Carl Begai

By Carl Begai

The last place anyone expected two former members of Megadeth to resurface is with a band hailing from Ashland, Kentucky. Sounds like the set-up for a redneck joke, but in actual fact it’s a very serious buzz now that guitarist Jeff Young – from Megadeth’s 1988 record So Far, So, Good… So What! – and recently departed bassist James Lomenzo have officially joined Hydrogyn. An extensive overview covering the how and why of Young and Lomenzo coming aboard can be found on the BW&BK site here. Below is an inside look at Young’s relationship with guitarist Jeff Westlake and vocalist Julie Westlake, which amounts to a trial-by-fire gone right.

Westlake: “After Deadly Passions we had problems with our label, Demolition, and it left such a bad taste in our mouth that Julie and I were about ready to completely shelve Hydrogyn. We were thinking about doing some solo projects and see where that would take us, but then Jeff entered the picture. I feel like I’ve known the guy my entire life. We get along great. He brought in some songs, I brought in some stuff, we’re teaching each other the parts that we have to learn, we’re writing stuff together, and that’s really brought Hydrogyn back.”

Young, who has more or less steered clear of the metal world since leaving Megadeth in favour of a career working in world music and classical guitar, reveals his return to the realms of distortion was all a matter of finding the right people to work with.
(continue reading…)

By Carl Begai

Bassist Taiji Sawada can lay claim to having belonged to two of the most popular metal bands in Japanese history. From 1985–1992 he was an integral part of X – better known as X Japan after ’92 – recording three albums before musical differences led to him getting the boot. To date the band has sold well over 20 million records, all without record label support outside Japan. Following his dismissal he was snapped up by Loudness, long known the world over as Japan’s premiere metal act, recording one studio album and a live record before calling it quits in 1994 for personal reasons. Since then Sawada has made his mark with Dirty Trashroad (affectionately known as D.T.R.), Cloud Nine and assorted smaller projects, but his latest outing Taiji With Heaven’s stands to gain a serious large-scale following if it receives the proper push.

Taiji With Heaven’s has been Sawada’s pet project for the last several years, finally come to life with a five-and-a-half song self-titled EP. (continue reading…)

By Carl Begai

Foreword: I first became aware of Van Canto when a fellow journalist made an offhand remark at some point last year about going to see if an a capella metal band could deliver the goods live. Initially I figured she was being a smart-ass, but a few days later while at a record store I recalled having heard about a German band called Van Canto that did in fact do up metal songs a capella. A quick headcheck led me to their second album, Hero, and I was appalled to learn that they did cover versions of Iron Maiden’s ‘Fear Of The Dark’ and Nightwish’s ‘Wishmaster’. Surely it had to be a gag. Two minutes into the Maiden track and I was sold on Van Canto as a real band.

In gearing up for the release of their third album, Tribe Of Force, Van Canto’s new label Napalm Records wisely decided to re-issue Hero and the debut, A Storm To Come. Following is an interview with founder Stefan Schmidt, who took the time to discuss the band’s humble beginnings, offer some insight into what makes a capella metal work, and illustrate the proper use of the word “rakkatakka.”

“It’s too bad I’m not able to tell a significant story about how Van Canto got started,” says Schmidt. “It wasn’t like we were all sitting around one night and somebody stood up and said ‘Hey! Let’s start an a capella metal band!’ We started this as a project because I wanted to do something vocal-oriented after the split of my regular metal band, but I didn’t know it would turn out to be an a capella metal band. It was meant to be like a choir project with regular instruments, but as we moved on we noticed that it sounded interesting having all these voices together. It was something new, so we decided to give it a try. We never expected it to grow this fast, though.”
(continue reading…)

By Carl Begai

The name Sarah Jezebel Deva will forever be associated with Cradle Of Filth, but that hasn’t prevented her from striking out on her own. The first shot came in 2006 with the unfairly overlooked Angtoria debut, God Has A Plan For Us All, and following an extended silence that included her official – if downplayed – departure from the Filthdom she has returned with a full- fledged solo release, A Sign Of Sublime. It’s a move that caused a certain amount of confusion amongst her diehard fans when word first came down in early 2009 given Angtoria had really only just gotten off the ground, and convincingly so. Sarah remains unapologetic in the her decision, however, making it clear that it had nothing to do with wanting more of the spotlight. A Sign Of Sublime was created to fulfill her need to make music on her own terms. Angtoria, meanwhile, is alive and well, to be revisited when the time is right.

