Check out these photos of Grave Digger touring the Old City of Jerusalem today taken by friend and awesome photographer of Metal Israel, Oleg Hmelnits. Click on the photo above to see.

Internationally acclaimed hip-hop artist and producer White Shadow Of Norway speaks to Metal Israel regarding his experiences growing up close to Norway’s metal scene, the effects of mass media on people’s sanity, metal influence in his hip-hop, breaking into the NYC hip-hop scene and a bunch of other topics. Check out his bio and discography here. No joke. It’s a fascinating read. A huge thanks to Metal Israel’s correspondent Bela Nagy, who is always providing MI with quality news and interviews. Sorry it took so long to edit, bro. DFL.

MI: You’ve got a fair 3-decade experience in the music industry…please summarize the milestones in your career you keep the most important…

WS: Discovering, and falling in love with music much thanks to my dad (RIP). Learning how to DJ, make beats, and produce well, and developing my own styles. Being lucky enough to be able to DJ at parties and clubs from when I was about ten years old. Winning the Norwegian DMC DJ battles in 88 and 89, and being in the world DMC finals the same years. Moving to New York in the early 90′s, and becoming a part of the NY hip-hop scene back then as well as rockin’ all the biggest clubs there, and producing and doin’ cuts on records. One of them “Hangin’ Tree” happened to end up in the Last Action Hero movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger. I guess Sony had the mad connects (laughs). Starting my own label Uncut Productions in 1995. Making, and releasing several successful albums on my own label, and get to work with some of the finest hip-hop artists of all time: legends and underground. Being able to still continue, and make dope music, and release records from now…’til infinity.

MI: You are from Norway, a country with a really huge heavy music history. As far as I know, you are influenced by it, tell us something about that…

WS: Metal was one of the genres I grew up on in the 70′s, and 80′s, and by the early 90′s when I moved back from New York Norway had sorta resurrected the Black Metal styles that started with bands like Venom and Bathory, and had taken it several steps further so I got into that from hangin’ out with some people who were into that, one of them a member of one of the most well known Black Metal bands nowadays, so I got to be around it without being in the middle of it so to speak, but close enough to it so that I heard about stuff like the church burnings, the killings, etc. before the media picked up on it, and when they did it all went haywire which is the exact opposite of what most people into it wanted, I mean, very few of them wanted it to become as mainstream as it did, and just about none of the core members burned churches, but you know how it goes once the media gets onto something, and blows it outta proportions, and yeah that’s exactly what they did, so at that time the police might pull you over if you was a guy with long black hair, and if you wore occult symbols and stuff, so it got crazy, and it’s funny cause all that madness is what made the scene interesting to people outside of Norway, but at the same time it broke up, and ruined the scene in a lot of ways like it’s hard to keep goin’ when you get shut down by the police all the time.
Same thing happened a lot with hip-hop, so I saw parallels between the two cultures though they were way different as well. They were both really underground in Norway in the early-mid 90′s., and really aggressive. They were the kids against a system and society which was apparently perfect but kinda Illuminati like with an elite state that was in control of all the money, and riches, and a society where everything was being laid out for you like go to school, behave well, get a proper education so that you can get a nice job and get paid well, get a wife, have some kids, etc…you know the routine, and if that isn’t something for kids to rebel against then what is?

Another thing I like about both scenes is the opposition against all authority, and that we don’t give a fuck but gonna do things our way outside of the system type attitude, so as far as Black Metal, I wasn’t right in the middle of it but close enough. I got to visit the Hell shop once but it was after Euronymous died so they were naturally closed down, but the Welcome To Hell album cover was still in the window along with the hours they were open. From noon til like 7pm I think, and a friend and I went to a second hand vinyl shop the same day that happened to have gotten Euronymous’ record collection in for sale just that day. Me I wasn’t all that much into Metal at the time as far as buying records and stuff, but I think my friend picked some gems from that collection.
Another thing that got me involved with people into Black Metal was my love for Horror movies. Up until the early 2000′s most of them were totally banned in Norway, and titles like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Cannibal Holocaust, the Argento and Fulci flicks, Faces Of Death, and so on would get you in trouble if you owned them, and of course you couldn’t buy them at the video shops cause they were all banned so there was an underground who would trade, and sell movies, that I was a part of…mostly buying a lot! (laughs). It was all VHS tapes, and dupes of them back then so some friends would have like 4 VCR’s running day and night copying movies, then they advertised in mags and papers and sold them. To some it became good business so the police would start becoming aware, and would be interested in shutting that scene down for several reasons. First they were banned movies, second, illegal bootlegs were sold, and third the dealers would make a lot of money, and finally of course they didn’t pay taxes either from that, so if the police heard you had banned movies they would raid your home, confiscate the movies, and press charges, so there was always this fear of if we’d get to keep our beloved Horror classics.

I never got busted but at some point most of my friends were so I stashed all my movies at my mom’s house in boxes for a while (laughs). It was totally ridiculous when you think about everything being available on DVD, and online now, but that was only the 90′s so it’s not long ago. What it was really about however was that the governments had finally found the ultimate scapegoat, and would blame any crime on Horror movies. Like..ok, so this kid raped his sister – he watched Horror movies all day. That kid went on a rampage and killed ten people…they found out he had watched Horror movies every day. Some politicians even claimed that Horror movies were a worse threat to mankind than nuclear war. You know what I mean. The hysteria was totally crazy! But there it was man…the ultimate scapegoat.
I’m happy that’s over with now, and that even the censors can see a masterpiece like say Cannibal Holocaust, or The Beyond for what they truly are which is great Horror movies, but back then they were outlawed, and you were looked at as a little crazy if you had too many of them around your house, and that’s the power of mass media for you. It can quickly turn into mass hysteria as it all started with TV documentaries about that kids rented the most violent Horror movies, and so they became a threat to their health according to the media, and then society as a whole because of that, but you know, as happy as I am that those days are over. It also made it special to know that you were part of something considered not all that normal by most people in society, and the fact that it was illegal but not THAT much I mean it wasn’t like you were a killer or a thief, but just a little illegal, added to the excitement of a bunch of teens to early 20′s like us back then.

MI: Metal music is still important in Norway, I mean the kids are looking for it, or you feel that the trends are taking over every year?

WS: I think there’s a scene for just about anything now including Metal. There’s not much Black Metal that gives me that same raw feel like the early bands with a few exceptions. I like that no holds
barred super aggressive, and lo-fi sound of the early 90′s the most, and it’s rare to find that much of it nowadays. Black Metal like most other genres became trendy too, and seeing bands like Dimmu Borgir on the top of the Pop charts here was a weird feeling, but at the end of the day I’m happy more people in general get into more underground types of music cause it shows people are developing their own tastes, and doesn’t just follow what the mainstream tells them to like.

MI: With your music, do you try to put out the same energic vibe as metal does?

WS: Yes to a certain degree, but I’m actually not a fan of too much fuzzy overdrive guitars and stuff in hip-hop. It can work but in most cases it really doesn’t so gotta be careful how much to include that in hip-hop beats, but kept moderate it can be dope.

MI: You run your own record label Uncut Productions. Why did you decide to cut any middle man?

WS: If you want it done right do it yourself, and if you can’t handle the whole weight make sure your team is your fam! (laughs). Uncut started as a label releasing my own mixtapes in 1995, then I signed a couple of acts and put out some cd-singles, then I put out my vinyl EP Back to the True School in 2003, then my albums, as well as I signed Mark Deez, and Infinito 2017 to one album deals. I like running it all myself cause I get to make all the decisions, if I fuck up there’s no one to blame but me, and if I do well there’s no one to pay but me.

MI: In the ’90s you lived in New York, doing it big as a club DJ. What are your experiences from that era?

WS: I went there in the first place to learn and experience where hip-hop came from, and why, so I got a much better understanding of that, that’s kinda hard to explain if you haven’t lived there for quite some time yourself, but hip-hop was much more a part of peoples’ lives there than in the EU when I lived there in the early/mid 90′s. You’d hear it from every car, building, store, you had cats freestylin’ on the streets, all the clubs was playin’ that real shit back then, and just being in the middle of it all gradually made me feel why it started, and why it developed in the directions it did. Plus being in The Bronx and seeing firsthand the poverty, the burnt out buildings, the miles and miles of garbage dumps right next to the main streets, hearing gunshots up the block, and feeling a general fear in the people there, and the same goes for Brownsville, Brooklyn especially, just made me feel that it was obvious that something as creative, and competitive as hip-hop had to originate in that environment cause you know the saying that people are at their most creative when times are hard, and they also push it to survive harder in such an environment.

I also learnt the music biz from the inside from hangin’ out at the major labels like Elektra, and Atlantic, plus some of the bigger hip-hop labels like Profile, Def Jam, and Tommy Boy, and it was during that time I more or less decided I didn’t ever want to be a part of the mainstream record biz but do it independently, cause I’ve always been more into music than business to be honest, but things were better even at the majors back then than now as you had A&R’s like Dante Ross (Elektra), Funkmaster Flex (Profile), Clark Kent (Atlantic), and those were people who knew hip-hop culture, and were parts of it as they either dj’d or produced, and they’re the reason why the majors signed the good artists in that era, and that’s all it takes really. You have to have people from the hip-hop culture on the inside of the big labels, and business cause how else are they gonna know if it’s hip-hop Hiphop or not?

That, low sales, and greed is why the majors sign the wackest shit now. Because it’s easier to manipulate those artists cause they want money and material things a lot more than a KRS-One, or Brand Nubian did, but times done changed, and for the time being the major labels and big corporations aren’t touching anything that even smells of real hip-hop or underground styles of hip-hop, so I guess we gotta force ‘em then (laughs) or better yet just do it all ourselves.

But you know, all that negativity, yeah there was a lot of that in New York, and at the time I lived there it was really dangerous as well, and especially hangin’ out at clubs when there was a hip-hop related party cause someone would shoot up the place quite often. There was a murder rate of an average of six crime related killings every day, and every other crime, and atrocity you can think up, but there was also a lot of love in New York, a lot of unity, and a lot of good times, and people in New York showed respect where due like when I got there all I had to do was show that I knew what time it was with hip-hop, and show that I had skills, and the love for it, and I got that love back so in a lot of ways I’d say it was easier to me to get into the core of the hip-hop scene there than I thought it’d be before I got there, and also not as dangerous.

Like, it was rarely the wild wild west you know what I mean (laughs), where you had to dodge bullets and what have you lol, but yeah it happened, but the most important to me was to finally find a music scene, and people that were into the same things I was, and find a big scene for it, as in Norway the scene was crazy super-duper small all the way up until around 2000.
I left New York when I had accomplished what I wanted which was to live in the place where hip-hop started, to get a deeper understanding of it, and to become a part of the New York hip-hop scene, plus of course kill it as much as I could DJ’ing, and makin’ beats, so when that was acoomplished it was time to move on. I had to get deeper into the art of beatmakin’ as well, and I’m the kind of guy who needs peace and quiet to be creative so I moved back to Norway, and have no desire to move back to New York cause I don’t wanna fuck with the memories of being there in what’s now called the golden era of hip-hop, but at the same time, New York is in my heart man, and I represent NY as much, if not more, than Norway.
Back then I’d recommend anyone heavy into hip-hop to go do the same but nowadays you don’t have to, I mean the golden era, it’s over. There’s still a lot happening though, and you can still go there and hear the old school artists rock clubs etc, but from what people tell me it isn’t the same as it was as when it was all new.

But to sum my long ass reply up! (laughs) Yes fam. It was quite the experience, and to a country-dude from Norway like me who was heavy into hip-hop it was like goin’ to heaven…or heaven, and hell at the same time. (laughs)

MI: You are part of the fresh album from Snowgoons, “The Iron Fist”. How you got involved in the project?

