POWERLINE A.D.

Pyramaze Interviews

Jonah Weingarten, keyboardist of the the Danish/American Progressive Power Metal outfit Pyramaze, speaks on their upcoming third full-length album "Immortal," featuring Matthew Barlow of Iced Earth fame.

Interview by Marc Garrison 

Greetings Michael, this is Marc Garrison representing Powerline A.D, currently an internet based webzine and daily blog. Thank you for taking the time to do this interview, I’m certain you are very busy with the impending release of the third Pyramaze full length!

Marc: You are the guitarists/lyricist/general mastermind behind Pyramaze, the Danish/American Progressive-Power Metal band. Progressive-Power? Is this accurate?
Michael: Yeah, we have been labelled as a progressive/power metal band. But we also have other “names” going for us. We have a great blend of metal in our music, so I guess one could call us epic-dark-melodic-progressive-power metal ;-) But hey, that brand is way too long to be used commonly ha-ha.

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Altar of Oblivion

Interview with band by swayingball

1. What was your motivation to start Altar of Oblivion?
I'm afraid I can't answer that in short terms. Well, even before I started playing the guitar, my dream was to form a band of my own and in the regions of 2000 at the age of about 21, I started writing some lyrics to some melodies I created in my mind. The first song I ever wrote was finished in 2001 and was called "16 Days in hell, 8 Days in Heaven" which was heavily influenced by modern Death SS and told a story about my former job as steward on a godforsaken cruise liner sailing from Copenhagen to Oslo. I had all the vocal patterns ready in order to present them to a guitarist but I didn't dare showing my lyrics to anyone which was probably a good idea as they were pretty lame and involuntarily hilarious.
    It wasn't until mid 2003 when I first picked up the guitar and after about three months, I started writing my own material which was to be included in the first Summoning Sickness rehearsal sessions. I wrote 9 tracks of simple doom metal much in the vein of the tracks on the Altar of Oblivion demo but I chose to leave them behind as they were marked by incoherence. Recently, however, I've re-recorded, re-arranged and re-named three of those "premature" Summoning Sickness tracks and I intend to use them within the framework of Altar of Oblivion should they ever fit in.
    The reasons for the band changing its name are as follows:
The name Altar of Oblivion just popped up in my mind while listening to Coven's "Witchcraft: Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls" LP whose reverse side contains some kind of sacrificial altar. I've always liked the word "oblivion" as it, besides having a somehow nice, round and cold sound, also emanates an aura of ambiguity, mystery, obscurity, secrecy and vagueness. Furthermore, the name Altar of Oblivion almost constitutes an alliteration as the "A" in Altar more or less is pronounced in the same way as the "O" in Oblivion which adds a certain flow to the name. This way I hope it will be much easier for people to make a mental note of it.
    The Altar of Oblivion is the altar upon which the soldiers and civilians during battles of World War II were sacrificed by their leaders who stopped at nothing to achieve their goals. The word oblivion in this context refers to the soldiers and civilians who perished and sunk into oblivion amidst the horrors of war and our "new" band name is much better suited to our musical
and lyrical concept of today.
    When all is said and done, the eternal and greatest motive and incentive to write music derive from my love to music and it's an enormous relieve for me to be able to express myself musically/artistically. Composing music serves as some sort of "loophole" for all my inner thoughts and personal struggles
throughout my life.

2. Altar of Oblivion began as Summoning Sickness, did you write, record or release anything as Summoning Sickness? And how did the early material compare to what we hear now as Altar of Oblivion?
I guess participated your question by almost having answered it already and I apologize.
    We never got to record anything with Summoning Sickness which by the way only consisted of me and our former drummer Allan B. Larsen who in the future will start out as session rhythm guitarist in live situations. I hope we will finally be able to hit the stage in March 2008.

