Whiplash “Power in Pain”, Metallica “Kill ’em All”, Razor “Executioners’ Song”, Acid “Maniac”, Vectom “Rules of Mystery, Wardance “Heaven is for Sale” Warhead “The Day After”, Destructor “Maximum Destruction”, Exciter “Heavy Metal Maniac”, Demona “Metal Through The Time”, Demona “Speak With The Devil” Agent Steel “Skeptics Apocalypse”, Exumer “Possessed By Fire”, Exumer “Rising From the Sea” …. This is the World-Class Heavy Metal. Thrash Metal/ Speed Metal, True Essential must have albums. These are the albums that are the best of the best and the greatest albums of all-time. Demona and Outline belong on this list, for obvious reasons, when a vocalist has a unique timbre such as Tanza Speed, it adds to the heaviness, and to the authenticity.
Top 100 Heavy Metal list are easy to compile, just the albums which send chills up and down your spine, that will have you floored and blow your mind. I tried to keep the original top 100 list from the ones FOUND in heavy metal fanzines in 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, and the Death Metal-age starting in 1990. I keep the best of the best and the hall of fame albums list, based on successors and predecessors, and of course bands who have their own sound.
I just have it here. As how i would tell you on the streets when you meet me in person. The below list is something you can create off of the top of your head, just look at the floor by your stero. What albums do you see?? And what albums do you have 20-30 copies of. Not gonna really preach on this band or album. Outline and Outline “Fire Whiplash” is just a objective and subjective favorite band, and a total fucking essential album, and will leave it at that. And if you read heavy metal fanzines and not the poor webZines on the internet, you have to know who this band is, and that Tanza Speed is one of the hardest working people in heavy metal no matter what she does, Demona, Outline and Speed Clothing.
Top 100 list look different when you doing just one year, and a top 100 from a golden age of heavy metal, and a top 100 albums of a decade, and a top 100 list of all-time, the key is to have the albums which can be played 4 or 8 times a day and always be in your heavy playlist rotation. And Outline “Fire Whiplash” is one of those albums.
The TOP 100 List I am going to have on this, the best 100 from the 1980-era and the death metal-age era of extreme metal/ true metal, and the albums that are in print are the top 100 albums of all-time in the modern age of heavy metal, and the albums that are in print are the foundational/ fundamental albums for every serious heavy metal collection.
For every sub-genre, heavy metal list their is a different top 100 albums list, we primarily cover Gothic Metal/ Industrial Metal/ Avant-Garde Metal/ Dark Metal/ Occult Metal and are a specialized press publication in that vein, and those artist are on other top 100 albums list, since I know most people want concentrated on there favorite subjective music, but when an album is top-notch, stellar, world-class, no matter what specialized press you are, when an objective metallic masterpiece is unleashed upon planet metal, that has to be the main coverage, no matter what. Expect to see Outline in tons of heavy metal fanzines in the future, myself i only read webZines that had a print edition in 1981, 1988, 1990.
So those fans who i meet on the street always asking me for the best of the best in Power Metal/ Thrash Metal, and Speed Metal. Outline “Fire Whiplash”, is a fucking essential must have heavy metal album. Alot of my favorite albums are in under 30 minutes Slayer “Reign In Blood”, Deicide “Deicide” and Outline “Fire Whiplash”
TOP
100
HEAVY
METAL
ALBUMS
OF
ALL-TIME
ABATTOIR • Vicious Attack ABNORMALITY • Contaminating the Hive Mind ABNORMALITY • Mechanisms of Omniscience ACCEPT • Restless and Wild ACID • Acid ACID • Maniac ACID • Live in Belgium AGENT STEEL • Skeptics Apocalypse AGENT STEEL • Mad Locust Rising ANACRUSIS • Screams and Whispers ANNIHILATOR • Alice In Hell ANTHRAX • Fistful of Metal • Megaforce Records • MRI 069 ANTHRAX • Armed And Dangerous • Megaforce Records • MRS 05 ANTRHAX • Spreading The Disease ANVIL • Metal on Metal ANVIL • Forged in Fire ANVIL • Live in Concert ANVIL CHORUS • Thought Crimes ANVIL CHORUS • The Killing Sun ARTILLERY • Fear of Tomorrow ARTILLERY • Terror Squad ATHEIST • Piece of Time ATHEIST • Unquestionable Presence ATTACKER • Battle At Helms Deep ATTACKER • The Second Coming ATTACKER • Standing The Test of Time ATTACKER • Giants of Canaan ATTACKER • Sins of the World AVATARIUM • Avatarium AVATARIUM • The Girl With The Raven Mask AVATARIUM • Hurricanes and Halo’s BATHORY • Bathory BATHORY • The Return… BITCH • Damnation Alley BITCH • Be My Slave BLACK SABBATH • Mob Rules BLIND ILLUSION • The Sane Asylum BLOODLUST • Guilty As Sin BLESSED DEATH • KILL OR BE KILLED • Megaforce Records • MRI 1369 BLITZKREIG • A TIME OF CHANGES CACOPHONY • SPEED METAL SYMPHONY CAGE • Astrology CANDLEMASS • Nightfall CANDLEMASS • Ancient Dreams CANDLEMASS • Tales of Creation CATHERDRAL • Supernatural Birth Machine CARNIVORE • Carnivore CELTIC FROST • Morbid Tales CELTIC FROST • Emperor’s Return CELTIC FROST • To Mega Therion CHASTAIN • Mystery of Illusion CHASTAIN • Ruler of the Wasteland CHASTAIN • The 7th of Never CHASTAIN • The Voice of Cult CHASTAIN • For those Who Dare CHASTAIN • In A Out Rage CHASTAIN • Surrender to No One CHASTAIN • We Bleed Metal CHASTAIN • We Bleed Metal17 Children of Technology • Future Decay COVEN • Witchcraft Reaps Souls and Destroys Minds COVEN • Jinx COVEN13 • Worship New Gods COVEN13 • Destiny of the Gods CIRITH UNGOL • Frost and Fire CIRITH UNGOL • King of the Dead CRUCIFIED BARBARA • In Distortion We Trust CRUCIFIED BARBARA • ‘Til Death Do Us Party CRUCIFIED BARBARA • The Midnight Chase CRUCIFIED BARBARA • In the Red CRYPTIC SLAUGHTER • Convicted CULPPRIT • Guilty As Charged CYNIC • Focus DARK ANGEL • We Have Arrived DARK ANGEL • Darkness Descends DARK ANGEL • Leave Scars DEAF DEALER • Keeper of The Flame DEF DEALER • Journey Into Fear DARKNESS • The Gasoline Solution DEATH • Scream Bloody Gore DEATH • Leprosy DEATH • Spirtual Healing DEATH • Human DEATH • Individual Thought Patterns DEATH • Symbolic DEATH ANGEL • Act III DEATH STRIKE • Fuckin’ Death DEEP SWITCH • Nine Inches of God DEMONA • Metal Through The Time DEMONA • Speak With The Devil DESTRUCTION • Infernal Overkill DESTRUCTION • Under Attack DESTUCTOR • Maximum Destruction Détente • Recoginze No Authority Détente • Decline DREAM DEATH • Journey Into Fear DOCTOR BUTCHER • Doctor Butcher DORO • Fist In The Air EDGE OF PARADISE • Mask EDEGE OF PARADISE • Perfect Shade of Grey EDGE OF PARADISE • Immortal Waltz EDGE OF PARADISE • Alive EXCITER • Heavy Metal Maniac EXCITER • Violence & Force • Megaforce Records EXCITER • Exciter • Double Play Classic • Heavy Metal Maniac • Violence & Force • 1989 CD —Caroline/Megaforce Records EXHORDER • Slaughter In the Vatican EXODUS • A Lesson in Violence • October 30th, 1984 Advance Cassette EXODUS •Bonded By Blood EXODUS • Pleasure of the Flesh EXODUS • A Lesson In Violence (Live @ Studio 54 + March 1986 Paul Baloff Demos) EXODUS • Another Lesson In Violence LIVE EXODUS • Bonded By Baloff (A.L.I.V Remastered + Bonus Tracks) EXUMER • Possessed By Fire EXUMER • Rising By The Sea FATES WARNING • Night On Brocken FORBIDDEN • Forbidden Evil FORBIDDEN • Twisted Into Form The GATHERING • Mandylion The GATHERING • Nightime Birds GRAVE DIGGER • Heavy Metal Breakdown • Megaforce Records • MRI 869 GRAVE DIGGER • Witch Hunter • Megaforce Records • MRI 1169 GRIFFIN • Flight of The Griffin HAWAII • One Nation Underground HALLOWEEN • Don’t Metal With Evil • October 30th, 1984 Advance Cassette Original Artwork HALLOWEEN • Don’t Metal With Evil HALLOWEEN • No One Gets Out! HALLOWEEN • No One Gets Out! • Molten Metal Records Version features the “Vicious” Demo H-BOMB • Coup de metal H-BOMB • Attaque HELL • “Hell” 1982 CD Demos Come on 2011 CD album HELLION • Screams in the Night HELLION • The Black Book HELLION • Will Not Go Quietly HELLION • To Hellion And Back HEATHEN • Breaking The Silence HEATHEN • Victims of Deception HEATHEN • Recovered HIRAX • Raging Violence HIRAX • Not Dead Yet (Raging Violence) on CD HOLOCAUST • The Nightcomers ICE AGE * Breaking The Ice IMAGIKA • Imagika IMAGIKA • Worship IMAGIKA • And So It Burns Imagika • Devil on Both Sides Infernäl Mäjesty • None Shall Defy Infernäl Mäjesty • No God INSANITY • Death After Death IRON MAIDEN • Iron Maiden IRON MAIDEN • Killers IRON MAIDEN • The Number of the Beast JAGUAR • Power Games JAG PANZER • Ample Destruction JUDAS PREIST • Killing Machine JUDAS PRIEST • Hell Bent for Leather JUDAS PRIEST • Unleashed In the East JUDAS PRIEST • British Steel JUDAS PRIEST • Painkiller KING DIAMOND • Fatal Portrait KING DIAMOND • Abigail KING DIAMOND • Them KREATOR • Endless Pain KREATOR • Pleasure To Kill LADY BEAST • Lady Beast LADY BEAST • Lady Beast II LADY BEAST •Metal Immortal LADY BEAST • Vicious Breed LEATHER LEONE • Shock Wave LEATHER LEONE • II LIEGE LORD • Master Control LUCIFER • Lucifer I LUCIFER • Lucifer II MACABRE • Gloom MALEDICTION • Condamnés MALEDICTION • Esclave du vice MANOWAR • Battle Hymns MANOWAR • Into Glory Ride • Megaforce Records MANOWAR • Hail To England MASSACRE • From Beyond MASSACRE • Back From Beyond MASTER • Master MASTER • 1985 Unreleased Album MEDIEVAL • Medieval…aka 1983 Medieval Cassette Album MEDIEVAL • All Knobs to the Right MEDIEVAL • Reign of Terror MEDIEVAL • Medieval Kills MEGADETH • Rust In Peace The MENTORS • You Axed For It MERCYFUL FATE • 1982 EP MERCYFUL FATE • Melissa MERCYFUL FATE • Don’t Break The Oath MERCYFUL FATE • Curse of The Pharaohs MERCYFUL FATE Live From The Depths of Hell MERCYFUL FATE • The Beginning MERCYFUL FATE • Return of the Vampire MERCYFUL FATE • In The Shadows METAL CHURCH • Metal Church • Ground Zero Records with Bonus Track “Big Guns” METAL CHURCH • Metal Church 1986 • CD on Elektra Records (C)1984 (P) 1986 METALLICA • Kill em ‘ All • Megaforce Records • MRI 069 METALLICA • Ride The Lightning • Megaforce Records • MRI 769 METALLICA • Whiplash • Megaforce Records • MRS 04 METALLICA • Creeping Death/Jump In the Fire Cd METALLICA • Master of Puppets MORBID ANGEL • Abominations of Desolation MORBID ANGEL • Altars of Madness MORBID ANGEL • Blessed are the Sick MORBID ANGEL • Covenant MORBID ANGEL • Domination MORBID ANGEL • Entangled In Chaos Motörhead • Ace of Spades Motörhead • N Sleep ’til Hammersmith Motörhead • Iron Fist Motörhead • Another Perfect Day Motörhead • No Remorse Motörhead • Orgamsatron MindMaze • Mask of Lies MindMaze • Back From the Edge MindMaze • Resolve NASTY SAVAGE • Nasty Savage NASTY SAVGE • Indulgence NERVOSA • 2012 NERVOSA • Time of Death NERVOSA • Victim of Yourself NERVOSA • Agony NERVOSA • Downfall of Mankind NIGHTMARE • Astral Deliverance Nightwish • Once Nuclear Assault• Game Over OBITUARY • Slowly We Rot OBITUARY • Cause of Death OBLIVION • From This Day Forward —– Outline • Fire Whiplash OVERKILL • Feel The Fire • Megaforce Records • MRI 1469 OZ • Fire in The Brain OZ • III Warning OZZYOSBOURNE• Blizzard of Ozz OZZY OSBOURNE • Diary of a Madman OZZY OSBOURNE • Tribute PAGAN ALTAR • 1982 Demo Cassette PAGAN ALTAR • Pagan Altar Volume 1 PAGAN ALTAR • Judgment of the Dead PILE DRIVER • Metal Inquisition PENTAGRAM • Pentagram PENTAGRAM • Day of Reckoning PENTAGRAM • Relentless • Pentagram retitled PENTAGRAM • Day of Reckoning/Relentless • Double CD PENTAGRAM • Be Forewarned POSSESSED • Seven Churches RAVEN • All for One • Megaforce Records • MRI 269 RAVEN • Live at the Inferno • Megaforce Records • MRI 969 RAZOR • Executioners’ Song RAZOR • Evil Invaders REPULSION • Slaughter of the Innocent REPULSION • Horrified RIOT • Fire Down Under RIOT • Thundersteel RIOT • Privilege of Power The RODS • Wild Dogs RUSH • A Far Well To Kings RUSH • Permanent Waves RUSH • Exit…Stage Left RUSH • Signal RUSH • Grace Under Pressure RUSH • Power Windows RUSH • Hold Your Fire RUSH • A Show of Hands RUSH • Chronicles RUSH • Presto RUSH • Test For Echo RUSH • Differnet Stages — LIVE SABBAT • History of a Time to Come SATAN • Court in the Act SATAN • Suspended Sentence SATAN • Live in