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DELLAMORTE
- Shitkickin' Death Groove!
By Adrian 'The Energizer' Bromley
Crazy fuckers Dellamorte have been stirring up shit in the world
of rock 'n' roll for the last few years. With the release of their
debut CD Everything You Hate (on Swedish Finnrecords in 1995), the
band has injected their vile rotten attitude into a death rock/punk
rock/groove formula, and fans have latched onto them, making them
somewhat of an underground fave. 'What do they sound like?' you
ask? Think of a much rawer Entombed, interspersed with the dark
emotional backlash of punk icons Black Flag. This shit is pissed-off
and out of control.
The music of Dellamorte on their latest Kron-H (a division of Osmose
Records) release Uglier And More Disgusting is loud, brash and insincere.
A loose cannon of atrocious ideas and visions, topped off with a
sonically hard-hitting soundtrack. The band -- comprised of guitarists
Johan and Mattias, vocalist Jonas, drummer Kennet and bassist Danne
-- has crafted a perfect mix of groovy death rock, samples and unadulterated
anarchy. This is "uglier" and "more disgusting" than anything you
might hear this year.
By e-mail, bassist Danne answered several UNRESTRAINED! questions:
UNRESTRAINED!: Explain to me the difference in your opinion from
the debut LP Everything You Hate and the new one, Uglier And More
Disgusting. Did you do anything different this time around?
DANNE: I think the main difference is the sound. On Everything...
it got a bit too clear and plastic, I think. Not enough groove and
heaviness...but still pretty raw. Uglier... is in my opinion more
death-ish, with a dirty and raw bass-groove, although a bit too
dirty perhaps? We have also tuned down a little bit more on our
new CD to make it more brutal. When it comes to the songs, I think
they are a little bit more varied on Uglier..., and the vocals are
different with every song. Maybe you can say that the first CD was
more punk than the second one -- heavier and more full of screaming
vocals. I think with this record we are getting nearer to the Dellamorte
sound we want; hopefully the next LP will be the perfect one for
us.
U!: Where do you think Dellamorte fits into the metal scene nowadays?
What bands influenced or continue to influence the sounds of Dellamorte?
DANNE: I hope we can be a kind of Motrhead of the year 2000. Providing
brutal music for everyone. I mean, we don+t really have any image
or anything...we're just a rock 'n' roll band! Motrhead is definitely
our main influence, though we try to develop their straightforward
rock in a modern way - the Dellamorte way. Since some of us took
part in helping to create the Swedish Death sound in the late '80s
(Dellamorte features some early members of Dismember), it+s only
natural for us to add into Dellamorte the metal sound and brutality.
But we try to simplify the songs a bit, and make them more punk/rock.
We try to cut the crap, if you know what I mean. I hope we will
still be around in 20 years, like AC/DC, Motrhead, Ozzy Ozbourne
and even the Rolling Stones.
U!: Where did the ideas for the numerous samples come from? Did
you specifically pick them for each song? I am assuming you did,
I just wanted to know...
DANNE: You know, I'm a film freak and a (lousy) movie student. I
especially fancy brutal and sick underground flicks, and I really
enjoy samples in music. I think Skinny Puppy got me into that shit,
their records sound so evil and cool with all those movie segments!
Of course I chose special samples for selected songs. The sampling
before "Dirty" is my favorite one. It comes from a cool Richard
Kern movie, where Lydia Lunch explains the dark aspects of "love"
-- it kind of runs nice along with that song.
U!: Future plans for Dellamorte? New material already on the go?
DANNE: Eight or nine songs are already finished for the next album
called The Stormtroopers Of Dellamorte, which we will record sometime
in August. We really are trying our best this time, since we think
we need to do a bit better than Uglier... It feels good at the moment,
but we'll see. Then I really want us to play live as much as possible,
hopefully in the U.S. and Canada. And that's what rock is all about:
playing live and banging the shit out of yourself.
U!: What does Dellamorte look for in a song -- any ideas or styles
you try to put into every song?
