash metal, and a bit, in one song, maybe death metal. We put everything together in a mixer (laughs)."In the full interview, Prika talks about following on from the success of previous album Perpetual Chaos, her role as singer and how easy the transition was, why she elected to assume the role, the new band members and what they bring to Nervosa's sound, the wicked cover image, special guests Gary Holt and Lena Scissorhands and what they brought to the album, the "new era" of Nervosa, touring plans, playing on 70000TONS Of Metal and more.

Interview by Erin Eddy,Phil Campbell And The Bastard Sons recently dropped their new album Kings Of The Asylum.If you’re not familiar with the name Phil Campbell, then you’re not a big enough Motorhead fan. The former guitarist of one of rock and roll’s most notorious bands has spent the last few years building up The Bastard Sons, a band he has formed with his three sons Todd, Dane and Tyla.When charismatic and legendary Motorhead front man Lemmy passed away in late 2015, it was the end of an era. But with music coursing through his veins, Phil Campbell was not ready to set down the guitar and retire just yet.With his ‘bastard sons’ on board, the band that was originally assembled mainly for fun has well and truly taken off.HEAVY spent some time this week chatting with Todd Campbell, one of the band’s guitarists.“A few years before Lemmy passed, we started playing doing covers mostly, as like a party band sort of thing, doing little mini tours. We were called the All Star Band at that point,” Todd explained to HEAVY. “We just slowly morphed into The Bastard Sons doing original material and it’s just a good outlet for Phil now, now that he doesn’t have Motorhead.”Once the ball was rolling with The Bastard Sons, things gathered momentum relatively quickly and the band has been busy releasing music, as well as playing hectic festival circuits around Europe for the past two summers now.Kings Of The Asylum is the band’s third studio album and it’s first with new vocalist Joel Peters.“It just felt really natural with Joel, the fans have really taken to him. Full steam ahead, basically!” Todd smiles.Kings Of The Asylum is out now via Nuclear Blast Records.Listen to the full interview now to hear about what it was like for Todd growing up aroundMotorhead, what it’s like to be in a “family band”, what to expect of the new album and more!

Interview by Kris PetersBritish progressive metal outfit Tesseract are the consummate professionals, dedicating equal measures of effort into resources into all aspects of their music without favouring the other.It is an attitude and commitment that has seen the band establish themselves as a pioneering force in world metal over four previous albums, each of which has set new standards of divinity in terms of quality and presentation.But just when you think they couldn't possibly elevate their music to another realm Tesseract have returned with an outstanding slab of music titled War Of Being that revolutionises not only all that has come before them, but possibly much of what is to come.Bass player Amos Williams and vocalist Daniel Tompkins sat down with HEAVY to discuss the intricacies of their music and more."It's pretty cool isn't it," Williams smiled when I point out the album is only hours away from being released unto the world. "It's been a long time getting to this point as well," Tompkins added. "The first few singles have gone down really well so we're quite excited to let people hear the full thing now.""We've spent a lot of time making a lot of noise, but supposedly in the wilderness for popular," Williams continued, "so it's really interesting to all of a sudden have the spotlight put back onto us. For us - because we haven't taken any time off really, we're still at full pelt - so it's super cool for everybody to catch us as we have momentum rather than having to build it up.""Like Mos said we've been so busy, and then all of a sudden the albums here..." Tompkins finished.In the full interview, Amos and Daniel talk more about letting the music free to the world and feeling a sense of ownership to the material, the conceptual themes, the creative process and how it eventuated, releasing the 11 minute title track as a single and the risks associated, the visually stunning music video and the ideas in it, which stages of the process are more enjoyable, the AI generated cover artwork, next years Australian tour and more.