the Act SATAN • Life Sentence SATAN • Trial By Fire –Live In North America SATAN • Atom by Atom SAVAGE MASTER • Mask of the Devil SAVAGE MASTER • With Whips and Chains SAVATAGE • Sirens SIGN OF THE JACKAL • Mark of the Beast SIGN OF THE JACKAL • Breaking The Spell SCORPIONS • Taken By Force SACRIFICE • Torment In Fire SACRIFICE • Forward to Termination SACRIFICE • Soliders of Misfortune SACRIFICE • Apocalypse Inside SEPULTURA • Beneath The Remains SKULLVIEW • Kings of the Universe SINDROME • Sindrome 2 demos on 1 CD SINDROME • Resurrection…. SLAUGHTER • Strappado SLAUTER XSTROYES • Winterkill SLAUTER XSTROYES • Free the Beast SLAYER • Show No Mercy SLAYER • Haunting The Chapel SLAYER • Hell Awaits SLAYER • Live Undead SLAYER • Reign in Blood SODOM • In The Sign of Evil SODOM • Obsessed By Cruelty STORMTROOPERS OF DEATH • Speask English of Die • Megaforce Records SUCIDIAL TENDENCIES • Suicidal Tendencies SYRIS • Unseen Forces TANK • Filth Hounds of Hades TANK • Power of the Hunter TANK • This Means War TERRORIZER • World Downfall TESTAMENT • Legacy TROUBLE • Trouble • Later retitled Psalms 9 TROUBLE • The Skull TROUBLE • Run To The Light TYGERS OF PAN TANG • Wildcat TYGERS OF PAN TANG • Spell Bound TWISTED SISTER • Under the Blade UFO • The Wild, The Willing, The Innocent UNSEEN TERROR • Human Error VAINGLORY Vainglory VICIOUS RUMORS Soliders of the Night VICIOUS RUMORS Digital Dictator VENOM • Welcome to Hell VENOM • Black Metal VENOM • At War With Satan VIO-LENCE • Eternal Nightmare VOI VOD • War and Pain VOI VOD • Rrröööaaarrr WALK IN DARKNESS • In the Shadow of Things WALK IN DARKNESS • Welcome to the New World WARGASM • Why Play Around? WARFARE • Pure Filth WARFARE • Metal Anarchy WARFARE • Mayhem Fucking Mayhem WARLOCK • Triumph and Agony WARLORD • Deliever Us WARLORD • And the Cannons of Destruction Have Begun WARLORD • Thy Kindgom Come • 1st EP and LP on CD WARHEAD • Speedway WARHEAD • The Day After WATCHTOWER • Energetic Disassembly WATCHTOWER • Control and Resistance WILDESTARR • Arrival WILDESTARR • A Tell Tale Heart WILDESTARR • Beyond The Rain Witchcross • Witchcross WITCHCROSS • Innocent & Evil WITCHCROSS • Crypt of The Undead WITCHCROSS • Cauldron In Satan’s Shadow WITCH CROSS • Fit for Fight WITCH CROSS • Axe to Grind WITCHFINDER GENERAL • Death Penalty WITCHFINDER GENERAL • Friends of Hell WICHKILLER • Day of the Saxons ZOSER MEZ • Vizier of Wasteland
Lucifer * “Lucifer II” — Century Media –UNLEASHED ON PLANET METAL ON June 6th, 2018
(International —- Berlin, Germany / London, England)
Featuring World-Class Vocalists Johanna Sadonis
Hard Rock Legends and Hard Rock Gods
KICK ASS METAL RATING
100 OUT OF 100 BLOOD DRIPPING SKULLLS
FULL SCORE — PERFECT HEAVY MAGIC ROCK
FUCKING ESSENTIAL ALBUM
KICK ASS METAL HALL OF FAME ALBUM
KICK ASS METAL HEAVY METAL HALL OF FAME ALBUM
TOP 100 ALBUMS OF ALL-TIME — TOP 25 ALBUMS OF ALL-TIME — TOP 10 ALBUMS OF ALL-TIME — TOP 5 ALBUMS OF ALL-TIME
2ND MOST IMPORTANT ARTIST IN HEAVY HARD ROCK HISTORY
ALBUM OF THE YEAR — IN THERE CATEGORY — HEAVY HARD ROCK
THE SONGS YOU LOVE AND KNOW BY HEART AND FOREVER BURNED ON TO YOUR DNA ARE
California Son
Dreamer 3:26
Phoenix
Dancing With Mr. D
Reaper On Your Heels
Eyes In The Sky
Before The Sun
Aton
Faux Pharaoh
Lucifer cites the following influences/ inspiratations
BLACK SABBATH, DEEP PURPLE, BLUE ÖYSTER CULT, LUCIFER’S FRIEND, STEPPENWOLF, 70’s HEART and FLEETWOOD MAC
LUCIFER BIO 2018 – Dom Lawson
Never underestimate heavy music’s transformative power. The might of the riff, the melody and the insistent groove creates a curious magic that only the truly inspired can harness. And that’s where Lucifer come in. The brainchild of vocal powerhouse Johanna Sadonis (ex-The Oath), these woozily psychedelic rock’n’roll renegades are poised to return with a brand new album, a brand new sound and a revitalised spirit that promises to propel them all the way to the top.
Formed in Berlin in 2014 in the wake of an abrupt split with her former band, Johanna created Lucifer with the aim of channelling her love of the dark and bewitching heavy rock of the late ‘60s and ‘70s. Inspired by everyone from Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Blue Öyster Cult to Steppenwolf, (70’s) Heart and Fleetwood Mac, she teamed up with legendary former Cathedral guitarist Gaz Jennings to conjure a sound that owed plenty to her collaborator’s doom metal roots while also tapping into the untamed rambunctiousness of the post-Sabbath set. The result was an eponymous debut album that received widespread praise and media attention: the first fruits, you might say, of a rapidly expanding vision.
Fast forward to the end of 2016 and Sadonis found herself at an unexpected crossroads, following the amicable departure of Gaz Jennings. Determined to see her creative plans through to their logical, euphoric conclusion, the singer kept moving forward and eventually, by a stroke of fate, stumbled upon her perfect songwriting partner for the second chapter of the Lucifer saga. A casual conversation with friend (and rock/metal luminary) Nicke Andersson led to a box-fresh meeting of mercurial minds.
“We were talking and I was interested in how she and Gaz wrote songs together, because I always write by myself,” Nicke explains. “I’m interested in how people collaborate and I thought it was really intriguing. When Gaz left, I thought, ‘Hmm, maybe this is something Johanna and me can do together.’ We started talking more about specific directions and all these ideas started pouring out of us.”
With his varied musical background that includes everything from brutal death metal (Entombed) to wildly poppy rock’n’roll (The Hellacopters, Imperial State Electric), Nicke’s pedigree is beyond dispute. What was not certain was how this new songwriting partnership would work – or if it would work at all. But after working on just one song together, it was clear that this collaboration was perfect for Lucifer and that this would be the start of something truly special; something that transcended lazy subgenre categorisation and instead flew the flag for classic, dark-hued and heavy rock’n’roll.
“Everything was perfect.” laughs Johanna. “There was more room this time to write catchier vocal melodies for me over these new foundations. The original idea for Lucifer was to be way more in the vein of what we’re doing now. It was definitely something new for Nicke to tune down to C sharp when playing rock’n’roll!” “And I fucking love it!” laughs Nicke.
Although still recognizable as the band that released Lucifer I in 2015, Lucifer II is a very different beast from its predecessor. A celebratory riot of none-more-classic riffing, soaring vocal soul and countless ingenious psychedelic embellishments, it amounts to a black-hearted paean to the chaotic disintegration of the hippie dream; full of goosebump-inducing dynamics, anthemic choruses and moments of freewheeling acid rock abandon. Veering from instant sing-alongs like turbo-rumbling opener California Sun to the moodier, bluesier strains of Reaper On Your Heels and the prog-tinged grandeur and lysergic flair of closing brace Faux Pharaoh, it’s the sound of a band that have reached a sublime point of compositional equilibrium.
Recorded in the summer of 2017 at Nicke’s studio The Honk Palace, in Stockholm, Lucifer II was very much a labour of love that enabled Johanna and her new musical partner to develop a strong creative bond. With no time to recruit new band members, Nicke performed the drums, bass and half of the guitar parts himself, with lead guitarist Robin Tidebrink eventually adding his distinctive six-string flair to the tracks.
The album was mixed by Swedish producer Ola Ersfjord (Tribulation, Primordial, Dead Lord etc.) at Cuervo Recording Services in Madrid. Once it was finished, the next task was to recruit the right men to perform these explosive new songs live.
“The three of us recorded the album but now we completed the line-up with Martin Nordin, from the Swedish band Dead Lord, on second lead guitar and Austrian wild beast Alex Mayr on bass.”
Music’s transformative power has led to many great sonic wonders over the decades: Lucifer II is one such marvel, the sound of a great rock’n’roll band mutating and expanding into something unique and extraordinary. Now signed to Century Media Records, Lucifer are a band transformed: the undying spirit of the ‘70s hard rock era has found its most passionate and gifted new proponents and they’re only just getting started.
Don’t miss them this summer at France’s premier Hellfest, Psycho Las Vegas and more festivals!
The Second Coming starts now!
Videos for Lucifer II album
May 4th, 2017
Calfornia Son
June 22nd, 2018
Dreamer
TOP
100
TRADITIONAL
HEAVY
METAL
ALBUMS
OF
ALL-TIME
ABATTOIR • Vicious Attack ABNORMALITY • Contaminating the Hive Mind ABNORMALITY • Mechanisms of Omniscience ACCEPT • Restless and Wild ACID • Acid ACID • Maniac ACID • Live in Belgium AGENT STEEL • Skeptics Apocalypse AGENT STEEL • Mad Locust Rising ANACRUSIS • Screams and Whispers ANNIHILATOR • Alice In Hell ANTHRAX • Fistful of Metal • Megaforce Records • MRI 069 ANTHRAX • Armed And Dangerous • Megforce Records • MRS 05 ANTRHAX • Spreading The Disease ANVIL • Metal on Metal ANVIL • Forged in Fire ANVIL • Live in Concert ANVIL CHORUS • Thought Crimes ANVIL CHORUS • The Killing Sun ARTILLERY • Fear of Tomorrow ARTILLERY • Terror Squad ATHEIST • Piece of Time ATHEIST • Unquestionable Presence ATTACKER • Battle At Helms Deep ATTACKER • The Second Coming ATTACKER • Standing The Test of Time ATTACKER • Giants of Canaan ATTACKER • Sins of the World AVATARIUM • Avatarium AVATARIUM • The Girl With The Raven Mask AVATARIUM • Hurricanes and Halo’s BATHORY • Bathory BATHORY • The Return… BITCH • Damnation Alley BITCH • Be My Slave BLACK SABBATH • Mob Rules BLIND ILLUSION • The Sane Asylum BLOODLUST • Guilty As Sin BLESSED DEATH • KILL OR BE KILLED • Megaforce Records • MRI 1369 BLITZKREIG • A TIME OF CHANGES CACOPHONY • SPEED METAL SYMPHONY CAGE • Astrology CANDLEMASS • Nightfall CANDLEMASS • Ancient Dreams CANDLEMASS • Tales of Creation CATHERDRAL • Supernatural Birth Machine CARNIVORE • Carnivore CELTIC FROST • Morbid Tales CELTIC FROST • Emperor’s Return CELTIC FROST • To Mega Therion CHASTAIN • Mystery of Illusion CHASTAIN • Ruler of the Wasteland CHASTAIN • The 7th of Never CHASTAIN • The Voice of Cult CHASTAIN • For those Who Dare CHASTAIN • In A Out Rage CHASTAIN • Surrender to No One CHASTAIN • We Bleed Metal CHASTAIN • We Bleed Metal17 Children of Technology • Future Decay COVEN • Witchcraft Reaps Souls and Destroys Minds COVEN • Jinx COVEN13 • Worship New Gods COVEN13 • Destiny of the Gods CIRITH UNGOL • Frost and Fire CIRITH UNGOL • King of the Dead CRUCIFIED BARBARA • In Distortion We Trust CRUCIFIED BARBARA • ‘Til Death Do Us Party CRUCIFIED BARBARA • The Midnight Chase CRUCIFIED BARBARA • In the Red CRYPTIC SLAUGHTER • Convicted CULPPRIT • Guilty As Charged CYNIC • Focus DARK ANGEL • We Have Arrived DARK ANGEL • Darkness Descends DARK ANGEL • Leave Scars DEAF DEALER • Keeper of The Flame DEF DEALER • Journey Into Fear DARKNESS • The Gasoline Solution DEATH • Scream Bloody Gore DEATH • Leprosy DEATH • Spirtual Healing DEATH • Human DEATH • Individual Thought Patterns DEATH • Symbolic DEATH ANGEL • Act III DEATH STRIKE • Fuckin’ Death DEEP SWITCH • Nine Inches of God DEMONA • Metal Through The Time DEMONA • Speak With The Devil DESTRUCTION • Infernal Overkill DESTRUCTION • Under Attack DESTUCTOR • Maximum Destruction DREAM DEATH • Journey Into Fear DOCTOR BUTCHER • Doctor Butcher DORO • Fist In The Air EDGE OF PARADISE • Mask EDEGE OF PARADISE • Perfect Shade of Grey EDGE OF PARADISE • Immortal Waltz EDGE OF PARADISE • Alive EXCITER • Heavy Metal Maniac EXCITER • Violence & Force • Megaforce Records EXCITER • Exciter • Double Play Classic • Heavy Metal Maniac • Violence & Force • 1989 CD —Caroline/Megaforce Records EXHORDER • Slaughter In the Vatican EXODUS • A Lesson in Violence • October 30th, 1984 Advance Cassette EXODUS •Bonded By Blood EXODUS • Pleasure of the Flesh EXODUS • A Lesson In Violence (Live @ Studio 54 + March 1986 Paul Baloff Demos) EXODUS • Another Lesson In Violence LIVE EXODUS • Bonded By Baloff (A.L.I.V Remastered + Bonus Tracks) EXUMER • Possessed By Fire EXUMER • Rising By The Sea FATES WARNING • Night On Brocken FORBIDDEN • Forbidden Evil FORBIDDEN • Twisted Into Form The GATHERING • Mandylion The GATHERING • Nightime Birds GRAVE DIGGER • Heavy Metal Breakdown • Megaforce Records • MRI 869 GRAVE DIGGER • Witch Hunter • Megaforce Records • MRI 1169 GRIFFIN • Flight of The Griffin HAWAII • One Nation Underground HALLOWEEN • Don’t Metal With Evil • October 30th, 1984 Advance Cassette Original Artwork HALLOWEEN • Don’t Metal With Evil HALLOWEEN • No One Gets Out! HALLOWEEN • No One Gets Out! • Molten Metal Records Version features the “Vicious” Demo H-BOMB • Coup de metal H-BOMB • Attaque HELL • “Hell” 1982 CD Demos Come on 2011 CD album HELLION • Screams in the Night HELLION • The Black Book HELLION • Will Not Go Quietly HELLION • To Hellion And Back HEATHEN • Breaking The Silence HEATHEN • Victims of Deception HEATHEN • Recovered HIRAX • Raging Violence HIRAX • Not Dead Yet (Raging Violence) on CD HOLOCAUST • The Nightcomers ICE AGE * Breaking The Ice IMAGIKA • Imagika IMAGIKA • Worship IMAGIKA • And So It Burns Imagika • Devil on Both Sides Infernäl Mäjesty • None Shall Defy Infernäl Mäjesty • No God INSANITY • Death After Death IRON MAIDEN • Iron Maiden IRON MAIDEN • Killers IRON MAIDEN • The Number of the Beast JAGUAR • Power Games JAG PANZER • Ample Destruction JUDAS PREIST • Killing Machine JUDAS PRIEST • Hell Bent for Leather JUDAS PRIEST • Unleashed In the East JUDAS PRIEST • British Steel JUDAS PRIEST • Painkiller KING DIAMOND • Fatal Portrait KING DIAMOND • Abigail KING DIAMOND • Them KREATOR • Endless Pain KREATOR • Pleasure To Kill LADY BEAST • Lady Beast LADY BEAST • Lady Beast II LADY BEAST •Metal Immortal LADY BEAST • Vicious Breed LEATHER LEONE • Shock Wave LEATHER LEONE • II LIEGE LORD • Master Control LUCIFER • Lucifer I LUCIFER • Lucifer II MACABRE • Gloom MALEDICTION • Condamnés MALEDICTION • Esclave du vice MANOWAR • Battle Hymns MANOWAR • Into Glory Ride • Megaforce Records MANOWAR • Hail To England MASSACRE • From Beyond MASSACRE • Back From Beyond MASTER • Master MASTER • 1985 Unreleased Album MEDIEVAL • Medieval…aka 1983 Medieval Cassette Album MEDIEVAL • All Knobs to the Right MEDIEVAL • Reign of Terror MEDIEVAL • Medieval Kills MEGADETH • Rust In Peace The MENTORS • You Axed For It MERCYFUL FATE • 1982 EP MERCYFUL FATE • Melissa MERCYFUL FATE • Don’t Break The Oath MERCYFUL FATE • Curse of The Pharaohs MERCYFUL FATE Live From The Depths of Hell MERCYFUL FATE • The Beginning MERCYFUL FATE • Return of the Vampire MERCYFUL FATE • In The Shadows METAL CHURCH • Metal Church • Ground Zero Records with Bonus Track “Big Guns” METAL CHURCH • Metal Church 1986 • CD on Elektra Records (C)1984 (P) 1986 METALLICA • Kill em ‘ All • Megaforce Records • MRI 069 METALLICA • Ride The Lightning • Megaforce Records • MRI 769 METALLICA • Whiplash • Megaforce Records • MRS 04 METALLICA • Creeping Death/Jump In the Fire Cd METALLICA • Master of Puppets MORBID ANGEL • Abominations of Desolation MORBID ANGEL • Altars of Madness MORBID ANGEL • Blessed are the Sick MORBID ANGEL • Covenant MORBID ANGEL • Domination MORBID ANGEL • Entangled In Chaos Motörhead • Ace of Spades Motörhead • N Sleep ’til Hammersmith Motörhead • Iron Fist Motörhead • Another Perfect Day Motörhead • No Remorse Motörhead • Orgamsatron MindMaze • Mask of Lies MindMaze • Back From the Edge MindMaze • Resolve NASTY SAVAGE • Nasty Savage NASTY SAVGE • Indulgence NERVOSA • 2012 NERVOSA • Time of Death NERVOSA • Victim of Yourself NERVOSA • Agony NERVOSA • Downfall of Mankind NIGHTMARE • Astral Deliverance Nightwish • Once
The Oath “The Oath
OBITUARY • Slowly We Rot OBITUARY • Cause of Death OBLIVION • From This Day Forward OVERKILL • Feel The Fire • Megaforce Records • MRI 1469 OZ • Fire in The Brain OZ • III Warning OZZYOSBOURNE• Blizzard of Ozz OZZY OSBOURNE • Diary of a Madman OZZY OSBOURNE • Tribute PAGAN ALTAR • 1982 Demo Cassette PAGAN ALTAR • Pagan Altar Volume 1 PAGAN ALTAR • Judgment of the Dead PILE DRIVER • Metal Inquisition PENTAGRAM • Pentagram PENTAGRAM • Day of Reckoning PENTAGRAM • Relentless • Pentagram retitled PENTAGRAM • Day of Reckoning/Relentless • Double CD PENTAGRAM • Be Forewarned POSSESSED • Seven Churches RAVEN • All for One • Megaforce Records • MRI 269 RAVEN • Live at the Inferno • Megaforce Records • MRI 969 RAZOR • Executioners’ Song RAZOR • Evil Invaders REPULSION • Slaughter of the Innocent REPULSION • Horrified RIOT • Fire Down Under RIOT • Thundersteel RIOT • Privilege of Power The RODS • Wild Dogs RUSH • A Far Well To Kings RUSH • Permanent Waves RUSH • Exit…Stage Left RUSH • Signal RUSH • Grace Under Pressure RUSH • Power Windows RUSH • Hold Your Fire RUSH • A Show of Hands RUSH • Chronicles RUSH • Presto RUSH • Test For Echo RUSH • Differnet Stages — LIVE SABBAT • History of a Time to Come SATAN • Court in the Act SATAN • Suspended Sentence SATAN • Live in the Act SATAN • Life Sentence SATAN • Trial By Fire –Live In North America SATAN • Atom by Atom SAVAGE MASTER • Mask of the Devil SAVAGE MASTER • With Whips and Chains SAVATAGE • Sirens SIGN OF THE JACKAL • Mark of the Beast SIGN OF THE JACKAL • Breaking The Spell SCORPIONS • Taken By Force SACRIFICE • Torment In Fire SACRIFICE • Forward to Termination SACRIFICE • Soliders of Misfortune SACRIFICE • Apocalypse Inside SEPULTURA • Beneath The Remains SKULLVIEW • Kings of the Universe SINDROME • Sindrome 2 demos on 1 CD SINDROME • Resurrection…. SLAUGHTER • Strappado SLAUTER XSTROYES • Winterkill SLAUTER XSTROYES • Free the Beast SLAYER • Show No Mercy SLAYER • Haunting The Chapel SLAYER • Hell Awaits SLAYER • Live Undead SLAYER • Reign in Blood SODOM • In The Sign of Evil SODOM • Obsessed By Cruelty STORMTROOPERS OF DEATH • Speask English of Die • Megaforce Records SUCIDIAL TENDENCIES • Suicidal Tendencies SYRIS • Unseen Forces TANK • Filth Hounds of Hades TANK • Power of the Hunter TANK • This Means War TERRORIZER • World Downfall TESTAMENT • Legacy TROUBLE • Trouble • Later retitled Psalms 9 TROUBLE • The Skull TROUBLE • Run To The Light TYGERS OF PAN TANG • Wildcat TYGERS OF PAN TANG • Spell Bound TWISTED SISTER • Under the Blade UFO • The Wild, The Willing, The Innocent UNSEEN TERROR • Human Error VAINGLORY Vainglory VICIOUS RUMORS Soliders of the Night VICIOUS RUMORS Digital Dictator VENOM • Welcome to Hell VENOM • Black Metal VENOM • At War With Satan VIO-LENCE • Eternal Nightmare VOI VOD • War and Pain VOI VOD • Rrröööaaarrr WALK IN DARKNESS • In the Shadow of Things WALK IN DARKNESS • Welcome to the New World WARGASM • Why Play Around? WARFARE • Pure Filth WARFARE • Metal Anarchy WARFARE • Mayhem Fucking Mayhem WARLOCK • Triumph and Agony WARLORD • Deliever Us WARLORD • And the Cannons of Destruction Have Begun WARLORD • Thy Kindgom Come • 1st EP and LP on CD WARHEAD • Speedway WARHEAD • The Day After WATCHTOWER • Energetic Disassembly WATCHTOWER • Control and Resistance WILDESTARR • Arrival WILDESTARR • A Tell Tale Heart WILDESTARR • Beyond The Rain Witchcross • Witchcross WITCHCROSS • Innocent & Evil WITCHCROSS • Crypt of The Undead WITCHCROSS • Cauldron In Satan’s Shadow WITCH CROSS • Fit for Fight WITCH CROSS • Axe to Grind WITCHFINDER GENERAL • Death Penalty WITCHFINDER GENERAL • Friends of Hell WICHKILLER • Day of the Saxons ZOSER MEZ • Vizier of Wasteland
TOP
100
OCCULT
METAL
&
OCCULT ROCK
ALBUMS
OF
ALL-TIME
Avatarium “Avatarium”
Avatarium “The Girl With The Raven Mask”
Avatarium “Hurricanes & Halos”
Bathsheba “Servus”
Black Sabbath “Black Sabbath”
Black Sabbath “Paranoid”
Black Sabbath “Master of Reality”
Black Sabbath “Volume 4”
Black Sabbath “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath”
Black Sabbath “Sabatoge”
Blood Ceremony “Blood Ceremony”
Blood Ceremony “Living With The Ancients”
Blood Ceremony “The Eldritch Dark”
Blood Ceremony “Lord of Misrule”
Coven “Witchcraft “Witchcraft Destroys Minds and Reaps Souls”
Coven “Coven”
Coven “Blood On The Snow”
Coven “Metal Goth Queen Out of the Vault”
Coven “Jinx”
Deathless Legacy “Dance With The Devils”
Deathless Legacy “Rituals of Black Mass”
Death Penalty “Death Penalty’
The Devil’s Blood “Th Thousandfold Epicenter”
Electric Wizard “Black Masses”
Electric Wizard “Time To Die”
Electric Wizard “Wizard Bloody Wizard”
Ghost “Opus Eponymous”
Ghost “Infestissumam”
Ghosts “Meliora’
Huntress “Spell Eater”
Huntress “Starbound Beast”
Huntress “Static”
Jess and the Ancient Ones “Jess and the Ancient Ones”
Jess and the Ancient Ones “Second Psychedelic…The Aqaruius Tapes
Jess and the Ancient Ones “The Horse and Other Weird Tales’
Johanna Sadonis — REVOLVER INTERVIEW — JUNE 27TH, 2018
Johanna Sadonis was an introverted outcast in high school. She savored the brooding atmosphere of graveyards. “When I was 15, I started listening to black metal, death metal and doom — sitting around with my Walkman in the cemeteries of Berlin,” she says. “Black hair, dressed in black from head to toe. I just thought it was all really exciting.”
She’s been exploring the intersection between music and darkness ever since. The powerhouse frontwoman first broke out in 2012 as one-half of eclectic doom-rock duo the Oath, formed with Swedish guitarist Linnéa Olsson. But their partnership fractured after one buzzworthy, self-titled 2014 LP — leaving Sadonis to rebuild her career. The result is Lucifer, a love letter to her 1970s hard-rock and proto-metal heroes, including Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Blue Öyster Cult, and a continuation of the left-hand path she started down as a child.
That Sadonis embraced the dark side at all is somewhat shocking, considering that she was baptized at an early age and raised in a family filled with Christian pastors — her grandfather was even a high-ranking member of the Berlin Protestant church. “He actually got Martin Luther King Jr. to East Berlin and spent time with him,” she says. “I think he would roll over in his grave if he knew I had a band called Lucifer, although he would have probably just shrugged and laughed it off. He was a highly intellectual person who spoke Latin, Greek, French, German, English and Hebrew.”
Sadonis’ brother, her elder by 11 years, offered an early escape route from Christianity in the form of philosophy and classic literature. “It was classic German and Greek philosophers, and he handed it over to me, like, ‘Read this,'” she recalls. “I was very into my own head as a kid. I found it very thrilling, as real as anything. I wouldn’t say that I’m a true believer of anything, but I’m very interested in spirituality. [Religions] are all tools to understand life, and I take it more as a metaphor to guide your way.”
Sadonis was stimulated by this extracurricular kind of deep-thinking, but she found her formal education to be an anxiety-ridden experience. Her family, from East Berlin, applied and moved to the West in 1985 while the wall was still standing; as the strange new “weirdo” in class, she had trouble integrating into any social function. “I came from this weird GDR [German Democratic Republic] behind-the-curtain thing that all the other kids thought was strange,” she recalls. “I’ve always been some sort of outsider. I was very quiet and shy, and I hated sports and was very pale and frail. When I became a teenager, I started to listen to rock and metal, and that became my thing, where I found a home.”
Sadonis’ devotion to all things heavy first began in 1992, when she was 13, and was galvanized by three key events: “My first show was Guns N’ Roses, followed by Metallica, followed by Danzig,” she says. In particular, witnessing Danzig’s eerie, gothic imagery had a lasting effect on the young musician. “They were the first band [I saw] with inverted crosses and so on,” she says. “That drew me into the dark side of things.”
Occult imagery resonated with Sadonis on a profound level — it’s part of the same thirst for outsider knowledge and self-discovery that propelled her into the realm of music. Though she’d already rejected the Bible as a source of literal truth, she was always searching for buried truths in everyday life — even numbers. She was particularly struck by Danzig’s 1990 song “777,” which features the lyric “Seven is my name.”
