Artist Interview | Page 17 | Revolver

Artist Interview

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photograph by Jimmy Hubbard

The following is an excerpt from the Baroness feature in the January issue of Revolver. Here, Baroness frontman John Baizely recounts their 2012 bus crash that almost killed him, and how his injuries inspired the making of 'Purple.'

To read the rest, pick up the new issue on newsstands December 22 or get your copy here. Story by Jon Wiederhorn.

It's every musicians worst nightmare—crashing, collapsing and dying in the middle of nowhere in a bus accident.

And this was nearly a reality for Baroness frontman John Baizley.

The alt-metal band was in England, touring in support of their critically-acclaimed 'Yellow & Green,' driving from Bristol to Southampton on August 5, 2012 when the bus they were in started careening down a steep hill due to brake failure. The bus shot through a dead end intersection and over a guardrail, launching into the air like a plane leaving the runway.

Baizley looked out the window and saw treetops in the valley below. Then the bus started to descend and when the front wheels hit the ground he catapulted toward the windshield. "I hit it so hard that the entire thing cracked and I saw all the little cracks spread out across the glass from the impact," Baizley says from the safety of his home art studio in Philadelphia. "However, because of all the physics, I was also bouncing back from it, so when I landed I was back inside the bus."

With the smell of diesel fuel and twisted metal in his nostrils, Baizley turned his head and saw his left leg was bent and broken. Then he saw his left arm completely broken in half between his shoulder and elbow. "You know when you bend a water hose and you can feel the water?" he asks. "I could feel that in my artery. I grabbed my left fist with my right hand and it felt like I was holding stranger's cold, wet hand. It had no feeling whatsoever, but the rest of my body was in excruciating pain."

Baizley realized there was a distinct possibility he might bleed to death. For a moment, the shattered glass and pooled blood around him blurred and he experienced a vision from beyond. "I saw the nothingness that I'm now convinced exists beyond death," he says with matter-of-fact certainty. "It felt like coming nose-to-nose with some kind of existential mirror that was painted matte black. And in that reflection, which was the next step, it was cold, dark and empty. The excruciating pain of living, and the idea of suffering the rest of my natural born life is infinitely better than passing through into that."

But Baizley wasn't the only one injured in the crash. Band co-founder/drummer Allen Blickle broke his tailbone, bassist Matt Maggioni exacerbated an old back injury and the driver's body was shattered from the torso down. The musicians were rushed to the nearest hospital, where a surgeon inserted two irregularly shaped nine-inch titanium plates and 20-plus screws into Baizley's arm and looped a foot and a half of wire through his forearm and over his elbow. When Baizley was finally able to return to the U.S. two months later, he underwent intensive physical rehabilitation and eventually regained enough strength in his left arm to play guitar and paint.

Traumatized by the crash, Blickle and Maggioni quit Baroness. Without pause, the band recruited jazz-trained bassist Nick Jost and post-rock band Trans Am drummer Sebastian Thomson, and in spring of 2013 Baroness embarked on the first of three legs to support 'Yellow & Green.' In a similar situation, many musicians might bemoan their predicament. They might even feel cursed. Not Baroness.

"It took doctors three days to figure out how not to amputate my left arm, so I actually consider myself really lucky," Baizley says, then elaborates on the procedure that saved his career. "When I got back to the States I got a good orthopedist, who looked at the scans and the notes from surgery and said, 'You were incredibly lucky to have crashed in England.' He told me that in America doctors have a certain cosmetic obligation to keep wounds and incision sites as pleasant looking as they can, and if that had been the case I likely would have had to have my arm amputated or I would have very little use of it. The fact that my British surgeon had no problem making a 17-inch incision and then putting all this stuff in my arm gave me the amount of mobility, strength and dexterity I needed."

To read the rest, pick up the new issue on newsstands December 22 or get your copy here.
 

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Welcome to Revolver Magazine's "World's Loudest Podcast." Tune in every other week to hear the latest news, music and interviews with special guests from the world of hard rock and heavy metal.

Episode 16, which is presented by Fearless Records, DW drums and Zoom, is hosted by Zeena Koda (formerly of Sirius XM's Liquid Metal, currently of boxxtalk.com) and Revolver's Chris Enriquez. Check it out below and let us know what you think in the comments!

