When a band releases an album for free, the knee-jerk reaction is to dismiss it as a collection of odds and bits that aren’t worthy of an official “real world” physical release. A Southern Revelation is available at no cost to friend and foe alike (details below), featuring brand new material written and recorded in the wake of a label-instigated shitsorm that would have ripped a lesser band to shreds. Call it nine shots of venom capped off with a chaser celebrating the good old days, served up as a middle finger dedicated to Tiefdruck Musik boss Daniel Heerdman following the botched release of My Ruin’s previous record, Ghosts And Good Stories.

A bloodletting rather than an exorcism, vocalist Tairrie B. Murphy tears down Heerdmann, false promises, industry politics and the posers it spawns, ever the elegant wordsmith whether she’s a raging scream or calculated spoken word. Always a treat to listen to – “listen” being the operative word – lyrical violence abounds, with Tairrie venting in her trademark no-bull fashion on ‘Walk Of Shame’, ‘Middle Finger’, ‘Seventh Sacrament’, ‘Deconsecrated’, and the killing blow, ‘The Soulless Beast’. And while certain folks may feel that there’s no such thing as bad publicity, being compared in song to the devil and stamped as “The Great Pretender” by name should be food for change of thought.

Tairrie’s voices are the razor-tipped hand to guitarist/husband Mick Murphy’s iron glove, who carries her attack on a platform of trademark Black Sabbath-meets-Black Label Society shred. Thank to an album production that’s even more bare bones than Ghosts And Good Stories, with a heavier bottom to boot, Mick offers advanced schooling in riff and dirge without getting in his wife’s space. It’s a balancing act that pays off, particularly on ‘Tennessee Elegy’, ‘Walk Of Shame’ and ‘Seventh Sacrament’. It’s also fair to say that ‘Deconsecrated’ and ‘The Soulless Beast’ are two of the Murphy clan’s finest songs to date thanks to the ear-popping dynamics and over-the-top performances.

It’s worth noting, however, that for all the screaming bloody murder to be had, it’s Mick Murphy’s rock roots that come shining through as the album’s foundation. Maybe it has something to do with the fact it was written and recorded in Knoxville, Tennessee rather than their usual LA haunts. By no means are the songs or performances watered down; on the contrary, they have that top tier garage band appeal.

As for the aforementioned feelgood chaser, My Ruin cap things off with a crushingly dirty rendition of Van Halen’s ‘Mean Streets’. The song may seem out of place at first glance, but for a band that has paid tribute to KISS and AC/DC in similar fashion, it’s a reminder that when the venting is done and the rage is spent, My Ruin is still in it for the love of music.

A Southern Revelation is available for free beginning December 7th. Go to www.myruin.net to download your copy.

Music journalists / writers are often pegged within the industry as frustrated musicians that didn’t have the chops or couldn’t take the heat. Not entirely accurate, but you need only to glance through a malicious self-serving review or half-hearted article to find the guilty-as-charged. Author / journalist Joel Gausten is far from being one of the disenchanted, boasting instead a successful catalogue of books and a long and colourful music career that shows signs of picking up even more steam. To date he has written books on Black Sabbath, Prong, Killing Joke, The Undead and The Misfits, and a tome on Satanism. His punk / metal credits include an extended stint with The Undead, The Misfits, Pigface, Electric Frankenstein, and a work-in-progress under the name Effectionhate. In all, an impressive little empire that shows every sign of continued growth, largely because the brain behind it is bolted in place and his vision is crystal clear.

“I’ve always been very, very interested in writing,” Gausten says, beginning a two part interview on his escapades. “It’s something I’ve always loved and it really started for me in grade school. As a young kid I has some speech problems, so I always found it more effective to write in terms of plain old communication. I guess it was about Grade 5 where I really started to discover music, and I was into what I guess you could call the popular hard rock music of the day. Gun N’ Roses was just starting to get noticed, stuff like that, so I actually published my own ‘zine (laughs). It didn’t really have anything in it; it was just regurgitating stuff from real magazines, and I sold it in my school through the student council and raised 13 bucks at a quarter each (laughs). That’s when I realized ‘Hmm, there might be something to this.’ That was my first big success.”