3. I hear allot of great comparisons on your demo, namely and most prominently (pre-Candlemass) Nemesis as well as a bit of Paul Chain and Count Raven. Are these any of your influences? If so or not whom else?
I can easily understand you are comparing Altar of Oblivion to the aforementioned bands but I must admit, as the composer in the band, that I'm not really influenced by those bands. As a matter of fact, I'm only in possession of "Alkahest" and "Solitude Man" with Paul Chain of the above mentioned bands and I haven't been listening to it for years. Nemesis and Count Raven, however, are not completely unknown to me as I've been introduced to them at a friend's place and I think Count Raven has composed some really great music.
    With that said, I'm a huge Candlemass fan and we are often said to be Denmark's answer to that band which of course is not a bad thing. One of my main goals of the future will be to add a more personal and individual edge to the band starting with our debut.
    I'd like to regard the following bands my main sources of influence: Destruction, Nevermore, Black Sabbath (Ozzy & Toni Martin era), Ozzy, Kent, Dissection, Judas Priest, Candlemass, Manilla Road, Crimson Glory, King Diamond, Iron Maiden, Sanctuary, Pentagram, Mercyful Fate, Alice Cooper, Blind Guardian, Pantera, Iced Earth, (David T.) Chastain, Megadeth, Agent Steel, Slayer, Vintersorg, Metallica, Warlord, CJSS and various 80ies popoutfits.   
    I'd like to point out that not all of these bands are my absolute favorites but they all contain some good moments (some more than others) and have in one way or another inspired me during my writing sessions.

4. Your 2007 five track demo "The Shadow Era" is a concept piece, very rare and ambitious for a demo release. Can you explain the concept briefly?
The following section is copied from our MySpace Site as it can't bedescribed more precisely: In the course of the demo's dunning time of 28 minutes, Altar of Oblivion will take you on a fearsome and worrisome journey over the Russian steppes and into the Stalingrad kettle in the extremely harsh winter of 1942 – 43, where the German sixth army, under the dubious and hesitant command of General Friedrich Paulus, was encircled by the Russian superior force and cut off from Supplies from without. Facing total annihilation and in order to keep the hope of survival alive, the German Soldiers as well as the Russians amongst other horrendous things had to resort to cannibalism. In other words, "The Shadow Era" is a conceptual demo describing the horrors and atrocities committed on both sides in the name of two fanatic and uncompromising dictators who were obsessed with the idea of holding Stalingrad; a City which in the big picture had no military or strategic importance but only happened to carry the name of the Soviet leader.
Altar of Oblivion calls on you to go on a petrifying journey into the wrecked minds of the soldiers and civilians implicated in this ghastly battle. When listening to Altar of Oblivion, propagations of sinister Sound Waves will reach your ears and adjectives such as atmospheric, depressing, epic, gloomy, melancholic, murky, mysterious, ominous and sad describe the style of the band in the best way as you are dealing with music with a feeling of hopelessness and despair suitable to the atmosphere surrounding Stalingrad at this specific period of time.

5. Is there a full length debut in the works and if so will it include the demo tracks and more songs related to the "The Shadow Era" concept? Will these demo songs be re-recorded for a full length release?
Yes, the song writing for our forthcoming debut full-length "Sinews of Anguish" was finished about half a year before "The Shadow Era" saw the light of day and the album will contain following 9 tracks including one intro:
1. The Approach (Overture)
2. The final Pledge
3. Wrapped in Ruins
4. Behind the Veil of Night
5. My Pinnacle of Power
6. A Retreat into Delusions
7. Casus Belli
8. Stainless Steel
9. Sinews of Anguish

As you can see we only found room for "Wrapped in Ruins" which we regarded the best track on the demo and we all thought it deserved a better treatment than on the demo on which lots of mistakes were made. It is, nevertheless, possible that some of the other tracks will appear on future releases in a re-written and improved version.
    Once again, I've taken the liberty of copying a section from our MySpace Site:
    Our debut full-length will be a conceptual album about World War II but whereas the 2007 demo "The Shadow Era" was concentrated on the horrors of Stalingrad the "Sinews of Anguish" Album will unleash its disease and disorder upon war zones all over the globe.
    On this recording, the lyrics will be more personal and music wise we will continue our catchy and doomy style from the "Shadow Era" demo but this time with a more direct, distinct and dominating touch of 80s heavy metal. In addition to that, the song writing has improved drastically since the demo days.
    The full-length will contain some more melancholic and in-depth going tracks hinting at the dark and depressing sides of the human mind, incorporating feelings of hope for the future without compromising with the feelings of melancholy that will ultimately prevail.
    Moreover, "Sinews of Anguish" will show us from a more complex side concerning the structure of the music without losing its vital flow. Additionally, the heavier usage of glum and moody keyboards will be conducive to further advance the listener's anguish and agony.