“It’s so weird — my name is Johanna Claudia Sadonis, and each is seven letters,” she says. “My birthday is on the 21st, and that’s three times seven. Something happened that I can’t speak about on the 7th of July in 1997. There are all these weird coincidences with that number. And since I grew up a Danzig fan, I was like, ‘777 is my name.'”
photograph by Burning Moon
As an adult, she lived up to that name as if it were a family crest, channeling her rawest emotions into bluesy, cathartic hard rock. With the Oath — which touched on doom, sludge and even punk — she was fearless in mining past tragedies for musical inspiration: “Psalm 7” draws on the Danzig numerology, and the ballad “Leaving Together” was inspired by the accidental death of a close friend in 2003. “He was trying out a psychedelic for the first time in his life, and he unfortunately had a bad trip and jumped out of his window,” she recalls. “It was a long time ago. I’m sure now he himself would say, ‘What an idiot I was.'”
Sadonis is even prouder of her recent work with Lucifer, particularly the “catchier” melodic content of her latest LP, Lucifer II, which she recorded with a revamped lineup, including guitarist Robin Tidebrink and multi-instrumentalist Nicke Andersson, the latter of Entombed and Hellacopters fame.
“I hate the word ‘stoner,’ but a lot of these bands pick up on the heavy Sabbath riffs but often forget all the very melodic, bluesy things that Black Sabbath did a lot of,” she notes. “A good song should not only be defined by a certain sound — it shouldn’t matter what instrument you play it on. I think the first Lucifer album is for a more particular crowd: doom and underground metal people. But I hope the new album opens doors to more people. That was my initial idea.”
With Lucifer, Sadonis feels rejuvenated, baptized in the name of distortion. It’s a critical chapter of a creative and philosophical quest that stretches back into her childhood. In a way, it’s a continuation of her search for life’s true essence.
“It’s kind of dire and sad to think there’s nothing more,” she says. “I’m a very deeply emotional person. I’ve lost some people over the course of my life and thought, ‘Is there really nothing more?’ I go visit my old best friend at his grave site and think that maybe he’ll know I’m there, 20 years after his death. I’d like to think there’s more happening than getting eaten by maggots when you die. I’d like to hope there’s more. I don’t know what to believe, but I’m still interested in learning.”
Lucifer Destroys Minds and Reaps Souls — May 14th, 2015
Johanna Sadonis is looking out her Berlin window at the church across the street, but she’s thinking about Satan. Or Lucifer, to be more precise: the fallen angel who called Jesus’ deadbeat dad out on some bullshit and was thus cast unceremoniously from heaven. She’s named her new band after this storied cloven-hooved miscreant, and it’s a fitting moniker for the music they make: Powerful, enigmatic, and oozing a vaguely biblical menace. Like the mere thought of Lucifer himself, the band conjures dark shapes from the ether. Ancient temptations are proffered in exotic landscapes. Unholy pacts are consummated in what we can only assume is blood. Blackness descends—and Satan, laughing, spreads his wings. Anchored by the unstoppable riffery of ex-Cathedral (and current Death Penalty) guitarist Gaz Jennings, the deft battery of Angel Witch drummer Andrew Prestridge and the four-string reckoning of former Ladytron (!) touring bassist Dino Gollnick, Lucifer’s debut full-length, Lucifer I, is exalted skyward by Sadonis’ glamorously witchy wail.
That church, though? It pierces the Berlin firmament impressively. But it shall remain nameless, just in case you’re one of those sweaty creeps who might have developed an unhealthy fixation on Miss Sadonis because of her last band, the Oath. Which could’ve easily happened, given that the Oath’s one-and-done debut was the best metal record that came out last year. Sadly, the band dissolved before doom powerhouse Rise Above released the album. “When the Oath broke up, I took a few days and then I started forming Lucifer in my head,” Sadonis explains. “I had all this energy, all this fire under my ass, all these things I wanted to do with the Oath. But I wasn’t going to hang my head in shame. I decided to take that energy and do something new.”
Noisey: You lived briefly in Los Angeles, which is where I’m calling you from. What was that experience like for you as a German?
Johanna Sadonis: I loved it. I think everyone should at least once in their life go away from where they’re from because it does expand your horizon. Living on the other side of the globe, you kind of get to reinvent your life and start a new life. You feel free from everything that was before. And California is the complete opposite of the mentality in Germany. People are maybe a bit more reserved here and so on, so you have to adapt to a new kind of social language in California. It has up and down sides. I found that it can be at times superficial, but it can also be liberating. I love California. I consider it somewhat my second home, even though I was there for only three years. I miss the ocean dearly. But I missed the four seasons and rain and snow of Europe, so that was one of the main reasons I came back to Berlin.
Did you play any music when you were out here?
I did. I had a friend out there, Rayshele Teige, who worked for Osmose Productions and also founded Century Black, which was a subdivision of Century Media. I’ve known her since the ’90s, from the black metal scene. We met at a festival in Europe, and we stayed friends so I would always go to visit her in L.A. Once I moved there, we both had different musical phases so we wanted to try something else out. We had this band called Informer, which was more of a dark electronic pop band, like Ladytron maybe. We did one album there, actually, and I released it in Berlin when I moved back here in 2008 but nothing ever came of it. It’s not that great. I’m not too proud of it. It was a phase—when you do one thing your whole life you kind of try out others along the way.
Isn’t someone from Ladytron in Lucifer?
Funnily enough, the bass player I have for Lucifer now, Dino Gollnick, used to be a live bass player for Ladytron for many years.
Before you started the Oath, you were singing in death metal and black metal bands.
I started singing in bands very young, like 14 or 15. The first recordings I did, demo cassettes, were death and black metal bands here in Berlin. I was an outcast because I was a girl, so you have to fight your way through it. [Laughs] As a girl among teenage boys, it was a good lesson for life. You can come across some not so easy paths, but you have to just take it with a grain of salt and humor, I guess. But my parents raised me on ’70s rock n’ roll and my brother was a punk, so my natural rebellion was to seek out the harder stuff. When you’re a teenager, you think your parents’ music is boring. Now I listen to their records.
When did you first figure out that you could sing?
The first band I was in, I actually played guitar. But I guess I was too occupied running to shows instead of actually sitting down and practicing so I took the easy way out and became a singer. [Laughs] And also you know the style changed very much over the years because I started out in those death and black metal bands. It was very chic in the ’90s to have a male singer screaming and growling while you had a female doing more high-pitched soprano vocals. So I was kind of a side order, you could say. But that changed over the years because I wanted to go into a more heavy metal/hard rock approach.
Did you ever taking singing lessons?
None at all, no. It’s all self-taught. I’m somebody that listens to music all day long, from the moment I get up. I sing along to anything—when I am alone, of course.
What are some of the first records you remember singing along to as a kid?
My brother made me mix tapes in the ’80s with like the Cure and the Sex Pistols and Public Enemy and whatever else was fashionable then. But when I was in first grade, my mom gave me early rock n’ roll stuff like Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis and the Shangri-Las. I really loved the Shangri-Las, actually. And then when I was 11 or 12 I started with the Doors. Then came Metallica and Guns’ Roses when I was 13, and those were the first shows that I went to. And then pretty fast came the black metal stuff.
You went from black metal to the Oath. What brought on the change in musical direction?
Well, there were many years in between. You get older and you kind of open your eyes more. I started to dig more into the past. I feel like the older I get, the deeper I go back into musical history. So I think I was returning to the roots of where heavy metal actually came from, and that’s the stuff I listen to now. What happened with the Oath was that my best friend, Vincent Wager—he was the first drummer in the Oath—and I were running club nights in Berlin together. We would talk shit together over drinks about rock and heavy metal. He’s originally from New York, and he had a similar path to me playing in death and black metal bands in Brooklyn. So we were speaking about stuff we were into, and we said, “Why don’t we start our own band?” That was how the Oath came about.
The Oath album was my favorite record that came out last year, but the band broke up before it was even released. That must’ve been hugely disappointing for you.
Yeah, it was devastating.
Were you surprised that the band ended so quickly, or was it obvious at some point that it wouldn’t last?
Let’s say it wasn’t a surprise when it ended. But still I was holding on til the end. I was trying to not have it end that way. But unfortunately I wasn’t the only one to make that decision. I don’t want to go into too much detail about the breakup, but I did not want it to end at the time. But it was also no surprise.
Andy Prestridge from Angel Witch was playing drums in the Oath, and now he’s playing in Lucifer. Was he the first piece of the puzzle when you started the new band?
Yeah, because Andy was disappointed as well. We all wanted the Oath to go do things. And Dino, Lucifer’s bass player, was actually in talks to play with the Oath when the band split up. So they both agreed to do something new with me. Then came the search for the guitar player.
I’m guessing Lee Dorrian from Cathedral and Rise Above hooked you up with Gaz.
Yeah. I met Gaz only one time in person before—when we played the Rise Above anniversary with the Oath in 2012. We had a really nice chat there, but it was Lee who said, “Gaz is shaking crazy riffs out of his sleeve all day long because he plays so much. Why don’t you ask him?” That was really amazing because I loved Cathedral and I think he’s one of the best guitar players of the genre.
How did you decide on the band name? It’s very direct and powerful, but it’s also been used before. And there are a few active bands using the name as well. Did that factor into your decision?
I had the name very fast after first deciding to form a new band. I was carrying it around in my head and heart and thought, “You can’t do that. It’s too blunt. People will be upset about it and talk shit about it.” When Lee asked me what I had in mind for the name, I felt embarrassed telling him. But then I told him and he said, “It’s a great name.” I think so, too, but then I thought there must be a million Lucifers. When I looked I saw that yes, there were some bands in the past, and some smaller ones existing now, but nothing on my radar. Maybe that’s an arrogant thing to say, but so many words are taken by so many bands, you know? And for me, the figure of Lucifer is so beautiful and powerful and the name is so catchy that I had to take it. So I did.
Would you say you have a spiritual relationship with the biblical Lucifer?
I’d say I’m a very spiritual person, and the lyrics in Lucifer are very spiritual. But also the image of Lucifer has been part of rock n’ roll and hard rock and metal for a long time. There are a lot of bands, like Blue Öyster Cult, that aren’t super-spiritual, that play with these kinds of figures. Since the concept for Lucifer is very much ’70s heavy rock, I just thought it was a great thing to use even if you are not through-and-through into the occult. Although I can tell you that when I was 16, I worked after school in an occult bookstore in Berlin. But the Lucifer logo, for example, is very much from Rush. So I use the name Lucifer in a playful manner. Just like the first song on the album, “Abracadabra,” is kind of a playful approach to magic. So it’s not in a way like a band like Watain is practicing—they take it very serious. I do too, but I think hard rock uses these things metaphorically. Like “demons” can be your own demons.
So you’re not a Satanist.
No, I’m not a Satanist. I believe in the duality of things and I think Satanism is very one-sided.
What are you getting out of Lucifer that you didn’t get out of the Oath?
A lot of things. The influences are similar, but the approach is a different one. The similarity is that with both Lucifer and the Oath, everyone involved would say that Black Sabbath is our favorite band. But the Oath was more of a New Wave Of British Heavy Metal thing—or we were leaning towards that, which Lucifer doesn’t do. Lucifer is more of a heavy metal/doom band. Maybe it’s not a good thing to say, but in Lucifer I don’t have to do any compromises. That was part of the difficulty in the Oath: A lot of the things I wanted to do got kind of vetoed by another strong character in the band. I love the Oath; I love that album—and it was at least 50 percent me—but with Lucifer it’s almost completely my brainchild. I sat down and worked out exactly how I wanted it to sound, how I wanted things to look, and how I wanted things to be done. As much I loved the Oath, I’m more passionate about Lucifer. I think I’ve found now exactly what I want to do. So that makes me very happy.
…….”“Avant-garde” is the French term for “advance guard” or “vanguard”. It refers to people who venture into the unknown. Sometimes they find the shining shores of the future there, the visions and ideas of tomorrow. Sometimes they get lost in the forests of insanity, in the whirls of chaos and confusion. But it’s always new worlds that they discover. Sometimes the avant-garde of today will become the mainstream of tomorrow. But most avant-garde will always remain absurd and strange to the masses.
This website is dedicated to the pioneers of metal, to those bands and musicians who incorporate new and innovative elements into metal, who break conventions, tear down walls, violate borders. They build new worlds. They surprise.
More than for any other term in metal, the characteristics of avant-garde metal are hard to specify. What’s fresh, innovative, new, surprising? The answer to this question lies in the eye of the beholder.
Some say avant-garde metal is the art of creating deep and strange atmospheres by experimenting with new instruments and sounds, strange vocals, unconventional song structures, rhythms and harmonies, unusual lyrics or uncommon artwork. Others describe avant-garde metal as progressive, psychedelic, surrealistic, phantasmagoric, expressionistic, dissonant or extravagant interpretations of extreme metal. But what do such words really mean? We don’t care, because…
…DEFINITION IS THE DEATH OF INDIVIDUALITY!
This website was created to provide a home for all those metal bands that try out new things and create their own, individual paths. It was created for everybody who is bored with the petrified spiderwebs of cliché, commerce and convention.
Anyway, avant-garde metal is freestyle. We don’t want to judge whether a band or an album is avant-garde or not. All artists who claim to be avant-garde will be featured here. Some of them might seem like ordinary, conventional metal to you. About some others you may think that they are not metal at all anymore, that they are something completely different. We won’t participate in such controversies about categorization. Decide for yourself if a band inspires you or not.
If you know any weird artists that aren’t featured on this site yet, don’t hesitate and send us an e-mail! And if you are a musician and have produced some weird music, then your CDs are always welcome here.