“Around the same time I also started playing drums, so I got into playing music and writing at the same time. I went to college, got a degree in journalism, played in various garage bands, and when I got out of college my first real job that paid the bills and kept the lights on was working as an editor for a music magazine. That was at 23 years old, right out of the gate. Fast forwarding things a bit, the music magazine job didn’t last for very long because I came in towards the end of its lifespan. This was when Napster started, and this magazine was produced for a compact disc store chain, so you put two and two together… In ’05 I devised the idea for a book, Albums That Should Have Changed The World – this was before I was on MySpace and before I was aware of Wikipedia – so it was all very organically built. Everything that’s come since that time has in one way or another been the result of this main book idea I had. I think that book will be out within the next year-and-a-half or two years.”

What makes Gausten’s success as a writer noteworthy is the fact all his works are independent releases. No big name publishing house doing the legwork, no promo department to make him look and sound good.

“It was just a very gradual process because I started out with the books thinking I was going to get a publishing deal,” he says of going the indie route. “That was my goal, and after about a year into all of this I ended up negotiating with a very, very large publisher; probably one of the biggest in the world as far as music books go. They wanted to pursue this interview book of mine, and at the point I probably had about 100 interviews done, but once they said ‘This is great…’ they immediately wanted to change everything.”

Big business at its best. Gausten elaborates:

“The original book concept was based in eclecticism, because I don’t see anything wrong with putting Aerosmith next to Throbbing Gristle in a music book. They had an issue with that, they wanted to cut some of the more obscure bands. They were worried because they were a very large company, and large companies are in business to make a profit. I do understand that and I harbour no ill will towards any of the people at this company. So, we went back and forth for months and we just couldn’t make it work because realistically, unless you’re publishing a book on The Beatles or Johnny Cash or somebody else that’s died you’re not really going to sell more than 3,000 to 5,000 copies. I knew all of this going in, and eventually I thought that if I had to cut all this stuff out and I’d be hitting those sales figures, there’s no reason why I can’t do it on my own. I might even exceed those numbers. So, I shook hands with the publisher and we went our separate ways.”

Gausten credits the internet, MySpace in particular, for getting the ball rolling in earnest. This interview is in fact a result of the buzz he created pushing his wares online.

“I started my MySpace page after I cut talks with the publisher, but at that time (2006) I was all very new to this. Now I’ve fully embraced the internet even though I’ve always been kind of old school in my thinking, and I really caught up quick when I realized that despite my initial misgivings about technology it had created something almost like a new Wild West.”

Asked if he’s at all surprised by being able to make a living off his writing, Gausten admits he’s “blown away by it” without missing a beat.

“What really kickstarted the whole series of books to begin with was Halloween ’06, because for no other reason than it was Halloween, I put up some excerpts of the Misfits chapter from the overall book project. That post alone got 3,000 hits a day and it just kind of exploded. It was really around that time I began to think back over the course of my career and realized ‘Holy shit, all these things that I’ve done, if you combine them it doesn’t look so bad.’ Getting this far has been a very, very interesting series of happy accidents.”

Far from being an accident was Gausten’s entry into the Church of Satan in 2002 on his 25th birthday, a revelation that no doubt causes some people to flag him according to Hollywood doctrine as an outcast of society. Those with intelligence beyond media rag programming will follow his line of thinking as presented in an interview with Sinfully Delicious Magazine. When asked about joining his Church, Gausten responded: “I first became aware of Satanism through the infamous ‘Satanic Panic’ of the 1980s. I remember watching those television programs hosted by Geraldo Rivera and his ilk and thinking, ‘There is no way this stuff is real.’ After all, if thousands of bloodthirsty nutcases were roaming the streets killing cows and abducting children, wouldn’t someone other than a second-rate ‘journalist’ / talk-show host notice?”

Gausten makes his point crystal clear in his most successful book to date, Words From The Third Side: Essays On Sex, Satan & Success. And although there were a few bodies put off by the venture, the expected nuclear fallout upon its release never materialized.

