Kent Smedley (Prodigy/Oracle/Eternal Odyssey): Music is my refuge

I wanted to do this interview for many years! Probably since I discovered "As Darkness Reigns" about 15 years ago. Everything about this album and the band was intriguing: the name (before that I knew only one Prodigy — that techno/electronic/whatever shit that was everywhere in the late 90's), the fact that two memebers of the band played with Iced Earth, and of course the music — intense, sophisticated, powerful, with top notch vocals. And there was almost no information about these guys! Then I befriended Kent Smedley (the mastermind of Prodigy) and Willian Wren (the singer), but it turned to be the same story: I decided I could do the interview any time. (I missed so many interviews because of this foolish way of thinking.) Then Kent's life became a nightmare because of issues within his family (more on that below) and William sadly passed away. Finally I took courage to ask Kent for an interview and he was so kind to say yes and to wait for a few month before I would find the time to complete my list of questions. I'm glad I did that and am thankful to Kent for his full and honest answers. Here you go! 

Skull & Crossbones: The art of sungazing

What can you expect from 4 members of Stormwitch who recorded very strong album ("Bound to the Witch", 2018) and then decided to split with the singer Andy Mück and form another band? You don't have to be as wise as Solomon to answer this question. Of course they play classic heavy metal — powerful but yet melodic! Don't let the name Skull & Crossbones to fool you — the band doesn't sing about pirates and seas, but still they have a lot to offer for all fans of Stormwitch, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest (you name it). So here we are chatting with Tobi Kipp (guitars), Tobi Hübner (vocals), Marc Oppold (drums) and Jurgen "Wanschi" Wannenwetsch (bass) about the band and their debuut album "Sungazer" which came out earlier this month on Massacre Records. 

Alkemyst: Through yesterdays lanes

France’s Alkemyst were one of the bands I discovered when I was on a power metal diet in my early 20’s. All I wanted to listen to back then were bands like Helloween, Rhapsody, Stratovarius, Labyrinth, Vision Divine, Angra and so on. And the labels didn’t let me down. The released every power metal album they could get a hold of, and I still have tons of catalogues and promotional sheets with that stuff. But even then, when the power metal scene was over flooded, Alkemyst caught my attention. High quality power metal with progressive touch from France? That was unbelievable! And they had Roberto Messina from Secret Sphere! Yes, they shot across the sky like a meteor, but they definitely left their trace! To be honest, I haven’t listened to  Alkemyst for years and didn’t know they reunited in 2016 and disbanded again in 2022, but my love to their music always has been with me. So a while ago I contacted Alkemyst’s master mind Arnaud Ménard to discuss the band’s challenging story. This is so far the longest and the most honest (I’d say brutally honest) interview I’ve done in 15 years. 

Chris Boltendahl's Steelhammer: Back to the roots

Chris Boltendahl is a pure work addict! He keeps himself (and others) busy and it seems no pandemic, flood or anything else can stop him. The albums he released with Grave Digger (2022) and Hellryder (2021) are not enough for him and here he goes with the first ever record of his solo band Steelhammer. And it's not just Chris and a bunch of guys who used to be around. The band consists of two ex-members of Oden Organ (Tobias Kersting and Lars Schneider) and one member of Iron Savior (Patrick Klose). A supergroup of Teutonic power metal I'd say. So here we are talking with Tobias Kersting about the album "Reborn in Flames".

Epidemic: The truth of what it was like

Note: the interview was done in 2015.

Along with Vio-Lence, Forbidden Legacy/Testament and some others Epidemic were part of the so called second wave of Bay Area thrash metal. The band managed to record three awesome albums, play dozens and dozens of gigs but remained relatively obscure, the band for die-hard fans of thrash so to say. But who cares when it comes to the quality of music? These guys delivered severe blend of thrash and death metal, and that's all that matters. Epidemic's bass player Mike Bodine remembers his path with Epidemic. 

Overlord SR: The power of metal

Damn! There are so many new releases every year, that it's easy to miss really cool ones. That's what happened to the latest Overlord SR album "Prepare for the King". I managed to get my hands on it only this year. The band is still going strong and kikicng asses of all USPM fans. Wildman George Koerber took the time to tell me about the album and shared some stories from the glorious past of the band. 

Refuser: Heavy Metal is a mindset

Greeks' love for metal is well known. They have shitloads of awesome bands (Firewind, Stray Gods, Battleroar, Enerald Sun, Suicidal Angels, Rotting Christ, War Dance, Sarissa — that's just a few ones from the top of my head), plenty of labels, Up the Hammers festival and so on. So I wasn't surprised when I bumped into another heavy metal outfit from Greece — Refuser. The thing that did surprise me was the quality of their debut effort. It is a well-written and diverse record for all fans of Warlord, Virgin Steele (I mean their classic albums, not the latest ones), Manowar and Queensryche. Of course I couldn't overpass this album and got in touch with the band to discuss eerything related to their impressive debut!