LET’S GET SURPRISED!……. ”
When i am a fan of a artist i collect everything that has the BAD ASSand KICK ASS FACTOR….The above comment is to let the KICK ASS METAL readership know, that Informer are in the musical realm that we cover, and belong in these pages just as much if not more, than most artist in these pages…sorry that is the fucking facts on that fact: and that were are a Death Metal-age/ Avant-Garde Metal-age/ Gothic Metal-age publication, and we focus on World-Class Vocalist and this is a gem of a album called
Informer “Black Propaganda”
which was unleashed on January 10th, 2010, on Pale Music, catalogue# Pale41 with Rayshele Teige,
and one would be making a huge fucking mistake if this album was not in there serious music collection between Missing Persons “Spring Session M” and Berlin “Pleasure Victim” and the techno works of GOTHIC METAL GODS AND LEGENDS Theater of Tragedy !!!! It is that fucking essential !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nervosa / Walk In Darkness/ Lucifer/ Witchcross / Anna von Hausswolf / Graveshadow/ Norther/ Chemicaust/ Witchcross/ Hanzel Und Gretyl
….WE will listen to each album over 700 times, as always since 1978 and make a discussion….
Hard Rock/ Heavy Metal ALBUM OF THE YEAR — Norway
Issa “Run With The Pack” April 20th 2018
TOP 100 ALBUMS OF 2018 HEAVY METAL
Amaranthe
Ashes Arise “Resurgence of Oblivion”
Deathless Legacy “Rituals of Black Magic” * January 2018 ALBUM OF THE MONTH
Deuce “Deuce” No Remorse Records 1981/983/1984 (C)1997 – Reissue
Dimmu Borgir “Eonian”
Evil Drive “Rage Maker”
Gravehill The Unchaste, the Profane, & the Wicked
Hanzel Und Gretyl “Satanik Germanik” INDUSTRIAL HEAVY METAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Kamelot “The Shadow Theory”
Kobra and the Lotus “Prevail II”
Leather “II” – Heavy Metal
Leaves’ Eyes “Sign of the Dragonhead” — SYMPHONIC HEAVY METAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Madame Ozzy “Diary of A Madwoman”
Midnattsol “The Aftermath”
Nervosa THRASH METAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Nightwish “Decades”
Sojourner “The Shadowed Road”
Suspira “The Lyricist”
Sign of the Jackal “Breaking The Spell”
Velvet Viper “Respice Finem”
Walk In Darkness “Welcome To The New World” GOTHIC HEAVY METAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR * FEBRUARY 2018 ALBUM OF THE MONTH
Witchcross “Cauldron in Satan’s Shadow”
Witch Cross “Fit for Fight” 1984/2018 TOP 100 TRADITIONAL HEAVY ALBUM OF ALL-TIME REISSUE
Whyzdom “As Time Turns to Dust”
TOP 100 ALBUMS OF 2018 Classical /Avant-Garde / Hard Rock/ Heavy Metal
Amaranthe — HEAVY METAL
Anna von Hausswolf “Dead Magic” * Avant Garde ALBUM OF THE YEAR WINNER- ONE OF THE GREATEST ALBUMS OF ALL-TIME — TOP 25 MOST IMPORTANT ALBUMS OF ALL-TIME
Ariel Bloomer “Turn Your Pain Into Art” BOOK — NO CD/DVD
Deathless Legacy “Rituals of Black Magic” Heavy Metal * January 2018 ALBUM OF THE MONTH
Deuce “Deuce” No Remorse Records 1981/983/1984 (C)1997 – Reissue
Dimmu Borgir “Eonian”
Evil Drive “Rage Maker”
Issa “Run With the Pack” — Hard Rock/ Heavy Metal — NORWEGIAN HARD ROCK/ HEAVY METAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Gravehill The Unchaste, the Profane, & the Wicked
Hanzel Und Gretyl “Satanik Germanik” — HEAVY METAL INDUSTRIAL HEAVY METAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Kamelot “The Shadow Theory”
Lords of Acid “Pretty In Kink” — Techno Industrial Hard Rock
Lucifer “Lucifer II” – Heavy Magic Rock
Madame Ozzy “Diary of A Madwoman” — Heavy Metal
Midnattsol “The Aftermath” Heavy Metal
Nervosa Heavy Metal THRASH METAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Sign of the Jackal “Breaking The Spell” – HEAVY METAL
New Years Day * Diary of A Creep — Alternative Metal
Nightwish “Decades”
Sojourner “The Shadowed Road”
Suspira “The Lyricist”
Velvet Viper “Respice Finem” – HEAVY METAL
Witch Cross “Fit for Fight” 1984/2018 TOP 100 TRADITIONAL HEAVY ALBUM OF ALL-TIME REISSUE
Witchcross “Cauldron in Satan’s Shadow” — HEAVY METAL
Whyzdom “As Time Turns to Dust” — HEAVY METAL
THE HEAVY METAL ALBUMS OF THE YEAR WINNERS
FROM 1980-2017
2017 Walk in Darkness “In The Shadow of Things
2016 Nervosa *Agony
2015 Avatarium * The Girl With The Raven Mask
2014 Nervosa * Victim of Yourself
2013 Crest of Darkness * In the Presence of Death
2012 Ram-Zet * Freaks In Wonderland
2011 Virgin Black * Requiem – Mezzo Forte
2010 The Vision Bleak * Set Sail To Mystery
2009 Solstfair * Köld
2008 Septic Flesh * Communion
2007 DHG * Supervillian Outcast
2006 Stolen Babies * There Be Squabbles Ahead
2005 Crucified Barbara * In Distortion We Trust
2004 The Amenta * Occasus
2003 Dimmu Borgir * Death Cult Armageddon
2002 Red Harvest * Sick Transit Gloria Mundi
2001 Dismal Euphony * Python Zero
2000 Crest of Darkness * Project Regeneration
1999 Crest of Darkness * The Ogress
1998 Theatre of Tragedy * Aegis
1997 * The Gathering * Nighttime Birds
1996 Cradle of Filth * Vempire….
1995 The Gathering * Mandylion
1994 Cradle of Filth * The Principle of Evil Made Flesh
1993 Necrophobic * The Nocturnal Silence
1992 Deicide * Legion
1991 Massacre * From Beyond
1990 Nocturnus * The Key
1989 Annihilator * Alice In Hell
1988 Blind Illusion * The Sane Asylum
1987 Celtic Frost * Into The Pandemonium
1986 Onslaught * The Force
1985 Possessed * Seven Churches
1984 Mercyful Fate * Don’t Break The Oath
1983 Mercyful Fate * Melissa
1982 Motorhead * No Sleep Til Hammersmith
1981 Holocaust * The Nightcomers
1980 Tygers Of Pan Tang * Wildcat
WORLD’S GREATEST DEBUT ALBUMS IN HEAVY METAL 1980-2017
2017 Ice Age “Breaking the Ice”
2016 Surgikill * Sanguinary Revelations
2015 Lucifer * Lucifer I
2014 Nervosa * Victim of Yourself
2013 Latern * Below
2012 Abnormality * Contaminating the Mind Hive
2011 The Konsortium * The Konsortium
2010 Triypkon * Eparistera Daimones
2009 FEN* The Malediction Fields
2008 Hail of Bullets…of Frost and Blood
2007 Slavia * Strength and Vision
2006 Iperyt * Totalitarian Love Pulse
2005 Crucified Barbara * In Distortion we trust
2004 The Amenta * Occasus
2003 Disiplin (NORWAY) * Disiplin
2002 Bloodbath * Resurrection Through Carnage
2001 Dragonlord * Rapture
2000 Hypnosia * Extreme Hatred
1999 The Kovenant * Animatronic
1998 Ritual Carnage * The Highest Law
1997 Nocturnal Breed * Agressor
1996 Impiety * Asateerul Awaleen
1995 Usurper * Diabolosis
1994 Cradle of Filth * The Principle of Evil Made Flesh
(not for sale, go see them live for crying out louds)
…I balanced this metallic mayhem extravaganza, equally. Stage right, Center Stage… and Stage Left
The Iron MaidenS
GODS
Los Angeles, California/ United States of America
June 22nd, 2018
Token Lounge – Westland, Michigan
Set List
2 Minutes to Midnight
Prisoner
Wasted Years
Genghis Khan
The Trooper
Duellist
Alexander The Great
Number of the Beast
Icarus
Powerslave
Die With Your Boots
Fear of the Dark
Iron Maiden
About
World’s Only Female Tribute to Iron Maiden
Kirsten Rosenberg
– Lead Vocals
Linda McDonald
– Drums
Wanda Ortiz
– Bass
Courtney Cox
– Guitar stage left
Nikki Stringfield
– Guitar stage right
Biography
Since their inception in 2001, The Iron Maidens have become not only the World’s Only Female Tribute to Iron Maiden, but one of the most popular tribute bands ever to perform on stage. Co-founded by drummer Linda McDonald (formerly of Phantom Blue), and currently consisting of bassist Wanda Ortiz, guitarists Courtney Cox and Nikki Stringfield, and vocalist Kirsten Rosenberg, The Iron Maidens dazzle fans with sheer talent with a feminine touch.
The Iron Maidens cover Iron Maiden material from all eras of the band’s career, encompassing the band’s biggest hits as well as fan favorites. The stage show includes appearances by Maiden mascot Eddie, the Grim Reaper, the Devil and more.
The Iron Maidens are endorsed by the following companies:
Paiste Cymbals
Vic Firth drum sticks
Drum Workshop drums, pedals and hardware
Digitech Effect Processors
GHS guitar strings
Rocktron
G&L guitars and basses
Dunlop Manufacturing
Rotosound Strings
BBE Sound
Coffin Case
Jackson Guitars
Monster Energy Drink
Schroeder
Floyd Upgrades
DiMarzio
Affliction Clothing
The Iron Maidens as a tribute act to a top 100 Traditional Metal band of all-time, Iron Maiden with 3 legendary albums and where it matters most live, the Iron Maidens are in this big league of the upper echelon of the World-Class Metal Masters so much the axe team of Courtney Cox – Guitar stage left & Nikki Stringfield – Guitar stage right, is considered part of the gold standard of how the other 170,000 bands in the metal genre are judged. I have been going to heavy metal concerts non-stop since late 1982, and a heavy metal fan as a record collector since the Summer of 1980. And in doing so, i got to see all the top 100 bands in all METAL genres, live in there prime of there vintage-era, aka the first 5 years.
Not only do i know who the top 100 heavy metal bands of all-time are, i got to see them live. And without any hesitation, i put the Iron Maidens, in this big league, for the same reasons, as the others. Live The Iron Maidens are a PURE METAL KILLING MACHINE, and they have a charisma and stage presence that is all there own, because they studied the masters of metal so much, The Iron Maidens are MASTERS OF METAL themselves. For tribute acts, the Iron Maidens are my second favorite tribute band of all-time…my favorite is…won’t tell you, flip through these metal scriptures and study everything and is more that obvious, who my favorite tribute bands of all-time is, The Iron Maidens ranks #2…in this category.
After seeing the Metal Gods, just play perfect metal with total conviction, and kicking our asses badly, when it comes to the most deafing concerts I have been to the bands that are the loudest, and having my ears ring for the loudest are ManOwaR, Motorhead, The Iron Maidens……as a Bay Area Thrash Metal specialist since 1982, the bay area bands are awesome in terms of energy, but could not get the decibels to make my ears ring for a couple of days.
The Iron Maidens are on this top 100 Heavy Metal albums of all-time list, with this list heavy metal altars of mayhem and heavy metal hall of fames are built around certain albums and certain bands, and these are those World-Class Heavy Metal artist and there timeless masterpiece album
ABATTOIR • Vicious Attack
ACCEPT • Restless and Wild
ACID • Acid
ACID • MANIAC
ACID • Live in Belgium
AGENT STEEL • Skeptics Apocalypse
AGENT STEEL • Mad Locust Rising
ANACRUSIS • Screams and Whispers
ANNIHILATOR • Alice In Hell
ANTHRAX • Fistful of Metal • Megaforce Records • MRI 069
ANTHRAX • Armed And Dangerous • Megforce Records • MRS 05
ANTRHAX • Spreading The Disease
ANVIL • Metal on Metal
ANVIL • Forged in Fire
ANVIL • Live in Concert
ANVIL CHORUS • Thought Crimes
ANVIL CHORUS • The Killing Sun
ARTILLERY • Fear of Tomorrow
ARTILLERY • Terror Squad
ATHEIST • Piece of Time
ATHEIST • Unquestionable Presence
ATTACKER • Battle At Helms Deep
ATTACKER • The Second Coming
ATTACKER • Standing The Test of Time
ATTACKER • Giants of Canaan
ATTACKER • Sins of the World
BATHORY • Bathory
BATHORY • The Return…
BITCH • Damnation Alley
BITCH • Be My Slave
BLACK SABBATH • Mob Rules
BLIND ILLUSION • The Sane Asylum
BLOODLUST • Guilty As Sin
BLESSED DEATH • KILL OR BE KILLED • Megaforce Records • MRI 1369
BLITZKREIG • A TIME OF CHANGES
CACOPHONY • SPEED METAL SYMPHONY
CAGE • Astrology
CANDLEMASS • Nightfall
CANDLEMASS • Ancient Dreams
CANDLEMASS • Tales of Creation
CATHERDRAL • Supernatural Birth Machine
CELTIC FROST • Morbid Tales
CELTIC FROST • Emperor’s Return
CELTIC FROST • To Mega Therion
COVEN • Witchcraft Reaps Souls and Destroys Minds
COVEN • Jinx
COVEN13 • Worship New Gods
COVEN13 • Destiny of the Gods
CIRITH UNGOL • Frost and Fire
CIRITH UNGOL • King of the Dead
CRYPTIC SLAUGHTER • Convicted
CULPPRIT • Guilty As Charged
CYNIC • Focus
DARK ANGEL • We Have Arrived
DARK ANGEL • Darkness Descends
DARK ANGEL • Leave Scars
DEAF DEALER • Keeper of The Flame
DEF DEALER • Journey Into Fear
DARKNESS • The Gasoline Solution
DEATH • Scream Bloody Gore
DEATH • Leprosy
DEATH • Spirtual Healing
DEATH • Human
DEATH • Individual Thought Patterns
DEATH • Symbolic
DEATH ANGEL • Act III
DEATH STRIKE • Fuckin’ Death
DEEP SWITCH • Nine Inches of God
DESTRUCTION • Infernal Overkill
DESTUCTOR • Maximum Destruction
DREAM DEATH • Journey Into Fear
DOCTOR BUTCHER • Doctor Butcher
EXCITER • Heavy Metal Maniac
EXCITER • Violence & Force • Megaforce Records
EXCITER • Exciter • Double Play Classic • Heavy Metal Maniac • Violence & Force • 1989 CD —Caroline/Megaforce Records
EXHORDER • Slaughter In the Vatican
EXODUS • A Lesson in Violence • October 30th, 1984 Advance Cassette
EXODUS •Bonded By Blood
EXODUS • Pleasure of the Flesh
EXODUS • A Lesson In Violence (Live @ Studio 54 + March 1986 Paul Baloff Demos)
EXODUS • Another Lesson In Violence LIVE
EXODUS • Bonded By Baloff (A.L.I.V Remastered + Bonus Tracks)
EXUMER • Possessed By Fire
EXUMER • Rising By The Sea
FATES WARNING • Night On Brocken
FORBIDDEN • Forbidden Evil
FORBIDDEN • Twisted Into Form
The GATHERING • Mandylion
The GATHERING • Nightime Birds
GRAVE DIGGER • Heavy Metal Breakdown • Megaforce Records
With iridescent sapphire hair, a show-stopping voice, runway-ready fashion swagger, and an empowering message, the Boston-raised and Los Angeles-based Mexican-Italian-American sonic heroine brings a new (and blue) fire to rock and alternative music. Serendipitously, her name might as well have pre-destined a future in the spotlight…
“In Spanish, Diamante means ‘Diamond,’ and my middle name Azzura means ‘Blue’ in Italian,” she explains. “If I was a color, I would be blue. I love it, because it’s bold, ethereal, and everything I am.”