“You know what the response was? Respectful curiosity. What I received from the people already following me was the thinking that ‘If Joel’s into it perhaps there’s some merit to it.’ And that was my goal. I’ve been a member of the Church of Satan since 2002, so it’s been part of my life for quite a few years, but I never came out and said ‘I am a Satanist and I have books out.’ I felt it would be far more effective if I achieved things by working in more mainstream circles and then come up and say ‘Oh, by the way…’

Gausten’s take on Satanism echoes that of Mercyful Fate frontman King Diamond, a member of the Church of Satan who turned its splattershock hatedeathkill image on its ear in an interview with me several years ago with his soft-spoken intelligence and down-to-earth views.

“King Diamond is a wonderful performer, he’s a very creative man, and he’s done very good things for our organization,” says Gausten. “I credit King Diamond as being one of the first people I ever read who absolutely dispelled all those common misconceptions surrounding Satanism. People like him, David Vincent from Morbid Angel, these were the people who came before, and I’d like to think that I’m carrying on a tradition of intelligent people in the music industry who are unafraid to say exactly what they think and what they feel.”

As for those that may see Gausten’s views and faith as nothing more than lucrative shock value, Words From The Third Side is recommended reading.

“I think the shock value aspect is taken away pretty quickly once you read it. I’m sure when you spoke to King Diamond it was the same thing. Obviously I’m very fortunate to have many dear friends in the organization who are very supportive, but there is a whole different side of people who like the other stuff I’ve done that have said ‘We know Joel’s not a freak, we know he’s not a nutcase, we know he’s a productive member of society, so there has to be something to this.’ They may not necessarily agree with what I have to say, but at least they know it’s coming from a somewhat healthy place (laughs).”

Go to this location for more information on Gausten and his work. Click here for Part 2 of the interview.

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So, what’s it like having Ronnie James Dio fronting Candlemass?

A question posed by yours truly to bassist/founder Leif Edling on the heels of hearing Candlemass’ new album, Death Magic Doom, for the first time. All in good fun, and meant as a compliment to “new” frontman Robert Lowe and the material he’s given voice to on his second record with the band. Lowe’s voice and Dio’s are indeed similar, making the comparisons to Black Sabbath that have been following Candlemass around seemingly since their inception that much more fitting. Nobody is complaining, however, especially not Edling

“It’s fantastic,” he laughs. “Have you heard his version of ‘Man On The Silver Mountain’? I was gobsmacked when I heard it. He sounds amazing. Dio is Rob’s favourite singer, so now we’re talking about doing ‘Kill The King’…”

It’s hard to tell if Edling is 100% serious, but given his genuine awe for Lowe’s talents it’s safe to say that covering Dio has at least been considered. Lowe puts in a performance on Death Magic Doom that shames his Candlemass debut on King Of The Grey Islands from 2007, and much to Edling’s undisguised joy it sends the message that the band works quite well without former drama queen vocalist Messiah Marcolin at the helm. Loud and clear.

“The thing about Robert is, he’ll leave the studio to go outside and have a smoke, and then he’ll come back in and sing all these high parts,” Edling offers. “And he’s a chain smoker. The last track on the album, he sings really high, and when he recorded that I was like ‘What the fuck? You had three cigarettes in five minutes and you’re able to do THAT?’ And his response is ‘Yeah, well, Ronnie does it too’ (laughs).”

From the start Edling makes it clear that Lowe is indeed a part of Candlemass rather than a hired gun. Even though present day technology made it rather easy for the Swedes and their US-based singer to write, arrange and record Death Magic Doom without either side leaving the comforts of home behind, they opted for a flesh and blood old school approach for the recordings

“Robert was there with is, absolutely. We demand to have him in the studio, because he is a part of this band. With the previous record the songs were written for Messiah. You can hear that. Robert still does a great job on the album but now you can hear that he’s singing material meant for him. For me the White album (self-titled comeback from 2005) is pretty good, and King Of The Grey Islands is better than that one, and this new one is better than King Of The Grey Islands. I’m not knocking the last two albums, but now we sound like a band. We’ve matured, we have a singer that’s comfortable in the band, and sometimes Robert’s singing gives me goosebumps. And Lasse (Johansson) and his solos… it’s like having Michael Schenker in the band (laughs). He’s just so fucking good.”