“A Sign Of Sublime has nothing to do with Angtoria, not a follow-up,” she says. “It’s just music. Just an album, be it good, bad or just OK, I love music and I love singing. Angtoria is still together, people are just busy building a life for themselves and family. When you’re struggling to pay your bills and support your family you must put everything else above music and that’s what people have had to do. So one day it will happen and we’ll get Angtoria back and push it further. As for ‘unfairly overlooked,’ well, you have to remember everything is about money. People won’t do things for free and it’s all about what’s in and what’s popular and will make them (the record labels) money. In the ‘80s it used to be about the music, about the metal. Now it’s about numbers and dollar signs. (continue reading…)

I recently caught up with guitarist / producer Fredrik Nordström, who continues to slug it out with his band Dream Evil in between production jobs. Always a fun interview, we recently got the chance to play catch-up and discuss the band’s new record In The Night. I also asked him about his new and rather unique stage name, Ritchie Rainbow, which fits if you know the man’s warped sense of humour. An excerpt is available below.

Nordström: “I think many people are like me when they listen to music; they don’t give a lot of attention to the lyrics. I mean, on this album we have ‘The Ballad’, and I’ve played it for people and they don’t laugh because they don’t understand that we did it in fun. People don’t understand that sometimes we do this just to have a fucking laugh. This is something in the band, though, where we don’t do funny lyrics on purpose. They just come out that way. For example, I wrote all the music and vocal melodies for ‘The Ballad’ and I brought it to the guys saying that I thought it had hit potential, then gave it to Niklas so he could write the lyrics, and what you hear is what he came up with. I was laughing my ass off.”

As for adopting stage names, Nordström explains:
(continue reading…)

By Carl Begai

They don’t come any more down-to-earth than guitarist / vocalist Greg Fraser. Having lived the rock star life through the ‘80s as a member of Canadian hair band Brighton Rock, he’ll be the first to tell you that his new band Fraze Gang isn’t destined to take the same path. Not that he would complain if they did; Fraser is only too aware of just how far his brand of ‘70s-edged melodic rock will go over in this day and age with the music-buying / stealing public. He isn’t bitter nor does he think that the world owes him another shot at the brass ring, however. On the contrary, Fraser, bassist / Brighton Rock bandmate Stevie Skreebs, and drummer Phil Epp are quite content making music without the pressures of living up to the expectations of label reps and fans. Besides, if and when Fraser feels the need to play rock god for the masses he always has his reunited-but-not former band to fall back on.

Case in point with October 30th, 2008, when Brighton Rock joined Helix, Andy Curran and Russ Dwarf of Killer Dwarfs fame for a benefit show to raise money for Coney Hatch frontman Carl Dixon, who was seriously injured in a car accident earlier that year. A show that inadvertently fuelled rumours that Brighton Rock were getting back together for the long haul.
(continue reading…)

(Click here for my May 13th, 2009 interview with Devin about the Ki album)

By Carl Begai

Devin Townsend’s last album, Ki, was a clear message that his beloved Strapping Young Lad was indeed dead and buried. Capping off two years of self-imposed silence, the laid back and atmospheric record seemed better suited to a university poetry reading or smokey after hours blues club than the catalogue of someone known for making authentic Norwegian black metal seem tame. Townsend was and remains unapologetic for the scare, and as promised he’s followed Ki up with the second installment of his unofficial Circle Of Hevy Devy’s Life four album exercise under the Devin Townsend Project moniker. And while it’s safe to say that very few people saw it coming, the appropriately titled Addicted may well be one of his strongest outings to date. It depends, of course, on how much one has enjoyed (or not) Townsend’s work outside the Strapping Young Lad demolition derby over the past 15 years, but anyone who is a fan of the man’s diversity as a singer, songwriter and straight-up musical talent won’t go away disappointed. If you do, check to see if your heart is still beating.