6. This is really one of the better demos I have heard, very well thought and produced and to me stands as a legit and viable ep release again comparable to Nemesis' "Day of Retribution", are you garnering any label interest?
Thanks for the words of supreme niceness. Since you are praising the Nemesis demo in such high terms, I'd better go obtain that piece of doom metal history.
Immediately after the mastering of the demo, I created a MySpace profile, added some tracks and started searching for labels I thought would be interested in releasing our full-length and Shadow Kingdom Records was one of the first ones to pop up and I send out a friend request. After a couple of days and even before the demo had been released on CD, Tim of Shadow Kingdom records contacted me and said he was interested in signing us after which we reached an agreement on the different terms.

7. What are some of the struggles you have endured with Altar of Oblivion?
Finding likewise, dedicated and competent musicians to complete the Altar of Oblivion line up has without a doubt been the most frustrating thing which has resulted in us having to look for musicians not only in all far regions of Denmark but abroad, as well. For instance, I've hired a Greek guy to record the drum parts on our debut album which unfortunately means we can't be using him in live situations. My main goals for future are to convert this project named Altar of Oblivion into an actual band which will be able to play live every once in a while and most certainly to release catchy and captivating 70ies/80ies inspired music, be it ambient, doom/speed/heavy metal, symphonic pop/rock or melancholic acoustic ballads. I can assure you that "The Shadow Era" is just the opening act.
    Before entering the music industry, I thought that composing music was the most difficult, demanding and time-consuming thing but as things have turned out it merely seems to be the first tiny step towards the final product.

8. What are some of the rewards you have gained with Altar of Oblivion?
As mentioned in an above answer, it has been my dream for a long time to establish a band of my own and that finally came true with the founding of Altar of Oblivion and subsequently with the release of our demo. Also, it has been rewarding to see the demo be favourably received by several doomsters and as well as metal fans in general throughout the world despite its flaws and shortcomings. Most importantly, "The Shadow Era" has proved to our selves plus the metal scene that Altar of Oblivion has a great potential and that it is a very promising band in its infancy.

9. I am really stirred by the vocals as they give a distinct identity to Altar of Oblivion. Was it by chance and meeting that you chose this style or was this something you intended? Meaning did Mik Mentor bring this to the band or was this what you were looking for all along?
First of all, I'd like to say that I totally agree with you: Mik Mentor is without a doubt our greatest asset and he gives the band a unique and characteristic sound. He will be the guy who will take us into the stratosphere.
    I got to know Mik doing my military service where we were in the same group and I remember him telling me that he was a singer. After the military, we didn't really maintain contact but when we finally got in touch with each other I learned he used to be an opera singer and without having heard him sing a single note, I asked him to join Altar of Oblivion which he accepted.
    At that time, he hadn't been singing for three years which also can be heard on the demo but after the demo was recorded, he started training his voice again so I'm really looking forward to hearing his performance on our up-coming full-length. As a reply to your question: I was just looking for a competent singer and along came Mik bringing his bizarre way of singing into the band.
    Another extraordinary circumstance is that Mik prior to the recording of "The Shadow Era" had never been listening to metal music meaning he's not inspired from bands within the metal genre which I believe has contributed to giving his vocals that strange character and nowadays, I couldn't imagine Altar of Oblivion with a different singer.