WS: We’ve been in touch since the early 2000′s, and produced records on some of the same labels like Grooveattack in Germany, and we worked with some of the same artists like Maylay Sparks, and Donald D. A few years ago we talked about doing a 12″ single together where we produced one side each, and it would feature various emcees from the US, however different missions, plus budgets, and vinyl sales went down the tubes as the internet, and digital dj equipment got bigger came along, so it never happened, but we’ve been in touch over the years, Snowgoons, and Sicknature produced on Mark Deez’s The Oracle album which was released on my label Uncut Productions, and so I returned the favor by producing, and doing cuts for a track for The Iron Fist album, and it’s most likely not the last time you’ll hear us work together. We’re all from Europe too, and we have similar styles of production, and the same vision when it comes to makin’ that raw hardcore hip-hop so us working together wasn’t a big surprise to most people I guess.

MI: Outside of the groups from Norway, what are your other favourite metal bands, past and present?

WS: I pretty much grew up on Disco, Funk, and Old School Hiphop so Metal is a side-genre to me, but growin’ up I was a fan of Kiss, Motorhead, AC/DC, Ozzy, Dio, Iron Maiden,Venom, Metallica, Mercyful Fate, Bathory, Slayer, Kreator, Morbid Angel, Megadeth, Guns & Roses, and the Norwegian bands TNT, Mayhem, Dark Throne, Burzum, and lately Gorgoroth, and Gahlskaag.

MI: At the time when hip-hop and metal/hardcore got mixed how did you think about them? In this case, I mean the likes of Anthrax/Public Enemy or the Judgment Night soundtrack…

WS: My first memory of that was Run-DMC’s Rockbox, King Of Rock, Walk This Way, etc, The Beastie Boys’ Rock Hard, Fight For Your Right, BDP’s Dope Beat, and when Public Enemy sampled Slayer’s Angel Of Death for She Watch Channel Zero, and I loved all that, but from when PE teamed up with Anthrax, and it became its own genre I think it started to become a bit mediocre, and corny like…ok, this worked well a few times, so yeah!..Let’s make a whole genre! (laughs). That was takin’ it a bit too far I think.

MI: And then what about the Limp Bizkit/Linkin Park’s?

WS: Nah, not feelin’ them at all. No disrespect, just personal taste.

MI: What are the projects you are workin on now?

WS: The Iron Fist album by The Snowgoons feat. Savage Bros. & Lord Lhus just dropped. I produced the track called Return Of The Fist featuring Virtuoso, my fam Grindhouse Gang’s album titled Militia Of Emcees also just dropped, and I produced the joint Crazy (Goin’ Bananas) on that, GHG is Mark Deez, Lord Lhus, Dr. ILL, and Powder. I also produced tracks on the new albums by Klive Kraven, La Dog, and Lt. Mana from Goldminded Records, and I released my Instrumentals 2 album on April 15th that you can get here along with all my other albums. It’s got instrumental versions of tracks from Destiny, Victory, Iron Fist, The Oracle, and more on there. Right now I’m workin’ with a lot of different artists. Some will drop, some won’t so I’m not gonna namedrop for now, but I spend most my time now workin’ on my next producer album featuring various artists which will drop in 2012, maybe sooner.

MI: Last thoughts to the readers of Metal Israel?

WS: Rock on! Peace.

Ahead of their third Israeli tour, English rock band Deep Purple took a stand against other musicians who cancel their concerts in Israel due to politics, saying artists should not take sides in political conflicts, with drummer Ian Paice calling these musicians “real wimps.”

The band spoke at a press conference Wednesday ahead of two concerts they are due to perform in Caesarea on Saturday and Sunday. This visit is Deep Purple’s third Israeli tour. The last time they visited was in 2008, when they played four concerts to full crowds of cheering fans.

In this photo taken Sunday, May 8, 2011, Fans of British rock bad Deep Purple react during a concert in Nicosia, Cyprus.

Photo by: AP

Deep Purple’s vocalist Ian Gillen stressed to reporters that musicians should remain impartial in political disputes, and likened this to making the assumption that Deep Purple supported all of Tony Blair’s policies because they gave a concert in London ten years ago.

Guitarist Steve Morse quipped that left-wing groups did not know what to say to them when they refused to cancel performances in Israel. Saying that in any case, Deep Purple doesn’t respect politicians in their native England, and questioned why their attitude would be any different in other countries.

The band also talked about how it feels to have spent so many years in the limelight. Gillen described the change from the early days of the band, when things seemed far less complicated, to today when he needs to ask for his wife’s permission before going tour.

Gillen also acknowledged that the band is a product of its time and that there is a difference between their music and what is being produced by new bands today. Touching on other aspects of popular culture, he criticized the unnatural way in which reality TV makes people into stars overnight.

Deep Purple also sent a message to their Israeli fans – they are looking forward to performing in what is sure to be an exciting show.

A huge thanks to Carise Yatter and Eli Levin for hooking me up with this…to be printed (translated, I think) in Israel’s only full color blast metal print magazine, Rockpoint!

Our country is so weak and pathetic. That’s the reason why our country’s in the state it’s in. My dad was a World War II vet, he was an orphan, his sister died in the orphanage, he went from the orphanage straight to Normandy, winter, spent four and half years in the war, got blown up, the whole nine yards. Got a steel plate in his leg, a hearing aid, the whole nine yards. Married his first wife Marilyn, she passed away with Lou Gehrig’s disease, married my mother – she died the same day Marilyn died – I mean, my dad never saw a psychiatrist. He was just like, “Well, gotta go to work today.” And that’s that. It’s like “Doesn’t it bother you?” “Yeah, I’m very upset, but what do you want me to do? You want me to stick a gun in my mouth and blow my head off? What do you want me to do?” Tough shit, suck it up, and get on with it. Tough luck, you know what I mean?

…

ZW: Hey, what’s going on? Is Aviva there?

MI: That’s me!

ZW: Hey, how are you doing, doll?

MI: First of all, congratulations on quitting drinking. I saw on your bio that you said it’s no big deal. But it’s a huge deal.

ZW: Not in Black Label. I mean, the whole thing is that everybody around here is not a candy ass. It’s like anything. If you’re going to learn how to play the guitar, stop drinking or stop smoking, or whatever, I don’t need to spend $20,000 to go to a rehab. I’m going to just like seriously STOP. (laughs) Cause at the end of the day, that’s all they’re gonna tell you there anyways. I mean, you already know. Seriously. And everyone’s like oh do you miss it or not, I mean, no. It’s like I still go to bars, I still go to Hooters, i still hang out with the guys, I just don’t… I mean it’s like Tiger Woods. Sex rehab? I mean give me a break. He didn’t do anything wrong. The only thing (where) he does have a disease? He’s got a wife and two kids. That’s his disease. It’s like, no you can’t be having sex with other chicks, dude, unless the wife’s in on it. You know, what I mean? But it’s like, what’s he gonna go to sex rehab for? What did he do wrong? If he was a single guy, he’s the greatest golfer that’s ever lived, he’s a billionaire, and if he was a single guy he’s living every guy’s wet dream. He could bang any chick he wants on the planet. And they’ll all do it for nothing.

(If for some strange reason Tiger Woods wanted an overgrown Jewish chick – me – I wouldn’t touch him even if I wasn’t married but whatever – ed.)

He’s living the life, I mean and the whole thing is, going to sex rehab is not going to fix this guy. (laughs) Four on one, that’s even better. You know what I mean? But that’s our country. Our country is so weak and pathetic. That’s the reason why our country’s in the state it’s in. My dad was a World War II vet, he was an orphan, his sister died in the orphanage, he went from the orphanage straight to Normandy, winter, spent four and half years in the war, got blown up, the whole nine yards. Got a steel plate in his leg, a hearing aid, the whole nine yards. Married his first wife Marilyn, she passed away with Lou Gehrig’s disease, married my mother – she died the same day Marilyn died – I mean, my dad never saw a psychiatrist. He was just like, “Well, gotta go to work today.” And that’s that. It’s like “Doesn’t it bother you?” “Yeah, I’m very upset, but what do you want me to do? You want me to stick a gun in my mouth and blow my head off? What do you want me to do?” Tough shit, suck it up, and get on with it. Tough luck, you know what I mean?

MI: Yeah, that’s awesome. That’s also the Israeli mentality.

ZW: That’s – Black Label is bigger than a band. It’s a mentality. That’s it. It’s its own religion. And so, it’s just like, people are like, “Oh, you got the blood clots” and this n that, and I go, well, I never thought to myself “Oh, well, why me?” In Black Label, it’s more like “Why not? Bring it. Is that all you got?” You can bitch and moan about everything but complaining does not fit in my – I don’t have enough seconds in my day to sit around and bitch and moan about everything. It’s just like. “Alright, well, tough shit, we got a flat tire, this sucks.” Well yeah, it does suck, but we can talk about it all day or we can fix the fucking thing. What do you want to do? Just shut the fuck up and let’s get going here.

MI: So, well what do you live for – I mean, I read that you quit drinking because the doctor said you wouldn’t live to hit 50 if you didn’t… so what makes you want to live?

ZW: Yeah, well it’s not only that. The drinking… the bottom line is like the doctor told me to quit, and you know, it’s just like it used to be the point where I was having fun with the drinking, and then the drinking started having fun with me. So I was just kind of like, “You know what, man, it’s time to say goodbye.” You know what I mean? So it’s just like an old friend or anything like that. Of course, I’m going to miss it, because it’s just like you know I went to one of these AA meetings and it’s just nothing but depression and I go, “Guys, I gotta be honest with you, I’m sorry. I can’t tell you any bad stories! The only stories I have of boozin’ with my buddies and us hanging out is good times. I never lost everything and I’m not in the same place where you guys are at. I never woke up everyday going “I feel sick and tired, I’m feeling sad-” I’m sorry. That’s just pussy ass candy ass shit. I never felt that way. I just wake up kinda still buzzed from the night before from us having a great time, and I’d just crack a couple of more beers and I’d feel human again. And then just get on with the rest of the day. Go get something to eat, go hit the gym, what time are we going on stage? I never was like, I never had any problem. We still answered the bell like all the time. I never missed a show – the whole nine yards. So, I don’t know. But then again, I never did drugs or all that other stuff, so… it’s just like anybody, it just got old, and that’s that.

MI: You haven’t gotten “old”. Black Label’s been around a while, since what, since ’98?

ZW: Yeah, 1998.

MI: So do you have a plan for what you’re doing with Black Label or is it just like, off-the-cuff creatively? (Thanks, Paulie! – ed.)

ZW: No. Well, the whole thing is that Black Label is bigger than a band. It’s a mentality and it’s just, you know, one gigantic family. Like I said, we don’t have fans, it’s a family. We’re one of those bands, the whole mentality is kinda like how the Grateful Dead is, you got all the Deadheads, and it’s just like we all roll together, y’know what I’m saying? It’s just its own universe, you know what I mean? It’s pretty much the same thing with Black Label.

MI: That idea kinda goes towards the charity project you’re doing – what is it, St. Jude’s?

(The first-ever BLS Chr!stmas tune, “The First Noel” is available now on iTunes. The track is a beautiful instrumental which highlights Wylde’s prowess on the acoustic guitar. Black Label Society’s proceeds from sales of the single will be donated to The Zakk and Barbaranne Wylde Foundation at St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, a charity The Wyldes have long supported. Click here to purchase the track.)

ZW: Yeah, yeah. Me and my wife… our parents always gave to St. Jude’s and everything like that, so now that we’re in the position to help out.. you know, that’s just the Black Label way. If you’re in a position where you can help someone, you do it. Just do the right thing, you know what I mean?

MI: That’s cool. OK, let me ask you about the video. The video is awesome. It’s HILARIOUS. Where did you get this idea from?