Interview by Kris PetersGold Coast metal titans Snake Mountain have never been one of those bands to go with the flow.Instead, they have adopted a kind of Cobra Kai attitude of strike first, strike hard and not only become an integral part of the local live music scene, but also a proactive and fundamental link in what is becoming an increasingly more delicate chain.Tonight (September 15) Snake Mountain return to Mo's Desert Clubhouse in Burleigh Heads to spearhead Brutal Coast 4, an annual celebration of live music which they initially started to provide exposure for local bands but what has now become a highlight on the Gold Coast music calendar.Vocalist and all round top bloke Neville Pearce joined HEAVY to tell us more."I think it sounds kind of cool," he laughed when we point out the event name is actually quite intimidating. "You've got to have a cool name. I like having that branding on it. It sounds evil but it's not. We're all happy metalheads (laughs)."When it started four short years ago, Brutal Coast was but a simple idea but over the years has developed into more of a lifeblood of sorts for the local music scene."I just wanted to put together a line-up that was a little bit more diverse than the usual shows we play," he recalled. "Which there's nothing wrong with those because we love doing the heavy, heavy stuff, but I wanted to put on something where it was more diverse with sub genres where you have a bit of melodic metal, or you have a bit of hardcore or you'll have maybe a tribute. I just wanted something that brought all different sides of the scene together and some of their followers might be opened to other bands that they might not usually see. So that was the whole idea to begin with and it took off from there."In the full interview, Neville talks more about his vision for Brutal Coast, what he looks for when selecting bands, the other bands on the bill and why they were chosen, his view of the current local music scene, new music from Snake Mountain and more.

Interview by Kris PetersEmerging Woolongong outfit Brooklyn Comic have an interesting take on music, combining the sounds of emo with hardcore laced with rock sensibilities.It is a unification that, on paper, should not work but somehow Brooklyn Comic have struck that delicate balance between two worlds and harnessed that energy into their music which is a reflection of the world they live and see around them.The band's most recent single Charlie's Song details the repercussions addiction has in relationships and continues their common thread of exploring societal issues and mental health.HEAVY sat down with Jayme, Steve and Emerson to talk more."The band has been around for just over a year," Jayme informed us. "I started writing music pretty heavily during the second lockdown, just as a means of aiding my mental despair. Basically, we have one mission statement and that's to raise awareness for mental health. And I like to scream into a microphone (laughs) and that kind of helps."In the full interview, Brooklyn Comic tell us more about Charlie's Song, what they were going for musically with it, what the song is about and how it addresses modern problems, the film clip and what message they hope we take out of it, future music, upcoming shows and more.

Interview by Kris Peters & Kyra-Jade CoombsKickAss Festival successfully completed its second year last weekend with a bumper show at Kenilworth Showgrounds that emphatically proved rock music is alive, well and thriving.Held over two days with local acts appearing alongside established bands such as James Reyne, Kingswood, Dragon and the Choirboys, KickAss Festival did just that and more with thousands of music lovers taking advantage of the camping facilities on offer to spend the weekend in rock paradise.HEAVY was granted exclusive media access to backstage interviews on the Saturday, and we managed to corner Kingswood, Choirboys and Lecia Louise for some up close and personal time.After speaking to Alex Laska from Kingswood several times via zoom, it was long overdue that we finally got the chance to talk with him in person, and it didn't disappoint.Kingswood are currently riding the crest of a musical wave that is steadily building to a tidal wave. Following the release of their country inspired album Home earlier this year - an album that has since seen them secure ARIA Awards in that genre - and a massive Australian run of shows, Kingswood are now only days away from heading overseas for another European tour. It seems everything they touch is gold. Until they said yes to this interview.Kyra-Jade Coombs and Kris Peters drew the short straws for the day.Kyra kicked things off by bringing up Kingswood's ever changing sound and whether it is a planned progression musically or more a matter of circumstance."To be honest it's so weird," Alex replied. "You would think there would be a distinct conversation and then there's a strategy behind it where we say we should do this, but honestly Fergus and I love so much music and always have done. We've been musical around each other since we were 12 years old. There are so many different influences. These things happen where we eventually just go 'this is inspiring at the moment, what do you think of this?' And there's so much mystery that has made us who we are musically that at some point, once you've exhausted something, you feel like you become accomplished in it…"Nothing is off limits in the ensuing 30 minutes as we cover everything from touring to festival survival tips. Strap in and enjoy the ride.*note due to the live recording of the interviews some background noise and comments can be heard intermittently. Keep an eye on HEAVY over the coming weeks for the full video interviews, uncut and (mostly) uncencored *