DANNE: Basically it starts out with a good riff. Then we try to
figure out the structure, simple ones with a classical verse/chorus
to make them catchy. Then maybe throw in some cool breaks or small
drum fills. Basically anything that sounds cool. But I don't really
know actually, mostly the songs just pop out of my guitar when I
sit down for a while. Of course, sometimes we notice that the riffs
might not be good enough after a while, but hey, we then just make
a new one. The lyrics I make last, and those are mainly just stupid
things that pop up in my head. Ideas about the weird aspects of
life.
U!: How is the metal/music scene over there in Sweden? Do you have
trouble getting shows or exposure in general?
DANNE: It's shit. Hardly any shows, and the few there are are usually
very boring to play at. But we grab any show we can get and bang
our heads all we can. The problem here is that there are so many
bands -- and so few clubs. And there is a bit of hostility between
the bands. It's stupid. I sometimes blame this new black metal trend,
in which it seems that people think it is cool to talk shit about
each other. I liked the old death metal scene better. That was friendlier
in a way, but I'm happy enough and I can feel a wind of change towards
more groovy/Death metal again.
U!: How do you feel about doing interviews and/or press? Have you
gotten a lot of reviews and/or interviews with this album?
DANNE: I love doing interviews! Send me more! The 'zines are very
important for the scene, I think. I admire people who do 'zines
very much, since I myself have failed every time I've tried to do
one. I have only seen a few reviews of our album, but I receive
many interviews so I guess a lot of 'zines have reviewed us as well.
The problem is that it is hard to get the 'zines. If anyone sees
a review of us I would be very glad if you could send me a copy
of it. It's always nice to see what people think about our music
-- and other music as well. 'Zines rule!
U!: Will Dellamorte ever tour North America? Do you tour much of
Europe? Any good or bad experiences that you would like to share
with UNRESTRAINED!?
DANNE: Hopefully many times, since we love touring so much. Anyone
up for bringing us over? We've toured once in Europe and it was
great! We hope to do another tour soon. Fuck! The only thing we
want is to play live -- all the time! Since we like playing so much,
we really care what happens along the way, as long as we are on
tour. But when I toured the U.S. with my punk band (Diskonto) I
was surprised that you couldn't drink in the car. Fuck such laws...but
still, it's a small sacrifice to pay if you can go on tour.
U!: A lot of bands mesh together music styles -- you do it with
hardcore/metal and punk. Is blending musical styles the only way
bands can stay original nowadays?
DANNE: I don+t know about that. I mean, who is to say what styles
are original? We do not sit down and say: 'Hey, let's blend punk
and metal'?! It's just a natural thing for us. When rock first came,
I'm pretty sure some people saw it as a mix of already-existing
styles. Maybe this world is just a lot of different fragments, with
no basic structures to rely on. Nah, who cares? We only want to
make good music, fuck being labeled!
U!: What emotions or experiences do you get when you listen to Dellamorte?
DANNE: In regards to myself, when I hear Dellamorte I often think,
'Oh, we could have done better with that', etc... It's always hard
to listen to your own music. But then when I'm drunk it's a whole
different story. Then I really get in the mood for partying. I wanna
throw things around and that's how I want people to feel when listening
to us: (to be) in the mood for a big party! Every time I hear AC/DC
I just get this huge urge to go berserk and party like hell. It's
a wonderful feeling to be like that. I hope we have a bit of that
appealing AC/DC "party" quality in us. I know we do.
CONTACT Info:
Dellamorte
Blasutvagen 7 (6tr)
121 36 Johanneshov
SWEDEN
E-mail: daniel.ekeroth@swipnet.se
URL: http://www.cfug.org/dellamorte/
STUCK MOJO: Rich Ward's Wrestling Federation
By Christopher Bruni
He is the Duke Of Metal. Rich Ward. And he has skipped
out on his daily workout today.