Edling has gone on record as saying Death Magic Doom is the best Candlemass album since their second record, the classic Nightfall from ’87. Big talk, but if you give the new album an open mind you understand where he’s coming from.

“It’s mature doom,” he states without missing a beat. “It’s very organic, very dynamic and a nice warmth to it. You can hear a little bit of Zeppelin here and Sabbath there. I always get those Black Sabbath comparisons, so when we kicked out Messiah it was like Sabbath kicking out Ozzy. They brought Ronnie in and people were saying ‘Oh no, you can’t survive without Ozzy…’, and we’ve been getting people telling us we can’t survive without Messiah, so we really have to go out and prove ourselves. As good as the White album was – and I was surprised by this – people were telling us that we couldn’t continue without Messiah and then we did the album; people thought ‘Pretty good, but you can’t pull it off live without Messiah.’ But we did play without him and people thought we were pretty good, so they ran out of things to complain about. We really did have to prove ourselves, like a female cop or something.”

“Working with Robert and being able to deliver an album like this that’s so broad and wide, and can appeal to so many different people from different genres of metal, it’s wonderful,” he adds. “We’ve surprised ourselves to some degree with this album, and I think it would be really hard for us to make a better one. This is an almost perfect album. I can’t say it’s perfect because then I’ll look like an asshole (laughs), and I don’t know if we can write better songs or any of us can play our parts any better. I think this is as good as it gets from Candlemass. Whether people like it or not, that’s up to them.”

In spite of the positive energy currently flooding the Candlemass camp, one expects Edling has been coping with a certain amount of frustration in trying to keep the band alive. It’s a struggle he’s been dealing with since 2002, and one that seems to have ended with the addition of Lowe to the ranks. Edling shrugs it off, preferring to look at the postitives.

“It’s been good in a way because the working climate in Candlemass is so much better without Messiah. We can work together, we can talk to each other and discuss the music without having to deal with an eight-year-old child. But then we have to deal with the people who say we can’t survive without Messiah, so after 20 years were having to prove ourselves again. What the fuck is that all about? But after doing two spins around the globe doing live shows and delivering this album, I hope people will discover it because it’s bloody good.”

Much has been made of the fact Candlemass continues to share Lowe with the legendary doom act that made him famous, Solitude Aeturnus. Asked if he’s made a conscious effort to steer clear of territory that might resemble Solitude Aeturnus when it comes to his songwriting , Edling reveals it’s not in the something he’s ever been concerned about.

“Not so much. I want to separate Candlemass from Solitude Aeturnus as much as possible, so Robert is not doing his normal Solitude Aeturnus harmonies. I write all the harmonies, so they don’t have that oriental touch to them. I try to keep it as Ronnie James Dio as possible (laughs). For myself, I don’t hear that much Solitude Aeturnus on the album, but we’ll have to see what other people think. We definitely do try to keep them seperate. I like Solitude Aeturnus, so I don’t want to ruin that for Robert. I like John Perez (guitarist) very much, he’s a great guy and I don’t wan to piss him off. He’s the American Lee Dorian (laughs). There are no issues between the two bands at all.”

Looking back on the rollercoaster ride he and Candlemass have been on for the last 20+ years, Ed is both surprised and grateful he’s been able to keep things moving forward without selling the band short.

“In the old days we didn’t know about anything. We just released album, went out and played shows, and didn’t think about anything else. We had a lot of success. Nowadays, it’s like a second career, which is unheard of in most cases. People loved the reunion, but to release and album that had critical acclaim as well was fantastic. We didn’t expect that at all. That was cool. But I must say, now we know what we’re doing, we’re not naïve anymore, so for me it’s totally okay when we go to America and have some really bad shows along with the really good shows. We’re prepared for that mentally now. You have to survive Portland, Oregon (laughs). We had fun for a year before Messiah’s ego grew to the size of Texas, at which point we had a summer full of problems. But, we did some great shows, met a lot of cool people, and made a good album. If we hadn’t to done that stuff with Messiah I wouldn’t be here now. We did that, we dealt with it, we survived.”

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