ZW: Well, you could always do…the thing with us is that it’s always like, “Well, what do you want to do? Do you want to do another stupid video where it’s just the band playing and it’s just lame and you’ve seen it a million times?” I said “Fuck that, let’s just do something as gay as possible, that we can possibly do.” So we’re keeping it gay, man. The whole thing is just keeping it gay, really gay. With us, a running joke around here is that we’re not going to die in a bizarre gardening accident, or a drug OD, or suicide, you know, that’s not an option in Black Label. The whole thing is, you know what we’re gonna do? We’re gonna die just of cardiac arrest of laughter around here. It’s just like, someone is always laughing his balls off, so I just said “Let’s just do a goofy ass video.” How many times can you sit there with me playing the guitar, we’ve done that a trillion times, man. And then all you gotta do is just watch other videos from other bands and it’s that same boring garbage I’ve seen a million times.

MI: (Laughing) You were in the spandex, doing the moves.

ZW: Without a doubt. It was pathetic.

MI: Naaa it was cool. What did I want to ask you… do you have plans to join up with Vinnie Paul in the future? Like, to do the supergroup? Probably, everyone asks you this, but I never heard a real response…

ZW: Naw.. I’m good. I love Vinnie. Vinnie’s a brother and everything like that. He’s a Black Label brother. I love him. We talked about doing Hellyeah and Black Label going out together but I love Vinnie, Rita, that whole camp, you know what I mean? I saw Rex not too long ago cause they had the Down thing going over in England, and we were doing a festival on a Saturday and I think they were doing it on a Sunday. So I saw Rex, caught up with him, saw how he was doing with the wife and kids, and everything’s cool with those guys. So it’s just like… I love them and I wish them all the best, but I know Vinnie is just out there whooping ass right now with the Hellyeah guys, and those are the Mudvayne guys, who are supercool guys as well, to work with them. Hopefully, we’ll hook up at some point and do a tour together.

MI: Cool… my friend Shirley Naor wants to know, what guitarist made you pick up a guitar? What was your influence?

ZW: My guitar teacher, Leroy Wright. I saw Leroy playing and it looked like the coolest thing in the world to do. It’s just like watching his hands and everything – the dude was playing all of my favorite bands. Black Sabbath, he played some Zeppelin for me, y’know. He played some Eddie Van Halen stuff, some Rush, and whatever. I was just like “this is the coolest thing on the planet.” So, it just looked so interesting to me and I was like “G-d, that’s what I want to do with my life.” That’s when I was 14. That’s when I got serious with it.

MI: Did you ever think you’d end up where you are now?

ZW: No, but I mean, people are just like, “When did you know you made it?” The whole thing is I just wanted to be a musician. Put it this way, and that’s the whole secret to life: if you’re making a living doing what you love then you’ll never work a day in your life. Ever. You know what I mean? So people are like “Oh, what’s the secret of life?” I go, “Find what it is you love.” You love animals? Then just be a vet, man. Take care of animals. That’s the coolest thing in the world, to save someone’s dog or something like that, that’s a family member. Whatever you have a passion for, you should go for it. Like I was doing porn for a while, and then I got married. So I had to stop that. (Laughs).

MI: Speaking of which, what’s with this “Bones” movie? I tried to look it up and I couldn’t find it anywhere…

ZW: It’s going to be coming out pretty soon. It’s just – they just contacted me and asked me if I wanted to do it. I was like, “Yeah, I have no problem,” you know what I mean? We just ended up knocking it out. I play, like, this mentor, the so-called older dude to Jimmy, who’s the star of the movie, and it’s just like…whenever you end up doing those projects, like a “Rock Star” thing or anything like that, it’s always a good time anyway. Everybody’s super cool that’s working on the thing, and it’s just.. if I asked you to be in a movie for me and i wanted you to be a drug dealer or something like that, you’d be like, “Yeah, no problem-”

MI: Yep! (yeah, keep me in mind, bro!!! – ed.)

ZW: Yeah, you’d have a good time with it, so like I said, it’s always a good time.

MI: Alright, cool (puts on accent) Let me talk about my country! Well, my other country. Israel! So, you know Ozzy went to Israel and he had a good time?

ZW: Yeah, Oz said he had a great time when he was over there. I talked to him not too long ago.

MI: Alright… what about you?! Would you go?

ZW: Yeah! I think we’re planning on going over to Israel and also I wanted to do a USO thing where we’re gonna do some gigs for the troops as well, so we’re trying to sort that out right now.

MI: That’s awesome! You’re talking to somebody now in Israel?

ZW: Yeah, my manager is. We’re trying to sort it out and see if we can make it happen.

MI: That’s really cool! I saw that thing on Twitter about USO shows… I threw it to you once… do you even read what people throw you on Twitter? You must get like hundreds of (tweets).

ZW: Yeah, yeah I talk to everybody. I’ll see when the tweets come in … I think it’s a great way to keep in touch with the whole, with the rest of our Black Label family. Everyone just writes, “Hey what the hell’s going on, I’m doing this today, and it’s like a whole Black Label Family gathering, meet and greet and all this other stuff. I think it’s way cool. We take shots of the shows, record some of the shows, tweet it, it’s cool. It’s just a great way to keep in touch with everybody, man.

MI: Is our time up yet?

ZW: What else you got?

MI: Actually that’s about it, except.. there is one other thing I wanted to ask you (very uncomfortably). And I do this with love, because I want you to know, I wore your sweater, the Black Label hoodie, two years straight in one of the most religious neighborhoods in Jerusalem and I didn’t give a fuck.

ZW: You can ask me, no problem.

MI: What’s your fascination with the Nazi shit? Like, you write about it a lot, and you put it a lot to the graphics, and whatever. What’s the deal? I don’t think you’re a Nazi or anything, G-d forbid, but why do you like it? What’s the deal with it?

ZW: I don’t even know what you’re talking about. What are you talking about?

MI: Like, a lot of the songs are like, “Final Solution” and “Death March” and all this shit, and I also read one time that Black Label, like the reason you called the band Black Label was after the order that put the Gestapo to shame and made them look like Boy Scouts or some shit? Is it true? Is it not true?

ZW: I don’t know, whatever. Lyric wise, I just fuckin’ write about war, religion, life in general, you know what I mean? My dad passing away, my dad died, I wrote a song about that channeling, so it’s just like -

MI: I’m sorry (about your dad)

ZW: – whatever is happening in my life, and stuff like that. So it’s just like reading stuff, and stuff that I’m into, you know what I mean? That’s what I’ll write about lyric wise, and you can never run out of ideas. I read a lot of autobiographies, I dig that, just reading about people’s lives and shit like that. I always find that really interesting. I’m like way into that, so like I said, war, religion and all that stuff. Usually, that’s the center of a lot of the lyrics I write.

MI: What’s the last thing you read?

ZW: What’s that, doll?

MI: What’s the last thing you read?

ZW: I’m actually reading that Led Zeppelin thing right now. The new one that came out? LZ 75? I’m checking that out right now.

MI: Cool! (lets out the fangirl gushing she held back for 15 minutes, says bye, etc.) ‎\,,/_{òÓ}_\,,/

Check out the Berzerkus Tour 18.10.2010 in Pittsburgh review here.

MI: Where are you now?

TS: We’re playing in Orlando, Florida.

MI: Awesome, how’s the tour going?

TS: It’s been great so far.

MI: You guys have been around for almost twenty years. I’d call you one of those legacy bands. Why do you think you’ve been around so long?

TS: I don’t know. It’s just something that we want to do, you know? We’ve never had a huge commercial success or really been a huge band. We just do it because we like playing shows, and people show up at our shows, and we’re just going to keep playing until people get sick of us.

MI: Mkay.. where do you see yourself in the next 20 years?

TS: In 20 years I’ll be 60, so hopefully I won’t be in an iron lung or in a wheelchair by then. I can see us going another 20 years easily. We might end up sounding like the Grateful Dead, but we’ll still be going.

MI: Yeah, you guys progress! First you had the punk sound, and now you have the blues sound, I call it, like Americana, because between the mix of your style and your lyrical content, you guys are different, completely different than a lot of things… you once said in one of your interviews that you kind of bite off of ZZ Top a little bit, but I don’t think so. You have your own sound.

TS: Yeah, I guess we do. We’re kind of doom Americana, right?

MI: I don’t know. It sounds good to me.

TS: I just made that up, right now.

MI: That’s pretty cool, though.

TS: Or maybe we’re just stoner blues? I don’t know what we are. I’ll go with doom Americana.

MI: DOOM. You’re happier than doom though. You’re chill. My husband said you sound like Entombed except less aggressive, because you take the blues and put it into the metal.

TS: (nonplussed) Like Entombed? What, that one album they did?

MI: I don’t know which one, I’m not an Entombed fan – he said it, because you take the blues and transport it into metal in a way that still keeps the integrity of the blues, but you’re more chill.

TS: Yeah, we’re not doomy and gloomy. I don’t know. I have no idea what we do. We just do it. It keeps constantly changing. There’s definitely a little bit more of a blues influence I think these days. Even though that’s been something that’s been there since the second album, really. But it’s come out a little bit more because the songs have more of a straightforward blues type progression going on, y’know?

MI: Cool. Your lyrical content also.. do you write the lyrics? Are you involved in that at all?

TS: No, Neil writes all the lyrics.

MI: Crazy shit! What is he reading? Amazing lyrics… you guys are completely unique. You guys have your own sound, your own thing, and it’s just…

TS: Well, yeah. The lyrics are definitely out there. There’s a lot that’s open to interpretation, I believe. But yeah, we do totally, luckily, try to have our own sound. Sometimes I just think we sound like a cross between Black Sabbath and Funkadelic.

MI: (laughs) Funkadelic is like one of those 70′s pimpin’ bands, like hip-hop…

TS: A little bit, yeah, George Clinton…

MI: How old are you guys?

TS: I’m 40. And the other guys are rapidly approaching 40 as well.

MI: Oh. That’s probably why you guys are unique – you’re able to take all of those old influences … what do you think of all those younger bands today that kinda fit into the box, do you think it’s an age thing or a generation thing… what do you think?

TS: Just the fact that we’re older and have been on tour for 20 years, we’ve just had a lot of time to hear different kinds of music and to really let that soak in, and to bring it out with our own. We originally started jamming live just because we were sick of playing our own songs and wanted something different, so I guess the whole sound kind of evolved with different types of music that we’d be listening to on tour, that those sounds would gradually creep into the live show.

MI: Is there anything that you listen to now that you thought you’d never listen to or that you’re just kinda surprised that you even like?

TS: You know what I’m actually surprised that I like? I totally missed out on them back in the 90′s. But we played two festivals with Faith No More. I thought they were awesome and I never really listened to them at all. I didn’t even give it a chance. I had no interest in listening to Faith No More.

MI: Really? They’re also kinda groundbreaking. I can see where that would work out. You have the same kinda, well, I don’t want to use the word unique again but you have that same “I ain’t going to fit into the box no matter what”, y’know?

TS: Yeah, I thought they were really great live.

MI: Speaking of jamming out, do you ever go with Zakk Wylde and jam out, because you have a serious reputation as a guitarist in your own right, so do you sit and show each other stuff, or whatever?

TS: You know what? We have been on tour with them for a month, and I have not hung out with him yet, so… he’s really busy, he has to do this whole huge meet and greet thing every day, and then you don’t see him ’til showtime. He’s a really busy guy. So the answer to that would be no.

MI: Alright, so back to jamming… something I noticed is that you guys seem to go pretty natural, you don’t really throw out a lot of effects, you just sound like a good ol’ stoner 70′s band sometimes. So how come? Why does that natural sound appeal to you vs. all of the tools and computer gadgets and everything that they have out there today?

TS: Well, I definitely use effects a lot when we’re jamming, for sure. But as far as that sound goes, as far as the guitar sound goes, I just like a big natural kind of guitar sound which a lot of 70′s amps have, that perfect tone, you know? You can just plug in a guitar, turn the amp up all the way and it sounds great. With the effects and all the gadgets and stuff, that’s something fun for playing around in your bedroom, but I think that once you get into a live situation, you need like a real loud amp as opposed to a big processed tone. That’s just my opinion.