Born to an Italian dad and Mexican mom in a Boston suburb, she always stood out. Interchangeably speaking three languages—Italian, Spanish, and English—she found inspiration in words, penning poetry and short stories at a young age inspired by J.K. Rowling and Stephen King. Drawn to musical theater, the budding performer starred in school productions of The Little Mermaid, Grease, and more before relocating to L.A. with her family at 13. Already a fan of Kelly Clarkson and Avril Lavigne, her discovery of rock music via a School of Rock summer program ignited a dormant passion.
“Being on stage and singing rock was the way I broke out of my shell and was able to realize who I am and the full potential I have,” she admits. “From there, I really connected to the women of the eighties like Joan Jett, Pat Benatar, and Debbie Harry. I thought they were so cool, iconic, and badass. That’s how I wanted to be.”
Diamante spent the next few years quietly cutting her teeth at local gigs on the Sunset Strip as a singular musical vision came into focus. A disciple of both P!nk and Guns N’ Roses who doesn’t fall into rockstar excess or even sport tattoos, she devoted every waking minute to honing a signature “classic rock sound with a modern alternative edge.” This unique and undeniable approach caught the attention of Eleven Seven Music Group and Better Noise Records who signed her in 2015. Amassing a bevy of ideas, she hit the studio with super producer Howard Benson `{`My Chemical Romance, Chris Cornell, Halestorm, Kelly Clarkson`}` to record what would become her full-length debut, Coming In Hot. “Diamante is the only true heir to the female rock throne that has been vacant since Joan Jett’s heyday,” says Howard Benson.
“Howard really pushed me to be vulnerable and talk about things I was afraid to talk about,” she goes on. “I finally got the courage to be honest with my lyrics and myself. I want to be someone girls and guys growing up can relate to.”
Her single “Coming In Hot”—out June 16, 2017—seesaws between an arena-filling chant and a robust and raucous riff. At the center, she confidently serves up the knockout refrain, “Whether you’re ready or not, I’m coming in hot!”
“It’s essentially a super fun weekend summer anthem,” she smiles. “I picture people leaving their day jobs in the car on a Friday, cranking this, and getting ready to go nuts on the weekend. It’s also a metaphor for me coming in hot into the industry. I want to bring this style back and take over rock.”
In the end, rock ‘n’ roll has never sounded, looked, or felt like Diamante on Coming In Hot.
She leaves off, “When people hear this, I’d like for them to think, ‘Oh my God, rock is not dead. This girl is bringing it back’—whether they’re ready or not…”
Singer builds on YouTube success of duet ‘Hear Me Now’ with Bad Wolves.
The 21-year-old Boston native, who has a lust for guitars, wants to bring rock back to the mainstream, and it’s beginning to look like she (along with her eponymous band) might be able to pull it off. The striking, blue-haired singer has already heated up the rock charts with the single version of “Hear Me Now,” a duet with current tour mates Bad Wolves that has gathered 9.3 million YouTube views and reached No. 35 on Hot Rock Songs and No. 6 on Hard Rock Digital Song Sales. But with her debut album, Coming in Hot — which Eleven Seven dropped on June 15 — Diamante hopes to light up the format on her own.
“As an emerging artist, I want to be someone who brings rock back to the masses, back to the young generation,” she tells Billboard. “I call it ‘the new rock animal’ — and that’s what I’d love to be seen as — which is classic rock with a modern alternative edge.”
Coming in Hot is an excellent showcase for the raw power of her voice, which at times recalls Melissa Etheridge and Sass Jordan blended with the dispassionate élan of Blondie’s Debbie Harry. The official video for the title song has already racked up over 1.3 million views on YouTube, as has the video single for “Had Enough.” A clip for the ballad “I’m Sorry,” released the week of June 11, has already topped 75,000 views. Coming in Hot also boasts a blistering cover of Heart’s “Crazy on You” and a Spanish version of “I’m Sorry” (“Lo Siento”).
“I want to hear rock music on top 40 radio, and if my music can help it get there, than that’s the greatest feeling in the world,” says Diamante. “I’m proud of what we accomplished, working with [producer] Howard [Benson and musicians] Lenny Skolnik, Seann Bowe and Trev Lukather. They really pushed me, and I think the album has a great duality of the strong and the vulnerable.”
Benson (Skillet, Adam Lambert, Kelly Clarkson, Bang Tango), who recorded the album at his West Valley Recording Studios in Woodland Hills, Calif., has high hopes for the singer. He tells Billboard, “I’ve always thought there was an opening for another great rock female singer, and once I heard Diamante’s voice for the first time, I knew I had to work with her. I am stoked that [Eleven Seven label head] Allen Kovac brought her to me, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for her.”
Diamante’s future, it seems, has a touch of the ’80s. “I love bands from the ’80s so much, and they’re ultimately who influence my music the most. ‘Coming in Hot,’ to me, is this really ’80s, fun, summer anthem,” she says. “A lot of those songs from that era were anthems, and I wanted something like that on the album. I knew the song had to be the title of the album because it was so direct and to the point. It’s a metaphor because it’s my first full-length album: I’m not coming in slowly or timidly — I’m coming in hot!”
In addition to the songs that have already been released, “Fight Like a Girl (F.L.A.G.)” stands out for the singer because “it’s an empowering song to me. I was able to take the term ‘Fight like a girl,’ which has always had this negative connotation, and flip it on its head into something that is strong and powerful.”
“Definitely Not in Love,” a nasty sung/spoken number that sounds like a kiss-off (but might be something else) is another favorite of hers. “When I like someone, I kind of have that eight-year-old mentality where I tease the person, and I roast them. So I pretty much just wrote an entire roast about someone I like, and it has a kind of punk, kind of Avril Lavigne vibe.”
Of “Lo Siento,” the Mexican-Italian singer says, “There’s something about singing in Spanish. It’s such a romantic language that you really emote a lot of passion, and as a power ballad, I think it was the perfect choice. That’s something I want to do more in the future is sing more songs in Spanish.”
Though her future may contain a touch of the ’80s, Diamante is self-aware and confident about going forward. “I just know what’s in myself and believe in evolving organically. Every six months, I feel like I become a whole different person and go through all these different experiences. But my goal is not simply to re-create something that’s already been done, but to build upon it and grow from it. Who knows? Album No. 2 could be more alternative or even more rock’n’roll. You don’t really know until the music in you is telling you where to go.”
Diamante is touring with Bad Wolves and From Ashes to New through July 6, then will head back out with Bad Wolves to make an appearance during its set on a summer package tour that also features Five Finger Death Punch, Nothing More and Breaking Benjamin. For tour dates, go here …..
Melissa Bonny from Evenmore and Rage Of Light. She s very talent singer with great voice in two band.
Reason: 1) A few mounth ago she s participate in tour with band Serenity that big step in rock music and sing with cool bands. 2) Melissa Bonny present cool cover Judas ( cover Lady Gaga) That music and clip was create briliant more cool than how sing Lady Gaga 🙂 3)Melissa Bonny now work with popular Napalm Records that second big step in rock music. 4) How we see Melissa Bony non stop work and participate different tour. 5) If look all music and video clips ( by Evenmore and Rage Of Light) all successful. Everyone song and clip was creat 100% and everyone song have interesting moment its : give good mood and power!! Its not joke)) You cant never feel depression or long time find what listening. 6) Participate in Supreme Insane Vocal Ranges ( about voice) 7) And yes Melissa Bonny very talent singer and very beautiful.
2. Markéta Morávková of Alia Tempora. She s talent singer with the great voice.
Reason: 1) A few mounth Markie participate in tour with popular and talent singer Elize Ryd of Amaranthe That big step in rock music! 2) Markie non stop work in music and participate different tour and fest. 3) Markie present Metal make-up 4) All video clips and music very cool and successful. Her last album Digital Cube very successful and listening nowdays and a few mounth ago present new song Black And White we re advice to listening. 5. All her songs have interesting moment its: give сalmness , some songs give little mood romantic or dancing. 6) Markie very beatiful woman ( sometime we think she can be cool model for the popular magazines or wear why not?) and she s talent singer with great voice.
3. Ida Elena DeRazza from Bare Infinity and solo singer. She s talent singer with great voice.
Reason : 1) A few mounth ago present solo album NATIVE SPIRIT and nowdays that album very popular and listening. Her album between rock-pop with irish style music. 2) She s participate in Vivaldi Metal Project . 3) A few mounth ago present new album (Bare Infinity) with Butterfly Raiser. All song there very nice and was present in tour. 4) Ida Elena always busy and hard work with music and participate different fest. 4) Her music has interesting moment its : Good mood, some her music really want dancing, her music give little hope and miracle. 5) Ida Elena actress 🙂 6) She s win awards for the best video clip Native Spirit 8) Participate and support project Supreme Insane Vocal Ranges (about voice) 7). Ida Elena talent singer and very beautiful woman.
4. Angela Di Vincenzo from Secret Rule. She s talent singer with the great voice.
Reason: 1) Angela very active singer of rock music and participate different tour. Before was tour with Sererinity, Vision Of Atlantis and Ailyn (ex Sirenia) 2) She s non stop work in music participate in different fest and tour. 3) All her music very nice and a few mounth ago Angela and Ailyn record videclip that very cool!! and big step in rock music. 4) Angela very talent and beautiful singer 🙂
5. Nicoletta Rosellini from band Kalidia and Walk In Darkness. She s talent singer with the great voice tow bands.
Reason: 1) Nicoletta very active singer of rock music and participate in different fest and concert. 2) We know Nicoletta from Kalidia with last album Lies Device. And now she s in second band Walk In Darkness with last album Welcome To The New World. 3) All her songs very briliant and her video clips very successfull. Her songs have interesnting moment its : If talk about Kalidia and there songs they give mood romatic, somesong song have own little story, her songs give mood think about life. And all songs between rock and classic style. If talk about Walk In Darkness and there songs some songs have rock style and anyway all music cool!! 4) Nicoletta very beautiful and talent singer.
6. Alina Lesnik from ONCE. She s talent singer with the great voice.
Reason: 1) Alina present everyday new cover songs (different bands) and all cover songs successfull. 2) Alina participate Vivaldi Metal Project 3) Participate in band The Autist 4) All her songs can listen again and again because she has really good voice. 5) She s talent and very beautiful singer.
Reason 1) Marina active singer of rock music and participate different fest or event. 2) Participater Vivaldi Metal Project 3) Win Awards Best Female Rock Artist in Hollywood. 4) Face our community MFVC 5. Have successful album Dare To Be Happy and all her songs have interesting moment its : Songs have own story, some songs give mood about think about life and maybe accept desicion in difficult moment life. 6) Marina talent singer and beautiful woman. We think Marina only one singer who has own style in rock music and We cant say she s second Doro or Tarja its really not serioulsy because Marina has own style music , own beauty and only one singer 🙂
Reason 1) Caterina Nix partcipate in Vivaldi Metal Project 2) Participate in Supreme Insane Vocal Ranges (about voice) 3) Caterina Nix non stop work in music and participate different fest and events. 4) Her last Album of Chaos Magic very nice songs and more popular song and videoclip I am Alive. 5) All songs has interesting moment its: Her songs inluence be strong and never give up in difficult situation and yes her songs can listen again and again. 6) Caternina Nix talent singer and very beautiful woman 🙂
9. Margarita Monet from Edge Of Paradise . She s talent singer with great voice.
1) Margarita very active singer of rock music and participate different fest and always in tour. 2) She s non stop work with music and all her music really cool nowdays more popular song and video clip ALIVE. 3) Grammy nomination! For two categories, Best New Artist and ALIVE for Best Rock Album! 4) Participate in project about voice Supreme Insane Vocal Ranges. 5) Participater in popular fest Female Metal Event. 6) She talent and very beautiful singer 🙂
10. Beatrice Bini from Constraint and Chocoboo band.
Reason: 1) Beatrice Bini very active singer in rock music and participate different fest. 2) She is hard work in music and all her songs very nice because she has beautiful voice. 3) She is participate in Vivaldi Metal Project 4) Participate in Supreme Insane Vocal Ranges about voice 5) She s singer and model 6) She s talent singer and beautiful woman
Whoa, what a killer album. Love the artwork, the layout, and the Kick Ass title of “Tectonic”, and can not go wrong with most of the artist on Frontiers Srl Records Italy…. what I love about this album, every listen, you will notice a piece of song-writing genius, that will appear out of no-where, and gives this album that effect of timelessness. I buy alot of music, everything is always on the World-Class Vocalist/ Guitar Hero/ and Thundering Lords of Thunder Bass and Drummer side of things, most of my favorite albums also have keyboards and or synthesizers on them. I cover alot of Golden Ages of Heavy Metal, I have lots of Hall of Fame’s/ Music libraries in my houses. I have a room just for Symphonic Metal/ Melodic Metal/ Glam Metal and Heavier AOR. One of my favorite GOLDEN AGE of Heavy Metal is the One from August 2012— Present which is THE GOLDEN AGE OF TRUE METAL. It is still in its top form, best vintage-era, with the best artist releasing classic after classic. I never never have had a album which i had to return for store credit, because I read the best ACTUAL Heavy Metal press with the greatest minds, and best staff……
and the best fanzines from the 1980’s. I am a heavy metal fan since 1978, so i value melody, and song’s that i can remember without being over-accessible, KILLER RIFFS, thundering bass and awesome drummers: albums must have a driving force or a savage factor to them, this album delivers, all of my metallic addiction needs….this album is FUCKING ESSENTIAL to say the least. At KICK ASS METAL we watch and monitor the top 700 bands in each of the 7 major metal styles of the actual heavy metal genre, of the GOTHIC METAL-age/Avant-Garde Metal-age/ Death Metal age, those 4,900 bands is our want-list.
