One On One With The GRIM 1

War is coming! Pan-Amerikan Native Front is among the fierce bands who lead the charge of in digenous black metal in the Americas. This group is fronted by its enigmatic chief, Kurator of War. Their 2016 full length Tecumseh's War  beats like a war club through the life and conflict of its namesake. Earlier this year, Pan-Amerikan Native Front released the Native Amerikan Black Metal split w ith the Ifernach, which is already sold out of of vinyls their bandcamp . Behold this interview I conducted with Kurator Of War.  Tecumseh's War was inspired by the life of Tecumseh, and it's a blistering musical journey. What was your inspiration for the Native Amerikan Black Metal split, lyrically, thematically and musically? The split album continued to retain a conceptual and storytelling approach, much like Tecumseh's War, and with a similar range of songwriting styles I implemented with the previous album. When Ifernach and I began focusing on themes we naturally landed on ...

Old school death metal stalwarts Benediction returned with a bang in 2020. Their new album, Scriptures , is their first record since 2008, but they haven't missed a single step. Scriptures is an instant classic. A slab of death metal rife for headbanging, that sounds like it was transported straight out of 1993 in all the most brutal ways. Central to this album's aggressive perfection is their longtime vocalist, the reverend Dave Ingram, whose coarse bellows add that extra bite to the menacing guitar hooks. I interviewed Dave about all things death metal, his various side projects and his Metal Breakfast Podcast. Read on, all ye heathen!  HELL-O Dave. Congratulations on the monstrous new album Scriptures . It is a rager from start to finish. What were your motivations heading back into the studio for the first Benediction album in over a decade? Thank you, and thanks for the interview! Well it was really about  time to get a new album out. Prior to my return, the band had...

Fall to your knees before the virtuosic guitar violence of the Great Kat. This prolific shred goddess has mesmerized the world since her 1987 debut album Worship Me Or Die!  Since then, she has rocked hard in the style of Beethoven On Speed , with dazzling guitar and violin renditions of classical pieces by the masters like Ludwig Van, Vivaldi and Rossini.  December 16, 2020, will be Beethoven's 250th birthday. The Great Kat, the self-proclaimed reincarnation of the composer, is busy recreating his songs note for note on guitar and violin, available to the world on her web site and youtube channel leading up to that momentous anniversary.  Always the consummate professional and a hell of a self promoter, The Great Kat took a short break from shredding to answer this Q and A. With Beethoven's 250th birthday coming up, what is your favorite piece by the composer? What was it about Beethoven's music that captivated you to shred? Happy Beethoven's 250th Birthday (De...

"It's time to die!"  Nearly 40 years since their formation, Sodom proves their metal attack gets nastier with each year. Their upcoming album Genesis XIX is a thoroughly headbanging affair. It marks the return of guitarist Frank Blackfire, who shredded on their landmark albums Persecution Mania (1987) and 89's  Agent Orange, as well as the addition of second guitarist Yorck Segatz, for Sodom's first run as a quartet.  Genesis XIX delivers the heavy artillery one expects from Sodom. It's got the punk influence on it's catchy single "Sodom and Gomorrah", reminiscent of their original, dearly departed drummer Chris Witchhunter (RIP). Songs like "Dehumanized" and "Nicht Meir Mein Land" feature blast beats from their new drummer Toni Merkel, with the latter sinking into an infectiously groovy mid-tempo swagger. Vocalist and bassist Tom Angelripper is the driving force of Sodom. His raspy vocals and distorted bass are the centerpiec...