"Well I'm actually doing interviews today but I have to go work
out tomorrow! First thing!" replies Rich. "For me it depends on
my schedule and how I train because normally if I have enough to
train everyday then I'll do one body part per day and maybe do more
sets. But if it's like I could only train three or four days then
I'll combine exercises. Like I'll do my back and biceps one day,
then I'll do chest, shoulders, and triceps next day and then I'll
reduce my number of sets per exercise in order to fit it in so I
have to plan those out a few days in advance."
WWF or WCW?
"WCW reigns supreme!" exclaims Rich. Guess I should have noticed
by the WCW Championship belt on the cover of Stuck Mojo's ever punishing
new pile driver of an album called Rising. "WCW has all the top
wrestlers that I like. I mean the WWF has of course The Undertaker
and Stone Cold Steve Austin, but then you look at guys like Bret
'The Hitman' Hart who is now in WCW, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash who
used to be Razor Ramon and Diesel in the WWF. You got Hogan, Sting,
Lex Luger, The Stiner Brothers, and the WCW has all the cool Mexican
wrestlers and to me it's just a better federation. The story lines
are better and there is a bit more drama." It is a soap opera for
guys.
"Absolutely! I mean I know all those guys so well. You are always
going to be fans of wrestlers just like you're always going to be
fans of bands. You know I was always a big fan of Diamond Dallas
Page (who appears in the new Stuck Mojo video, along with Raven,
for the title track), he had the long hair, tattoos, he wore jeans
you know, he was always the rock n' roll wrestler and I always dug
that. And of course Raven and his flock, they're total 90's rockers
and they're cool and they rule! They are all nice guys and Raven's
DDT is as good as it gets."
"I mean the wrestlers are as hard working as anyone in the rock
business. They do four or five shows a week where they are being
dumped on their heads and on their backs, they're being jumped on,
anybody can say it's fake or not real, but gravity is real and when
a four-hundred pound guy falls on your chest it is as real as it
gets so to me I really connect with those guys. That is where my
allegiance lies. I have had a chance to meet with Macho Man Randy
Savage and Hogan who are really nice guys. I mean they played our
video on Monday Night Nitro in front of four million viewers !"
So if Rising were a wrestling move what would it be? Bret Hart's
sharp shooter? Kevin Nash's power bomb? Chris Benoit's crippler
cross face? Diamond Dallas Page's diamond cutter? Or Raven's DDT?
"I think it's the frog splash, you know when Eddie Gurrerro gets
on the top rope on the corner and he does that big dive on the mat?"
Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka is the king at that! I mean he did it from
the top of a fifteen foot steel cage.
"Superfly, yeah! Like this record has its moments of grace and fluidity
and at the very end you get that big bang. That is the move. That
is devastating! That is when you get your rib cage broken, it's
got style and it's one of my favorites! You got the sharp shooter
and the diamond cutter is a great move because it has some of the
characteristics of the DDT and you can do it from almost any position.
But the DDT is too brutal! Now you're talking Morbid Angel where
it drops you on your head and you don't wake up until the record
is over."
The album opens up with the awesome 'Crooked Figurehead', where
it begins with somewhat of an inaugural speech and how ironic it
is that during the conversation between myself and the Duke Of Metal,
there is the fornigate scandal going on. That is the Bill Clinton
and Monica Lewinski affair as Rich tells me how much he despises
Clinton and his ways of trying to sly away from any scandal. Rich
is for the death penalty, he voted for Bob Dole, hopes that The
United States gets more of a moral figurehead, and hopes to wrestle
Curt Henning (a.k.a. Mr. Perfect) one day.
It's actually quite amazing though how Stuck Mojo have developed.
Their previous works (Snappin' Necks and the ball busting Pigwalk)
were more of an in your face affair, but on Rising, there is more
of a soothing, mature musical alteration. There is a lot of soul
searching going on with this album, Bonz voice improving, more soulful
indeed, and there is some of the finest guitar work to cross my
ears this year. Some of the heaviest guitar work, some of the most
powerful chord progressions, and there's so much feeling within
Rich's playing. It's totally metal and that is where Rich's heart
lies. We marvel over Ozzy Osbourne's exquisite Diary Of A Madman,
which shows how Rich is such a dedicated fan and so proud of his
metal upbringing.