10. I see you credit 80s pop music as an influence, can you explain? I think allot of heavy bands loose sight of the ultimate goal of writing hooks and good songs these days in the efforts to be aggressive or extreme, is this a feeling you share?
Yes, I was born in 1979 and I therefore grew up at close quarters with the amazing and mind-boggling 80s. My father also listened to 80s pop music and various 70s doom metal/rock bands back then (in fact he still does) and introduced me to some great acts so somehow it seems natural for me to play that kind of music as I so to speak drank the 80s and the 70s with my mother's milk.
    What really appeals to me in much 80s inspired pop music are the catchy and yet deep and melancholic melodies which peak in captivating and memorable refrains. Of course, there were heaps of one hit wonders and flashes in the pan which is often the case in popular music but even though several bands only had a few quality contributions they still deserve their place in the history of music.
    I don't really care whether music is aggressive or extreme or not if only it in some way or another contains hook lines, melody and good song writing. In my opinion, there are bands which are capable of composing catchy AND extreme metal but you are absolutely right that lots of bands are trying to hide their missing ability to write songs by being as extreme as possible or trying to make up for their boring and uninteresting song writing by putting the emphasis on the technical aspect of their music.
    It's a cold fact that not everyone can learn how to create great music but almost everyone can spend many hours a day practicing their instrument in order to improve their technique. On the other hand, I really take my hat off to the musicians who understand to blend technique with good song writing but I'm under the impression that that kind of musicians reached their pinnacle of power in the 80s.

www.myspace.com/altarofoblivion
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The Italian Witches

Highly anticipated new project Witchfield from Italian maestro Thomas Hand Chaste whose lengthy lineage connects him from early  to current Death SS and Paul Chain’s Violet Theatre should be enough to peak anyone’s ears to it’s upcoming debut release on Black Widow Records. As one would expect, progressive doom metal is the offering yet hugely epic and metallic in nature. Less melodic prog as with most current Italian acts of it's kind, think a more elaborate The Black or crunchier Malombra and your somewhere in the realm of Witchfield with hints of conceptual opera that reminds one of Devil Doll at it’s heaviest Witchfield are destined to its own greatness as Thomas Hand Chaste takes the reins finally after so many years supporting greatness.
 
Joining Thomas Hand Chaste are also x- Sabotage current L'impero delle ombre, x-Boohoos and Hoepsend / Terremoto members to complete the line-up. I feel very honored to be given the chance to interview Thomas Hand Chaste who is such a long time veteran of the awe-inspiring true Italian doom metal scene and especially at such an early stage of Witchfield.

(The following is a transcript from Thomas Hand Chaste — a form he found easier to reply in — answering swayingball's many questions on his musical career):

Hello, this is Andrea Vianelli from WITCHFIELD, better known as Thomas “Hand” Chaste, a name I started to use when I joined DEATH SS as a drummer in the early eighties.

My career has been related to DEATH SS since October 1980, it went on with PAUL CHAIN VIOLET THEATRE when, after our first singer Steve Sylvester parted and because of some more misfortunes, we decided to leave that moniker; then I worked with Steve again on his solo albums and in several other projects (find enclosed my full discography).

Baka Bomb was the bass guitar player for the BOOHOOS Lp “Rock For Real” (Electric Eye 1989) and played for several Paul Chain Cds too.

Cardellino brothers, John and Andy (singer and guitarist), released one album under the name IMPERO DELLE OMBRE (Black Widow 2004) and, finally, Ilario “Piranha” Suppressa has been playing the guitar with thrashers HOPESEND and the bass guitar with folk-rockers TERRA PI CICIRI.

Other contributors were Volume Adire, a young promising guitarist from KEINE (“La Nascita Della Tragedia” – LM Records 2006), polistrumentist Paolo Montebello (who played keyboards in “Totentanz” while he is mood was very particular….) and drummer Claudio Della Rosa who played a few minutes in the song “Curse My fate” together with Yari and Antonio on salentini folk percussions.

The story began after the release of my album “Uno Nessuno Centomila”, I was called by John who asked me to work together; no sooner said than done, even if they lived 750 Km from my town. A week later they left immediately and spent a month in my studio and Baka Bomb’s house. We played several sessions, I showed them some tracks and we set up our work. It was very natural as they are fond of this sound, especially what I did with VIOLET THEATRE; moreover this style is in my dna, it came back from my past.

As to the stylistic approach, I cannot tell, because I prefer that other people express their opinion. From a musical point of view, most responsibility for the WITCHFIELD sound is mine and I find it difficult to give an objective description.