ESCAPING AGHARTHA is a North Carolina-based black metal project, themed around deep sea biology. Musically, they capture the vastness and biodiversity of the oceanic depths with an eclectic array of instrumentations. Crushing distortion that weighs like extreme atmospheric pressure at the ocean's floor. Cold guitar tones and searing blast beats that illustrate the hostility of such an unforgiving natural environment. But also, ethereal passages that sing to the beauty this blue world. The prime mover of this project is Avery Dartman, who recorded the majority of their instruments and vocal parts for their 2020 full length album,  Oceanic Womb, along with session drummer CJ Yacoub. I conducted this email interview with Avery about the inspiration behind his aquatic art. What gave you the idea of an oceanic themed band? I'm a biology/ecology major, so the idea came to me when I was finishing my bachelor degree. I thought that if I could combine my love of making music with my pas...

Australia's Hinterkaifeck are named after the site of grisly, unsolved murders that occurred in Germany in 1922. Their spastic black metal is true to their namesake. Prepare to get your head bashed in by their bombastic assault. Hinterkaifeck's Kak  demo is a raw slab of black metal, the way it's meant to sound - like a rambunctious gang of hellions blasting through their set list in a basements, pissed out of their minds as they spew caustic noise, between gulps of booze and smoke clouds. This scrappy, four-song cassette showcases their range between blistering speeds, punk shuffling and doom-paced headbanging sections, despite its short run time.  Kak by Hinterkaifeck My favorite song is "Revenge Of Oedipus," because anything related to a dude who fucks his mom and kills his dad is totally BRUTAL. It leads off like a torpedo, followed by a war-like march, then descends into a sinister crawl to the finish. midsection. The closing track, "Kak" leans into...

Mr. Sarcophagus of DRAINBOW hails from Austin, Texas.  DRAINBOW is a band one will struggle to define. Definitely progressive, with enough artistic flourish, clean vocals and synthesizer interlude to be avant garde, but without the pretentious fluff. And of course, Drainbow is filled to the brim with guitar sorcery. Imagine if a wizard fused the spaciness of Voivod with King Crimson's weirdness, and a few generous helpings of System Of A Down's pop sensibilities. Drainbow's genre-twisting new album  T owers Of Flints  impressively meshes everything from prog rock, to electronic music and death metal into one cohesive, and definitely epic musical adventure across its ever-shifting sonic profile.  Drainbow is led by the overmind known as Mr. Sarcophagus, who I recently interviewed via email below.    So your Tower Of Flints album is all over the place. How did this music cum to be? I looked at this album as an anthology. Each song is has a stro...

  Jon Zazula is the author of Heavy Tales . He might not be a household name, but among his rock and roll accolades, he's the the guy who gave Metallica their first big break. Zazula founded Megaforce Records to independently release Metallica's debut album Kill 'Em All in 1983. Along with his wife, Marsha, this gruesome twosome forged their own path into heavy metal history with a do-if-yourself work ethic. From running their own Rock N Roll Heaven record shop in New Jersey as a flea market operation, to tour managing bands like Venom, Anvil and Raven on their first treks through the United States. Zazula is also one of the pioneers of "Metal Rap", and recorded the first song of that same name in 1984, predating Aerosmith's team up with Run DMC. More on that below.  I spoke with Mr. Zazula over the phone about his heavy tales, as he celebrates 41 years of marriage to his wife Marsha.  Was it difficult to remember all these rock n roll memories, considering ho...

HELL-O again my fellow Necromaniacs. While the world stays home in quarantine to flatten the curve, Chaos Over Chaos has been way ahead of the curve - the result of a long-distance comprised of band members from Poland and Australia, who have never met in person. Chaos Over Cosmos perfected this art of remote recording with 2019's self-titled EP. It's a progressive metal smorgasbord of riffs with spacey flair. Blade Runner -esque synthesizers and science fiction-themed songs, such as "Asimov" contribute to this album's immersive world building. I admit, some parts of Chaos Over Cosmos sounds a bit too "djenty" and "modern" for my tastes. I usually run the other way when a band likens themselves to Scar Symmetry, but I admire these lads for their audacity and work ethic. They've crafted an impressive soundscape of shredding and crisp production without having ever stepped foot in the same room. At least, as of my interview I conducted wit...