Judicator: Being artistically honest is the key

NOTE: the interview was done in 2018.

If you are into power metal and listen not only to the veterans of the genre like Gamma Ray, Blind Guardian and Helloween, then you probably have heard the name Judicator. This American act has released its fourth album “The Last Emperor” and it rules! Tony Cordisco (guitars) and John Yelland (vocals), two founders of Judicator, agreed to discuss the making of the new album, guest appearance of Hansi Kursch (Blind Guardian), lyrical concepts of the albums, songwriting process and much more.

Archnid: Dead but not buried

Thrash metal undeground is like a bottomless pit - the more you fall into it, the deeper it is. So even after many years there are a lot of bands to discover. It just happened that I bumped into Arachnid's self-titled demo just a few years ago. Needless to say, I was really impressed! So the bend went to my "cross-questioning" list and after a while I got a chance to speak with the guitarist Paul Nicholls. As they said, seek and ye shall find. 

Enforce: We could have been right up there with the greats

Matt Rudzinski, the owner of Divebomb Records, definitely has that rare talent to find obscure bands who played top notch music! Enforce is one of these bands which I discovered through Divebomb Records in 2014. You know this feeling when your package has arrived and you can’t wait to grab the CD and put it in your record player. As soon as the song “I’ll Walk Alone” started I fell in love with this tune! Even after two years I listen to the compilation “The Final Sign” very often and each time it’s like the first time! So it was a logical step to get in touch with Nick Ellingson, the guitar player and god-father of Enforce, who used to play in another cool band from Baltimore — Have Mercy.

Leviathan: The monster is rising again

NOTE: The interview was done in 2018

Colorado based progressive metallers Leviathan have released a new album with an odd title “Can't Be Seen by Looking: Blurring the Lines, Clouding the Truth”. Well, this band has always been whatever but obvious and predictable. The new album is a good example of that — long, complex (but not complicated) and thoughtful songs hold attention during 53 minutes and when it’s over the first thing you understand is that you want some more. The album promised to be something special also because of the mighty Mark Zonder who laid down the drums and Brazilian singer Rafael Gazar who took over the vocal duties. I've got in touch with the band’s mastermind John Lutzow to enquire everything about the making of the new album.

Interview with Peter Masson and Chris F. Brank (ex-Grave Digger)

 

Grave Digger were one of the bands which turned me on heavy metal. I was 14 and listened to various music trying to figure out what suits me better. I was already into Maiden and Helloween and then I heard "Tunes of War". Remember that demonic roar in the beginning of "Scotland United"? I literally shitted my pants and thoight, "Wow! That IS my music!" I became a life-long fan and of course I loved "Heavy Metal Breakdown", "Witch Hunter", even "War Games" and "Stronger Than Ever"! For years and years I asked myself: "Where is Peter Masson, the guy who wrote or co-wrote all those anthems from the early albums?" The search was over in 2021 and Peter agreed to answer my questions about his past life with Grave Digger and other projects he's been playing with. His colleague and band mate Chris F. Brank also contributed to the interview!  

Shadowkeep: Pure Metal Strikes Back!

NOTE: this interview was done in 2018

After successful album “The Hourglass Effect” British band Shadowkeep went on a very long hiatus. It took 10 years to return with the new album which is called plain and simple — “Shadowkeep”. The core duo — Nikki Robson and Chris Allen — managed not only to keep the rhythm section (Stony Grantham — bass, Omar Hayer — drums) but reinforce the band with the world premiere singer James Rivera. “Metal Majesty” is checking on how the things are going in the Shadowkeep’s camp and Nikki Robson is answering.

Interview with Jappe Myllyvirta of Excalion

In the early 2000's, when Excalion released teir first album, they were called the new Stratovarius. Yes, they had everything to become "the next big thing" from Finland, but for whatever reason that didn't happen. Did it stop them? No way! The band kept on releasing new albums on a regular basis and all of them were good - inspiring European power metal with a lot of melodies and great musicanship. The new album simply entiteled "VI" keeps that line. I've got in touch with Excalion's mastermind Jarmo "Jappe" Myllyvirta (thank you to (Angelo Mora of Scarlet Records for making this possible!) and with some help of Tero Vaaja (ex-guitarist of Excalion who still helps the band with lyrics) we discussed everything related to the making of "VI". 

Interview with German speed metal band Calderone

Back in the 80's Germany produced a lot (I mean A LOT) of excellent speed metal bands who combined fast riffs with catchy melodies. Some of them became well-known but many of these bands remained obscure. Calderone, the band from Berlin, broke up just after one EP but what an EP that was! I did this interview with Chris Mosch (drums), Marc Alexey (guitars) and Jorg Franke in 2015. A lot of things have happened since then (the band released full-length album "Full Metal Injection", for example, and Jorg Franke rejoined Calderone just a few days ago), so go to Calderone's official FB page to check out the latest news. Below you can find an interesting jorney to the days where it all started!