Interview by Kris Peters Depression and mental health are becoming an increasingly prevalent condition, especially in the modern age where sometimes just living can become a struggle. They are real problems with no definitive answer. Problems that could affect any one of us at any time.As much as money always helps in any situation, perhaps more importantly in these cases the vital factor is more awareness. Awareness that it can and does happen. Awareness that it is not your fault or something you should go through alone and awareness of the fact that sometimes it’s okay to not be okay and the most important first step to helping yourself is communication and putting your troubles out there for the world to see, hear and help. One way to do this is by staging events – of any nature – but when music is your life and passion the default mechanism generally switches to live events. And, as we all know, musicians do it better than most. This Saturday, September 16, the Mansfield Tavern in Brisbane will host Rock Beats Depression, featuring an eclectic assortment of local and interstate bands uniting for one common cause. Black Whisky, Goatzilla, Gutterfire, Tailor Made Rejects, Krave and more unite together over two stages for not only a great cause, but also a great afternoon/night of live music. The day will raise not only awareness, but also funding for The Black Dog Institute, Beyond Blue and Headspace with tickets HERE Today we speak with Logan/Gold Coast punk outfit Pugnacious to find out why they volunteered to be a part of this great day.

Interview by Kris PetersUS metal outfit Baroness perfectly encapsulate the notion of the more things change, the more they stay the same.Approaching their sixth album Stone - which is due out on September 15 - Baroness have managed to maintain a trademark sound while at the same time delivering something fresh and original with every release. They have a sound identifiably their own but allow themselves enough scope for adventure to avoid alienating longtime fans while still satiating their own desire to evolve musically.It is a fine balancing act, but one which Baroness have mastered beautifully, crafting a reliable vulnerability that forms the DNA of every album.Frontman John Baizley joined HEAVY to talk more about that growth on Stone."I'm feeling very, very, very ready to release it," he smiled. "We've had this record in the bag for a while. This is potentially the first record we have on my label that I would have spent the adequate time preparing and marketing and promoting and distributing for. The past couple of records have either been rushed or I don't know what I'm doing well enough to understand timelines and schedules. So this time we really decided to take our time and release it as well as we could, but it's been excruciating. I just want everybody to hear what you and I are talking about. I just want somebody to hear it."We ask him to explain Stone in greater detail musically."This was… I've gone from hate to love on this record over the course of the nearly three years that it would have been in the works," he measured. "In 2020 we had just released Gold & Grey, our last record, and we had been on tour in Europe all through late 2019 and coming back in 2020 we were excited about putting together the actual tour for that record. Which was going to start with a trip to Australia and Japan. We were four days away from flying out of the country when the lockdown occurred. Even up to four days before lockdown I still thought we were gonna do it. It was really like having the rug pulled out from underneath you. What followed were several months of extreme confusion and frustration, everybody can identify with that. But what we decided to do mid 2020 was start writing a new record. We planned on how to make it as the global situation developed. What became apparent to us was that we were in for the long haul, so our idea - which incidently was an idea we've had for many years and finally felt like the right time to do it - was to rent an Airbnb cabin in the woods. My rhythm section is in New York, and I'm in Philadelphia, so we chose a spot that was as distant and into the bush as we could but was equidistant from both Philadelphia and New York, so it was roughly two and a half hours up into the country. We found a cabin, but it was more like a big house that had a huge ceiling and tonnes of space and not a tonne of walls, and it had a great sound for tracking. So we rented the place for a month. For 15 years I have been on classifieds and E-Bay buying studio equipment, and we built our own studio in about 36 hours in a house that was not equipped to be a studio but had all the acoustic plusses that we wanted. It was big, and it was a good creative space for us and there was no distractions, no businesses nearby. The nearest grocery was an hour away. No bars, no businesses, nothing. We dedicated ourselves for that month to write and record a record simultaneously. In the course of that month there were only ever four people involved. We had no assistance, no technicians. We had only ourselves and our bullshit ingenuity to get us through the record and I think because of that we were able to dive into some musical territory that was really exciting and compelling for us and a situation I've always wanted to be in where you're just always working and having ideas. And recording and rehearsing 12 to 14 hours a day and really developing a strong musical bond. Whenever we were nearly finished writing we would record to get that early anxious energy into the songs where we hadn't worked everything out. We improvised a lot on the record. There's a tonne of unscripted, unknown things that we captured on tape and ended up turning into songs. It was a pretty exciting thing."In the full interview, John talks more about the writing process, how the environment contributed to the finished product, the opening acoustic track Embers and the thought process behind having it first up, musical direction and growth, touring plans and more.