MI: What about it speaks to you? Why? You have 100 bands out there cranking it with all the technical stuff, rocking it with their own thing, but there is something about it that appeals to you, y’know?

TS: It just sounds good. Early on we were into stuff like the Melvins, and stuff like (High on Fire) Matt Pike’s guitar tone kind of influenced me early on. Stuff like the Melvins, Sleep, Wino, the Obsessed and all that. It’s just a natural heavy guitar tone.

MI: So it’s like what you learned with, what you stuck with and what you like.

TS: Exactly.

MI: This is a little strange, but describe to me the anatomy of a jam. How does it work? What’s the feeling? How do you go with it?

TS: Well, with a lot of the songs that we play on this tour, we’ve jammed about a million times, and it’s just constantly changing, really. A lot of the times we’ll kind of like go off on one of the ends of our songs, the drum beat will change a little bit and then next thing you know we’re playing something that we never played before. But one of the main jams we did on this tour was “Cypress Grove” and that’s pretty much how it starts off. We do like the first two chords of that song and then it goes into a drum beat, and then Dan, our bass player will make up some totally different bass line out of the blue. And I’ll follow along with that for a little while, and then solo a little bit, and then we’ll come back into the solo. It’s not really rocket science or anything. There’s lots of 4s, lots of 8s. I mean, mostly with jamming you just have to be conscious of where the one is in the measure, and then just try to phrase it out and the 4/8 bars keep constantly changing, y’know.

MI: Cool! OK, and speaking of changing, you guys are going to be re-issuing a lot of your work in different formats, including vinyl. Why? What’s making you do it?

TS: Well, we just have the opportunity to do it. We’ve been on labels in the past that had absolutely no interest in putting out vinyl on a mass scale. So now that we own our own label and we got back the rights to our three DRT albums, we just have the opportunity to it and it’s something that’ll be cool. Looks cool, looks nice, and we’d figured we’d do it just because we can, because we own the rights to the albums.

MI: Why vinyl?

TS: It just looks cool. It just looks really nice. I mean, I’m not personally a huge vinyl collector, but I think it definitely looks cooler than buying a CD. At this point in the music industry, you may as well buy something with cool artwork as opposed to, I don’t know. You’re probably just going to download it anyway, so if people like it enough to buy it on vinyl then I appreciate that. I don’t know. It just looks awesome and we have the opportunity to do it, so we’re doing it.

MI: Speaking of artwork, I just wanted to know, this is a little random, but how come you chose Arabic style writing for your current logo? Why?

TS: Why did we choose Arabic style lettering for our logo?

MI: Yeah, like you know on the computer when they have these pre-made fonts, they’ll make it look like Hebrew or they’ll make it look like Japanese but it’s really English. So you did yours like Arabic. Was that intentional? Why?

TS: Well that logo was originally from our second album, and it was not supposed to look Arabic. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen the cover of our second album, Clutch, it’s just kind of casting a shadow floating there over the moon? It’s not supposed to look Arabic, it’s supposed to look like it’s from outer space.

MI: Well yeah, now that I see it on that background (had Googled the cover artwork) it does look kinda sci-fi.

TS: That being said, our next album is just going to be a cover with – ah, I’m sorry, I was just going to tell a bad joke.

MI: Aw! Come on, tell me!

TS: Aaah it’s just going to be the Palestinian flag…

MI: Yeaah, yeah, wiseass. Go on. And getting into that, are you ever going to go? Would you ever go to Israel? What’s your feelings about that?

TS: Would I go there to play? Yeah, of course. We’d love to play Israel. That would be rad.

MI: That would be rad. So you’r not going to be the type who’s gonna be like (makes gimpy voice) “Raaaaa I don’t wanna go, there’s a war”…none of that shit, right?

TS: Ahh… no. Definitely not. I would love to go there. I’m sure it’s awesome. I figure if Opeth could go play Israel, we can, right?

MI: Yeah, why not? I don’t know… when they look at bands they try to figure out who will bring the most crowd because it costs a lot of money to bring you guys and then they have to charge for tickets, so if they’re not going to get enough of an audience they won’t bring them. I have no idea what you…

TS: Ah, it doesn’t cost that much…

MI: (correlates hooking Clutch up with Yishai of Raven Music and Rockpoint) Hey, I grew up in Jersey – why the hell did you want to write a song about the Pulaski Skyway?

TS; Well, we were recording in NJ at the time… we recorded three of our albums in NJ, in Dover… what’s right next to Dover?

MI: I don’t know… it’s not too close to the city… didn’t you guys do something in Electric Ladyland though?

TS: That was Elephant Riders. That was a long time ago. That was in the 90′s. In Jersey we did Pure Rock Fury, we did Glass Tyrants, mostly I guess in Weehawken and Hoboken.

MI: Hey… you guys are from Maryland and now you live in…North Carolina?

TS: I personally live in West Virginia and the rest of the band lives in Maryland.

MI: I knew it was one of those states. It’s like close to me, I’m in Pittsburgh.

TS: Cool.

MI: Why did you move out there?

TS: The band originally went and got a house to jam in out in West Virginia. It’s really not that far from Maryland. It’s like right on the border of Maryland. It was just considerably cheaper to live there than in Maryland. So we ended up with a house out there, we had a couple of different houses that we jammed in, but everyone ended up moving back to Maryland and I ended up staying in West Virginia. But I’ll probably end up moving back to Maryland soon.

MI: The only thing I know about West Virginia is that really nasty movie (Redemption) where they go “Squeal like a pig” and I didn’t even see it, I just know that line, is it like that or is it nice there?

TS: I would say it’s about half like that.

MI: Cause I remember coming out here the first time from NY, you see everyone has the crosses out here on their front lawn, and like it looks like the KKK is out here ready to burn them. I never saw this, cause I’m from NY. That’s what it’s like there?!

TS: Well, you may see a couple of Confederate flags, but I’ve never seen any KKK activity. However, I will say that I did get on two separate occasions, a flyer for a KKK meeting at my mailbox. It wasn’t actually in my mailbox – they obviously know they aren’t allowed to put anything in the mailbox, but it was like right next to my mailbox. So of course, I didn’t go to that. I would never.

MI: There’s this Israeli band called Aborted, well, they’re not Israeli, they’re Belgian, Israeli, I don’t know what. But there is an Israeli in the band. And the guy just posted this Jerry Springer KKK midget video clip, and you see these little midgets come out in KKK clothes and skull masks, carrying a rope, and it’s like “Dude you can’t even reach the tree, what are you doing?”

(more hooking up with Yishai talk)

TS: Did you come out to the NY or NJ show?

MI: Unfortunately I’m in Pittsburgh now, and I missed you, because the show freaking started at 6:00, and I’m Orthodox, so I don’t roll on Shabbos – I have to wait until three stars are up – I freaking missed you guys, I was so pissed off, you don’t even know. I was like “Who the hell schedules a Saturday night show starting at 6:00?” Because I’m from NY, to me, that’s an affront.

TS: Yeah, some of the shows hit pretty early.

MI: Yeah! So I want to catch you guys – do you have any plans for a headlining tour?

TS: We have nothing mapped out – we have five shows at the end of December, the closest one to you being Cleveland. We’re playing at the House of Blues up in Cleveland with Kylesa. They’re really cool, they just had an album come out today.

MI: Daath also came out today, or yesterday.

TS: Who?

MI: D – A – A – T – H

TS: Oh, I’ve heard of them.

MI: He(Eyal Levi)’s a really good guitarist, he gets into the progressive jazz stuff also? It’s BLACK. You guys are like two different animals. You’re like happy, stoner blues rock and they’re like ROOOooOOOoOOOOOOowr

TS: I definitely prefer the stoner doom side of metal as compared to stuff like that.

MI: What are you listening to now? What’s in your mp3 player (if you have one)?

TS: All of the classic stuff. A bunch of Allman Brothers. This terrible Australian comedy rapper named Shane Skills. He’s awesome. That’s pretty much all I listen to, at least currently.

MI: What, you take a band and kill it until you’re just out of the mood, and then you take another band until you kill that?

TS: Basically.

MI: I do that too.

TS: Yep, that’s the way I do it.

MI: Alright.

TS: See you in Cleveland!

MI: I don’t know where I am the next week. Hey, you never know, maybe I’ll see you in Israel.

TS: That would be awesome. Tell that dude we want to come to Israel.

MI: I shall!

Q-Unique aka Capital Q is quite a legendary name in the indie hip-hop world. Hailing from Brooklyn and The Bronx, the MC/producer is in a tumultuous period now. He just released the second solo record Between Heaven & Hell and –the readers of Metal Israel might already know- he is about to put out the debut LP of his rock/metal influenced group with Fieldy of KoRn.

Metal Israel: First of all, this is mainly a metal related magazine.  We are about to cover all of your musical projects, but at first let’s focus on your group with Fieldy of Korn, called StillWell. Introduce a bit, how the whole project came together…

Q-Unique: About 5 years ago, we were introduced by a mutual friend, the president of Tribal Clothing, when we 1st met we did our 1st song the same day, it was the “Killing Myself to Live” song, but that song is very different from what we do now with StillWell, the band is a full on rock band, and I, as the lead vocalist sing, so its very different from what I do with the Q-Unique brand of music.

Metal Israel: Fieldy is definitely one of the top bass-players nowadays. How much did he influence you back in the day and what does it mean to you to work with him?

Q-Unique: Well it was more of the insight that he gave me and the inspiration to go beyond what I normally do, in StillWell he is actually the lead guitar player, so it puts both of us in a place where we are doing different things than what people expect of us, and we grew together as musicians.

StillWell

Metal Israel:The music I heard so far is something not easy to put in a box (and this is a good thing). Hip-hop, metal, hardcore – all in one package. How could you describe your music?

Q-Unique: We call it Street Metal, its describes the 2 different worlds where we come from, but like I said, the song that’s on Youtube was done about 4 years ago, before we had any direction for the band. Now we have a sound and a direction.

Metal Israel: Some of the readers might know, but at the first place you are a well-known and respected MC from New York City for mad years. First as a group member of the legendary The Arsonists, then a solo artist. Whats the main difference in your writing style in StillWell and when you do the straight hip-hop thing?

Q-Unique: It’s 2 different mindstates, but being with StillWell and working with Fieldy has brought a different thinking process to how I approach music. With both Q-Unique & StillWell, I’m in a place where I want to make good songs, in the past, with hip-hop, at times I just wanted to say great things about myself, but it’s very different now.

Metal Israel: This month you dropped your new solo album “Between Heaven & Hell”. The title sounds really hard. Tell about this material…

Q-Unique: The material is dark, almost in the same vein as grunge rock, very personal and emotional and very realistic with sharing life experiences, almost like Alice in Chains for hip-hop.

Metal Israel: As a lyricist what did you try to accomplish with this LP?

Q-Unique: I wanted to speak more about life experiences and things that I find necessary to speak about, real life issues.

Metal Israel: How would you compare to your last album “Vengeance Is Mine”?

Q-Unique:Vengeance has ½ of what I did on this album as far as sharing life experiences and telling true to life stories, I think Vengeance was a more angrier album, a lot of fire in my thoughts.

Metal Israel: You always operate with diverse flows in each track, keeping’ it fresh. How do you expand your word power, train yourself to be better and better? Do you read a lot?

Q-Unique: Ill Bill is the one that made me challenge myself when it comes to coming up with new flows. When we worked on Vengeance he would always push the best out of me. I do read a lot, and I read anything from real serious non-fiction books to comic books. I love to read.

Metal Israel: Besides Korn, what are the main metal/rock/hardcore groups that influenced you and what part did these styles play in your life?

Q-Unique: I’m a big grunge rock fan, Alice in Chains, Nirvana, Sound Garden, Pearl Jam. Other metal includes Korn (of course) Slipknot, Down, Audioslave, Rage Against the Machine, Madball, Sick of it all, and of course the great Metallica.