Here, we catch up with Ice Nine Kills' Spencer Charnas to chat about (and hear) their new album, 'Every Trick in the Book,' which is available now via Fearless Records. The frontman explains how each track is inspired by a piece of literature and why he chose to do that, touring plans, and so much more!
 

 

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Killswitch Engage appear on the cover of the next issue of Revolver, which will hit newsstands on December 22 and is available for purchase online right now. You can view the cover below, which was photographed by Jimmy Hubbard.

You also can read an excerpt from the issue's cover story, written by Richard Bienstock. In this section, frontman Jesse Leach talks about rejoining Killswitch Engage, their upcoming album,  guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz talks 'Phantom Menace' moments, and more!

"I was just young and stupid and didn't really have a sense of who I was. I didn't have confidence in myself as a person and as a singer," says Killswitch Engage vocalist Jesse Leach about his departure from the band over 10 years ago.

"Now my confidence is intact but I think there's a humility now that I didn't have before. I'm willing to grow. I think back when I was younger, I had this punk rock guilt about me, where I thought I knew what I had to do and I didn't want to take lessons from anybody."

It's a mature reflection from Leach, who helped to found the western Massachusetts-based act back in the late '90s, and appeared on their first two albums, 2000's self-titled debut and 2002's classic 'Alive or Just Breathing.' But just as Killswitch were picking up steam and leading the charge for what would eventually be a flood of 21st century metalcore acts, the vocalist, plagued by bouts of crippling depression that were exacerbated by long stretches of being on the road, abruptly quit the group.

In the ensuing years, Killswitch climbed to even greater heights with replacement singer Howard Jones at the helm—until he split as well, citing, among other things, his own battles with anxiety and depression, as well as complications from a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. And while Leach's 2012 re-entry was cautious at first, coming back "has been better than I ever thought it could be. It feels really good."

Which is partly why the band chose to title their highly-anticipated seventh album, 'Incarnate.' "The definition of incarnate is 'in the flesh,'" Leach explains. "And this record is who we are right now. Whereas [2013's] 'Disarm the Descent' was sort of my 'comeback' album, and was about us feeling out the new vibe. But now, after spending a few years traveling the world together, I think we're all in a really comfortable place. We definitely have a strong sense of self as to who we are as a band."

That strong sense of self (and the cinematic story of Killswitch Engage itself) likely came in handy, in a much different way, when the members gathered in New York City to shoot the cover for this issue of Revolver—with each of them dressed as a different 'Star Wars' character. "We're all huge 'Star Wars' nerds, so it was awesome," Leach says, recalling the shoot.

As for which character each member impersonated? "I took Han Solo, because he's the most serious one, and that's kind of how I am in the band," Leach says. "Mikey [bassist Mike D'Antonio] was Darth Vader, Justin [Foley, drummer] was Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Joel [Stroetzel, guitarist] was Chewbacca. And of course, Adam [Dutkiewicz, guitarist/producer] was Princess Leia—everyone knew that was gonna happen!"

There was little doubt that Dutkiewicz—a man who has gone onstage in front of thousands of rabid metal fans wearing everything from daisy dukes to a ballerina's tutu—would step up to the plate at the shoot. "I just went with the traditional white dress," Dutkiewicz says of his fashion choice.

And when asked if there is anything in Killswitch Engage's long and varied career that he would consider a misstep similar to, say, the introduction of Jar Jar Binks (undoubtedly the franchise's most universally reviled character in 'Episode I: The Phantom Menace'), Dutkiewicz lets out a laugh. "Oh man! There's a few, I think! We've definitely had our 'Phantom Menace' moments. Not every record can be 'The Empire Strikes Back,' you know what I'm saying?"

For the rest of the story, pick up the January issue.

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The following is a preview of what's in the January 2016 issue of Revolver. You can pick up the new issue on newsstands December 22 or at the Revolver Online Store.

 

FEATURES
READERS POLL
You voted, we counted.

BARONESS
March on after shattered bones

KILLSWITCH ENGAGE
Counting on the force

MEGADETH
New members, new outlook

DEPARTMENTS
IN THE NEWS
Prong and Walls of Jericho hit the studio
Plus: Hottest Chicks, Vinnie Paul and Lzzy Hale dish out advice, and more!