This album will get tons of spins in my heavy metal playlist rotation between The Dark Element, Nightwish, Issa and Triosphere, as well as my Randy Rhodes-era Ozzy Osbourne and Vintage Black Sabbath and Van Halen albums.
Easily a top 100 Heavy Metal album for the year 2018……will be interested to see where this album will rank on our best of 2010 decade list and best Symphonic Metal albums of the 21st Century.
Trillium “Tectonic” is one of the most anticipated albums in 2018 on the GODLY Frontiers Srl record late the other being LA Guns, Issa, & more…it is still the mid-part of 2018
“GARY MOORE IS ABSOLUTELY ONE OF MY MAIN INFLUENCES; ANOTHER INSPIRATION IS JEFF WATERS FROM ANNIHILATOR”
Former After Forever guitarist Sander Gommans, who is currently working on vocalist Amanda Somerville’s new Trillium album, has checked in with a new update.
Gommans: “Finishing one of the new Amanda Somerville’s Trillium guitar solos. Hope you like guitar solos, since there will be many on the album. This one is approved by Lana (daughter), since she uses her index finger instead of her middle finger 😉
Even though my music doesn’t resemble Gary Moore’s music, he’s absolutely one of my main influences when it comes to solos. Another inspiration is Jeff Waters from Annihilator, was lucky enough to work with him on our last After Forever album.”
“Proud to have Erik van Ittersum (Kingfisher Sky, Ayreon, Phantom Elite) be a part of the new Trillium album. His arrangements really kick some serious metal bottoms. Amanda Somerville’s off to Wacken Open Air with Avantasia this weekend, let’s see if I can surprise her with the first mixes of Trillium after the weekend.
André Borgman, thanks again for your incredible work on this album, great to be reunited with the tightest and grooviest metal drummer in the world!”
Amanda Somerville issued the following update on the Trillium album back in May while in the middle of working on her new project, Exit Eden:
“The last time I’d written to you, I had thought that the new project I’m involved in would be released around now and I could therefore tell you all about it. Ah, but the music industry is ever an elusive beast! Sooooo… the release has been pushed back to the first of August. Thus, it’ll be a while before I can go public with the news, but hopefully not too long! Next week, I have several video shootings, a photo shoot and all kinds of crazy stuff going on for said project. It’s exhilarating and a tiny bit overwhelming how things keep going with this. Like I said, though I’ve been in the biz for a long time, this is all pretty new to me, so it’s very exciting. Even if nothing really takes off, I’m absolutely grateful to be a part of something like this.
And in the meantime, I’ve been writing and recording up a storm for the new Trillium album! This one’s definitely got a life of its own; no Alloy knock-off in any way, which may intrigue some of you and may scare some – haha! But I am really happy with how things are going. We’ve got a very new lineup for this album than we had for Alloy, which helps contribute to that, but Sander (Gommans / HDK) and I are running the show 🙂 Yves Huts, formerly from Epica, is contributing a song co-write as is a good friend of mine from my hometown, the talented Ashley Peacock.”
Somerville released the debut Trillium album, Alloy, in November 2011.
Official and real Amanda Somerville bio from her official facebook presence
Hello, Dearies, and welcome!
I’m a nutty musician from Michigan who somehow got herself known in the European metal scene, even though I’m not really a super-mega-metal-diva girl. But that’s not a secret. Not one I’m keeping, anyway!
You might know me from the various work I’ve done with other bands, but you may be surprised at what else I have to offer and I invite you to look around, have a listen and let me know what you think!
OK, now on to the more serious, official stuff. Enjoy!
xx
Amanda
~
Considered a Metal Diva in the European symphonic metal scene, Amanda Somerville is a singer- songwriter originally of the pop / rock vein who’s been roughed up at the edges with a razor blade, painted over the scars with makeup and is now sweetly taking her revenge on the microphone. Since 2000, the Michigan-born songstress has divided her time between the US and Europe, primarily Germany and the Netherlands and is also a vocal coach, co-writer and producer to boot. Her catalogue of projects, guest appearances and live shows garnered to date with bands like EPICA, KAMELOT and AVANTASIA is an impressive body of work that gives her more credibility in metal circles than she ever bargained for. Some of her most recent endeavors include touring with renowned artists Alice Cooper, Ian Gillan (DEEP PURPLE) and Steve Lukather (TOTO) and a duet album entitled Kiske-Somerville with metal legend Michael Kiske (HELLOWEEN). Currently she’s focusing on studio work recording a new solo album.
Amanda’s sound is eclectic yet particular, sweet yet raw and commercial yet conventionally-challenged. Singer-songwriter metal with bling. Think Doro, Sade and Evanescence thrown into a blender and whipped into a frothy concoction. Just watch out for those razor blades. Prost!
~
TRILLIUM:
With a musically eclectic founder and front woman, American singer-songwriter Amanda Somerville, TRILLIUM is an amalgam of various elements of rock and metal, spit-polished to a blinding shine of melodic maelstrom. As culturally diverse as they are instrumentally, the band TRILLIUM comprises spans 2 continents, 3 countries and a multitude of musical backgrounds. But the language of Rock is universal and the Lady and Gents of TRILLIUM are fluent and not afraid to speak their minds. They do leave quite the impression and a metallic taste in the mouth which is rather addictive. Cheers!
~
DISCOGRAPHY
Solo:
-Trillium Alloy (2011)
-Kiske-Somerville (2010), Kiske Somerville: City of Heroes (coming 2015)
-Windows (2009)
-Never Alone (EP, 2003)
-Aina: Days of Rising Doom (2003) – wrote concept and all lyrics, co-wrote music, worked as vocalist, vocal coach. Featuring guest musicians such as Glenn Hughes, Tobias Sammet, T.M. Stevens, etc.
-In the Beginning there was… (Debut Album, 2000)
-Blue Nothing (EP, 2000)
Other bands & projects:
-HDK – System Overload (2009), Serenades of the Netherworld (2014); co-writer, vocalist, co-producer, engineer
-Avantasia – Lost In Space I & II (2007), The Scarecrow (2008), The Wicked Symphony (2010), Angel of Babylon (2010), The Flying Opera – Around The World In 20 Days – Live (DVD 2011), The Mystery of Time (2013); vocalist
-Rock Meets Classic (2010-2014) – Live touring production with legends such as Alice Cooper, Paul Rodgers (Free, Bad Company, Queen), Ian Gillan (Deep Purple), Steve Lukather (Toto), Jimi Jamison (Survivor), Bonnie Tyler, Kim Wilde, Dan McCafferty (Nazareth), etc.; vocalist & choir director
-Epica – The Phantom Agony (2003), We Will Take You With Us (2004), Consign To Oblivion (2005), The Divine Conspiracy (2007), Design Your Universe (2009), Requiem For The Indifferent (2012), The Road to Paradiso (TBA); vocal coach, vocalist, co-writer, engineer, producer
-Kamelot – Black Halo (2005), Ghost Opera (2007), Poetry For The Poisoned (2010); vocalist, lyrical editor, Silverthorn (2012); vocalist, concept story author
-Andre Matos – Time To Be Free (2007), Mentalize (2009); vocalist, engineer
-Edguy – Hellfire Club (2003), Rocket Ride (2005); vocalist, lyrical editor; Tinnitus Sanctus (2008); worked as proofreader
-After Forever – Invisible Circles (2004), Remagine (2005); lyric editor, co-writer, vocal coach, vocalist, producer; After Forever (2007); worked as lyric editor and vocalist.
-Asrai – Touch in the Dark (2004): lyrical editor; Pearls In Dirt (2007); songwriter, vocalist
GENRE: Heavy Metal FOR FANS OF: Amanda Somerville, Kiske/Somerville, The Dark Element, Tarja, Cellar Darling, The Murder Of My Sweet, Lacuna Coil
AMANDA SOMERVILLE is an American singer-songwriter well known for her collaborations with various high profile European metal bands like Avantasia, Epica, Kamelot, and After Forever, to name a few. And let’s not forget her amazing musical partnership with Helloween vocalist Michael Kiske under the Kiske/Somervillebanner. With a vocal range from tenor to soprano and a stylistically diverse singing ability, AMANDA SOMERVILLE’s voice is well suited for multiple styles, but TRILLIUMis firmly in the metal genre.
Fans of TRILLIUM’s debut album, “ALLOY” as well as artists like The Dark Element, Tarja, Cellar Darling, Lacuna Coil, and the like will find much to enjoy here.
Tracklisting: 1. Time To Shine 2. Stand Up 3. Full Speed Ahead 4. Hit Me 5. Fighting Fate 6. Nocturna 7. Fatal Mistake 8. Shards 9. Cliché Freak Show 10. Eternal Spring
PRODUCED BY: Sander Gommans & Amanda Somerville
STUDIO: Eternia Studios (NL), The Rock Station (NL) & The Backwoods Gang (MI, USA); Drum Recordings by Daan Janzing at In The Room (NL)
RECORDED BY: Sander Gommans & Amanda Somerville
MIXED BY: Sander Gommans at the Rock Station (NL)
MASTERED BY: Jos Driessen at Sandlane Studios (NL)
Line-Up:
Amanda Somerville – All vocals
All guitars & bass by Sander Gommans,
except:
Track 3: bass by Mark Burnash, 2nd guitar solo by Paul Owsinski
Track 11: Guitars by Paul Owsinski, Keys by Erik van Ittersum, Drums by Andre Borgman
Amanda Somerville – Trillium Interview
Performed in October 2011
It’s no surprise to the metal world that American-born singer-songwriter Amanda Somerville has (finally!) made her own metal album. She has worked as a co-lyricist and choir / backing vocalist for Epica, After Forever, Kamelot, Avantasia, and a slew of other European bands. And don’t forget her involvement in the metal opera Aina, last year’s Kiske / Somerville duets album with ex-Helloween singer Michael Kiske, and After Forever guitarist Sander Gommans’ thrashing HDK project. Somewhere in between all that work, however, Somerville has found time to develop her own project: Trillium, a hybrid of rock and metal. If you listen to the Trillium album, Alloy, you’ll hear bits of gothic, symphonic, classic rock, heavy metal, and other styles that make up Somerville’s crossbreeding.
Prior to the release of Alloy, Sonic Cathedral staff writer Sara Letourneau chatted with Somerville about all things Trillium. What compelled Somerville to start this project in the first place? Did these metal songs bring out a different side of her that fans don’t hear on her usual pop albums? Will she tour to promote Alloy? And what about that creepy album cover? Find out the answers to these questions and much more below!
Sara: Hello, Amanda! Thank you very much for taking the time to talk to Sonic Cathedral again today.
Amanda: Of course! Thank you for your interest in talking to me about Trillium! I’m very excited.
Sara: The Trillium album comes out on November 1st in North American and on November 4th in Europe. How do you feel now that the release dates are coming closer and closer?
Amanda: Oh, you say that so forebodingly! Naughty girl!
(Sara and Amanda laugh)
Amanda: Yes, I’m so excited. It’s always a little nerve-racking because of the promotion shindig, doing all the interviews and everything. My first interview this evening was just over a half-hour ago, and then I’ve got 10 or 12 tonight. So, it’s quite a packed schedule! (laughs) It’s really exciting. I’m looking forward to it. My fingertips always get tingly, like I’m a little kid at Christmastime. You never really know what to expect. Next week, I’ll be getting the CD for the first time, holding the physical copy in my hand. It’s all very… Woo hoo!
Sara: (laughs) You’ve worked with a number of rock and metal artists over the years. So, really, for me and your other fans, it’s no surprise that you’ve finally done your own rock/metal record. But the question has always been, “When is she going to do it?!”
Amanda: (laughs)
Sara: So, tell us, when did the idea for Trillium start to blossom?
Amanda: Well, I guess I have to back up a couple of years to 2007, when I was writing and recording the project HDK with [former grunter/guitarist of After Forever] Sander Gommans, who also worked on Trillium with me. Even though I had worked in the metal scene for several years at that point, that was really a big turning point for me because I really got into it. It was the first time that I had really been like, “Oh, I like this! I like writing these songs. I like performing this music and recording it.”
After that, my songs were getting progressively darker and heavier, and they kept going in this direction. I was planning on having my next solo release be more uniformly in the metal genre. And then I was approached by a record label about doing a solo metal project. And I was like, “Eh, well, I don’t know, ah, um…” That’s when the light bulb came on. DING! I thought, “Why not?” I had all this material I had compiled… Oh, jeez, I probably had written about 30 or 40 songs that you could consider metal. So I thought that, since I’m schizophrenic musically (laughs), kind of all over the board and eclectic with the songs I write anyways – and if you’ve heard Windows, you know what I mean – I thought, “Why not keep it separate? Keep things purely metal so as not to confuse the metal fans?” And then I can go ahead and put a Jamaican drinking song and a jazz ballad and whatever else I want on my next solo album and not have to apologize to anyone about it. So, that was the idea behind [Trillium], and it really grew on me. I liked it more and more, the idea of having a solo metal project. And then I can keep the rest of my solo stuff separate so that I can bounce around in my padded-wall room however I want to. (laughs)
Sara: (laughs) You make it sound like you’re a little bit crazy sometimes when it comes to your music.