Metal Israel: What’s your life-creed or philosophy?

Q-Unique: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Metal Israel: At the end of the interview, share your plans and/or anything you feel important…

Q-Unique: We are almost done with the StillWell album, I know a lot of people have heard me say that a lot, we just really had to find our path, and we finally did, we recorded a lot of songs over the years which is a good thing because we needed to build as a band and try different things in order to get where we are. As far as Q-Unique, the album is in stores now…just go to q-unique.com and it will navigate you to where you want to go as far as Q-Unique is concerned. Thank you!

MI: Hello, sir. Can I interview you for metalisrael.com via chat one of these days?

AR: Sure! I’m around for the next 30 min – u ready?

MI: Always. Well, almost always. I will preclude by saying how much I love LOA, DFL applied.

AR: I appreciate that.

MI: What’s going on? Tell me about Wire Hangers.

AR: Well, Wire Hangers has been out monthly since April. Final issue of this story arc comes out Sept 1st (this wed). A compiled graphic novel edition will hit stores in November. It’s published by IDW Publishing (30 Days of Night, GI Joe, Transformers, etc.) Some other REALLY exciting things are brewing around it too, but I can’t announce it yet.

MI: AAAAGhhh suspense!!!!! So, you trained at SVA – I know you did the trademark logo (and River Runs Red album concept/cover) for Life of Agony – did you start off drawing comics there? Where did you get your love for comics? I mean, forgive me for assuming you love them, but I think you need to in order to make them. Am I right?

AR: I grew up on comics. My dad had a collection including early Spider Man comics and Detective Comics from the Silver Age era. I got hooked since he showed me those as a kid. I’ve been drawing all my life, so making comics was the natural next step for me. I had the Wire Hangers concept for a long time now, so bringing it to life was a really awesome experience. Especially, published by IDW, my favorite comics publisher.

MI: Is Wire Hangers your first project ever? And were IDW Life of Agony fans? How did you make the hookup?

AR: I actually got the comic deal through Twitter! Around the time I was ready to pitch the concept to publishers, I started on Twitter. I started following some of my face comic artists and writers. IDW’s Chris Ryall was writing a book called Groom Lake. We started chatting over twitter, then trading comics for music. We hit it off right away. I didn’t realize he was one of the main guys over there.

MI: So you have this Internet thing, right? On one hand, a lot of musicians are pretty ticked off with it, because you’re losing a lot of royalties, but on the other hand, like you just said, you can make awesome business connections with it – what are your feelings towards it? I know it’s a pretty general question but any insight is appreciated.

AR: I don’t have any problems with the Internet, I’ve embraced it. You can’t avoid the downloading issue. It’s out there – people illegally download music, books, movies, etc. every day. It sucks for the artists because essentially it affects the whole industry because if record labels, book publishers, etc. lose money in sales, it affects the money they can give to support these projects, which makes it harder for artists to survive being creative- a trickle down problem.

MI: Duly noted. OK… Does the secret stuff have to do with Wire Hangers or Life of Agony?

AR: Wire Hangers.

MI: The temptation to play guessing games is too great. So what’s up with Life of Agony?!

AR: We’ve been pretty busy with LOA getting the 20 Yrs Strong DVD together and the summer tour. Did you see the footage from Poland on our site? 500K people!

MI: What do you think of the fact that metal, true music from the heart like you put out, can go on 20 years strong the way pop acts rarely, if ever do, but meanwhile it rarely makes it on the charts?

AR: We’ve been very fortunate that we’ve been able to build this fan base over time, over multiple generations. We never set out to write radio songs, we just always did what we did. Most of our success was built around our live show and creating tunes that people could really relate to. We always had a more grassroots approach.

I was there!

MI: OK..thanks for that. What is your view about Israel? You unfortunately don’t have much of a following there, but would you play there? Ozzy’s playing September 28 – it’s gonna be huge.

AR: Doubtful, we’ve never been to Japan either…or South America. And I know this music is really big over there. We just never were able to get it together for those trips. Europe has been something we’ve been building since 1993/1994 so it’s super strong for us.

MI: It’s the main metal market anyway in this world. They have taste in this, at least. Have you ever heard any Israeli bands?

AR: No, sorry.

MI: I guess that’s it (for now). Please send warm regards & respect to Mr. Z. for me. Thanks so much for your time. But one more closing question!

AR: Sure!

MI: As you, Mr. Robert, see your career progressing, are you happy with where it is and what else do you want to accomplish before you get out the golf clubs?

AR: Well, first off – I’ve never been into golf, so that’s definitely out…

MI: Yeah that’s Joey’s thing, I was kind of nonplussed by it myself, but to each their own.

AR: …But, I’d really love to move into other visual storytelling mediums like movies or TV. I have a lot of respect for Rob Zombie, they way he’s been able to do his music and branch out as a director. So, for me the future is really an open book.

MI: Many thanks to you and a happy Jew year as well. LOA! LOA! LOA!

Sicknature is one of the most respected hip-hop producers in Denmark and the underground music world. His music is hardcore and raw, heavily influenced by all styles of metal music. He’s got the knowledge how to translate that energy into hip-hop, and metal’s raw power comes through in his intense beats, sharp hooks and gut wrenching prose.

Metal Israel: It is mostly a metal-based magazine, but I’m interviewing you because you are known as a fan of the style and someone that represents it in your music. When you grew up, what part did metal and rock play in your life?  Which bands did you listen to?

Sicknature: Well, I grew up listening to metal, because my brother was a huge fan of it. The more he heard it, the more I grew to love it. I listened to Pantera, Metallica, Dio, Manowar, Invocator (a Danish band), Iron Maiden, Sepultura, Massacre and many other incredible metal names. I always liked the energy and roughness. And that is something that metal has in common with hardcore hip-hop, which is why it can be dope to mash these two genres.

MI:   Some of your beats are so heavy (like the Vinnie Paz remix), that it sounds like a metal song. Do you try to push the heaviness in the hiphop songs?

SN: When I produce beats, I just do what feels right at that moment. Raw & hard pounding energy is something that I grew up with, so I think its natural for me to make hard hip-hop. But at the end of the day its important to be versatile.

MI: Nowadays which metal/rock bands do you like, take as an influence?

SN: I don’t listen to as much metal as I would like to. I don’t have the time to explore the metal universe like when I was younger. But I like Madball, Primordial, Kataklysm, Hatesphere (shout out to my man Mixen, crazy bass player!), … there are many dope bands out there! I like Rammstein too.

MI: Recently you joined the production team Snowgoons. How did that all come together?

SN: Well, me & DJ Illegal have been working together for a minute. And we´ve become very good friends. So it made sense to make a production team.

MI: It’s a full time membership for you in the group now?  What will this new situation look like artistically?

SN: We still have our individual projects. But with a production team, we can help each other out and move faster. So this would mean that we get more beats out there by joining forces.

MI: The ”Banished From Home” mixtape is out for a while, describe that material a bit …

SN: Obviously we do a lot of music with a lot of different artists. This was a way to put out some of the songs we had done, that people might not get a chance to hear elsewhere. This is good promotion for both the artists and us as producers. And on top of that we added some exclusives.

MI: You produced 3 songs on the new album of the legendary Canibus called “Melatonin Magik”. How did you hook up with him and what was it like to work with him?

SN: I had done some beats for a rapper called DZK. Somehow he and Canibus hooked up. They asked me for beats… and the rest is history.

MI:  Your new song on the upcoming solo record of Jedi Mind Tricks’s Vinnie Paz named “End Of Days” is spreading all over the Internet like crazy. Tell us something important about that track…

SN: I’m glad it turned out the way it did. Vinnie Paz speaks on a lot of important issues that are being held secret to the society. Listen to the song and you´ll know what I’m talking about. Ill Bill said it: “Society Is Brainwashed!”

MI: It really seems that you step up this music thing day after day. Once you mentioned in an interview that you’ve got 3 jobs, and you have only time to do music at nights. What do you think you will do to change this in the near future?

SN: I don’t work 3 jobs anymore. Now I only work 2 – so I have a little more time to work on music now. You gotta love it!

MI: Let’s get back to metal for a minute. Are you into sampling metal songs for your beats?

SN: I haven’t done it that much yet. But who knows what will happen in the future.

MI: Is there any chance to make songs with live instruments or a possible album?

SN: Some of my music is already made with live instruments. But I haven’t thought about making a rap/metal album. For now, I think I will continue in my lane and see where it takes me.

MI: What are your next future plans?

SN: We´re working on the new Snowgoons, Savage Brothers and Lord Lhus album called “Iron Fist”. Lord Lhus has a solo project that we´re working on as well. I did some beats for the new Ill Bill & Vinnie Paz “Heavy Metal Kings” album and for Slaine´s solo album which will be called “A World With No Skies”. After this summer we will start working on the next Snowgoons album and my next solo album!

MI: Any last messages to the readers of Metal Israel?

SN: Keep banging your heads and keep it hardcore!!

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
The Kyoto Connection – H.E.A.T.
The eighties are back! At least, that’s what we felt after listening to No Headphones Required, the cc-licensed brand new album by The Kyoto Connection. This amazing band delivers sweet electronic music mixed with Japanese juice and Flashdance-like synth sounds. If you like it, you can download the whole record from their website.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Kimbra – Settle Down
Iíve been following Kiwi-now-Melbournite Kimbraís work for a year now, most of it in the form of either guest performing with other bands or solo with a guitar work. Only recently Iíve heard her new stuff, produced by Franc Teta. The song Settle Down opens with cut up beat boxing vocals – a bit too close to Bertieís style of production for my liking – but is rescued and lifted by the chorus and soared into lush harmonies, that are all part of Kimbraís own signature sound.

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
Dead Lover’s Twisted Heart – Where I Am
Where I Am is part of the first full length album of the Brazilian band Dead Loverís Twisted Heart, released a few weeks ago. Far away from the indie-folk influences that are highlighted in the bandís history, itís a great pop song which could easily be in any album from She & Him or The Ting Tings.

CANADA: I(Heart)Music
Forest City Lovers – Pocketful Of Rocks
Over the last few years, Forest City Lovers has morphed from simply being a vehicle for Kat Burns’ acoustic folk into a full band with a knack for writing catchy folk-pop. On their new album, Carriage, Burns is joined by members of The D’Urbervilles, Ohbijou and Born Ruffians, among others. As this track (on which Burns is joined by Ruffians front man Luke Lalonde) demonstrates, the results are simply magical.

CHILE: Super 45
Maifersoni – La Turbulencia Quiere Hacernos Levantar Hoy
Maifersoni is the musical adventure of young Enrique Elgueta, in which he decides to blend psychedelia and noise in a lo-fi-ish perspective, with a strong pop accent. Taller Deslizante (Gliding Loom) is his first work, released this month on Chilean net label Michita Rex. It captures Panda Bear’s contemplative spirit, Sonic Youth’s fondness for experimentation and Vashti Bunyan’s warmth, creating a resounding weave that – with the likes of El Sueno De La Casa Propia and De Janeiros (both highlighted on earlier editions of MAP) – is giving Chilean pop a new perspective.

CHINA: Wooozy
Lilysay – Last Party
The band Lilisay is a Beijing-based trip-hop band, founded by Lilisay and Shang Shao in March, 2010. At first the band started as a shoegaze duo, but as time went on they have evolved into a trip-hop band. After the first gig at D22, Lilisay met Li Wei. Sharing the same taste in music, they decided to collaborate. After several rehearsals and performances, they settled on Trip Hop/Electronica. Last Party is one of their early songs, which reminds a lot of the 80s shoegaze stuff.

DENMARK: All Scandinavian
Waking Life – Chirango
With The Flaming Lips and The Shins among their influences, Copenhagen based six-piece Waking Life work in uplifting, danceable ways. Hereís first single, Chirango – from their forthcoming debut album Fiction – an upbeat indierock song with ukulele, bells, trombone and whatnot that would make you all smiles if it hadnít been for the rather serious lyrics.