PROFILES
THE BRUTAL TRUTH: Tough questions for Killing Joke, Danzig, For Today, Kylesa, The Winery Dogs, and Twitching Tongues!
BANDS TO WATCH: Failure Anthem, Wage War and more!

IN THE REAR
The Top 20 Albums of 2015! Who is No. 1?
Holiday Gift Guide: The presents that will turn 2015 up to 11

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Killswitch Engage have premiered a new song and music video (directed by McFarland and Pecci), 'Strength of the Mind," via Nerdist.com.

Check out Nerdist.com for a special announcement about Revolver.

The track comes off the metalcore group's upcoming seventh album.
 

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Boise, Idaho-based metalcore act We Were Giants are releasing their new EP—which features guest shots from The Color Morale's Garret Rapp and For the Fallen Dreams' Chad Ruhlig—'Dead Society,' today. In anticipation, the band has teamed up with Revolver to premiere the entire EP stream right here, right now! Check it out below and let us know what you think in the comments!

To get 'Dead Society,' visit the band's merch store. For more on We Were Giants, follow them on Facebook and Twitter.
 

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Swedish progressive sludge act Moloken recently released their new album, 'All Is Left to See,' via Temple of Torturous. Today, the band has teamed up with Revolver to premiere their new music video, "Seventh Circle." Check it out below and let us know what you think in the comments!

The band said, "'Seventh Circle' deals with you painfully acknowledging that you have reached the end of a circle on your life path. And in order to move on you have no other choice than to dive deep into yourself, accepting your pain to be cleansed and reborn. All is left to see.

"There's a storm coming and Hell follows in its wake, My vessel capsized, Waves comes rolling and all is set loose. Beneath a raging light, into the darkness from whence I came...

"The video was caught live while the band performed at Discouraged Festival in Umeå Sweden 2014, displaying Moloken as a highly visual band as the light design perfectly complement and also expands the experience of their already multi-dimensional music."

To get 'All Is Left to See,' visit Temple of Torturous' webstore. For more on Moloken, follow them on Facebook.
 

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Scott Weiland, former singer for Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, has died at age 48. His wife, Jamie, confirmed his passing.

The singer was found around 9 p.m. Thursday on his tour bus in Minnesota, where his band, the Wildabouts, were scheduled to play at the Medina Entertainment Center. The show was canceled prior to their taking the stage.

Reports of Weiland's death first began to circulated after Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro tweeted: "Just learned our friend Scott Weiland has died. So gutted, I am thinking of his family tonight." That tweet has now been deleted.

Weiland's official Facebook page has been updated with a short statement:

"Scott Weiland, best known as the lead singer for Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, passed away in his sleep while on a tour stop in Bloomington, Minnesota, with his band The Wildabouts. At this time we ask that the privacy of Scott's family be respected."

 

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Welcome to Revolver Magazine's "World's Loudest Podcast." Tune in every other week to hear the latest news, music and interviews with special guests from the world of hard rock and heavy metal.

Episode 15, is hosted by Zeena Koda (formerly of Sirius XM's Liquid Metal, currently of boxxtalk.com) and Revolver's Chris Enriquez. Check it out below and let us know what you think in the comments!

Here, we catch up with Deftones at Aftershock Festival to talk playing their hometown, shocking moments during their career, and of course, when new tunes are on the way. Later, we chat with Soilwork about their new record, songwriting and discovering new territories. We also play new tracks from Glassjaw Baroness, Danzig, and more!
 

 

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Shinedown have premiered the official video for "State of My Head," which comes off their recently released fifth studio album, 'Threat to Survival.'

Earlier this year singer Brent Smith told USA Today about "State of My Head": [It] was actually built around its rhythm, inspired by the bounce of the song and the way the track moves." He continued, "Usually I write with a melody in mind, but this time, it was more about the flow. We really didn't have the other instrumentation down — I pretty much wrote it to a drum track. We will always be 'rock and roll' to the bone, but this song is a prime example of how we refused to limit ourselves on this album."

Check out "State of My Head" below and let us know what you think in the comments.
 

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