"The older I get the more I start to realize what is important about
music. I can listen to Demanufacture and Far Beyond Driven and it
literally beats me up! It's like being in a fight. I love the feeling!
Our previous material lacked dynamics and Dimebag of Pantera is
one of my favorite guitarists and so is David Gilmour of Pink Floyd,
Billy from ZZ Top and Angus Young from AC/DC. There is so much music
that touches me that I want to express those emotions, making every
second count. There is really different stuff on this record. I
wanted to make sure that this record said a lot and I think that
this record, absolutely without a doubt, you can't name another
band and any other record that sounds like this."
"I mean the songwriting process has always been approached the same
way. We just kind of had a different vision with this record. We
wanted to put more dynamics into this record and have a little more
diversity amongst the songs. Like Pigwalk is pretty much an assault
from top to bottom. It doesn't have a lot of dynamics, whereas on
this album we kind of danced around with songs like 'Rising' and
'Assassination Of A Popstar.' I mean if you listen to the main riff
on that song it's traditional metal. You can see it on Black Sabbath's
Heaven And Hell record where you know that same type of riff, that
Iommi trademark. But at the same time, it's got some really cool
keyboard parts on the verse part and it's got a very fast intricate
bass line through the verse, and then we used a lot of different
dynamics with Bonz actually singing which he doesn't do a whole
lot of and on 'Rising' we got the organ, the choir, and the harmonica
parts."
It's weird how myself and this music really do not see eye to eye,
you know the rap-metal crossover, but Stuck Mojo beats the living
shit out of me. Totally original and totally stylish. Bottom line.
And there are the fans of metal who despise the rap-metal crossover
but totally dig Stuck Mojo.
"I feel honoured if that is the case," glows Rich. "You know I'm
totally with you brother, I hate rap-metal! There is not one band
out there that I like! You know you get some kid who grew up in
suburbia who puts his hat on crooked and starts rapping and it's
just this half asse fucked up bullshit and I just think to myself
that maybe I wouldn't have thought that way when I was twenty years
old. But I'll be thirty next year, I teach guitar, I still take
guitar lessons, I'm always trying to grow as a player and songwriter,
and I am a true fan."
THE KING OF DIAMONDS PLAYS A NEW TRUMP CARD:
THE VOODOO CARD.
By Alex Ristic
King Diamond has built a reputation as a metal legend
through the amount of work he has done in music. Fronting two bands,
touring for both and continuously writing concepts for albums is
what sets him apart from the rest of the metal pack. His unmistakable
falsetto vocals and face paint also make it hard for him to be mistaken.
It was after some hard work touring South America that his Royal
Majesty of Metal sat down with UNRESTRAINED! to talk about his new
album (Voodoo) and future events for his other band Mercyful Fate.
"I just got back from doing a Mercyful Fate South American tour,"
says the highly talkative Diamond. "It was killer. It was out of
season down there. They don't encourage bands to [tour] at this
time of year because it's mid-summer, the hottest time of the year...
Despite that, we had a lot of people coming out. We had five shows
in Brazil and one in Santiago, Chile. That was a first ever in Santiago
-- 5,000 people, sold-out place. Major surprise, I'd say. We were
given an award for most-requested international metal band on radio
in Chile."
He does, however, know what's going on with his career. Voodoo is
his eighth full-length studio release, and quite possibly his best.
The music on the 14-track opus is vintage King Diamond, easily erasing
the forgettable Spider's Lullabye and The Graveyard. It seems like
the old attitude is back, along with the vocals from the halcyon
days of Them, Fatal Portrait and Abigail. The story, as the title
implies, involves voodoo and continues in his great tradition of
concept albums, with the story of a family moving into Louisiana
Voodoo country circa 1932. Diamond explains how the concept came
about.