ENGLAND: The Daily Growl
Wet Paint – Dead Night
Here’s a wee MAP exclusive. Ace east London scuzzy rock types Wet Paint are back with another album of great tunes and noisy guitars. No word yet of when the album’s going to be released, but here is a track from it. A sneak preview of what’s going to be a fantastic record.

ESTONIA: Popop
Opium Flirt – Parade In Chimes
Opium Flirt have been playing live, writing and recording music since 2004. Projects have included music for multimedia installations, films and choreographic performances.
Parade In Chimes is taken from the new album DejaVoodoo.

FINLAND: Glue
Delay Trees – Cassette 2012
Just a little bit over a year ago, MAP featured a song by a Helsinki indie band that shocked the scene with a superb self-released EP. Now signed with an important label, Delay Trees offer the first single off their debut full length, out in September. The dreamy intensity of Cassette 2012 anticipates a new round of tender pop songs that will melt your ears.

FRANCE: ZikNation
I Love My Neighbours – Swedish Babe
Everyone has neighbors. You can hate them or love themÖ but one thing is for sure: it’s impossible not to love these crazy Neighbours. Presented as a big step between Block Party and Nirvana, I Love My Neighbours is a very good acidulated pop/rock band. Instigated by an omnipresent battery and swaying bass riffs, the three boys swing between pop songs and true aggressiveness. A schizophrenia materialized by the guitar riffs and the melodic and tortured voice of the singer. A noted French magazine called Les Inrocks wrote about them : ” These Parisians enter by the large door of the new english scene, dance and pop, with a full bag with catapults provided by Nirvana “. Prepare yourself to apply the theory of the “Bang Bang”, because there’s gonna be rock n’roll…

GERMANY: Blogpartei
Herpes – Keine Experimente
Herpes may be the most ‘German’ band ever, posted on the MAP. Their straight-forward electropunk with pseudo-political lyrics draw the line from infamous Superpunk to the stepsons of Kraftwerk, like Trio or DAF. Hence, their label has to be Tapete Records, and yeah, of course they live in Berlin. Keine Experimente is the single from their recently released album Das Kommt Vom Kussen.

GREECE: Mouxlaloulouda
Mikael Delta – She’s A Boy
Mikael Delta began his career as a member of the band Stereo Nova. He is one of the most prolific and influential musicians in Greece in the past decade. His latest album, Tech Me Away is made of thrillingly danceable sounds and references to techno music scene, disco and electronica.This is music that hits the head, heart and hips all at once. You can dance to almost anything here. She’s A Boy demonstrates Deltaís talent for building simple, clattering dance beats and riffs into audio addictions. But what takes you by surprise is Etten’s marvellous voice, which pops up like a primary color and paints absolutely stellar pictures.

ICELAND: I Love Icelandic Music
Cosmic Call – Owls
Cosmic Call is a five-piece indie rock band from Akranes, a small town on the West Coast of Iceland. Band members are singer/guitarist Sigurmon, Fjolnir on guitar, synthesizer & backing vocals, Begga on bass and backing vocals, drummer Petur & Asa on violin & synthesizer. They are inspired by Arcade Fire, The Cure, The Pixies, Joy Division & Yeah Yeah Yeahs. They recorded one EP so far, which was released on July 24, 2009. The song Owls is a track of this limited, hand sewed edition of 1000 copies made by the band & family members.

INDONESIA: Deathrockstar
Sir Dandy – Jakarta Motor City
Sir Dandy or Dandy Ramdhani or Acong, is the vocalist of one of the most obscure garage band in Indonesia Teenage Death Star, known for their quirky style on stage. This is his latest project, recording ballads using only his guitar and sunglasses on his garage-band software. This song tells us the story about the motorcycle flood in Jakarta.

IRELAND: Nialler9
Bingo – Cold Without You
Bingo is a 21 year-old producer from Dublin who makes luscious tracks with nods to dubstep, garage and UK funky. His music recalls the likes of Mount Kimbie, James Blake and Burial. If you find yourself in Dublin on a Saturday night, be sure to check the listings to see if Float, Bingo’s new club night is taking place in either Twisted Pepper or Tripod. You’ll find the likes of the vocal-twisting Cold Without You coming out of the speakers.

ISRAEL: Metal Israel
Ghost Bike – Ghost Writer
Jerusalem, Israel’s Ghost Bike will take you on an ambient trip-hop via the vehicle of dub-influenced electronica, spinning your mind in sonic circles with aural tales of dark, intense emotion. Diverse musical elements like Middle Eastern chants and beats mix with spooky haunted house effects and everything in between to create this sonic tapestry. Some Hollywood producer in need of a soundtrack should pick this stuff up.

ITALY: Polaroid
Movie Star Junkies – The Wallnut Tree
It’s summer, a damned hot summer. I wanted to sail away on an ocean wave but it’s all covered in spilt oil. I don’t care. My beloved surfboard wonít let me down. I put the new Movie Star Junkies record on (wild guys, you should see them live) and drink last drop of rum. A toast to the Birthday Party and the Gun Club. Everything is perfect now. C’mon, let’s put out to sea. Goodbye.

JAPAN: JPOP Lover
Sputniko! – Google Song
Sputniko! (Hiromi Ozaki) is an experimental electro pop female musician based in London. Since 2007 Sputniko! has shown music, performances and films exploring intersections between technology and popular culture. In 2009 she published the DVD Parakonpe 3000, a collection of eccentric music videos talking about the quirky ways in which we engage with technology, such as google searching your crush’s name or desiring to become a cyborg to eliminate periods.

MEXICO: Red Bull PanameriKa
Orlando – Solo Dios Sabe
Orlando is a singer from Tijuana, Mexico with an organic approach to his compositions. He creates memorable pop choruses that rely on acoustic progressions and just released his first formal LP titled Capullo. This is the first single from the record, under production and arrangements from his collaborator El Poeta and additional mixing by the much respected composer Murcof (also from Tijuana). Solo Dios Sabe is a song that ideally represents Orlando’s soft acoustic sound and its blend with slight electronic details.

NETHERLANDS: Unfold Amsterdam
Bird On The Wire – Strange Days
Although formed in the harsh winter of 2010, when their first burst of song material emerged, Amsterdam trio Bird on the Wire write laid-back indie pop that’s perfect for a sweltering summer. Simple, sweet and ever so slightly melancholic, the soft, lulling vocal harmonies of Rosa, Thijs and Nina remind of Camera Obscura, balancing the folk sounds of the ’60s with contemporary lo-fi pop.

NEW ZEALAND: Counting The Beat
The Body Lyre – Pig
The Body Lyre is a multi-instrumental duo putting together an album, Escape Songs, song by song over the 12 months of 2010. Each month a new track is completed and put on-line for download at http://thebodylyre.bandcamp.com/ At the end of the year the album will be released on vinyl. The music is guitar based and reverb heavy, with a touch of surf, a pinch of country and a sprinkling of Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra.

NORWAY: Eardrums
KooKooo Kitchen – Sweet Caress
KooKooo Kitchen is one of Oslo’s more interesting new bands. In front are Eva and Marianne, constantly fighting for attention with their vocals and guitars, sometimes nice and harmonic, the next second as rough and edgy as it can get. The girls are backed by Henning and Brox on bass and drums. The combination of their sharp, ringing guitar sound, the heavy use of toms and the in-your-face attitude of the vocals reminds me of the early days of Siouxsie and The Banshees. KooKooo Kitchen has a lot of the energy of The Banshees, but the music is filled with lovely pop-harmonies. As they say themselves “Dirt under their nails, and nail polish to cover the mess.” A video is currently in the making for their song Bedsheet. Keep an eye on their myspace page for details.

PERU: SoTB
Kinder – Encuentro Inesperado
Kinder is based on experimentation to create its sound, it has only an EP titled Mini-EP, on which each song is the result of the combination of different rhythms, electronic sequences and some playful samples. These features give Kinder, in several of its songs, a curious relationship to a childlike theme; this line achieves its balance when its sound gets into the instrumental environments. It’s probably this style that predominates in its first LP, ready for release sometime this year.

PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco?
Madame Godard – Atlas 1977
The quintet Madame Godard have (on MySpace) one of the best covers of Clashís Spanish Bombs that you will ever hear. They produce a sound that is a mix of world music, folk and pop but always humorous. After almost ten years of hiatus, they have released their first LP, Galapagos, this year, which has been acclaimed by the Portuguese critics and audience.

ROMANIA: Babylon Noise
Identitate – Alone
Alone. Sleepless nights and lonely early mornings when the lights go down and the dawn breaks. The music is rising in loops, choruses that add up to this beautiful and minimal psychedelia. Identitate is a Romanian artist currently splitting his life between London and Timisoara. His third album called Who I Am and What I Want features songs originally meant to be soundtracks for short films and it can be downloaded from here

SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
LightGuides – The Lion And The Pocketwatch
It’s the middle of festival season and nothing goes down better than a meaty power-rock anthem, which makes LightGuides the perfect alfresco band for the summer. The Lion And The Pocketwatch has a monster chorus that Biffy Clyro would raise devil horns to, while singer Mark Cowan’s vocals aren’t too dissimilar to Nate Ruess of Fun/The Format fame.

SINGAPORE: I’m Waking Up To…
Cheating Sons – The Last Queen
Look at some Singaporean cliches and you’ll be faced with an urban cityscape with sterile modern amenities. But scratch the surface and you’ll remember that we were once a humble fishing village that actually remembered how to relax. Cheating Sons sounds like a band that is in the process of retracing those roots, turning over every leaf and scribbling notes in the margins of journals. To say they’re updating a nostalgic country-rock sound would be downplaying the creativity behind the band’s songwriting. While they’re still recording their debut album, they were nice enough to share this demo with us because everyone back home is so excited about the music these boys are making.

SOUTH AFRICA: Musical Mover & Shaker!
Jack Parow – Onder Draai Die Duiwel Joints
Move over Eminem. Jack Parow has arrived. Heís white. He raps. Oh and yes, heís Afrikaans. Jack Parow truly is original; he is in fact the ìoriginal donker dodgy Afrikaans rapperî. His lyrics are brash, brazen and funny and his song Onder Draai Die Duiwel Joints showcases his unique style. He has caused quite a stir in the music scene, locally and internationally alike. Heís set to take over the world. Watch out!

SOUTH KOREA: Indieful ROK
Glittering Blackness, Fall – 3
After playing together for a few years, post-rock act Glittering Blackness, Fall took it in their own hands to release an untitled EP – their first – at the beginning of this year. The septet counts a media graphics responsible to its members, ensuring interesting imagery to go with their captivating music. The song simply going by 3 builds up beautifully during the first half before a strong finale where the listener will wish for it never to come to an end. The whole EP is available for download from last.fm.

SWEDEN: Swedesplease
The Telepathics – 23:59
This little nugget of Italian/Swedish electro disco from The Telepathics is a certain cure for the end of summer blues. This duo is comprised of Cristiano and Isabella. The song is not quite as sunny as their sun drenched faces shown above, yet still it brightened my day considerably.

SWITZERLAND: 78s
Alvin Zealot – Bricks Over Bricks
If it comes to name a current common denominator in the Swiss rock music scene there is no getting around Alvin Zealot – four young guys from Lucerne who made a highly addictive and unpretentious rock’n'roll-record. Tears Of St. Lawrence sounds bold and experienced at the same time. Quite an effort for a debut by four teens.

VENEZUELA: Barquisimento
Tomates Fritos – Perdoname
Tomates Fritos was born in Puerto La Cruz, east of Venezuela and since the beginning, in 1997, the group has edited 4 LPs and have been part of important music festivals like Festival Nuevas Bandas (1998) and Cool Summer Music Festival (2002). Their music comes from mixing Spanish pop-rock with classic rock from the 60s and 70s, developing a unique sound, flooded with energy that has captivated tons of fans. This song, Perdoname, has been played very often in radio stations all over the country and belongs to their latest CD, Hombre Bala.