What I can say is that I took energy from the other members diving in a painful sound which is full of memories but trying to bring forth a different progression, a “classical” approach that I regard as “ancient times” or “timeless places”; boundless music and sound creating everything. I apologize for my poor English but I find it hard to express these ideas in Italian too.

Moreover, there have been some other meetings to record and mix the tracks played in their studios. John dealt with the lyrics, mostly adapted some from some of Fergusson’s, Kingsley’s, Shakespeare’s and Blake’s poems about the human races’ alienation and uneasiness. Our “witch hunt” means to find someone guilty at all costs, in a way, to be persecuted or, if you wish, not accepted. The idea of “WITCHFIELD” is about this field where a different kind of people - who can see “other” things and know beyond what they are supposed to know – meet.

Italy, it cannot be denied, has always been an anglo-saxon colony. There had not been any rock band who could compete with you since the times of the early DEATH SS, so our strength could be our determination. The idea behind our music was to go beyond death through earthly works which keep you alive even afterwards, in the memory of the living.

Perhaps it is an Italian notion originated from some literature and culture. However I think that the early DEATH SS, the ones with Paul Chain and Steve Sylvester, strong in their firm belief, have been a milestone not only in Italy and, what’s more, in my opinion Paul Chain can be included among the fathers of Doom.

It is a matter of art, of atavic traditions of sounds we have heard for centuries coming back, even if you play Metal. We cannot but look behind. I definitely speak from experience; even more, I had the privilege to take part in this project but I have always kept on looking for the essence of things; my travel mates do know that and play main roles.

Now it is clear that WITCHFIELD, a project John and I started, is, in a way, a crucible of minds and ideas which may change over time through the support of other contributions. At the moment, we are waiting for the release of “Sleepless” to check feedback. If we are contacted, we will also go on a mini tour. We are going to decide on the spot, also because in Italy it is difficult to set up long term plans of live activity if you deal with Metal.

Meanwhile, Cardellino brothers are preparing their second album with IMPERO DELLE OMBRE. As for me, I am writing new songs with the help of Volume Adire and, later, I might propose them to some singers overseas. Who knows… I would like to see what is going to come out.

Anyway, our album is being finished. In the last minute Black Widow Rec. told us that Clive Jones (Black Widow / Agony Bag) might be a special guest for our debut. We let him listen to our songs and now he is working, hopefully, he won’t take too long. Yet, we believe that the Cd/Lp may be out by the end of the year or in early 2008. 

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Prog Onward

The instrumental prog-metal band, Bushwhack, has been blessed with many things. They got wonderful production out of Jeff Cannata on their self-titled debut CD; had legendary music photographer, Mark Weiss, take all their band shots; had well-known hard rock artist Ioannis design their CD and website; and writer Martin Popoff set up their official bio. But most of all, the band — Jamie van Dyck - guitars; Frank Sacramone - keyboards; Brandon Green - bass; Ben Shanbrom - drums — has been blessed with youthful talent. The whole debut presentation looks and sounds like a major label release. It is that mature and professional. In fact, on stage the band sounds just as mature and professional. Bushwhack is at an exciting embryonic stage. The future, it seems, can be very promising.

POWERLINE A.D.: The rock artist, Ioannis, has done a lot of work for rock/metal art. He did a wonderful job on the conceptual art of your debut CD cover and the band's webpage. You must be pleased.
Jamie: Our album looks really good, we're really proud and happy with it.

PWL: Did you come up with that concept?
Jamie: No. It was all Ionnis and when we saw it, we were like 'Holy...'

PWL: How do you see it tied-in with the name of the band?
Frank: (Ionnis) said the art on the cover represented what Bushwhack meant to him. This huge elemental colossus of sound, sort of crashing down upon the listeners.
Jamie: The definition is ambush, assault and he viewed Bushwhack as an unstoppable force of nature.

PWL: My initial thought was that the name Bushwhack was politically motivated, as in anti-Bush.
Jamie: It was a little bit at first. I think all of us are leftward leaning. When we came up with the name we thought, 'well, we really don't like Bush..'
Frank: It's not what defines the band, though.
Jamie: There's this old song in our archives called Tribute to George W. Bush....
Brandon: It's this ridiculously heavy heavy metal song, no lyrics obviously.
Jamie: But it did start with "This is a tribute to our nobel caommander in chief and then it had this nice little patriotic horn thing, and then I yelled "Fuck You." And then we started playing ridiculously heavy. It has some good moments.
Brandon: We thought of doing stuff political but then we grew out of it, I guess,
Frank: It's also hard to be a political band when you're instrumental.