Interview by Kris PetersFor nearly two decades metal outfit Carnifex have managed to push themselves musically further which each release.Although fitting snuggly into their chosen extreme metal genre, the band have also experimented both within and outside of the conventional parameters of their music, peeling back layers while simultaneously structuring new passages along the way.With their ninth full length studio album Necromanteum set to be unleashed on October 6, Carnifex have tapped into another realm both musically and thematically, exploring the supernatural and sordid tales of nightmares and inner conflict unlike ever before.It is much less introspective and personal than their previous offering Graveyard Confessions, with orchestrations and atmospheric landscapes drafted into the sonic landscape to create a sense of foreboding lyrically to match the musical output.Frontman Scott Ian Lewis joined HEAVY to explore Necromanteum even further."I'm pretty stoked," he smiled when asked about the new album. "I'm excited to get the full record out there. I know we've got a couple of singles, but I'm still a whole record kind of guy so getting the record out to the fans is really what I look forward to the most"We ask Lewis to dive deeper into the musical nature of Necromanteum."It's a bit different to the last one," he measured. "I think a big part of it is we've got a new member - Neal, our new guitarist - so we wrote this album as a five piece, compared to writing Graveside Confessions as a four piece. We were able to work with an outside studio. We worked with Jason Suecof at Auto Hammer out in Florida and we also worked with an outside... I guess composer is the word for all the orchestral arrangements, which we had never done that before. And then lyrically and kind of the themes of the music are pretty different. It's a much more outward looking record. Kind of more universal themes compared to the last album which was very inward looking and kind of more of a self assesment, where this one is an assessment of the space that we all share."In the full interview, Scott talks more about the musical side of the album, the singles released and how they reflect the album as a whole, having Tom Barber from Chelsea Grin guest on Death's Forgotten Children, the central themes throughout the album, what sort of research he did, the pros and cons of self producing an album, Neal and what he brings to Carnifex, using an actual orchestral arrangement, their upcoming tour and more.

Interview by Kris PetersAustralia, prepare for the onslaught!Two of the world's most cutting edge extreme metal bands in Cattle Decapitation and Fallujah have arrived in Australia and already started a run of shows that promises to leave a trail of destruction in their wakes.Bay Area outfit Fallujah are riding high on the recent release of their brooding and atmospheric masterpiece Empyrean, a step even further into the realms of tech-metal for which the band is fast cementing for themselves a place amongst the genres elite.HEAVY caught up with vocalist Kyle Schaefer not long before the band departed for their smash and grab six date conquest."We fly out for a six date tour with Cattle Decapitation," he enthused, "and then on top of that we've got one additional Fallujah headlining show at the end of that so it's basically one full week of Australian shows. It's gonna be a blast."It's a grueling run of high intensity shows a long way from home, and as such we ask Schaefer what sorts of things he does to mentally and physically prepare himself for the trip."Not a whole lot, actually," he laughed. "It depends on whether I have to learn any material for the set, because that's something I spend a lot more time on, like the memorisation of the music. For example, if I'm filling in for a band or Fallujah is doing different songs that I have not performed with the band before - maybe older stuff from before I joined - then I start preparing further in advance. But for something like this where it's all songs that we've done many times on stage, then I'm not too worried about it. I just try to make sure my voice is in shape by practicing pretty consistently for a few weeks beforehand because sometimes if you haven't done screaming vocals for a month or whatever you pick it up again and it's like 'okay, I've fallen off a bit. I've gotta get my voice back in shape' so that's something I really look out for, to make sure I'm feeling normal with my vocals. Two weeks is usually plenty. That's pretty much it. Other than that I just show up and go with the flow (laughs)."In the full interview, Kyle talks more about some of the essential items he takes on the road with him, what has changed with the band since last time they toured Australia, what we can expect, how much of Empyrean they will be playing, recreating the album atmospherics live, touring with Cattle Decapitation, having Psycroptic on board for the Sydney show, what's next for Fallujah and more.

