HEAVY Music Interviews

Interview by Kris Peters For 15 years now, Swedish metal trailblazers Amaranthe have been pushing the boundaries of music with a unique blending of melodic metal, electronic rock, razor-sharp pop and hard rock that many traditionalists - to their disbelief - have found impossible to resist. It is a coming together of music and genres that defies the regular status quo of such opposing forces, but...

Interview by Kris Peters While many international bands - and rightfully so - cite distance and money as two major hurdles towards touring this great country of ours, there are some who throw caution to the wind and depart for these fair shores. Then there are those who love Australia so much that they return, but even then those bands generally leave at least a two-year gap between tours so as no...

Interview by Kris Peters, Often bands that are referred to as 'ahead of their time' are lumped into the basket simply because people can't understand their musical vision and/or output. But when that term is used on a band 10 years or more after their inception, the plot thickens just a little. With the benefit and time and hindsight, today's WTF musical outfit can eventually be classed as innovat...

Interview by Kris Peters It's been a massive six months for British rock/metal frontrunners Asking Alexandria, starting with the release of their latest album, Where Do We Go From Here? and culminating with an upcoming appearance in Australia as part of Knotfest 2024, which also sees Pantera, Halestorm, Lamb Of God, Disturbed and more visit these shores. In between, the band dropped the highly suc...

Interview by Kris Peters Andorran metal outfit Persefone are a band unto themselves. With a sound that can be loosely described as progressive rock meets melodic death metal, Persefone have forged their name crafted in their sonic diversity. 2024, and in particular the band's new EP Lingua Ignota - set for release on February 2 - ushers in a new era for the band, with vocal duties being assumed by...

Interview by Kris Peters Swedish metal heavyweights Katatonia are on the cusp of their first headlining tour of Australia in nearly a decade, which kicks off in Sydney on February 9. Over the course of thirty years and eleven studio albums, Katatonia have proved groundbreaking in their approach, constantly restructuring their sound to match their own personal music growth. Drummer Daniel Moilanen...

Interview by Erin Eddy The last few years have been tough on the world at large, with people of all walks of life forced to find their own coping mechanisms to safely navigate increasingly treacherous waters. Musicians, long thought to be able to handle anything the world threw at them and turn it into cathartic verse, were amongst the hardest hit, with many bands failing to emerge intact. But oth...

Interview by Kris Peters Australian metal outfit Dream On Dreamer were an international sensation in the early part of this decade, playing, amongst other things, 24 different countries and sharing the stage with bands such as Avenged Sevenfold, Pierce The Veil, Memphis May Fire, A Day To Remember and plenty more. With four chart-topping albums to their name, including the highly successful Lovele...

Interview by Kris Peters Aussie rock outfit Shotgun Mistress exploded out of the blocks with their debut self-titled album in 2021, showcasing an old-school approach to songwriting that saw them instantly branded amongst rising bands to keep an ear out for. Spawning a string of chart-topping singles such as No Friend Of Mine, Save Me From Myself, Glorious Machine, Collide and Bleed Me Out, it seem...

Interview by Kris Peters Following the release of last year's album Dreams And Lies, LA-based rock singer/songwriter John Demena found his career on an upward trajectory. With his music now circulating in the right circles - including album opener and single I The People making Loudwire's Weekly Wire Playlist as one of the Best 50 Rock & Metal Songs of the week it was released - Demena attacke...

Interview by Kris Peters Every city anywhere in the world has bands that are considered legendary within their geographical area, but might not be so recognised much further than the next border crossing. For Brisbane that band is Boondall Boys, a band featuring a gentleman that goes by the name of Macka who also happens to be in a universally legendary band, the Cosmic Psychos. The story of the B...

Interview by Kris Peters Canadian metal outfit Striker are a band not known for taking the safe approach to music. While old school fans bemoan the fact they refuse to continually churn out albums of pure thrash metal, Striker understand the importance of allowing their musical growth to be reflected with each fresh body of work. This is never more evident than their upcoming studio album Ultrapow...