PWL: If you do decide to get a singer, maybe that singer's lyrics will be political?
Frank: No, definitely not. I wouldn't want our lyrics to be like 'Our President should be out of office,' I want the lyrics to be introspective and poetic and more original than that.
Jamie: I think the last few years, the climate's been so bad, it almost makes you feel apathetic.
When we first started maybe we did have a strong feeling about politics but there have been so many albums that have come out in the last few years that have been politically-oriented. And if it's become a cliche thing, it becomes a thing you don't want to get involved with. The norm is to now be anti-Bush — and political — so you can stand out by having absolutely nothing to do with it.

PWL: Have you actually written lyrics?
Ben: We have a couple songs in the works that have vocal melodies, and we have a lot of stuff that we are working on that can be a little more friendly for vocals — not necessarily for vocals, but maybe down the road... But as of now we aren't really sure if this is something we definitely want to do.

PWL: Did you have any auditions for vocalists?
Jamie: Yes. In our infancy we have. In our first 6 months. But if we can find a really dynamite vocalist, in our age group, that we could become best friends with... because this person would initially feel like the odd man out.

PWL: What kind of vocalist do you think would fit best? A Geoff Tate-style vocalist?
Ben: We aren't really looking for the huge operatic sort of thing. We really want someone to accent the music and really go along with it. Rather than singing over it, singing with the music.

PWL: So something that does not challenge the musicians?
Brandon: Right, something that fits in well, instead of go above.
Jamie: I mean, I don't know if we know exactly what we're looking for as far as a vocalist. I think we'll know if we hear it.

PWL: Are you comfortable in the instrumental genre? To the point where you feel you don't ever need a singer.  What feels more natural to you?
Jamie: I think it would be nice to have both. There are probably a few of our tracks that could benefit from vocals but others that are best left instrumental. A song like Future's Passed was almost built for a vocalist.

PWL: Do you follow any instrumental bands? Are you into the instrumental scene?
Ben: There's this one band called Isis. They have a little bit of singing but they are really at the core, instrumental. Even some of our favorite bands with vocalists, some of my favorite tracks are instrumental. Like my favorite Dream Theater song, for instance, is Stream Of Consciousness.
Jamie: I would assume that even if we did get a vocalist, with every record we'd put out there would be a good chunk of tunes that would be instrumental. If we do decide to go the vocalist route, to find a vocalist that plays guitar would be great. It would probably add to our sound and thicken it, too. And also when we do instrumentals, the singer wouldn't have to walk offstage or something. He can rock it with us and that would be ideal.

PWL: What do you think about the classification of prog-metal? Is that something you feel comfortable with?
Brandon: Not as much as you would think. I've been the most impartial to that classification. I feel we weren't really based on starting out as a metal band. We just came to play whatever it came out to be. We started on classical music and we have a lot (of influences) coming in from different directions and I almost feel like it's kind of limiting.
Ben: I feel like the stereotypical prog-metal genre that we all know and love just seems to have this limiting character to it.

PWL: It's no longer progressive. Progressive means going without boundaries.
Ben: And the stereotype of prog-metal these days doesn't really do much of that.

PWL: Well, the thing that probably drives your direction the most is the influence of classical, right?
Frank: Definitely. When I hear and write music I'm the opposite of minimalist. I have to have as many tracks and layers of instruments as possible. I have to hear that extra element. I need it. And the way I structure my melodies, it's more of something that would come out of a classical player. Classical is the biggest influence of my playing.

PWL: Are you constantly writing music? I noticed that you are all in college... in different colleges. Do you think it will be a detriment to the songwriting?
Brandon: We have already been doing it for awhile. All the songs that we have written recently have a method of all of us collaborating apart and together.