Interview by Kris PetersMost bands that dwell on the hard rock/punk side of town generally walk the walk while attempting to talk the talk but to the discerning eye it is pretty obvious that it is an enforced facade.When shit hits the fan you know many of these bad boys would run cowering to the nearest obstacle and lie in wait until the storm has passed.But there are a small number that are genuine in their disdain. Bands that openly wear their heart on their sleeves and couldn't give a toss what you or anyone else thinks.And those people are the real heroes.Even though they have been around for a quarter of a century, Danko Jones have somehow managed to fly under my radar to this point, but for once I actually feel like I have missed out.Their upcoming album Electric Sounds (September 15) is a rock drenched slab of attitude that promises nothing but delivers in spades.Danko himself joined HEAVY to chat more."We're always excited when we put out an album," he revealed. "The last five albums we've put out has been more excitement than nervousness because we were pretty confident about it. We just want people to hear it. We're kind of impatient about people hearing it so I just want everyone to hear it."We ask Danko to tell us about the musical side of the new album."From a musical point of view it's the same as the last ten albums," he smiled. "It's just a hard rock album, and we're hoping that people who like hard rock like it. We do. We wouldn't have put it out if we didn't (laughs)."In the full interview we ask Danko if the band has a set process when it comes to writing and recording, the statement delivered on the very first track Guess Who's Back?, the guest artists on the album and what they brought to each song, the early days of Danko Jones and where they fit in, his early vision for the band and how it has changed since, surviving nearly three decades in the music industry, their upcoming massive tour schedule and more."

Interview by Kris PetersThy Art Is Murder are up there with Australia's greatest ever extreme metal exports.They have taken their music far and wide, appearing at prestigious festivals around the world like Summer Breeze, Download, Graspop and Wacken and playing with bands such as Cannibal Corpse, Slayer, Kreator, Lamb Of God, Killswitch Engage and Parkway Drive. Their thinking-person’s blackened death metal has challenged, provoked and inspired audiences around the world with little regard for expectation or conformity.In Australia the band has been nominated for two ARIA Awards and smashed existing chart records and convention. They have won the hearts and ears of a global audience and continue to deliver their strong social messages without fear of reproach or muzzling.And you get the feeling they have only just started.With their latest album Godlike set for release on September 15, HEAVY spent some time with guitarist Andy Marsh to go into more detail.We're feeling really good," he affirmed ahead of the release. "It's exciting, especially when you've worked on something for so long and you have to keep it to yourself. I'm looking forward to getting some feedback from the wider community and the fans."Godlike is Thy Art Is Murder's sixth album, so we ask Marsh if by now the band has a set process of doing things or if each album cycle differs from the last."It's pretty much the same," he said, "get together, write some riffs, put some songs together as best we can and meet up with our producer Will Putney and finish the job. It normally takes four to six weeks. Last year we spent siix months piecing the thing together."We press Marsh on what to expect musically from Godlike."I can't tell you too much, really," he measured. "We're just trying to step things up quite a bit. We had a lot of time off, a lot of time to think of new ideas, a lot of time to think about where we were thinking of taking the band in the future. So just trying to incorporate some groovier elements, bigger choruses and imagine what we could put on the CD that's gonna help elevate the band to the next level of it's career."In the full interview, Andy talks deeper about Godlike, the singles put out so far and how they represent the overall picture, releasing an album independently for the first time, the themes explored on the album, the cover artwork and where it comes from, how Thy Art Is Murder's sound has changed from their debut album in 2010 to now, future plans and more.

