Soneraf's Blog

WELSH METALCORE MAVENS BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE

soneraf — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:19:47 +0000

WELSH METALCORE MAVENS BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE AREN’T JUST SPENDING THEIR PRE-SUMMER DAYS PREPPING FOR THEIR FIRST MAYHEM STINT-THEY’RE ALSO RACING TO FINISH THE FOLLOW-UP TO LAST YEAR’S SCREAM AIM FIRE (JIVE). FRONTMAN MATT TUCK CHECKED IN FROM THE STUDIO.

You guys are no strangers to the summer-festival circuit, both here in the States and in Europe.

MATT TUCK We take every opportunity given to us, but being part of a metal festival with bands like Slayer and Killswitch Engage is definitely a good thing. It’s a chance for hardcore metal fans who might’ve been afraid to stray into our world to see us live. We’re there to make new fans.

You’re at work right now on your third studio disc. What’s the latest? We wanna have the album tracked by the beginning of Mayhem so we can be done with it and just enjoy the tour. Then it’ll be mixed while we’re away, and hopefully we’ll have it out by the end of October.

It’s difficult, because we’re living with it every day. But I think the new stuff is a lot more like [2005's] The Poison than Scream Aim Fire — it’s eerier and darker. We’re going back to the original stuff we used to write about. It’s kind of a schizophrenic album: The heavy stuff is completely brutal and the mellower stuff is super mellow. It’s really diverse, but everything’s sitting together really well.

Will you be playing new songs on the road?

Yeah. Hopefully, we’ll be able to stick in one or two.

Any fears about the economy affecting people’s ability to buy tickets for Mavhem?

What we found out from touring all of last year and the beginning of this year is that the economy doesn’t seem to affect live music. I don’t know what it’s like in the States, but hard-rock and metal fans are the most dedicated in the world —I’m sure if people wanna come they’re gonna com

Speaking of end times, is the current economic crisis good for metal? Or does it drive people to happier, more reassuring music?

soneraf — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:17:47 +0000

Depends on the person. Metal might be a good thing, or it might be a trigger. If things keep going the way they’ve gone —if people keep getting upset about not being able to go to the store and buy food —people will get agitated about stuff. manson If you’re looking for an inflammatory statement, I’ll make it simple: My single is called “Arma-goddamn-motherfuckin-geddon,” and in the song I say, “Fuck the TV and the radio/I’m taking credit for the death toll.” When it comes to anybody in music who’s ever gotten blamed for people getting killed — besides the Beatles, who got blamed first with “Helter Skelter” —I think in this room we’ve got the Billboard greatest hits. If they wanna blame me for the death toll, I’ll take the Grammy for that. But that’s not the point of it.

Twiggy and I are back together

soneraf — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:06:40 +0000

He’s the person who introduced me to Slayer, so it kind of takes it back to a childhood dream come true.When I played with you guys last year, with Twiggy in the band, it was just a different entity. It’s like old-school Manson: It’s got way more danger than it had when we toured together the first time.

Right, and that’s where we’re at now. This record was as easy as getting back with my best friend and just making music. It’s not about something that’s cool or dark or heavy or noncommercial or anything against the mainstream; that doesn’t exist anymore. It’s just about people who want to enjoy life and who understand that the world’s fucked up. We make music for those kinds of people, because we are those kinds of people.

How does mayhem differ

soneraf — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:02:33 +0000

How does mayhem differ from some of the other american matt heafy Mayhem’s more of a youthful thing, I think. Compared to Ozzfest, for instance, it’s not about the same headliner every year. I mean, it rules to see Black Sabbath every year, but what’s great about this is that it’s something younger—it’s about what’s going on right now. And it really gives bands like us a chance to get in front of more people, which is awesome, since in the U.S. it’s definitely harder for a metal band to do well. In the States, it’s all about radio and TV, which our band is always gonna be too heavy for.

You guys have shared stages with most of this year’s bands, right? Yeah, we’ve toured with more of them than not. God Forbid actually brought us on our first tour ever, at the end of 2004, so it’ll be great to catch up with them. The Bullet guys, too. We haven’t seen them in two years or so, and we’ve been talking about touring together since 2005. And I’m really excited to see Whitechapel live.