"The initial idea I wanted to do was a concept album about the plague,
and I did start on it. But very shortly into the story, I felt like
I was ending off right where The Eye was taking place. It was not
right. And I've always had an interest in voodoo, but not knowing
very much. I don't think there's too many people who know a lot
about voodoo -- just a few myths, like needles in little dolls,
and zombies. But voodoo is so damn deep. When I started reading
about it, I was totally taken by surprise. The deep religious side
to it, some of those heavy rituals they have -- I was like 'whoa,'
I had no idea. So some of that stuff became part of the base of
the story. But coming up with all the characters and the storyline
came after [research]. None of our stuff has been inspired by watching
a movie and then writing a story based on the movie. It's just me
writing my own stuff."
The story revolves around David and Sarah Lafayette, who along with
their grandpa move into a house north of Baton Rouge. They soon
discover they are in the heart of Voodooville, with cults, exorcists
and spells everywhere they turn. Here's just a sampling of some
of the characters:
"There is Father Malone, who is a very renowned -- but retired --
exorcist who lives in New Orleans, so you get into real exorcism
as well in the story. Then there is Baron Samedi -- who is, when
it comes to ritual magic in voodoo, the top guy, the top god. Without
his permission, no spells or curses will ever happen or be successful.
And [on the CD cover] he's depicted just like I look on stage these
days. It's pretty crazy, 'cause he's wearing this top hat, this
skeleton face, a long old-fashioned coat and high boots, so it's
going to fit very well when we go on tour for this album."
A tour for Voodoo might not have been possible if the album were
as mediocre as the previous two releases. Diamond makes no apology
for them, but says that something was missing from the band in the
nineties. He points at the possible complacency of some band members
and the lack of aggressive attitude the band had in the early part
of the decade. Diamond attributes the return to old form partly
to new drummer John Luke Hebert, who coincidentally hails from Louisiana.
Hebert took the place of former drummer Darrin Anthony, who couldn't
continue because of a car accident that affected his aggressive
style of play.
"[Hebert] used to play with Chastain. He's always been a major King
Diamond fan, and when we started checking him out rehearsing stuff
it was amazing. This guy was playing all the old songs to a tee.
Every little thing Mikey Dee had put down on our albums, he played
-- and with ease. It was really strange -- but very positive --
to play 'Abigail' and then hearing all these little pulls and drags
and pushes in the drum playing. In a strange way it brought feeling
back; it was like playing the song in 1987. "
There are other factors in the resurgence of the band, says Diamond,
such as a change of studio and a full scale tour -- something the
King Diamond band hasn't done since the Conspiracy tour in 1989.
"Dallas Sound Lab had four individual studios under the same roof.
Big complex. It wasn't always that cool -- you're in this metal
frame of mind and you walk out of this control room to go to the
lounge, and there's a gospel choir recording next door. This new
studio is called Nomad Recording, and it's just one studio so we
were all alone there. Another good thing there is that the equipment
is top-notch. It had a lot of intimacy. The best way to describe
it is this studio has "the" metal feel, which we really could relate
to. It was kind of like walking into the same kind of studio as
Fatal Portrait and Abigail, which were done in some smaller studios
in Denmark. Even Andy [La Rocque, guitar] said so the first time
he stepped in there...he was like 'God, man this reminds me so much
of Denmark.' That plays a role in the sound, to a certain degree,
because that's where you stand, with all your feelings, when you're
putting the music down you have written on tape."
And of course, what King Diamond interview would be complete with
a least a mention of the metallic groundbreaking Mercyful Fate?
Right after leaving the studio for Voodoo, Diamond entered the studio
with his Danish mates to record a new slab of metal history, Dead
Again. The King of Diamonds gives an update: "The songwriting is
so genuinely Mercyful Fate on this one -- much more than it has
been since the reunion. This is so much back to the early style...there
are much darker lyrics than there's been for a while. The title
track is called "Dead Again;" that's like a 13:40 song. Kind of
like "Satan's Fall" taken a bit further. It is fucking heavy, I
can tell you."
That's some good news for fans of both bands, and metal in general.
With King Diamond making a triumphant return, there will finally
be someone able to guide some of the newer metal bands onto the
proper path of heavy metal righteousness. Long live the King of
Diamonds.
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