Interview conducted by Pat Prince, Swayingball, and Gary Fletcher 

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Blood Thirsty Demons Talk

Undeniably one of, if not my favorites current heavy metal bands is Italy's Blood Thirsty Demons. Their raw, melodic and traditional approach brings to mind the early stages of of bands like Witchkiller, Savage Grace, Death SS (original w/Paul Chain) and (pre-Candlessmass) Nemesis. Italy is a mecca for bands somewhat like this style but most are more progressive psyche minded veteran fronted outfits (ie Malombra, the Black, L'Impero Delle Ombre) making a second run at things while Blood Thirsty Demons are right out of the box, raw and true without apology or regret behind them. Occult atmosphere abounds reminsent of early Mercyful Fate but more doom minded musically with vocals delivered in traditional evil affect. Self described horror metal it is in the turest sense of classic heavy metal but there is an element of underlying more current epic gothic metal ambience in the air as well upon closer listen which certainly would seem to broaden their appeal. I have been looking forward to making contact with Blood Thirtsy Demons since aquiring their debut a couple years back and have finally been given the oppertunity to get the chance.

IMPELLITTERI

We interviewed Chris Impellitteri back in May of 1989 for our guitar column, Fretburners. Back then, guitarists were immortalized if they were shredders, or extreme lead guitarists in their own bands. The bands were merely promotions for their leadwork. While the rest of the band seemed like studio musicians clocking in on just another job. 

    Chris Impellitteri was excited about his band back then. In 1989, he was in a position most envied in the hard rock world. But he always had quality singers to go with his virtuoso guitar playing.

    Nowadays, Chris is still pumping out quality Metal/Hard rock. A sample of Impellitteri's new track, "Speed Demon," can be heard by clicking here. As you will hear, he's still got it. The leads are amazing for shredding guitar pieces.

    Here is part of the interview with Chris Impellitteri back in 1989 for Powerline:

On following up his "Stand In Line" LP: "We've got some great stuf written that we're practicing. It's gonna blow "Stand In Line" right off the map. I'm really excited about it. With "Stand In Line" I thought two or three of the songs were good, and the rest of it sucked! So this album will be like twelve great songs that I'll walk away from satisfied."

On the creative control of "Stand in Line" : "Not as much (control) as I would have liked. The reason was, I had too many hands in the fire. Everybody wanted to do this and that. Because of some problems with (vocalist) Graham (Bonnet), a few tunes were recorded that didn't make the album. Because the vocal lines weren't done, so we had to put down songs that weren't as good. 

    Also, the budget. We did the album with three or four thousand dollars and with the new LP we're looking a at a budget around $250,000, which will be great." 

CD REVIEWS-

Halford -  "MetalGod Essentials Vol. 1"

It's hard for me to be objective with Rob Halford. When I was a teenage metalhead growing up in the Connecticut suburbs, I used to wear a pin on my leather lapel that read Halford is God. I really thought so back then, and here he is now with an "essentials" package entitled MetalGod. But he easily lives up to expectations.

Well, he is a metal god of sorts. In short, a metal legend. And everything on this collection is top-notch. The best cuts being the newly touted Drop Out and War Of Words. The biggest surprise is an alternative-style mix called Hypocrisy U.S. Mix. 

With an added Bonus DVD of behind the scene footage, this is a must for any serious fan of Rob Halford's music. -P2

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Scorpions -  "Humanity Hour 1"

I don't know about this. Give me the Scorpions of the 70s. The Scorpions of the early 80s. The Scorpions... I'll stop right there. To me, somewhere along the line the Scorpions had a real Blackout into commercialism and never quite recovered. This new release is better than some of the stuff they have done in the days of big hair and tight leather (well, they had the tight leather at least). But it isn't Animal Magnetism either. My ultimate wish would be for them to reunite with Uli Roth and put out a CD, and then tour. But that will never happen. There is more likelihood of Zeppelin getting back together. 

    Anyway, back to the new cd, Humanity Hour 1. Besides the songs with some punch — "321," "You're Lovin' Me To Death," and "The Cross" (Guest vocal by fellow bald one, Billy Corgan) — most of the songs slosh along in power ballad fashion. It's slick and well-produced but not enough to hold my attention. -P2