Artist Interview
Thanks to our partners at Musicians Institute, Revolver sat down with Black Label Society's Zakk Wylde at Ozzfest meets Knotfest to talk about his first memories of Black Sabbath, first gig with Ozzy, tips on how to survive a festival, upcoming plans, and more!
For more on Black Label Society, follow them on Twitter and Facebook.
Metallica appears on the cover of Revolver's December issue, which will hit newsstands on December 13 and is available for purchase online right now! You can view the cover below, which was photographed by Jimmy Hubbard.
Below, you can also read an excerpt from the issue's cover story, written by Dan Epstein. In this section, frontman James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich talk about the making of their latest, 'Hardwired... to Self-Destruct,' and how they searched for simplicity, warmth and "just kind of fell into it."
...In short, 'Hardwired… to Self-Destruct' is the head-banging, life-affirming creation of four seasoned metal veterans doing what they do best in the recording studio.
"It's documenting exactly where we are right now," says Hetfield. "I don't want to compare it to previous stuff—that stuff is what it is, and this stuff is what it is." Still, Hetfield admits that he occasionally looked to the band's 1983 full-length debut as a touchstone during the writing and recording process. "Maybe the initial intention was 'simplicity'—I wanted more simplicity, so I kept saying, 'Kill 'Em All.' The Black Album is more simple than some of the others, song-wise; but the production of that record is quite complex and really layered. I wanted the new one to have a little more layers than 'Death Magnetic,' but I also wanted it to be more simple—and I wanted it to be more palatable to the ear. I think 'Death Magnetic' is very, very powerful, and I love it, but it abuses the ear quite a bit. This record sounds loud and powerful, but in a warmer way."
Hetfield and Ulrich credit the album's beefy sonic attack to Greg Fidelman, who co-produced the album with them at the band's HQ in San Rafael, California. Fidelman has engineered every Metallica recording from 'Death Magnetic' onward—and has also been behind the recording desk for Slayer, Slipknot, Black Sabbath, and many other rock and metal luminaries during his career, which has often involved serving as the engineer on Rick Rubin's productions.
"Since Greg walked into our lives in 2007, he's been on every project—'Death Magnetic,' 'Through the Never' [the band's 2013 concert film], the Deep Purple, Rainbow and Iron Maiden covers we did, the Lou Reed record," Ulrich explains. "So I think by the time that Rick [Rubin] was not, uh, involved, he maybe felt a little freer to make Metallica sound the way that he felt it should sound."
"We really enjoyed his sonics and the approach he had on the movie," seconds Hetfield. "The 'Through the Never' stuff sounds really, really warm and powerful, so it's easy to turn up. That's what we were going for this time, and Greg stepped up…
"I've gotta give him credit, because it's not easy to hang out with us," Hetfield laughs. "It can be pretty rough jumping into the mix between Lars and I. He did a good job of being the swing vote, or the referee, or whatever you want to call it. I mean, this guy is pretty mellow, and he's able to get his opinion across without being a dick about it. Not that you have to totally walk on eggshells around us, but I think Lars and I backed off quite a bit. There was a lot less… I wouldn't say arguments, but disagreements on how things should go, because we really trusted him."
In fact, to hear Metallica's co-founders tell it, the entire process of creating 'Hardwired… to Self-Destruct' was remarkably smooth. "It was actually kind of the exact opposite of the 'Death Magnetic' process," says Ulrich. "With that album, we met with Rick very early on; he would come up to Northern California every few weeks, and we'd sit around and listen to music and talk about our history, and about our future, who we were…
"It was deep stuff, and it was very cool and very interesting. Rick encouraged us to try this and try that; that you shouldn't be afraid to embrace your past, and that you could be inspired by previous work. So there was a very systematic and thought-out approach to what we were doing with that record. With this record, there were no meetings or concepts or anything. It was very organic. We just kind of fell into it."
For the rest of the story, pick up the December issue.
Thanks to our partners at Musicians Institute, Revolver sat down with Slipknot and Stone Sour's Corey Taylor at Ozzfest meets Knotfest to talk about the how the fest came together, the People = Shit game, hearing Black Sabbath for the first time, meeting Ozzy, and more!
For more on Slipknot, follow them on Twitter and Facebook.
Thanks to our partners at Musicians Institute, Revolver sat down with Suicide Silence's Eddie Hermida and Mark Heylmun at Ozzfest meets Knotfest to talk destroying shit, the first time they heard Sabbath, the new album, recording with Ross Robinson, and so much more!
For more on Suicide Silence, follow them on Twitter and Facebook.
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 30 which is presented by DW Drums and Zoom Audio, is hosted by Zeena Koda (formerly of Sirius XM's Liquid Metal, currently of boxxtalk.com) andRevolver's Chris Enriquez. Check it out below and let us know what you think in the comments!
First, we catch up with Max Cavalera to talk about the Sepultura 'Return to Roots' tour, using a real tribe for the recording of the album, keeping up on new music, and so much more! Then we sit down with Oni to discuss side hustles, touring and the new album. Plus, we play new tunes from Nails, Activate and more!