“It’s funny. I was talking to a friend of mine at ESP Guitars recently and he said that he didn’t understand why, if I do a record that has the potential to go somewhere, that I can’t keep doing that,” says Townsend. “I tried to explain to him that my process is automatic. I don’t think about it, I don’t preconceive it, and when I write songs I can literally sit down at my computer, turn it on and start writing. If someone left me there and gave me the chance to pee and eat I could have a record a month later. And I wouldn’t know what it was about. (continue reading…)

By Carl Begai

Guitarist Yoichiro Ishino has slowly but surely started to make a name for himself outside of his native Japan with Area51. The band’s forthcoming third album is due for a March 2010 release – showcasing what has become his trademark neo-classical shred gone progressive – but in the midst of songwriting Ishino found the time to assist in writing and recording the two-part Eizo Japan debut. The brainchild of countryman and Anthem vocalist Eizo Sakamoto, the project picks up where his previous band Animetal left off, continuing the metalization of popular Japanese anime theme songs. Sounds like a stretch to Western ears in terms of a concept, but Animetal’s 10 year / eight album run that ended in 2006 suggests it isn’t all that far-fetched. Ishino was aware of Animetal’s appeal going in to do Eizo Japan, making it a no-brainer, and Anthem’s continued popularity can only help to push things forward.

“There’s a decent sized fanbase for Eizo Japan since the majority of the fans are anime fans more than metal fans,” says Ishino. “The project is mainly about Eizo’s vocals, it’s not a band like Animetal was. Several guitar players play on a single album, and the arrangements are not all metal. The sound is more diverse in that sense. All the songs I work on are metal, though. Eizo had the concept of this project for many years and was always looking for the right guitar player, and after seeing me play live some years ago he decided to contact me. For me, it’s such an honor to be able to work with him. Of course, there’s a fanbase so it should have financial success but it’s also a great chance for people to get to know my guitar playing. Still, if someone like Ronnie James Dio approached you and said ‘Hey, would you like to play guitar on my album?’ the financial side wouldn’t be the first thing that pops in your mind, right? It’s the same thing.”
(continue reading…)

I recently caught up with Overkill frontman Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth to discuss the band’s new album, Ironbound, and how he and bassist / co-founder D.D. Verni have managed to keep the monster moving for the past 25 years. Ellsworth has always been a great interview and this time was no exception. An excerpt is below, the complete story is on the BW&BK website.

Ellsworth: “As you said, some records hit you and some don’t, but every step is necessary to be able to get to this point and to realize what your shortcomings are. I come from an age when, as a kid, I wanted to make actual records, something I could hold in my hand. If I think back to what my favourite vinyl is, they were cohesive records that when you put the needle down, from that first note to whatever that last note or scream was, that was The Record. It wasn’t just a collection of songs. It was about a feeling that it left you with after the 50 minutes or the 90 minutes or sometimes the 30 minutes (laughs).”
(continue reading…)

By Carl Begai

No matter what he does musically, vocalist Minoru Niihara will forever be known first and foremost as the singer for Loudness. Even when Obsession’s Michael Vescera and ex-EZO frontman Masaki Yamada took his place (between 1988 – 2001) Niihara was still regarded as the band’s one true voice. Two years prior to Loudness’ official reunion Niihara launched XYZ-A, perhaps best described as a bare bones garage metal band, arguably the most successful venture under his belt outside the Loudness camp. Like any long time band, however, XYZ-A’s appeal seemed to wane with back-to-back ho-hum albums I.V. (2004) and Wings (2006); neither was particularly bad but both were far from memorable a dozen spins later. Their ten year anniversary record, Learn From Yesterday! Live For Today! Hope For Tomorrow! – a take on Albert Einstein’s famous quote – is a much different and aptly titled story, as Niihara and his bandmates have made a welcome return to the devil-may-care attitude of their earlier records. Top that off with a new major label deal in Japan with Toy’s Factory – former home to Arch Enemy – and XYZ-A are primed for another decade at the very least. Loudness, meanwhile, figures as prominently as ever in Niihara’s life.
(continue reading…)