To download all 33 songs in one file click herenection-H.E.A.T.(Argentina).mp3]
The eighties are back! At least, that’s what we felt after listening to No Headphones Required, the cc-licensed brand new album by The Kyoto Connection. This amazing band delivers sweet electronic music mixed with Japanese juice and Flashdance-like synth sounds. If you like it, you can download the whole record from their website.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Kimbra – Settle Down
[audio http://whothehell.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Settle-Down.mp3]
Iíve been following Kiwi-now-Melbournite Kimbraís work for a year now, most of it in the form of either guest performing with other bands or solo with a guitar work. Only recently Iíve heard her new stuff, produced by Franc Teta. The song Settle Down opens with cut up beat boxing vocals – a bit too close to Bertieís style of production for my liking – but is rescued and lifted by the chorus and soared into lush harmonies, that are all part of Kimbraís own signature sound.

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
Dead Lover’s Twisted Heart – Where I Am
[audio http://map.super45.cl/map-2010-07/Dead_Lovers_Twisted_Heart_-_Where_I_Am_-_Brazil.mp3]
Where I Am is part of the first full length album of the Brazilian band Dead Loverís Twisted Heart, released a few weeks ago. Far away from the indie-folk influences that are highlighted in the bandís history, itís a great pop song which could easily be in any album from She & Him or The Ting Tings.

CANADA: I(Heart)Music
Forest City Lovers – Pocketful Of Rocks
[audio http://www.iheartmusic.net/mp3/ForestCityLovers-PocketfulOfRocks.mp3]
Over the last few years, Forest City Lovers has morphed from simply being a vehicle for Kat Burns’ acoustic folk into a full band with a knack for writing catchy folk-pop. On their new album, Carriage, Burns is joined by members of The D’Urbervilles, Ohbijou and Born Ruffians, among others. As this track (on which Burns is joined by Ruffians front man Luke Lalonde) demonstrates, the results are simply magical.

CHILE: Super 45
Maifersoni – La Turbulencia Quiere Hacernos Levantar Hoy
[audio http://map.super45.cl/map-2010-07/Maifersoni_-_La_Turbulencia_Quiere_Hacernos_Levantar_Hoy_-_Chile.mp3]
Maifersoni is the musical adventure of young Enrique Elgueta, in which he decides to blend psychedelia and noise in a lo-fi-ish perspective, with a strong pop accent. Taller Deslizante (Gliding Loom) is his first work, released this month on Chilean net label Michita Rex. It captures Panda Bear’s contemplative spirit, Sonic Youth’s fondness for experimentation and Vashti Bunyan’s warmth, creating a resounding weave that – with the likes of El Sueno De La Casa Propia and De Janeiros (both highlighted on earlier editions of MAP) – is giving Chilean pop a new perspective.

CHINA: Wooozy
Lilysay – Last Party
[audio http://www.wooozy.cn/wp-content/uploads/MAP/2010.7/Lilysay%20-%20Last%20Party%20(China).mp3]
The band Lilisay is a Beijing-based trip-hop band, founded by Lilisay and Shang Shao in March, 2010. At first the band started as a shoegaze duo, but as time went on they have evolved into a trip-hop band. After the first gig at D22, Lilisay met Li Wei. Sharing the same taste in music, they decided to collaborate. After several rehearsals and performances, they settled on Trip Hop/Electronica. Last Party is one of their early songs, which reminds a lot of the 80s shoegaze stuff.

DENMARK: All Scandinavian
Waking Life – Chirango
[audio http://map.super45.cl/map-2010-07/Waking_Life_-_Chirango_-_Denmark.mp3]
With The Flaming Lips and The Shins among their influences, Copenhagen based six-piece Waking Life work in uplifting, danceable ways. Hereís first single, Chirango – from their forthcoming debut album Fiction – an upbeat indierock song with ukulele, bells, trombone and whatnot that would make you all smiles if it hadnít been for the rather serious lyrics.

ENGLAND: The Daily Growl
Wet Paint – Dead Night
[audio http://www.thedailygrowl.co.uk/downloads/WetPaint-DeadNight-England.mp3]
Here’s a wee MAP exclusive. Ace east London scuzzy rock types Wet Paint are back with another album of great tunes and noisy guitars. No word yet of when the album’s going to be released, but here is a track from it. A sneak preview of what’s going to be a fantastic record.

ESTONIA: Popop
Opium Flirt – Parade In Chimes
[audio http://map.super45.cl/map-2010-07/Opium_Flirt_-_Parade_in_Chimes_-_Estonia.mp3]
Opium Flirt have been playing live, writing and recording music since 2004. Projects have included music for multimedia installations, films and choreographic performances.
Parade In Chimes is taken from the new album DejaVoodoo.

FINLAND: Glue
Delay Trees – Cassette 2012
[audio http://www.glue.fi/mp3/delay_trees_cassette_2012_finland.mp3]
Just a little bit over a year ago, MAP featured a song by a Helsinki indie band that shocked the scene with a superb self-released EP. Now signed with an important label, Delay Trees offer the first single off their debut full length, out in September. The dreamy intensity of Cassette 2012 anticipates a new round of tender pop songs that will melt your ears.

FRANCE: ZikNation
I Love My Neighbours – Swedish Babe
[audio http://files.me.com/damienjouvenceau/bo9lty.mp3]
Everyone has neighbors. You can hate them or love themÖ but one thing is for sure: it’s impossible not to love these crazy Neighbours. Presented as a big step between Block Party and Nirvana, I Love My Neighbours is a very good acidulated pop/rock band. Instigated by an omnipresent battery and swaying bass riffs, the three boys swing between pop songs and true aggressiveness. A schizophrenia materialized by the guitar riffs and the melodic and tortured voice of the singer. A noted French magazine called Les Inrocks wrote about them : ” These Parisians enter by the large door of the new english scene, dance and pop, with a full bag with catapults provided by Nirvana “. Prepare yourself to apply the theory of the “Bang Bang”, because there’s gonna be rock n’roll…

GERMANY: Blogpartei
Herpes – Keine Experimente
[audio http://www.blogpartei.de/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Herpes-KeineExperimenteGermany.mp3]
Herpes may be the most ‘German’ band ever, posted on the MAP. Their straight-forward electropunk with pseudo-political lyrics draw the line from infamous Superpunk to the stepsons of Kraftwerk, like Trio or DAF. Hence, their label has to be Tapete Records, and yeah, of course they live in Berlin. Keine Experimente is the single from their recently released album Das Kommt Vom Kussen.

GREECE: Mouxlaloulouda
Mikael Delta – She’s A Boy
[audio http://map.super45.cl/map-2010-07/Mikael_Delta_-_Shes_A_Boy_-_Greece.mp3]
Mikael Delta began his career as a member of the band Stereo Nova. He is one of the most prolific and influential musicians in Greece in the past decade. His latest album, Tech Me Away is made of thrillingly danceable sounds and references to techno music scene, disco and electronica.This is music that hits the head, heart and hips all at once. You can dance to almost anything here. She’s A Boy demonstrates Deltaís talent for building simple, clattering dance beats and riffs into audio addictions. But what takes you by surprise is Etten’s marvellous voice, which pops up like a primary color and paints absolutely stellar pictures.

ICELAND: I Love Icelandic Music
Cosmic Call – Owls
[audio http://map.super45.cl/map-2010-07/Cosmic_Call_-_Owls_-_Iceland.mp3]
Cosmic Call is a five-piece indie rock band from Akranes, a small town on the West Coast of Iceland. Band members are singer/guitarist Sigurmon, Fjolnir on guitar, synthesizer & backing vocals, Begga on bass and backing vocals, drummer Petur & Asa on violin & synthesizer. They are inspired by Arcade Fire, The Cure, The Pixies, Joy Division & Yeah Yeah Yeahs. They recorded one EP so far, which was released on July 24, 2009. The song Owls is a track of this limited, hand sewed edition of 1000 copies made by the band & family members.

INDONESIA: Deathrockstar
Sir Dandy – Jakarta Motor City
[audio http://deathrockstar.info/media/sampratot/2010_07_june/Sir_Dandy-JakartaMotorcity-Indonesia.mp3]
Sir Dandy or Dandy Ramdhani or Acong, is the vocalist of one of the most obscure garage band in Indonesia Teenage Death Star, known for their quirky style on stage. This is his latest project, recording ballads using only his guitar and sunglasses on his garage-band software. This song tells us the story about the motorcycle flood in Jakarta.

IRELAND: Nialler9
Bingo – Cold Without You
[audio http://www.nialler9.com/mp3/Bingo_-_Cold_Without_You_Ireland.mp3]
Bingo is a 21 year-old producer from Dublin who makes luscious tracks with nods to dubstep, garage and UK funky. His music recalls the likes of Mount Kimbie, James Blake and Burial. If you find yourself in Dublin on a Saturday night, be sure to check the listings to see if Float, Bingo’s new club night is taking place in either Twisted Pepper or Tripod. You’ll find the likes of the vocal-twisting Cold Without You coming out of the speakers.

ISRAEL: Metal Israel
Ghost Bike – Ghost Writer
[audio http://map.super45.cl/map-2010-07/Ghost_Bike_-_Ghostwriter_-_Israel.mp3]
Jerusalem, Israel’s Ghost Bike will take you on an ambient trip-hop via the vehicle of dub-influenced electronica, spinning your mind in sonic circles with aural tales of dark, intense emotion. Diverse musical elements like Middle Eastern chants and beats mix with spooky haunted house effects and everything in between to create this sonic tapestry. Some Hollywood producer in need of a soundtrack should pick this stuff up.

ITALY: Polaroid
Movie Star Junkies – The Wallnut Tree
[audio http://www.polaroidallaradio.it/audio/Movie_Star_Junkies_-_The_Walnut_Tree.mp3]
It’s summer, a damned hot summer. I wanted to sail away on an ocean wave but it’s all covered in spilt oil. I don’t care. My beloved surfboard wonít let me down. I put the new Movie Star Junkies record on (wild guys, you should see them live) and drink last drop of rum. A toast to the Birthday Party and the Gun Club. Everything is perfect now. C’mon, let’s put out to sea. Goodbye.

JAPAN: JPOP Lover
Sputniko! – Google Song
[audio http://jpoplover.net/mp3/sputniko%20-%20google%20song%20%28JAPAN%29.mp3]
Sputniko! (Hiromi Ozaki) is an experimental electro pop female musician based in London. Since 2007 Sputniko! has shown music, performances and films exploring intersections between technology and popular culture. In 2009 she published the DVD Parakonpe 3000, a collection of eccentric music videos talking about the quirky ways in which we engage with technology, such as google searching your crush’s name or desiring to become a cyborg to eliminate periods.

MEXICO: Red Bull PanameriKa
Orlando – Solo Dios Sabe
[audio http://panamerika.fm/blog/media/audio/mp3s/orlando_-_solo_dios_sabe.mp3]
Orlando is a singer from Tijuana, Mexico with an organic approach to his compositions. He creates memorable pop choruses that rely on acoustic progressions and just released his first formal LP titled Capullo. This is the first single from the record, under production and arrangements from his collaborator El Poeta and additional mixing by the much respected composer Murcof (also from Tijuana). Solo Dios Sabe is a song that ideally represents Orlando’s soft acoustic sound and its blend with slight electronic details.

NETHERLANDS: Unfold Amsterdam
Bird On The Wire – Strange Days
[audio http://www.unfoldamsterdam.nl/music/birdonthewire-strangedays.mp3]
Although formed in the harsh winter of 2010, when their first burst of song material emerged, Amsterdam trio Bird on the Wire write laid-back indie pop that’s perfect for a sweltering summer. Simple, sweet and ever so slightly melancholic, the soft, lulling vocal harmonies of Rosa, Thijs and Nina remind of Camera Obscura, balancing the folk sounds of the ’60s with contemporary lo-fi pop.