Interview by Kris PetersAs much as the majority of our life is spent looking into the future, the past should always feature somewhere in your thoughts.It is, after all, the very thing that shaped your being, a point which rings true no matter what walk of life you are from or what passion ignites you.But this is particularly important with music, as past music - or, more specifically, the initial music releases - are the ones that will more often than not resonate most with fans.Brisbane rock outfit Young Lions will be doing just that, paying homage to their debut album Burn by taking to the road and revisiting that early material in an effort to connect with not only the faithful, but, in some ways, themselves as well.With the Burn 10 Year Anniversary Tour set to kick off in just under two weeks Young Lions vocalist Zach Britt joined HEAVY for a trip down memory lane."We're really getting into the production rehearsals now," he smiled. "We're stoked to get out there. It's nice to revisit songs. Obviously I've been doing a tour with my other band Dream On Dreamer for the tenth anniversary of Loveless, which has been good, so it's been getting me excited to get out there and do the same things with Young Lions. Everyone really resonates with the music that they've listened to for ten years, and they've had a long time to learn the lyrics. We're getting stoked on some big singalongs and there's so many epic bands coming on tour with us. We've got Shangrila, Chasing Ghosts and Tapestry so it's a really all star line up."In the full interview, Zach lets us in on some potential birthday surprises for fans, the challenges of playing an album start to finish,, why those particular support bands were chosen, the early vision of the band and how it has changed since, his initial thoughts of Burn when it was first released, memories of early live shows, how they have changed and improved since, things they have learnt about themselves and their music over the last decade, their latest album Make A Rainbow And Put It In The Sky and how it differs to Burn and more.

Interview by Kris PetersAny band in the modern age that can take rock/punk/metal music to the increasingly numbed youth of our generation is already a winner in my books, but when they release songs that I can possibly convert my two young daughters with then they elevate to the next level pretty damn quickly.So when I was given the opportunity to speak to a band pitched to me as Punk Meets Disney then you can imagine I was doing backflips. Or something that counts as one at my age.Punk Rock Factory are a band of gentlemen from the UK who have made a healthy career out of playing other peoples songs.But only bastardising them.No-one is immune, with the band spicing up in their own punk fashion tracks from Meatloaf to John Farnham to Hansen and in most cases making them all the better for it.The fact Punk Rock Factory have released six albums since their inception in 2019 speaks volumes, but when you also consider the band has slayed it at festivals like Bloodstock and Slam Dunk then you know they have the mental toughness to back it up.But it was their second album A Whole New Wurst from 2020 that drew me instantly to the band. An album of punk reworkings of Disney classics covering movies such as Moana and Frozen, its discovery has given me renewed hope that my girls will return from the dark side and once more embrace the music they were destined for.And to top it off the versions of Let It Go and We Don't Talk About Bruno (Encanto) are good enough to get Dad bopping!Punk Rock Factory are about to embark on their maiden tour of Australia, so to find out even more possible weapons in my fight against Taylor Swift HEAVY sat down for an entertaining chat with frontman/guitarist Peej to find out more, starting with just why the band has neglected Australia for so long."It's a big commitment for us," he laughed. "It's the other side of the world and we have to make sure we sell some tickets. We don't wanna turn up and play to no one. There's been a big call for us to come to Australia for a while now. It's something we've been building up to and it's finally time."Things take a humourous turn when we ask Peej what non-essential items he will be making sure to pack."You guys will tell me that these aren't essential, but I need some kind of spider repellent," he replied, completely honestly. "I don't deal with bugs very well (laughs). You could probably tell me more whether that's essential or not."Which beckons the question do they actually sell spider repellent in the UK?"I'm sure I could find some," Peej measured. "I'm definitely going to try (laughs)."When I tell him there's no such thing the laughter continues."Brilliant," he smiled. "I'm just gonna have to sleep in a giant box so nothing gets in."In the full interview we discuss what to expect from the live show, where and how the band selects which songs to cover, a typical Punk Rock Factory live show, the success of A Whole New Wurst and if it came as a surprise, if there are any songs or genres they won't attempt, the possibility of punking up songs from heavy metal bands, their home studio The Sausage Factory, the massive European tour to follow and more.