Interview by Kris Peters The Butterfly Effect are possibly one of the greatest rock outfits to emerge from this country. Since releasing their self-titled EP in 2001 which led to their superb debut album Begins Here two years later, The Butterfly Effect have epitomised the Aussie battler in musical terms, often punching above their weight but invariably taking the points on a TKO every time. As wi...

Interview by Kris Peters Even the biggest metal bands in the world can divide their fans when it comes to different eras of music. Even Iron Maiden. The band has had two main frontmen throughout their career - as in two that fans identify with the most -, Paul Di'Anno - who sung on the band's debut self-titled album and the follow-up Killers, and current vocalist Bruce Dickinson who has sung on th...

Interview by Kris Peters Since first making their way to Australia in 2009 Orange County hardcore outfit Stick To Your Guns have almost made it their mission statement to return back as often as possible. Their music for some reason resonates well with Australian music lovers, and despite a five-year gap between visits, this time the band has vowed to make up for lost time when they hit our shores...

Interview by Kris Peters As Australia prepares for a massive influx of international touring bands in the first three months of this new year, punters are becoming increasingly torn over which shows they will go to - borne purely out of financial reasons. While many upcoming events are struggling to sell as many tickets as they should or would like, one tour that has not been cast into the 'maybe'...

Interview by Kris Peters Like a wrecking ball let off the chain, recently formed Brisbane metal outfit Awaken The Hate are set to steamroll the local metal scene when they release their debut single Monster In The Mirror this Friday. Coming together with a wealth of experience already in the metal scene, Awaken The Hate aren't here to merely make up the numbers. They are here to lead the pack. As...

Interview by Kris Peters In little more than a decade, UK rock outfit Neck Deep have gone from a band rehearsing in a spare bedroom to one of the biggest rock bands on the planet, but you get the feeling despite that the boys still have their feet planted firmly on the ground. For verification of this you need look no further than their upcoming fifth self-titled album which was conceived, recorde...

Interview by Kris Peters Queensland metal outfit God Hunter have emerged from the ashes following an earlier enforced hiatus with one clear objective - to decimate the hearts and ears of as many of their fellow countrymen as they possibly can. Since re-emerging in 2022, God Hunter have released a succession of singles, each of which showcased yet another arsenal to their expanding metal bow. Blend...

Interview by Kris Peters Madison, WI outfit The Flavor That Kills are one of those rare bands that is impossible to classify into one set genre of music. Harnessing the might of everything from rock to punk to blues to metal, The Flavor That Kills are an eclectic group of individuals, each with ample amounts of craziness and passion that ultimately creates a sound and music that is truly fresh and...

Interview by Kris Peters It is quite fitting for a band with the name Decembers Deadline to be releasing new material just days before the year rolls over through January, but then again, this isn't just any normal release from the Brisbane metal outfit. Since the band's last single Unique came out in November 2021 much has changed with Decembers Deadline, most noticeably two new members in the fo...

Interview by Kris Peters When Murderdolls burst onto the scene in 2002 with the ridiculously brilliant album Beyond The Valley Of The Murderdolls they were sadly recognized for the wrong reasons. Although the infectiously sinister music and vocals ultimately were the backbone of the band's sustained success, it was the worldwide notoriety of two of the members (one more than the other) that first...

Interview by Kris Peters Sydney alternative metal outfit Fifth Dawn are taking to the road early next year with a string of three shows along the East Coast of Australia to showcase their new music and prepare fans for an album later in the year. Their music transcends genres, enabling Fifth Dawn to appeal to a large scope of music listeners, with a cinematic underlying element adding yet more lay...

Interview by Kris Peters When Dez Fafara announced that Coal Chamber was on indefinite hiatus in 2016, stating that the success of DevilDriver was taking precedence, the heavy metal community to a man fell under a thick wave of despair. Bridging the gap between metal and industrial groove with an impossibly infectious tempo, Coal Chamber helped revolutionise the sound of metal, spawning a movement...

Interview by Kris Peters It is too easy to get stuck into playing a certain brand of music as an artist. This can be for a variety of reasons such as the popularity of your band, public expectations, being pigeonholed - any number of reasons. This problem is accentuated when your band is well known for releasing a certain brand of music, where often any deviation or experimentation is met with hos...