Are you seeing the recession impact the music world?

It seems like music is doing fine. I did a tour of the Gibson plant recently, and that day they had sold hundreds of guitars alone. I was like, “Wow, the economy isn’t affecting you guys at all, huh?” And when we did the Slipknot tour, their numbers were higher than ever during the middle of this slump when everything’s supposed to be going down.

Might metal earn some new fans as a result of people’s frustrations over

It’s definitely possible. If I had just lost my job and had my house foreclosed and my business shut down, I definitely would rather be listening to metal than hip-hop or Disney pop or some crap like that.

The High End of Low has a confrontational energy to it that your last album, 2007′s Eat Me, Drink Me, lacked.

soneraf — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:58:46 +0000

We had a choice, which was the same choice as throughout my career when all these bands bought distortion pedals and seven-string guitars: Do you wanna make a heavy record or a hard record? Compare it to your dick: Do you want a heavy dick or a hard one? A hard one you can do things with; a heavy one is just burdensome. So heavy music is uncreative, whereas hard is what punk brought, what Slayer started with, and what I wanna do. I think hard is about being the point of music; heavy is just a tone. Everyone can sound really heavy. There’s only so heavy you can get; there’s only so many knobs you can turn up on a guitar. It’s what you do with it, what you say on top of it —and that’s really the place where we found ourselves agreeing last time we toured together.

Dude employs a wine-glass wrangler.

soneraf — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:49:34 +0000

Yes, folks, it’s true: As the shock-rock veteran poses for our camera, he occasionally stretches his hand toward a helpful-looking young fellow whose only job appears to be passing Manson a goblet filled with a few fingers of Mansinthe, the neon-green absinthe that he produces in Switzerland. Slayer guitarist Kerry King, Killswitch Engage singer Howard Jones, Trivium frontman Matt Heafy — each arrived at our shoot with a publicist or manager (or both) in tow. Tom Araya even brought his wife and kids, who watch the Slayer frontman throw devil horns with the seen-it-all indifference of a bunch of roadies. But only Manson rolled up with a guy to hold his cup.

Of course, if that’s the kind of excess it takes to produce work as brilliantly twisted as Manson’s new The High End of Low (Interscope) —his first album with bassist Twiggy Ramirez since 2000′s Holy Wood, and the only one so far this year to lead with a single titled “Arma-goddamn-motherfuckin-geddon” — then we wholeheartedly endorse the practice. In fact, if the economy doesn’t improve, we might even consider applying for the gig.

Fortunately for headbangers with money problems of their own, this year’s Mayhem lineup promises a seriously righteous bang-to-buck ratio: In addition to Manson, Slayer, Killswitch, and Trivium, the month-long trek —which kicks off July 10 in Sacramento and wraps up August 15 in Dallas —also features Bullet for My Valentine, Job for a Cowboy, All That Remains, Cannibal Corpse, Behemoth, God Forbid, Whitechapel, the Black Dahlia Murder, and Mushroom-head. Thirsty for details (and maybe a little Mansinthe), Revolver sat down with Manson, King, and Araya, as well as a handful of other Mayhem heavy-hitters, for a series of in-depth chats about what showgoers can expect.

Marilyn Manson

soneraf — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:43:28 +0000

This isn’t the first time Marilyn Manson and Slayer have hit the road together. You guys also did a coheadlining tour in 2007. Given that you’re joining forces again, is it safe to assume that experience was a good one? marilyn manson It was a great one, so great that after that, Kerry ended up playing guitar on a couple of songs at my shows [in 2008], which was awesome. So all in all there was no reason whatsoever not to do it again. I mean, what else are you gonna do this summer? I’d like to hear a suggestion: What’s better than going to see Marilyn Manson and Slayer? Answer that and I’ll fight you. And when I say that, I mean that they’ll fight you. [7b King] He’s the muscle kerry king Or the girth, at least. I don’t know if it’s muscle.