Interview by Kris PetersOne of the most beautiful things about music is the individual expression that goes into creating a body of work.Sure, a band is made up of several members on most occasions, but each of those members still contributes part of their personal DNA throughout each written and recorded piece of music.But for those musicians adept at playing anything and everything and who record most of the instruments and vocals themselves, then that strand of DNA is magnified exponentially.As is the case with UK outfit Confyde, who started life as a solo project by Martin Jackson and have slowly evolved to the stage where their music is enough in demand for him to start recruiting other musicians.Jackson also moonlights as frontman for System Of A Down tribute act Chop Suey (which also features Sam Totman from Dragonforce and Andre Joyzi from Breed 77) but it is with his original project Confyde that he gets a chance to faithfully represent himself musically.An eclectic mixture of styles with its roots in rock, Confyde have steadily built their career around a string of single releases, with the latest slab of goodness being Scalper.Jackson sat down with HEAVY to tell us more."It's been brilliant," he enthused about the early reception to Scalper. "Probably the strongest reception so far. I've been putting out singles with Confyde since 2020 when it got rebooted, and by every measure this song has been the most successful so far."We ask Jackson to go deeper into Scalper musically."I knew, given the subject matter of what I wanted to sing about - the housing crisis and eternal misery a lot of our generation have to live with - there's a lot of anger and resentment around this particular subject, so I knew it had to be angry," he explained. "It needed to be a loud, metal song and I've not done a metal song for quite a while and the influences that came in were big chunky guitars with a proggy tip to them, so there's a Mastodon influence there, and Sikth influence... I'm a huge fan of 12 Foot Ninja and how they switch up genres inside their songs and Confyde is very much a project where every single almost completely transforms the sound and I really admire what 12 Foot Ninja do with that. You kind of have this ebb and flow. Often when you're dealing with a really broken housing system it feels like an absolute roller coaster and nothing is ever resolved, so I like to feel like this song represents that. There are some sections that are really heavy and in your face, some that are more majestic and hopeful and there's others that are sinister and in a pit. It feels like you can never really relax while listening to it (laughs), but at the same time I wanted to have something that... even though I love all this musical experimentation I'm always keen for songs that have solid, memorable hooks. Something people can sing along and shout along to in solidarity with subject matter like this. A big influence on that was probably Alter Bridge and Nothing More."In the full interview, Martin talks more about the musical nature of Scalper, keeping things cohesive while skipping all over the place, the strong subject matter, how Scalper differs musically to previous single Man Down, singles versus albums in the modern climate, playing live and more.

Interview by Kris PetersCanadian death metal outfit Crytopsy have been quiet for just over a decade, seemingly lost to the world of metal.After a succession of well received albums Crytopsy remained as a force on the live circuit, but after releasing their self titled album independently in 2012 have failed to record another full length since.Since then the band has released two EPs - The Book of Suffering – Tome I (2015) and The Book of Suffering – Tome II (2018) - but it wasn't until an eventual signing with Nuclear Blast Records that their upcoming new album As Gommorah Burns (September 8) was finally given voice.Vocalist Matt McGachy sat down with HEAVY to discuss Crytopsy's absence and the new album. "It's great to be back creating full length records," he began. "Throughout the past 11 years we did drop two EPs and then we toured a lot before the pandemic, so we were extremely busy. A lot of people think not much has happened since the self titled album, but we have been extremely busy. Up until 2019 we toured a lot, and then we stopped in 2019 to write a new record and then the pandemic just added a little bit more time."We ask McGachy what has changed with Crytopsy in those 11 long years."Actually nothing has changed," he laughed, "because we have the same line-up. 2012 John was in the band and then he left and since that moment we are the same four dudes that have been touring the world together. We released The Book Of Suffering Tome 1 and Tome 2 together - those were independent - and then we signed to Nuclear blast which is where As Gomorrah is coming out. Those would be the biggest changes, that we're the longest running Cryptopsy line up and that we signed to Nuclear Blast and will be releasing a full length record coming up on September 8.In the full interview, Matt talks about the musical side of As Gommerah Burns, the singles released and how they represent the album, settling in as vocalist on this, his third album, the dark side of some of the songs and making them gel with the album as a whole, the "new era" of Cryptopsy, the conceptual thread on the album, future plans and more.