NEW ZEALAND: Counting The Beat
The Body Lyre – Pig
[audio http://map.countingthebeat.gen.nz/The%20Body%20Lyre%20-%20Pig%20%28New%20Zealand%29.mp3]
The Body Lyre is a multi-instrumental duo putting together an album, Escape Songs, song by song over the 12 months of 2010. Each month a new track is completed and put on-line for download at http://thebodylyre.bandcamp.com/ At the end of the year the album will be released on vinyl. The music is guitar based and reverb heavy, with a touch of surf, a pinch of country and a sprinkling of Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra.

NORWAY: Eardrums
KooKooo Kitchen – Sweet Caress
[audio http://www.eardrumsmusic.com/MAP/KooKoooKitchen_SweetCaress_MAPNorway.mp3]
KooKooo Kitchen is one of Oslo’s more interesting new bands. In front are Eva and Marianne, constantly fighting for attention with their vocals and guitars, sometimes nice and harmonic, the next second as rough and edgy as it can get. The girls are backed by Henning and Brox on bass and drums. The combination of their sharp, ringing guitar sound, the heavy use of toms and the in-your-face attitude of the vocals reminds me of the early days of Siouxsie and The Banshees. KooKooo Kitchen has a lot of the energy of The Banshees, but the music is filled with lovely pop-harmonies. As they say themselves “Dirt under their nails, and nail polish to cover the mess.” A video is currently in the making for their song Bedsheet. Keep an eye on their myspace page for details.

PERU: SoTB
Kinder – Encuentro Inesperado
[audio http://map.super45.cl/map-2010-07/Kinder_-_Encuentro_Inesperado_-_Peru.mp3]
Kinder is based on experimentation to create its sound, it has only an EP titled Mini-EP, on which each song is the result of the combination of different rhythms, electronic sequences and some playful samples. These features give Kinder, in several of its songs, a curious relationship to a childlike theme; this line achieves its balance when its sound gets into the instrumental environments. It’s probably this style that predominates in its first LP, ready for release sometime this year.

PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco?
Madame Godard – Atlas 1977
[audio http://map.super45.cl/map-2010-07/Madame_Godard_-_Atlas_1977_-_Portugal.mp3]
The quintet Madame Godard have (on MySpace) one of the best covers of Clashís Spanish Bombs that you will ever hear. They produce a sound that is a mix of world music, folk and pop but always humorous. After almost ten years of hiatus, they have released their first LP, Galapagos, this year, which has been acclaimed by the Portuguese critics and audience.

ROMANIA: Babylon Noise
Identitate – Alone
[audio http://babylonoise.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/identitate_-_aloneromania.mp3]
Alone. Sleepless nights and lonely early mornings when the lights go down and the dawn breaks. The music is rising in loops, choruses that add up to this beautiful and minimal psychedelia. Identitate is a Romanian artist currently splitting his life between London and Timisoara. His third album called Who I Am and What I Want features songs originally meant to be soundtracks for short films and it can be downloaded from here

SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
LightGuides – The Lion And The Pocketwatch
[audio http://thepopcop.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/LightGuides-The-Lion-And-The-Pocketwatch-Scotland.mp3]
It’s the middle of festival season and nothing goes down better than a meaty power-rock anthem, which makes LightGuides the perfect alfresco band for the summer. The Lion And The Pocketwatch has a monster chorus that Biffy Clyro would raise devil horns to, while singer Mark Cowan’s vocals aren’t too dissimilar to Nate Ruess of Fun/The Format fame.

SINGAPORE: I’m Waking Up To…
Cheating Sons – The Last Queen
[audio http://wakingupto.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/cheating-sons-the-last-queen-singapore.mp3]
Look at some Singaporean cliches and you’ll be faced with an urban cityscape with sterile modern amenities. But scratch the surface and you’ll remember that we were once a humble fishing village that actually remembered how to relax. Cheating Sons sounds like a band that is in the process of retracing those roots, turning over every leaf and scribbling notes in the margins of journals. To say they’re updating a nostalgic country-rock sound would be downplaying the creativity behind the band’s songwriting. While they’re still recording their debut album, they were nice enough to share this demo with us because everyone back home is so excited about the music these boys are making.

SOUTH AFRICA: Musical Mover & Shaker!
Jack Parow – Onder Draai Die Duiwel Joints
[audio http://map.super45.cl/map-2010-06/Jack_Parow_-_Onder_Draai_Die_Duiwel_Joints_-_South_Africa.mp3]
Move over Eminem. Jack Parow has arrived. Heís white. He raps. Oh and yes, heís Afrikaans. Jack Parow truly is original; he is in fact the ìoriginal donker dodgy Afrikaans rapperî. His lyrics are brash, brazen and funny and his song Onder Draai Die Duiwel Joints showcases his unique style. He has caused quite a stir in the music scene, locally and internationally alike. Heís set to take over the world. Watch out!

SOUTH KOREA: Indieful ROK
Glittering Blackness, Fall – 3
[audio http://map.super45.cl/map-2010-07/Glittering_Blackness_Fall_-_3_-_South_Korea.mp3]
After playing together for a few years, post-rock act Glittering Blackness, Fall took it in their own hands to release an untitled EP – their first – at the beginning of this year. The septet counts a media graphics responsible to its members, ensuring interesting imagery to go with their captivating music. The song simply going by 3 builds up beautifully during the first half before a strong finale where the listener will wish for it never to come to an end. The whole EP is available for download from last.fm.

SWEDEN: Swedesplease
The Telepathics – 23:59
[audio http://swedesplease.net/music/23-59.mp3]
This little nugget of Italian/Swedish electro disco from The Telepathics is a certain cure for the end of summer blues. This duo is comprised of Cristiano and Isabella. The song is not quite as sunny as their sun drenched faces shown above, yet still it brightened my day considerably.

SWITZERLAND: 78s
Alvin Zealot – Bricks Over Bricks
[audio http://www.78s.ch/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Alvin-Zealot-Bricks-Over-Bricks-Switzerland.mp3]
If it comes to name a current common denominator in the Swiss rock music scene there is no getting around Alvin Zealot – four young guys from Lucerne who made a highly addictive and unpretentious rock’n'roll-record. Tears Of St. Lawrence sounds bold and experienced at the same time. Quite an effort for a debut by four teens.

VENEZUELA: Barquisimento
Tomates Fritos – Perdoname
[audio https://dl.dropbox.com/u/5637913/MAP/TomatesFritos.Perdoname.Venezuela.mp3]
Tomates Fritos was born in Puerto La Cruz, east of Venezuela and since the beginning, in 1997, the group has edited 4 LPs and have been part of important music festivals like Festival Nuevas Bandas (1998) and Cool Summer Music Festival (2002). Their music comes from mixing Spanish pop-rock with classic rock from the 60s and 70s, developing a unique sound, flooded with energy that has captivated tons of fans. This song, Perdoname, has been played very often in radio stations all over the country and belongs to their latest CD, Hombre Bala.

To download all 33 songs in one file click here

Interview: Aviva Fort/Metal Israel
Photos: Mark Yashaev

Check out more exclusive photos taken by professional photographer Mark Yashaev here.

MI: How are you?

MS: I’m alright, we’ve been out for six weeks, so we’e a little tired but other than that, it’s pretty awesome.

MI: Well, I’m sure you’re gonna give a great show out here.

MS: Of course, it’s all about the show.

MI: It looks like a comfortable bus though, that you can get some sleep.

MS: Oh yeahyeahyeah, for sure. It’s fantastic, actually.

MI: First question. I love the way you write. You’re an awesome lyricist. So in a few words, if you choose of course, what does each track on the new album mean, like what were you trying to say in each song. So I’m going to say each title, and please say what you wanted to say with it, if you had wanted to say anything at all.

MS: Well, I’d rather go for the overall experience, the overall theme of the album. I decided since when we started the band, you know, we didn’t want to be an ordinary death metal band. So we decided never to write about death and life, the big topics, you know. Well, the cliches, so to speak. So I never really touched on it until now. I felt like hey we’ve been around for 20 years – it’s time to do something more about the big issues: Death, sorrow, grief, loss, that kind of thing. So that’s how it started, and the inspiration came from Scandinavian poetry about death, really. I read 200 poetry books to get inspiration and that’s really where it comes from. It’s just, I don’t know, somewhat of a Scandinavian view on things, on life and how we deal with the inevitable nature of things, and how we deal with the fact that we’re not going to be around forever. I find it really, really interesting and like the way that I’d rather use the poetic sense. You’re always taught a way to make sense of the world: Why are we here? What are we doing? And try to find something that keeps you going. People find comfort in faith, in family, whatever. And just kind of fill your life with something that makes sense to you. And that’s not always very easy. I’d rather take the poetic route and just try to use words to describe what’s going on and what’s going to happen instead of… I’m an atheist. I don’t really believe in anything, I’m just here to try to make sense of it as much as anyone else.

MI: Funny, you just answered like five of the questions I was going to ask.

MS: Yeah. So it was really really interesting, it was a big challenge to write. I did enjoy it and I was very satisfied with it. I loved the way that it came out.

MI: Me, too. What do you think has been the biggest trademark of Dark Tranquillity since you’ve started?

MS: The thing that I’m most proud about is that we’ve kept our integrity and that we never really compromised with anyone outside of the band. This is just the six of us. We decide everything. We do everything the way that we want to want to make it, do it. And it works. We’re not about trying to please a certain audience, trying to reach out to someone special. It’s just us making music that we love together. And people get it? Perfect. They don’t? Fine.

MI: What about you guys stayed the same since the beginning, besides that?

MS: Well, the fact that we’ve been around. But that’s also something that the band early on became something bigger than some of its members, so to speak. It became such a huge part of our lives, it’s always there, it’s a security, there’s a comfort to that. I wouldn’t know what to do without it. It’s just something that’s always around. Your friends, your music, the creativity. Without it, I wouldn’t know how to deal with things.

MI: It’s an entity of its own.

MS: Yeah! Sure. It’s something that wasn’t so important in the beginning, we really didn’t know but it became something that’s so important.

MI: I’m getting all fangirl like “Yeah! You’re the best! This is why!” So are there any covert influences of DT that people would be surprised to know about?

MS: Influences to the music?

MI: Yeah, something surprising.

MS: Oy! Anything really. Hm. We do listen to absolutely everything. We’re not really narrow-minded or anything like that. The influences can come from anywhere. Something that fascinates you and gets you going.

MI: Would you ever play some kind of conglomerate American tour like Ozzfest or something? Would you ever be into that?

MS: I guess so. Depending on the offer. it would be interesting, for sure. I’ve heard some really good things about those festivals, a lot of bad things, as well. So I don’t know. I’d definitely be up for it. For sure.

MI: If you could tour with any band, who would it be?

MS: Well, Rush is my all-time favorite band. I wouldn’t want to tour with them, but I would just, you know, want to hang out, run around and drive behind them or something.

MI: (laughs) tailgate… ok. In what way do you think Dark Tranquillity’s sound has changed the most?

MS: I think we’ve developed, refined our sound. You always want to make that perfect album that just has everything. All the aspects of your music, all the aspects of your creativity, whatever. And it’s hard, y’know. And this is as close as we can get to that. I think we can do even better next time, but this is as good as we can get right now. I think we’ve learned through all of the different things we’ve done throughout our career. Projector was very different, for instance. Haven was different. It’s just a matter of re-finding what really triggers us. What makes us want to create music. It has to be something that kind of makes you feel something. Gets you going. And I really think we’ve found it on this new album. It’s just a matter of taking all of those things that really matter to you, that you love and just putting it together and actually making songs out of it.

MI: OK, I don’t want to keep you anymore because I know you have to go, so here’s the last question. When you die, which will G-d willing be in many, far-away years, what would you have wanted to be written on your tombstone?

MS: (laughs) I did it my way?