In 2011, Christian melodic hardcore outfit Life In Your Way reformed after a three-year hiatus. After performing a slew of live shows and releasing their 'Kingdoms' EP series, the band became inactive once again. On Saturday, October 29, the band will perform for the first time in five years at Souled Out Fest in Poughkeepsie, NY at The Chance. Other bands on the line up include Beartooth, Every Time I Die, Stray From The Path, Fit For A King and more. Tickets are available here.
In anticipation of this rare event, Revolver has exclusively interviewed Life In Your Way founder and vocalist Joshua Kellam about the band's reunion, making it the first and only interview the band has agreed to do to discuss their forthcoming show.
REVOLVER What compelled you guys to reunite for the Souled Out Fest? Is this a one off, or do you have plans for more performances?
JOSHUA KELLAM We're going to be very selective on what shows we jump on. Between time and resources and honestly, the promise of a good turnout with a crowd that hasn't seen us before has always been priority. Souled Out Fest is a good fit for sure.
Back in May, you released a video titled "Life in Your Way 2017." Is there anything in store in the future?
Ah yes, the secret for 2017 is that we've started to write for a new record. This will be our fifth full length and it should be quite different, but still not letting down our fans. We also hope to hit the road a little, some certain parts of the states were second homes to us on tour.
The band has seen a lot of lineup changes over the years. How has this impacted your writing from 1999 to the present?
Well, it has a lot. Every time a member change needed to happen, it ensued change in the whole dynamic. Our songs, normally start with guitar writing. The guitar writers will highly prove a difference in preference. Some were more fluid and some tough.
Your faith has played a major role in your music. Do you face any challenges being a Christian band in the hardcore scene?
We've had our share of people keeping us at arm's length. Hardcore has traditionally been about speaking your mind, sharing beliefs and doing it together. Finding life in Jesus is certainly something to share, the good in that tends to come out in our songs. There are still struggles, those are relevant in our songs too.
In contrast to that, what are some ways that your faith has helped shape the band and your music?
If life is about experience, then we are always being molded. It is the same with following Jesus. We have a different set of goals than most bands. There have been times on tour when we'd give our guarantee for the night to a band who might have broken down or even needed gas for the next long drive. We also made it a point to stay with people on the road. Being with new friends in their homes is priceless. Our motives rarely had money or popularity front and center.
You and your brother have been in the band since the beginning. What differences, if any, are there between working with a family member versus other band members?
The pluses had always outweighed the bad. Knowing someone that close can mean you'll rely on them for certain things and can count on the outcome. Making and playing music is a pure artform, it comes from the heart. Doing that with family makes sense.
Watch the official video for Life In Your Way's song, "Who I Am," which is taken from their 'Kingdoms' EP collection.
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 29 which is presented by Metal Blade records, DW Drums, and Zoom Audio, is hosted by Zeena Koda (formerly of Sirius XM's Liquid Metal, currently of boxxtalk.com) andRevolver's Chris Enriquez. Check it out below and let us know what you think in the comments!
First, we catch up with Candiria's John LaMacchia to talk about their new record, the hiatus, difficulties with former labels, losing drummer Ken Schalk, touring New York City, and so much more. Plus, we play new tunes from Serpentine Dominion, Destrage, Wovenwar, and more!
The following article is from Revolver's October/November 2016 issue. It is on newsstands now and available for purchase in our webstore.
by Richard Bienstock
"There might be an idea someone has of what All That Remains is supposed to sound like, but we always try to challenge that idea," says frontman Phil Labonte. And indeed, over the course of its almost 20-year career, the Massachusetts-based metalcore heavyweights have slowly incorporated a greater use of everything from clean vocals to melodic hooks to power-ballad arrangements into their music, earning plenty of new fans—and a few detractors—in the process. So when the singer tells Revolver that the band's in-the-works new studio album, its eighth overall, is "probably our most challenging record yet," that's saying something.
According to Labonte, the changes this time around happened right from the start of the writing process. "We wanted to mix it up a little bit and write from a vocal perspective this time," he says. "So I went to L.A. and came up with vocal ideas and melodies and then sent those chord progressions back to Oli [Herbert, guitarist] and he wrote riffs in response to that." Writing in that manner, he continues, "turned the record into a vocal album as opposed to a guitar album. And that affected some things. Like, there might be less intricacy in the riffs because they were written in response to my voice."
Furthermore, Labonte also reveals that the majority of the new songs feature "significant programming and electronic sounds. And that's something we wanted to have flowing through the entire record. So you're gonna hear that kind of influence on most of the tracks."
Labonte also reports that among the new batch of songs, there are two that are similar in style to All That Remains' 2012 ballad "What If I Was Nothing," and another that is "really going to challenge people." But not everything will be a break from the norm: When it comes to subject matter on the new songs, he laughs. "Well, most people that are familiar with me know that I'm pretty political… and it is an election year." As for how that fact influenced the album? "When politics affects you negatively, you're usually pretty angry," Labonte says. "So, it's a metal record."