Interview by Kris PetersThe pairing of Evergrey's Tom. S. Englund and acclaimed US-based pianist/composer Vikram Shankar (Redemption, Lux Terminus) might at first seem like a strange combination, but once you have taken the time to digest the sheer beauty that is the music of Silent Skies things fall easily into perspective.Over the course of two previous albums Silent Skies have set about dismantling convention and expectation by painting sonically rich landscapes of musical clarity that resonate long after each listen.The band returned earlier this week with their third album Dormant, an album which shows yet another metamorphosis of their combined vision.Shankar and Englund both spoke with HEAVY on the eve of the release of Dormant."We think that it's our best statement yet," Shanker obliged, "and a level up pretty much in all of the ways that characterize what we do.""We spent, honestly, an unhealthy amount of time on this album," Englund added. "We've been into every detail, because that's something we really enjoy doing. Now it's time to leave it for the world to enjoy instead of us having to be in it and fiddle around with stuff that we no longer can affect. Hopefully people enjoy it. Honestly, we are super, super happy with what we have accomplished on this album."In the full interview, we discuss Dormant musically, the singles released and how they represent the album as a whole, new elements on the album and ways they approached recording, the cinematic aspect to their music, how Dormant differs to the first two albums, how much musical growth Silent Skies have left in them, more about Vikram and his musical pedigree, why they started the band, future plans and more.

Interview by Kris PetersThrashville has quickly become one of the must-attend music festivals on the Australian calendar.Not only is it situated miles away from any form of civilised life – meaning noise restrictions and the like are non-existent – but it is also a damn good festival featuring a splattering of the best in Australian music from major headliners through to up-and-comers.With this year’s line-up – set down over September 8 and 9 at Dashville in the Hunter Valley – comprising a host of talent including CIVIC, Shady Nasty, Crocodylus, Bloody Hell, Downgirl, Wildheart, Operation Ibis, Deadshowws and more, it is the reuniting of two of this countries heavyweight acts that is generating most interest.Progressive rock outfit COG and funk/rock/metal masters Mammal headline over both nights, continuing their successful partnership at the top of concert-goers wish lists.HEAVY caught up with COG drummer Lucius Borich to find out what they have planned for the show, starting with the fact Thrashville is pretty much in the middle of nowhere."It's perfect for us," Borich smiled. "The Great Outdoors. Maybe it comes from watching that show The Leyland Brothers when we were younger or something... there's also a bit of that touring a lot back in the day we would go to a lot of places that were not just in the cities as well. We all love getting off grid so to speak and connecting with nature and getting out there, and I think to play music in that kind of environment is pretty good. It's the right fit. We've always been inspired by the natural realm and that is infused in a lot of our music as well. It looks like it's gonna be a good spot."COG have a well earned reputation as one of the best live acts getting around, so the spaces of the outdoor environment with no noise restrictions should elevate the band to yet another level."We'll just do what we love to do best I guess, and hopefully the power will stay on and the generators won't break," Borich laughed, "and we'll be able to get through the set unscathed and have a top night. To do more of those community based gigs in those environments and help the music industry in those regions and bring some quality music to those parts of Australia is a much needed thing and we love doing it. If it's right, if the dates are right and the timing is right we're all about it. We love doing that."In the full interview, Lucius talks more about what COG will deliver at Thrashville, the importance of Australian only festival lineups, renewing their long term association with Mammal, negotiating each respective bands views on life, politics and society, new music in the works, the new vinyl album editions and more.