Amanda: (laughs) Sometimes! Because when I was 19 or 20 years old and had first moved over to Europe, I was sending demos to record companies. And [the record labels] were always like, “Well, what kind of music do you do?” And I’d say, “I like it all! I’m a singer-songwriter, and I like pop, and I like jazz, and I like rock.” And they were like, “No no no, that’s WAY too schizophrenic for us. We need to be able to put you in a drawer.” And so that’s how my whole boycott against the record company music industry started. I thought, “Screw you! I’m going to do whatever I want to do.” And then I started working with the Gate Studio team, and the ball just rolled all over the place from there. It’s not like I think it’s a bad thing or that I’m crazy or that I apologize for it at all. But, [my solo work is] kind of all over the board. Looking for a record that is uniformly in one particular genre or type of music… Well, they’re going to land wrong with me. (laughs)
Sara: And I think that people like me, I don’t just listen to rock and metal. I listened to pop music before I got into the metal scene about 6 years ago. So, for people like me who listen to different kinds of music, that’s what makes Windows so interesting. You’ve got all these different things going on. You have the rock and the R&B and the pop. And for people who like different kinds of music, it makes a lot of sense. And tsk tsk tsk to all those record labels who turned you down.
Amanda: (laughs) Well, thank you! I appreciate that. And I still have the same standpoint!
Sara: Back to Trillium and the album Alloy. As the album title implies, Alloy is a blend of different rock and metal styles. What kinds of rock and metal, or which artists, specifically inspired the music on this album?
Amanda: You know, the whole “naming specific artists for inspiration” thing, it’s tough. I’m a bit of a lone wolf; I just do whatever I want to do and what feels right. So, I wasn’t aiming for any particular style with any of the songs. It wasn’t conscious or contrived in any way. So, I guess I’m going to draw a blank on that. I’ve been inspired by all of the artists I’ve worked with throughout the years. I’m sure that has definitely been the biggest influence on me writing more heavy and dark songs. But, I think there are various types of rock and metal [on the album], like you mentioned. We find the gothic, and there’s some heavy metal and doom in there, as well as hard rock and modern rock. Some of it even floats toward the pop/rock side. So, I guess I can’t totally escape from being diverse. I can’t make one song after another that sound the same. I just can’t do it! But for me, I guess this is as uniform as I can be on an album. And as far as my inspirations go, I guess it’s just been the work that I’ve done in the metal scene for the last 11 years.
Sara: Alloy was produced by Sascha Paeth, whom you’ve worked with on a number of projects and bands. You also collaborated with Sascha as well as Sander Gommans on the songwriting. What did each musician bring to the table for Trillium?
Amanda: Oh, so much! Half of the songs were written pretty much by Sander and myself, and the other half were written by Sascha and myself. With Sander, it’s a little bit different, because he’s a very prolific songwriter. He’s been doing a lot of writing for other bands as well because he had stepped back from the live scene and wanted to concentrate more on studio work and songwriting and things like that. And, he had some of these songs like “Bow to the Ego” and “Coward.” They were just instrumentals at first. I was there when he was working on them, and I really liked them. I asked him, “What’s this?” And he said, “Oh, I don’t know. I don’t know what it’s gonna be for!” But, I really liked it, and I was like, “You know, I’d love to do something with this song, if you wouldn’t mind and if you don’t have any specific place for it.” So, we sat down together and went through some things, rearranged some stuff. “Bow to the Ego” had a totally different song structure and intro at first, and no real or defined chorus – from my feeling, anyway. So, we re-wrote the song a little bit. I wrote the lyrics and vocal lines to it, and it ended up the way that it did.
For “Machine Gun,” I was playing it in the studio, and Sander heard me playing it. It was basically the opposite of “Bow to the Ego”: He liked it and asked me if he could take it and do something with it, because it was pretty much already finished as a piano/vocal demo. And then he took it and added the intro melody. (imitates the melody)
Sara: The Halloweenish vibe?
Amanda: Yeah, exactly. It’s really creepy. And Sander has this creepy writing style that I love. (laughs) So, yeah, that is a recurring theme throughout the song. It added so much to it. I just love it. So, that’s how Sander and I work together. As for Sascha and I, we’ve worked together so long on so many projects and in so many settings and types of songwriting. We know each other so well, both personally and musically. So, our work flow is always really great. I never write a song the same way twice, and I love that because each song has its own little story of its unique inception. I love background stories like that. It’s like each of my songs is a child, and I’m telling about when they were born. (laughs)
But, how Sascha and I typically work together is that I will already have a finished, written song – and again, it’s a piano/vocal demo – and I’ll send it to him. And he likes to take his time, let the song grow on him and develop, and then he’ll work on it and do a demo and send it back to me. And 95 percent of the time, I’m like, “Oh, I love it! This is great!” And we go from there. That’s the basis. That’s how it was for a lot of these songs, like “Mistaken,” “Path of Least Resistance,” and “Purge.” He just took them and added so much to them. Like “Purge,” for example, he wrote the bridge with the guitar solo. And on “Mistaken,” he wrote the bridge and the guitar solo, too. That’s the one thing I love about working with guitar players like Sander and Sascha. Being a piano player, I hear and feel and write songs from a completely different perspective. And then putting the two elements together just complements everything so well without adding too many cooks to spoil the soup. So, I like the play we have off of one another and the creative input they can add that I don’t necessarily have when I’m playing piano. A piano is tough to write a guitar riff on. (laughs) Or a guitar solo, because I’m not much of a riff or solo person. So, long story made longer, but that’s how it works! (laughs)
Sara: (laughs) That’s OK! Because Trillium is so different from the music in your solo career, when you were first singing these songs in the studio, did you feel like they brought out a different side of you?
Amanda: Yeah! It’s very fun, and this is exactly what I had with HDK, when I was like, “Oooh, I like this!” I guess, in a way, singers and musicians – on the most basic level – are not much different from actors and actresses. We’re very theatrical. We like to play a role. You tell a story with the song that you’re singing. I think it appeals to me as like I’m playing a different role. I loved to dress up and play Cinderella or whatever when I was little. And I guess that, musically, it’s not much different. It’s fun to do something that you’re not necessarily used to doing and put yourself in a different role or a different position. But, it’s also a great emotional outlet. I think that’s why I can be in my normal, everyday life a happy and positive person, and that’s because I can pour all my outrage and my angst and doubt and all of the negative feelings into my music. And it’s really cathartic to sing [those songs]. I think there’s no better therapy in the world than to write and pour all your emotions into a song, and then be able to perform it and bring out those emotions in the performance. So, yeah, it’s always a really invigorating experience. (laughs)
Sara: I’ve read online that you made a video for “Coward.” Why did you choose to make a video for this particular song?
Amanda: Well, I’m not one for picking favorites because I think it’s not fair. As I’d mentioned, my songs are like children. But, “Coward”… I just kept coming back to it and coming back to it as my favorite song on the entire album. And that’s also a new thing for me, because I’m never able to choose a favorite song! It always goes by my mood. Each day, I have a different favorite song. But, “Coward,” I continually come back to it as a favorite of mine. And, I really wanted to put that into an image to kind of complete the whole artistic picture or landscape of the song itself. So, yeah, that’s why I ended up choosing it, and it was very fun. I’m really looking forward to seeing the finished video.
Sara: Can you tell us anything about it yet?
Amanda: Yeah! (laughs) What do you want to know?
Sara: (laughs) Whatever you want us to know at the moment. I know it’s not out yet, so I don’t know how many details you want to give away beforehand.
Amanda: Well, you’re going to see me in a little bit of a different atmosphere than normal – just like in the music, I suppose. Like I said, I’m generally a positive, bubbly – maybe annoyingly so – person. (laughs) You see that in my video blogs. I’m a total nerd. I can’t hide it, and I’m not going to apologize to anyone about it. That’s just how I am. But, I’m a little bit scary in this video, I must say. I looked at it, and I was like, “Ooooh, I would not want to piss myself off!”
(Sara and Amanda laugh)
Amanda: So, we [shot the video in] several different locations. It was so much fun! The director lives in Nuremberg, [Germany], so I went over to Nuremberg two weeks ago, and we shot it in Nuremberg in the backstage rooms of the Opera House, where we shot the Kiske / Somerville video for “Silence.” This time, it’s not in the actual main theater. It’s in all the backstage rooms where the actors and ballerinas put their makeup on. Then, we moved actually to castle ruins in a place… Oh, shoot, where was it? Neumarkt! That’s what it’s called. It’s near Nuremburg, and it’s home to these castle ruins that are just amazing! As an American, you come over here and can so appreciate these things in Europe because we don’t have anything like it. This building is thousands and thousands and thousands of years old. So, we did a lot of shots in the ruins. And, the ruins themselves had a little chapel on the grounds, so we shot some scenes in there as well. I’m part psycho-bride and part gothic muse in it. (laughs)
Sara: (laughs) That sounds like it should be very interesting!
Amanda: I hope so!
Sara: Speaking of things looking scary, the cover of Alloy looks very, very evil. Considering this album comes out the day after Halloween in North America, it’s also very appropriate.
Amanda: Yes.
Sara: Was that kind of the idea behind the artwork and photoshoot: to do something dark, spooky, and – once again – different from what you normally do?
Amanda: Yes, definitely. I wanted to really portray the music with these images and give the potential listener an image that sums up the music as well. I think it does that very well. I chose Stefan Heileman to do the artwork, and he’s done really brilliant work for all kinds of artists and friends of mine also. So, I was already familiar with the style he did his photos and artwork in, and I thought it fit brilliantly with the music and the album and the concept. He took it and ran with it, which is great because when I asked him if he’d be interested in doing the artwork for me, I wrote this 5000-word essay describing the video and my vision for it and everything. (laughs) And he is an artist himself with a vision. So, it’s really great to work with someone who you can bounce ideas off of. I think the artwork is as important of a representative as a name or the logo and going along with the music itself. So, yeah, I wanted it to be dark and show a different side of me, and I think it did so quite well.
The cover maybe needs a little bit of an explanation. The things that are behind me – they’re actually me! (laughs) They’re my inner demons that are coming out and trying to grab me and rip me back into their world. I’m not sure if you noticed, but there’s one hand that’s on my neck underneath my hair. And where they touch me, I’m turning into metal. That’s part of why my brain is already turning into metal. So, it fits into the whole concept of Trillium.
Sara: I’m going to have to take a closer look at the cover!
Amanda: Yeah! There’s a whole hidden backstory there. (laughs) But, those are my evil sprites coming out of me and dragging me over to the dark side.
Sara: Alloy is your second album in a row with Frontiers Records. The first one was the Kiske / Somerville album, which came out last year. What about your experience with Kiske / Somerville made Frontiers the go-to label for Trillium?
Amanda: Well, I thought they did a really nice job. They treated us well. They were very open and respected us as artists. When I was originally asked to be part of the album, I said, “Well, I’d love to lend my voice to the project and be alongside Michael Kiske, of course. It’s a great honor. But, is there any room for me to contribute anything creatively? Because I’m as much a songwriter as I am a singer.” And [Frontiers] was like, “Yeah, sure!” And three of my songs ended up on that album, which I thought was really great. And [Frontiers] was so enthusiastic about the project, and just the way they went about the promotion and everything, I just had a good feeling about them.
And [Avantasia and Aina guest singer/guitarist] Oliver Hartmann, I’ve worked with Ollie for a number of years. He was under their label. And Jorn [Lande, who sings on the Trillium song “Scream It”] and Bob Catley, they had shared their experiences of working with Frontiers and the guys who work at the label. It was all very positive. It was by a different record company that I was approached last year about this solo metal project. I ended up turning them down and then went to Frontiers and asked if they would be interested because I was so impressed with them as a record label and the job that they had done. So, that’s how I came to go with them.
Sara: I’ve read that there’s a chance you may be touring next year for Trillium. Is this true?
Amanda: This is totally true! So far, it’s just a European tour that’s in the planning. But, I really hope to get over to North America as well. I’m going to work on that very hard. But I can’t divulge the details, unfortunately! We’re still kind of in the business negotiation process and everything, so I can’t publicly announce it yet. But, those are the ballpark plans anyway. So, yeah, I’m really excited to bring this live on stage.
Sara: Would it be a headlining tour or opening for someone else?
Amanda: I’ll have to see. Probably opening would make more sense, but I’m not sure at this point.
Sara: I did see on your Myspace page recently that there were some tour dates for January 2012.
Amanda: Yes.
Sara: I’m guessing those must be for something different?
Amanda: Those are for Rock Meets Classic.
Sara: So you’re doing that again?
Amanda: Yes!
Sara: Cool!
Amanda: It’s going to be a lot of fun. It’s not something that brings me further as a solo artist necessarily, but it’s a lot of fun. You make a lot of connections with people. The audience is great. And the songs – oh! How can you pass up an opportunity to go on tour with these great artists and do all these classic songs and stuff? It’s a lot of fun.
Sara: I’ve got two more questions for you, Amanda, and then we’ll be done. The first of those two questions is: Do you think you’ll do another pop/rock album in the future like Windows? Or, could Trillium be the start of a new and permanent path for you?
Amanda: Oh, no! Like I said, I had not only these metal songs that had piled up since 2007, but I also have another 50 songs in the direction of Windows. And I go through so many different moods and phases; I also wrote some pop songs while I was working on Trillium. So, I don’t think that this is going to be a permanent path for me. Just as I have become comfortable living in Europe and I can’t see myself – though I miss going back to the States, and I go back to the States several months out of the year – I can’t picture myself living in one place permanently forever and never ever going anywhere else! It’s the same thing musically for me. This is definitely a new chapter in my life and my career that is opening up, and it will stay that way. But, it’s not that I’m going to discard anything in place of that.
Sara: You’re quite the multi-tasker, aren’t you? Writing pop songs while you’re working on a metal album. Wow! (laughs)
Amanda: Yeah! (laughs)
Sara: Well, looking at the time, I’d say we should wrap up the interview. Thank you very much for your time, Amanda. In closing, what would you like to say to your fans and to our readers at Sonic Cathedral?
Amanda: Well, as always, I thank them from the bottom of my heart for all their support and interest in the things that I’m doing. It’s a great honor. And I can only keep on doing this with their support, and the love and generosity from people like you. So, I really appreciate it, and I hope that I can come and present these songs to you live and meet you in person someday!
Sonic Cathedral thanks Amanda for taking the time to talk to us again! Also, many thanks to Dustin Hardman and Elio Bordi at Frontiers Records for arranging the interview.
Check out the following websites for more information on Trillium and Amanda Somerville:
