Veil of Sound Interviews

There are people who accompany you musically your whole life, maybe they are even of the same or a similar age. You might lose contact to that person's music once in a while but as you soon as you "re-connect", there is the same kind of close-ness, of connection, yes, of intimacy. For me, one of these voices is Jonah Matranga's, whose various projects have always resonated with me, mostly because of his voice which to me is the epitome of Emo, the good kind of Emo, not the shitty stuff that came in the late Aughts which bands who were more into mascara and stupid breakdowns than into making quality music - in his words and his songs there is always that ray of honesty. Now he has lent his skills for a new album with English Post-Stoner-Post-Hardcore veterans Sons of Alpha Centauri. Their first collaboration in 2021 was called "Push" and this new one is named "Pull" and believe me there are many pull-factors on these nine songs. Released again via Exile on Mainstream Records, this new record is a bit closer to Jonah's former combos and therefore the comparisons are obvious. But there is much more to talk about - his collaboration with the Deftones, Star Wars, his work with Far, hair, his connection to Sons of Alpha Centauri and much more. There is even a little quiz and a chance to win something for you all out there! So sit back and enjoy our latest interview! Band links Sons of Alpha Centauri Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sonsofalphacentauri Bandcamp: https://sonsofalphacentauri.bandcamp.com/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5N9S58a1trUvMiavf5vwFl Website: https://www.sonsofalphacentauri.co.uk/ Exile on Mainstream Records: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcsZM_AT6d84jePpfRnygog Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andreas.kohl.399 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/exileonmainstreamofficial/ Website: https://www.mainstreamrecords.de/

Locrian is not your average band, these three guys are some of the most striking genre-hoppers I have ever encountered. So many genres are on here that many different people attach many different tags to it. Many call them Post-Metal, others label them as Avantgarde Noise but when you talk to the guys and get a grasp of their vast musical influences and tastes it becomes clear that they do not care about labels, they do not restrict their listening habits to any specific genre and thus their music should not be seen that way. There is just so much to find out on their upcoming new record "End Terrain" (out on Friday, April 5th, via Profound Lore Records) that if you try to find out all the elements on these songs you might have to start thinking about mindmaps and spreadsheets in order to organize your thoughts and analyses. However, talking with Andre, Steven and Terence about the record then shows a trio that is not dead serious but really easy to talk to. We hear about their love for Shoegaze, Post-Punk, Experimental sounds and so much more! Enjoy our interview! Band links Locrian Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LocrianOfficial Bandcamp: https://locrian.bandcamp.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/locrianofficial/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/intl-de/artist/3qg85LFImCJ1zIefm6urwC?si=tdEGlaRvThOi45xAfbwgvQ Profound Lore: Bandcamp: http://profoundlorerecords.bandcamp.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profoundlorerecords Instagram: https://instagram.com/profoundlorerecords/ Website: https://profoundlorerecords.com/products-page/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_JwJlkjw7aeCSoYb3okn2w

Black Metal from Quebec is a pretty relevant scene, if you ask us. There are many awesome bands from the only French-speaking region in Northern America such as Nordicwinter, Spectral Wound, Misere Luminis and many others, amongst them: Givre. Man what a band, maybe my favorite Canadian band at the moment. Nevertheless, one must admit, that we normally do not know that much about Quebec. We might know about Montreal as its biggest city, might know where it's located and a few tidbits, but not too much. So we combined that lack of knowledge with an in-depth interview about Givre's new record Le Cloitre, out on Friday via Eisenwald. There is so much to talk the record: The concept of talking about six famous women all connected to the Christian faith, the artwork, the roots of the lyrics but also the difference of their hometown Rouyn Noranda compared to Montreal, the importance of that village for their sound and the impact of the local scene there. As you can imagine, all of this made up for a pretty long interview with many topics to discuss and much knowledge to gather. Enjoy our 90 minutes with Givre!

It isn't always fun to see what people really look like behind their masks, because sometimes they simply disappoint and are not scary enough (think of many wrestling fans) or not sexy enough (Kiss) or some other things. With Tommy Meehan that's not the case - the guy is as hilariously funny as the masks of his project Squid Pisser. And he is now a (touring) member of a certain small masked extreme metal band from Virginia that you might have heard about - GWAR? On the eve of the Super Bowl (a few hours before kick-off) our head honcho Thorsten sat down with Tommy and talked about everything related to his new project - be it artwork, the live-band and much more including the question “Why the heck release two very closely related things on the same date?!?!” Enjoy our talk!

Wanna hear an interview that I loved and hated at the same time? The conversation with Mirza from Arms and Sleepers was awesome. Deep and personal, funny and entertaining, technical and detailed. We talked a lot about Mirza's latest record What Tomorrow Brings (out since March 1st via Pelagic Records) and how it is a reflection of his life and all the tragic things he encountered ever since leaving his home in Bosnia-Herzegovina. He has been playing shows as Arms and Sleepers for years now and has also been to the Ukraine in war times twice, once during the first Russian attack on Crimea, ten years ago, and also after the second attack that is still going on. Of course that experience also influenced his song writing and will do so in the future. Why I hated the interview? Because my connection broke down all the time, chopped up a lot of interesting thoughts and resulted in this only being an audio-interview. Nevertheless, this conversation is one of the most interesting I was allowed to do this year, so I hope you enjoy it despite the technical difficulties.

A year ago, we started a series which, by its design, was hard to keep going so we were aware that there would be bigger gaps between the editions of this “series” but here we are now with its fourth installment - our “Bands interviewing Bands” - series. This time we have the pleasure of getting Aaron Charles and Jordan Guerette together, who play together in Falls of Rauros but who interviewed each other on their side projects - Aaron's Psychedelic Black Metal project Rhûn and Jordan's apocalyptic Chamber music ensemble Forêt Endormie. Of course, head honcho Thorsten also had a few questions for both guys but each came up with mighty cool questions for the FoR-bandmate. In our interview, we also talk about the importance of these projects for Falls itself, about Game of Thrones and Wheel of Time and about Stephen King, the literary icon of the guys' homestate, Maine. Enjoy the reviews on both outfits' recent releases as well as the interview! Many great albums take time to take shape and to see the light of day, and such is the case of Rhûn's Conveyance in Death. Not only does great music take time, but this album takes inspiration from things that are very relatable to the human condition: self-determination, solitude and ephemerality. It has many layers, blending of Black Metal with Death Metal and Psychedelia elements, that make this a great listen. Rhûn was born back in 2021 and was formed by Aaron Charles, one of the founding member of Falls of Rauros. The album came out after three years and also features Ray Capizzo on session drums. Conveyance in Death is a self-released album with six tracks and the physical copies are available by House of Inkantation. This album is very different from the Atmospheric Black Metal elements that can be found in Falls of Rauros, but has its own unique sound, making this a different entity that takes various elements that give this album very distinctive and unique layers. The opening track “Morningstar” has an eerie start, giving the listener goosebumps before the drums and the voice, which sounds like a call from the grave, breaks that slow groovy start. The raw sound will be something that will be constant throughout this album. The guitar playing on this track almost sounds like a wailing that resonates deep within one's soul. “Tomb of Andesite” has a fast, bone shattering start and keeps that relentless sound until the end. Two tracks deep into this album and you know it will have no respite, it will keep the listener engaged, will keep one peeling off all of those mesmerising and heavy layers. My favourite track of Conveyance in Death is “Bone Ornament”, which sums up the essence of this album: amazing drumming, spine-chilling voice, and the beautiful guitar parts that make Rhûn's album exceptional. There are moments during this track that almost feel like it allows the listener to breathe and take in all of the slow moments, only to grip you back into its fierce hold. “Howl of Gleaming Swords” and “Citadel in Ruin” keep that beautiful groove and heaviness in Conveyance in Death, that can definitely move you and discover a different element within the album's sound. “Night's Glacial Passing” brings the record to a magnificent finish, like a triumphant farewell. It gives this album a great conclusion. From start to finish, Conveyance in Death provides a beautifully crafted heavy sound that only makes you feel grateful that, after this album was dormant for some years, it got released and we got to fully experience it.

We usually have guys here on the show, whose music is based on riffs and guitar work. But sometimes we also feature people with a slightly different approach. Interestingly, when talking to James from Gost it becomes clear that his songs, and therefore also the songs on his forthcoming new album Prophecy (out soon via Metal Blade Records), can be based on both, either a guitar OR some electronic work. He also explains a lot about the way he composes his tracks, his patience deficit, the way the mask he is wearing on stage makes it difficult on the one, but interesting on the other side. And he also proclaims a love for a certain kind of country music, which one might not expect him to have. All in all, a mighty interesting talk which maybe can sparkle the interest of some of you metalheads out there to give Prophecy a spin! Enjoy!

A few years ago, Chris (Heads., formerly also in The Ocean), Nic (Heads., formerly also in Eisenvater) and Felix (Hansen Band, Home of the Lame, live-keyboarder for Einstuerzende Neubauten) formed a new band which after a few days was named ZAHN and who struck us (especially Stephan and Thorsten) with their instrumental sound somewhere between Post-Punk, Krautrock (only in attitude), Noise-Rock and many highly delectable elements. Their first self-titled record already received high praise by our head-honcho, but their second record Adria even more so, both records are out via Crazysane Records. Therefore, of course we needed to get an interview with the band and Felix took an hour off (on a Saturday!!) and spoke with us about the band, the records being different stages of a love-relationship, the development of the band and the sound. If you want to know why Morricone is (again) a major influence on a band and much more, then you will enjoy this interview!

This week we somewhat go full cycle as we talk with the first person to give us an interview (a written one that is, or was back in 2021) - Josh Graham. The focus of our conversation is his new band Guitless with Sasha from Intronaut, Billy from Generation of Vipers and his bandmate from A Storm of Light, Dan. Interestingly, one of these guys was willing and keen to switch instruments and even funnier is the fact that the four guys haven't been in one room at the same time. That again, naturally, has implications for their songwriting process. Their debut EP Thorns will be released via Neurot Recordings on February 23. We also talk about the name of the band and the question whether people are guiltless or not, so you see there is also some really deep talk going on here, which is a result of Josh being such an easy person to talk with and him giving such well-versed answers. We also talk about ideas for a tour which at first glance seems unlikely given the schedule of these guys, but as the first full-length is already in preparation nothing seems unlikely for Guiltless! Enjoy!

Our 150th video of course demanded for something special, something broadening our horizons and so we were happy to broaden our knowledge of the scene in Singapore and Malaysia by talking to Singaporean heroes Paint the Sky Red whose new record Tamat (out via Moment of Collapse Records), and the title means “finished” in English. It is also to be their last record. Why? Well, the guys have a very good reason for that and we can be happy, because it does not imply the end of the band. How can that be, you ask? Well, you only have to listen to this short but really good interview with the guys! You will witness a band that is serious about their band but that also likes to laugh and give us a good impression on the Post-scene in (Southeastern) Asia. Enjoy the interview!

Welcome to Part II of our Vægtløs - week! We promised you a lot for this week and we will keep our promise. We were very happy to talk with lyricist and vocalist of the band and admittedly this might not have been the happiest of conversations that we have had here on our VoS channel, this honestly ranks very high on our head honcho's list because of the depth of this talk. “Enjoy” while you get to know a lot more about the depth of this record! Aftryk might be a record of only a handful songs, but these songs hold so much content and most of it is looking at the darker side of life, aka death and we cope with it. In that sense it is very close to a record, Troels and Thorsten refer to quite a lot, Touché Amoré and their cancer-trauma record Stage Four! We have to say that the Danes might not be as well known as Jeremy Bolm, but believe us, when we say - they are to be reckoned with! Enjoy our interview and tell us, which record got you through some rough times?

There are some bands that take pride in playing 100 shows a year. Some 150. And there are bands like Hexis, who usually play somewhere around 200 shows a year. On more or less every continent. With tours that seem to take forever, their last one took them across the Americas, with only a few off-days here and there. We talked to Filip and got to learn a lot about their touring ethos and their general DIY attitude. How difficult it is to let go of control and some help from people outside the band. Who to trust and what these persons have to bring to the table. Enjoy this highly interesting interview!

We always try to give you something different here on the VoS, so we are very happy to have this interview with Thomas Alkärr for you. Thomas who? Thomas is a scholar who has curated a very important exhibition in Oslo called “Bad Vibes” which focused on the Norwegian Black Metal scene of the early 90s and how it affected Norwegian society and how it was affected by it vice versa. In this interview we talk about the exhibition, the surprises Thomas encountered and also how the exhibition was laid out. Of course we also talk about the music, its sources, influences but also the effects it had on the global (Black Metal) scene. To make it clear, we also talk about the artist formerly known as Kristian and the crimes connected to the scene back at the beginning of the 90s, so if you do not want to listen us talk about those topics, you might want to skip this interview and enjoy one of our many other ones. At the end Thomas also has to through our infamous quickfire round which is centered around Norway and its bands, projects etc.

Well, well, well - didn't we tell all you American Post-Rock aficionados to check back soon with us? Anyway, we are incredibly proud to have Shipwreck Karpathos here on the show for our first regular interview of the year. The guys have released a miraculous release called Being Human a few weeks ago through A Thousand Arms and dunk!records one couldn't be happier about it. It is one of these records which provides a lot of things to talk about and talk we sure did. The record is the second installment in a trilogy that started a few years back with Bring Down the Sky and which is now furthened with Scenes 8 to 14. The so-called “Pilot Trilogy” is of course one of the things we talked to with the handsome fellows, bandleader David and the latest bandmember Hank. We also talk recording specs, the influence of Emocore and Pop-Punk and also when you can hear only Jason Sissoyev from Coastlands on this record. We're sure that you are going to like this interview and maybe give us a like here or on any of our other channels.

Well, haven't we told you we wanted to start 2024 with a bang?! What could be a bigger bang than an interview with one of the reasons why all of this here started? A shared love for the music of Aaron Turner brought together some nerds a few years ago and this is like the core of VoS - so it was about time for this interview. However, we like to do things a little differently here and therefore we did not talk in too much detail about with musician Aaron Turner but much more with the (visual) artist Aaron Turner, whose work did not only grace many of the HydraHead releases but also many other artists' records. His work is so influential, that by now you can find cover artworks that are clearly inspired by his work!Enjoy this interview and have a great 2024!

Yes, you are seeing correctly, Toby Driver! We go out of 2023 with a bang! Toby Driver is one of these few artists who can connect Black Metal fans, Jazzers, Avantgardists and people from various other far-apart genres because he has that understanding of music that reaches beyond genres, sounds and structures. Something that some people might call avantgarde in the sense of “letting the song dictate where it goes” but for Toby that is not what the term stands for. And therefore we focused on that notion, that term - “Avantgarde”. In what turned out to be a totally improvised interview we found out a lot about it, in my opinion. Check out this in-depth interview with Toby and remember - we go out with a bang, we go in with a bang, so be sure to check back tomorrow!

As we said before, we want to give you something special in this run of interviews and this interview with Steve von Till is really something special, because Steve sat down and thought for himself which ten records could define Neurot Recordings best for him. And he came up with a really mighty list: Great Falls, Deafkids, UFOMAMMUT, YOB, Amenra, Kowloon Walled City, Grails, Justin K. Broadrick's FINAL, Vágtázó Halottkémek and Zeni Geva! What a list! We talked about these records and also used these as starting points to talk about other Neurot releases and artists! Enjoy this interview and make sure to come back tomorrow for another amazing interview!

There are people and bands that everybody within a certain scene knows. Everybody knows ISIS when it comes to Post-Metal, just like you know the Neurosis guys when you are into Dark Folk, as well as Toby Driver when you like Black Metal with an Avantgarde Twist. When you are into American Black Metal with a lot of history you will surely have come across the name Neill Jameson because he is one of these key figures of USBM as he is the mind behind Krieg, one of the seminal bands in the genre. Sometimes controversial but never delivering records of a bad quality and that is also true of Krieg's latest record Ruiner, which came out a few months ago and which is a certain tabula rasa record. So, obviously we had a lot of reasons to sit down with Neill (and his cat) to talk about all these things and of course also Black Metal in general. Enjoy this one and make sure to check back tomorrow for another legend!

Talking to Einar Guðmundsson from Fortið is quite different from what one would expect when talking to a guy from the Big White North aka Iceland. Einar is surely not one of these quite Norsemen, who barely open their mouths. No he is quite open about many things, for example about the fact that Fortið's latest record Narkissos is based in quarrels with one person he and his family encountered in the last few years. Or to what extent he is a political person and which side he would take. The epic nature of his songwriting and how the latter might change because of a band member taking one more responsibilities. We also spoke about soundtracking, what Einar would love to do at some point. That and much more can be found out, when listening to this interview! Enjoy this one and be sure to check out tomorrow for another Black Metal hero!

Brefj​æ​re by Spurv. A record like a mammoth-like mountainous superb soundscape. Most people who have listened to the record are gently overwhelmed by it because its sound is wonderfully melancholic and still sparkling like an icey diamond from beyond the Arctic circle hewn out of the mountains and then frozen in the waters surrounding Tromsø. Many people have placed this record on their lists for 2023 and well, righteously so: There is a lot of luminiscence in the tracks on the record and that surely has to do with the concept behind the record which is a communication between “participants” that usually cannot speak. We spoke with Gustav about the influence of the nature around him on the music, the concept behind the songs, the staging aspect of it all and much more. Enjoy the interview and do not forget to check out our first three interviews of this marathon and to check back tomorrow!

You all know that we here at have a heart for more than one genre, so we have had Post-Metal and Drone Metal in this marathon and what else could be next than an interview with Hardcore-Metalcore workaholic Will Putney? The guy has been an awesome person to talk to as he was very open and had a lot to say about END, their new record The Sin of Human Frailty, (upcoming) tours, Better Lovers, the Tri-State-Area scene and much much more! Don't be surprised if you come across a guy who's well-versed in his music knowledge (across many genres) and who is also very clear about what he can do and what not. So enjoy the interview and make sure to check back tomorrow to find the next interview!

A band whose sound is undefinable, somewhere between Post-Punk, Blues, Drone and Ambient. A band which loves collaboration records, and has already released records together with A Storm of Light, Year of no Light or Fear Falls Burning. A band that lives for their songs and soundscapes - all of that is Nadja, the Berlin-based duo of Canadian expats Aidan Baker and Leah Buckareff who release their music on a more-than-one-record-a-year basis and who recently released a new record in collaboration with Fawn Limbs (here is Martin's review Martin's review of Vestigial Spectra! Reasons enough for us to talk with Aidan - so enjoy our second interview in this year's marathon!

Prolific and proficient! That's surely something one can say about Robin Staps, his band The Ocean and his label Pelagic Records. We have not only reviewed a lot of records out via Pelagic Records (for example the latest releases by Saver, Arabrot, Mono, Jaye Jayle or JeGong), no Simon has also reviewed the last The Ocean record Holocene (you can check out his review here). But one thing that we must also know about Robin is that he is a man with a lot of interests and as it is always interesting to be interested we were really happy to interview him and kickstart our Xmas-to-New Year-interview marathon! Yes, we are back with our annual interview marathon here on the VeilofSound - and of course you will get one interview over the next couple of days ending with a bang on January 1! But not only the end should be a bang but basically each and every interview and thus we are happy to give you this first interview with Robin from the Ocean who also runs Pelagic Records. Robin and us talked about ten records that shaped his musical taste and journey and he has come up with many interesting choices, some obvious, some surprising, but all making sense! Afterwards we talk a lot about the Ocean, the band's development, the upcoming record (yes, UPCOMING) and the way that the band has also added to Robin travelling the world and much, much more. Enjoy the interview and make sure to check back daily to get the latest interview. But for now - we are happy to kickstart this year's marathon with Robin Staps!

Over the last couple of years, we have witnessed many great new Doom bands. But rarely has one hit as hard as Belgian-based BRIQUEVILLE which has by now released several records through Pelagic Records. They might be the slowest, doomiest band on the roster, but they're surely one of the most intriguing, densest and simultaneously most refined, most intricate bands in all of Europe. As we are always interested in presenting you something different and unique we are more than happy to give you a premiere - this is the first interview the band has ever done that's not written! However, we of course kept the anonymity of the band member we spoke to. We touched on the new record, the development of their sound and who is under the hoods, there's one answer that'll surprise you, for sure! Enjoy!

A few weeks ago we had an interview with Billy Gould and in that one we mentioned this awesome band called Sleepbomb whose latest record is out via Billy's Koolarrow Records in collaboration with our Belgian besties in Consouling Sounds. The record is really amazing and you should all listen to The Cabinet of Dr. Galigari and therefore we are really happy to have this interview with their bassist and synth player Tim who explained their approach to songwriting and their love for movies and much more! One should not mistake the folks in Sleepbomb for artsy-fartsy movie geeks who dig only the French or Polish avantgarde or the Eastern European classics or the latest Korean cuts - they also love to do scores for pretty popular movies like Conan or for one of the most famous German movies of all times, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. The latter is their last release and one must admit that they have a really great way of scoring a 100 years old movie but do not sound in any way old-fashioned or anything. Brilliant! Unforgettable! Splendid! You can order your copy of the album from Koolarrow Records and from Consouling Sounds - but now let's find out what Tim has to say!

When people from different, well-known bands form a new project, we often call them supergroups. Most of the time, these bands have only little to say, because it can be quite hard to arrive at similar ideas. With False Fed this is surely not a topic, because these four guys know what they are doing, how to do it and - most important - what they want to say. The Covid-born project consists of four people who, at least when we talked back in October, had never all been in the same room! Nevertheless, their debut record Let Them Eat Fake is biting and scratching and full of songs and stories very close to the band members' hearts! Enjoy our interview with all of them and do not forget to check out their record at the bottom of this page! Discharge. Amebix. Ministry. Soulfly. The list could be continued and we'd be not going but sliding down a rabbit-hole of unperceivable depths. If you wanna do that, you might consider taking a week of unpaid holidays. The band itself didn't have to take a holiday to record their songs because it was conceived during the Pandemic, even though they never met in one room or recording studio - thanks to the interview for once because without it, this record would have been much more complicated to get done! We talked with the guys about what “urgency” might imply, very deeply about some of the songs, whether they want to take this record on the road and much more. Enjoy!

Sally Gates should not be a new name to all you VoS-ficionados, because we already spoke with her last year about the last album of her project Titan to Tachyons (we also reviewed Vonals). Sally moved to New York City a few years ago from her home New Zealand, and man, she has been a highly productive and respected part of the New York City Avantgarde scene working with many highly skilled well-regarded musicians around John Zorn and his Tzadik Records label. Now she's releasing another record that might blow your mind alongside Trevor Dunn and Greg Foxx. So we had to sit down and talk with Sally again, and here you can enjoy our conversation! When it comes to Free Jazz colliding and falling in love with heavy Rock sounds we quickly talk about Fusion, which is a label to make to make you shiver and quiver as (to me at least) it always implied a somewhat deranged and never-ending form of Grateful Dead-AOR-rock. But for several decades now, Fusion Rock is leaning more towards the harder side of things and shows a lot of crunch, heavy riffs and really intriguing rhythmic work. Sally Gates is one of the prime examples for that as she does not only know technique but also power and thus her “songs” are always mesmerizingly brewing both concoctions into one addictive poison! Her new collab record with Trevor and Greg shows that once more. We sat down with her to talk about Deliriant Modifier, its conception and birth, how she experiences life in the Big Apple and much, much more! Enjoy!

Scream is one of these iconic bands that we all heard about when we were young, apart from our walking encyclopedia Knut, who probably witnessed many of the DC Hardcore bands back in his 20s and 30s, but for the regular people among us the early DC years and the bands that came from that area and which were on Dischord or later on Jade Tree are legendary. Minor Threat, State of Alert, Scream - the latter even released the first full-length ever on Dischord. Now they're back! With a new full-length! With collaborations galore and with great songs! And … with enough time on Pete Stahl's hands to sit down and talk with us about many, many things! Enjoy another interview with a “living legend”! The latter is a term that Pete doesn't like and he explains why in this interview, but we also talk about the variability of songs, moods and genres on DC Special. He also explains why the record is neither only a reflection of our times nor only a trip down nostalgia lane. He explains his love for Dead Kennedys and even why he - a DC guy - now likes the Dodgers and which kind of music he likes to listen to when going on a hike. Enjoy these more than 50 minutes with a man who has played with the Sunn O))) guys, with most of the Desert Sessions folks and even with someone Pete more or less discovered, a guy called Dave Grohl - might have heard about him, guy might make it big one day.

Pyrkagion is one of these bands which at the moment are still a bit of an underground band, which is surprising as its members have some pretty famous “main bands” - think of Hissing and Bell Witch! But the most important reason why they are not gonna remain such an underground thing for long is their music: Black Metal in a kind of traditional sense without trying to emulate Trve Scandinavian Black Metal. And this music (you can check out our review here) is so much that we sought the opportunity to talk to Dylan again, who is one wonderful interview partner and if you listened to our interview (with Bell Witch) you will know what you are up for now. We sat down, talked about the record, its background and how Dylan had to learn a new instrument and also which book he prefers Dune or The Lord of The Rings. Enjoy!

There are records that are personal because we “make” them personal, by listening to the songs and the story and we associate a lot of our individual history and experience with it until the two things - record and experience - blend into one thing. To me, Great Falls released such a record like this a few weeks ago. Our man Knut wrote a great review on it (here you can read it) and he was a struck by the record as I was. Both of us thought it would be grand to get an interview with one of the guys and we were more than lucky, all three sat down with us! Great Falls has been a very productive band other the years but their body of work is not only of a high quantity level, but also high on quality which is of course even more important. We talk with the guys about the new record, its story, why Damian is such a workaholic when it comes to being an arts and craft kind of guy. We also learned that one of the legendary short stories of Ernest Hemingway is just that - a legend. And we talk a lot about Hardcore, Noise, and which of the guys broke his arm on stage! Enjoy!

Some of our interviews are audio only for a good reason and today's is such an occasion. 夢遊病者 (or “Sleepwalker”) are one of these enigmatic bands that see their members as mere vessels for songs and structures that are already there but only need to be turned into sound. The musicians behind it thus become somewhat obsolete and therefore irrelevant. Nevertheless we are happy to talk with one of them - and this not in a written form as we did roughly two years ago but as a podcast interview! However, one thing must be clear from the start - we did not do this interview for obscurity's sake or for the novelty, we wanted to do it because the band is one of the most intriguing ones anywhere at the moment. Their mix of sometimes brutal Blackened Death Avantgarde and a highly eclectoc number of other genres is a bespoke proof of their skills and their knowledge. The musicians behind the veil gathered a lot of intricate details about nearly every genre known to man, maybe apart from such aural atrocities and abominations as German Schlager or Polish Disco Polo. Throughout the course of our interview it becomes more and more obvious that this band is a unique occurence of humility and talent. And let's be frank, when the music is so overwhelming, who finds time to occupy oneself with the musicians' CVs? Enjoy the interview with the nameless and with a lot of deep talk and nerdism!

Very often we hear those silly jokes about the bass player who has an idea for a song and is then thrown out by his bandmates. But in a band like The Hirsch Effekt that surely is not the case as all three band members have their hand in the songwriting process and that makes for this awesome concoction that one hears on their records. Just recently they released their latest one called Urian. Reason enough to sit down for a talk! Ilja J. Lappin is The Hirsch Effekt's bassist and a profoundly skilled one on top who has a lot of knowledge about his instrument and how to use it as differently and with as many different purposes as one can imagine. He has turned his instrument into his profession and has worked with other acts as well as producing his own hot sauce. We talked with Ilja about the new record, its place in the band's ouevre, the pandemic and its influence onto the band, how he got to produce his sauce and much much more. Enjoy!

SubRosa is dead. Whether we like it or not. Yet their legacy continues as two really good projects have risen from their ashes - one is The Otolith, which we featured heavily on VoS last year and now we have The Keening, which is the new project by Rebecca Vernon. Her new record is coming up next week Friday and therefore we sat down with her and chatted about the new record called Little Bird, about Stevie Nicks and about much more. Enjoy! Rebecca Vernon has a very personal relationship to her music, one that made her move from Utah to Portland in order to be closer to the personell that was to record the new album (and an upcoming one as well!) with her. She is a thoughtful and templative but fortunately not a silent person. That also reflects in her love for everything Gothic, for the macabre and the morose. We get to know wich is her favorite instrument, as well as how the songs on her album came to live. Enjoy our talk with Rebecca Vernon!

Grails have just released a new record and it is more than awesome, as you can already see by our review. The band has always been hard to grasp, but one thing never seems to change and that's the high quality of their output. We spoke with Emil Amos, one of the two band leaders, about Anches en Maat (check out our review here) and much more especially about the love for movie sounds. Enjoy! Can one understand modern music without the classics and the stuff that came before you? Isn't that one of those huge questions and one that we spoke about with Emil, who also is a part of OM (don't worry, we also spoke about that band with him!). We went very deep and even have found some political notions in the new record, spoke about some of the greatest ever to play and of course also a lot about the new record, which was recorded in a way they last have done more than ten years ago. And of course, we also spoke about “intimate movies” ;-)

Denovali Records has always been a label for lovers of sound - and that has never restricted itself to one genre alone. That's why one could find Drone Metal alongside experimental music alongside an act like Hidden Orchestra, which is going to release a new album next Friday, September 22. And as our head honcho is a huge fan he was very happy to sit down with HO's mastermind Joe Acheson for a long, detailed interview. Hidden Orchestra has always been about combining sounds from the natural realms and the articial - Joe has always incorporated field recordings into his music and has thus drawn from the “hidden orchestra” that surrounds us. He clearly spoke about how long it sometimes takes him to finish a song and why we should never wish for a track that he considers perfect. We talked with him about he way he composes music, with which British artist he would love to collaborate and how the work on a computer game soundtrack has profoundly changed his view on music and how to get his music to his audience. Enjoy the interview!

Black Metal itself is a highly paradox genre right? It's always been connected to both - furor and melancholy. Musically, Atmospheric Black Metal represents that probably best, and one upcoming Atmospheric Black Metal band from the Northeastern USA (aka New England) that does that brilliantly is Eave. As we were proud to host a video premiere for them some weeks back, we are even happier that we got a chance to talk to Brian and hear some of his thoughts. Brian is a pretty reflective guy and so his answers come out well-versed and clear cut, which is always nice for an interviewer who was a bit sleepy at the time of recording. We talked a lot about the record (out on Bindrune Recordings), the video we were able to host, the dichotomy within modern Black Metal and to what extent the band's surroundings in New England influenced their sound and songs. Enjoy the interview and make sure to check out their album!

Transit. Transition. Transformation. All words that share more than just the starting syllable. All also indicate a progression from one “spot” to another. Rylan Gleave has gone through such a progression which we already spoke about in our review of his debut album In Chemical Transit which took us by surprise because it plays on and with audio from three very different periods of time in Rylan's life. Furthermore it is a literally mesmerizing record as it combines Avantgarde soundscapes with real Classical vocal lines and songs. More than enough reasons to sit down and talk to Rylan. Rylan Gleave might be known to many of you as the live voice of Scottish Black Metal-Avantgardists Ashenspire and yet this record has only very few connections to the band's sound apart from him. His work might be better compared to Lingua Ignota or Diamanda Galas - I dare not name any Classical singer for sheer lack of good modern singers for such arias. The three different recordings of Mozart's “Voi che sapete cosa é amor” from Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro show Rylan's voice at three different points of his transit. When we were talking to him we found out a lot about that transition and the psychological effects connected to it, but of course we also touch on many, many other topics so you can be sure that this is one of the most interesting interviews we have done up to now. Enjoy!

Having common friends are sometimes a really great thing when they introduce you to great artists who do not get enough attention which is about to change right now. The common friend who introduced me to Loather is Ralph from Ultha who also invited the guys from Vienna to his Unholy Passion fest in 2022. Now the guys have a new record out via Vendetta Records called Eis and I must say it is a really good Atmospheric Black Metal record with loads of spherical moments and still a lot of wonderfully dark bits. Reason enough to sit down with two of the guys for an interview. We talked with drummer Hannes and guitar player David about the record, the great artwork, in which way the record was conceived and also of course, about their hometown Vienna and its weakness for everything morbid and somewhat Gothic. A highly entertaining conversation with lots of information about everything “icy”! Enjoy the interview!

Khanate and their new record were one of the biggest surprises in 2023, simply dropping their fifth full-length without any official hints, promotion or anything on May 19. Everyone's feed was dominated by the news and everyone automatically went ahead to listen to it. The record has now had time to settle in and people were able to dive into To Be Cruel and as we are sure that there are still things that need clarification and explanation! Hence we were happy to get together with drummer Tim Wyskida to talk about the record and loads of things related to it! Khanate is a supergroup consisting of band members with myriads of merits in their respective biography and a long history of releasing great stuff on famous labels. To Be Cruel is now released via Sacred Bones and fits perfectly into their body of work even though it might be a bit more “classical” in a specific way, as the way the band works is surely not by jamming all together but putting layer upon layer. The record is mesmerizing and haunting at the same time and always awe-inducing. We talked with drummer demon Tim Wyskida about all of that and much more. Enjoy the interview! Shirt of the day: Mogwai

Mizmor has released his fourth full-length called Prosaic and has taken a new approach trying to not let a new record become an obsession, not trying to go for a full-fledged overarching theme. Nevertheless, this record is simply great, magnificent, superb, whichever positive adjective you wanna give it. In order to find out more about the process, the record and its place within his oeuvre, we talked with ALN. We're very happy to give you this interview and we hope it makes your listening even more interesting and enjoyable (YES!)! “Suffer less, have more fun” is one of the key lines in this interview with Mizmor, because he has found a very good point within himself, which allows him to let go of songs and structures. We talk a lot about ALN's present and in which way it is reflected in the music; we also talk about the record's title and how it also deals into the tracks. The daily life has a much more prominent position in ALN's life and thus in Mizmor's music. A highly introspective, valuable interview if you ask our head honcho, we give you our hour with ALN! Shirts of the day: Tolkien and Mastodon If you want to support Veil of Sound, there are two ways: First of all - be a friend, tell a friend! Spread the word about our work. Second possibilty: Support us on Patreon and enjoy our interviews two days ahead of everyone else!

Stephen Brodsky should be a household name in our realms because he's been in famous bands for close to 30 years - Cave-In, Converge (YES! for a very short time), Droneflower, Old Man Gloom and Mutoid Man to drop a few. His voice and his guitar playing has flavored many of our most beloved records. The last band, Mutoid Man, has released a new record called Mutants a few weeks ago. You can check out our review here, but for us here at VoS that's not enough, so we talked to Stephen about the new songs, the influences on Mutoid Man and much more. Mutants is the band's third full-length (not counting a few shorter releases, including 2014's Helium Head) but comes after a few years' silence. We find out what led to this short break, why Stephen loves Prince, which Van Halen album he prefers and why. We talk comics and Indiana Jones and to what extent Mutoid Man is a “fun band”. Enjoy the interview! Shirts of the day: Prince and Mastodon If you want to support Veil of Sound, there are two ways: First of all - be a friend, tell a friend! Spread the word about our work. Second possibilty: Support us on Patreon and enjoy our interviews two days ahead of everyone else!

Inevitably Dark might be seen as a return to Black Metal made by Xasthur for some old school fans. However, one might be asking the questions whether Xasthur ever really was “only” Black Metal or if the project has not really been about much more than only BM? When talking to Scott one gets the impression that this record is - for the time being - a momentarily return only because he has already been off to completely different shores. The new multitude of melodies dispatched by Xasthur might at first spin not fall onto many welcoming ears because accessibility is surely not the record's stronghold. However, if you give the tracks time, if you spin them repeatedly, you will notice that some of the songs are finding their way into your ears and will stick there, because of the interesting uses of the guitar he lays out on these tracks and also because there are some carefully laid out disruptions within them. Enjoy the interview! If you want to support VeilofSound, there are two ways: First of all - be a friend, tell a friend! Spread the word about our work. Second possibilty: Support us on Patreon and enjoy our interviews two days ahead of everyone else! Shirt of the day: Ultha

No Wilderness Deep Enough was surely a different record for Steve von Till - as he also points out in this interview. Wait - interview with Von Till? Yes! We were very fortunate to talk to the man himself, a mere 14 hours before he left for Europe where he will be touring for several weeks starting on Thursday, July 27, in Krakow. When listening to the record one surely noticed right away how different this record was from earlier SvT records such as As The Crow Flies or A Grave is a Grim Horse - for it basically didn't feature any track with a centerstage guitar line. Even more, the record wasn't conceived on the guitar. No the tracks came into being in a very important surrounding for von Till and their core was done in a very different way. Want to know more? More about that and what we can expect on the upcoming tour? About his opinion of Mark Lanegan and David Eugene Edwards? Ólafur Arnalds and Jóhann Jóhannsson? Then check out this interview!

There are bands who you can't be angry with even though they might overthrow any plans you might have made - Bell Witch is one of them and when thinking back on Roadburn Friday and the massively packed main stage at the 013 - it is clear that many people simply love these guys for what they do as that is massive and miraculous, powerful and poetic. Whenever Jesse and Dylan release a new record, the scene is listening and justifiedly so, thus we needed to get an interview with the guys! Enjoy! "Future's Shadow Part 1: The Clandestine Gate" (out on @profoundlorerecords ) might have come out of the blue when they announced it three days ahead of that RB performance and yet, it's not only the level of surprise which is exciting about these 85 minutes, but also the music itself. It is a new chapter in the band's history as it opens a trilogy of records and also as there are some small, yet really cool new features to the epic version of Doom that one should not overlook. Therefore we are happy to talk on a very, very philosophical level about "the occult", the new record, the experience at Roadburn this year, Jesse's new kit and much much more. Enjoy!

Boris - a name like thunder. Uniform - lightning strikes. Boris & Uniform together = a quite explosive mixture, right? Listening to their collaboration Bright New Disease is not necessarily lightning in a bottle or a molotov cocktail but rather a high-profile combining of forces which results in a record that never lets you down and exceeds expectations. One can hear the Japanese masters and also the elements by our beloved New Yorkers potioners. Having a chance to get to talk with Uniform about the record and a lot of others things? Yes, no question! Enjoy our interview! Our talk with Ben and the Mikes from Uniform was a deep dive into how to write and record a collaborative record (not a record with two bands doing different sides of a vinyl record) if both bands are on two different continents with a lot of miles in between and how that impacted the whole process. Additionally, we spoke about the pandemic and the way it influenced the record directly or indirectly, which other artist to collaborate with, how awesome some ticket selling companies are and much much more.

Whenever people talk about the early 90s and music, it will not take a long time before the label Sub Pop has to be dropped it seems because it back then was the label to be on as a band and the label to follow as a fan. They had Nirvana and loads of other bands that were changing what was alternative music back then. Sub Pop also had a band from New York under record that was called Codeine which kind of stood out from the rest as their sound was less aggressive, but not laid back. It was less screaming yet not calm whispers. When we heard that the band would be re-releasing some of their stuff we knew we had to get them for an interview! And here we are now… Stephen Immerwahr is a wonderful interview partner as he takes his time, reflects his answers and doesn't hold back anything. Those are qualities that are a great starting point for any interview. Furthermore, he also reflects his band, their heydays but also where they are now. He also explains why some of their records were out of print for such a long time and why he can understand why so many people consider his band one of the earlierst slowcore bands. Enjoy our interview and drop us a comment how you liked it! If you want to support VeilofSound, there are two ways: First of all - be a friend, tell a friend! Spread the word about our work. Second possibilty: Support us on Patreon and enjoy our interviews two days ahead of everyone else! Shirts of the day: Iskra, Convulsif

Love's Holiday is the latest record by Oxbow, one of the seminal bands of the last 40 years. Admittedly, they're quite a bands' band in the sense that many musicians seem to tumble over each other praising the San Francisco outfit for their no-compromises approach to music and oftentimes simultaneously genre-defying and genre-defining records, think of King of the Jews or The Thin Black Duke! Having been given the chance to talk with the band about the upcoming album was not to be denied, especially since we got all band members together! No-nonsense-no-bullshit-noise-rock, that's what most people think when they hear the name Oxbow. One thing the band never understood is, why not many people recognized many of their songs to be about life's longest-running theme: love. They have now recorded a whole caleidoscope of love songs, looking at the ultimate motif from different angels and angles. We also spoke about their favorite love songs, the videos they are making for every song on the record and the way that they are looking forward to getting people's reactions to the album, which might also lead to the audience reflecting on their expectations to a band who never cared too much about them anyway. But also of course about much much more. Shirts of the day: Maud the Moth, Oxbow, Serao Academy

Wearer Of Numerous Forms is maybe the longest record in our little scene this year with more than 130 minutes in just three songs. Eremit have shown their songwriting skills and how far the songs can take them. Wait - who is directed who now? The band writing the songs or the songs directing the band? Simple answer - the story. For several weeks, we have been spreading the word about the mesmerizing Blackened Noise Sludge scene and flood of releases that this summer is witnessing all over the place, be it the USA, the UK or Germany. Eremit from Germany's Osnabrueck take the crown amongst these for their combination of ultra-long tracks and storytelling. Because nothing in the realm of Eremit is done with a connection to their ten-chapter-story divided into three cycles and one epilogue following the life of an hermit searching for his true home…. you see? Epic! Fantasy! Lord of the Rings-like! True vision. Therefore we are happy to shed some light on the band's songwriting and storytelling process, what they have to do with the late Mariusz Lewandowski, how influential Tolkien was on mastermind Mo and what he thinks about creative control. A wonderful interview - thank you Mo! If you want to support Veil of Sound, there are two ways: First of all - be a friend, tell a friend! Spread the word about our work. Second possibilty: Support us on Patreon and enjoy our interviews two days ahead of everyone else! Picture by Seth Abrikoos Shirts of the day: Eremit, Mastodon

A few weeks from now, the new record by Jaye Jayle will hit the (digital) shelves and we were quite taken with it, because it fits like a glove to what we like. No, this is not Avantgarde Death Black Gothic Post-Drum'n'Bass, this is music without real borders, but for everyone who loves music for the soul. This is music in the vein of Edwards, Cohen, Johnson. Music that speaks directly to your core and that has the potential of becoming a cult classic - so you join before the hype sets in. Enjoy our interview with Evan Patterson and the many things he tells us about the record, its process and much more. Evan is surely not anybody in our little global scene as many of his bands have become well-known: The National Acrobat, Breather Resist, Black Cross, Black Widows, Young Widows and for a few years he's writing and publishing music as Jaye Jayle. What that name means is also explained in our interview, as well as why the new music has such a hopeful, wonderful, soulful sound in all its splendour and what Ben Chisholm has to do with it. Enjoy!

Bar McKinnon is one of those guys who are first off well-versed in so many things music that it seems as if they can talk about anything and everything all at once anywhere and everywhere. However, secondly, he might be the most energetic and enthusiastic guys you might meet out there - one can feel the Zoom connection beaming and gleaming when he starts to give a detailed answer. Why do we talk to him? Well, Umlaut, Teleorkestra and Bungle! Bar McKinnon is a multi-instrumentalist with a strong focus on the saxophone and as he is very versatile and a virtuoso it might have been a match-made in weirdo heaven when he joined Mr Bungle a few decades ago. One can hear his skills on the band's first three published full-lengths and he even wrote a few songs and parts on each album. After the millenium he left the band and started several projects one of them being Umlaut, an avantgarde jazz-pop band which released a few things here and there and who are surely a force to listen to. As they just released a new single (see beneath), we are very happy to have him on the show in order to talk pop music, subversity and more! Enjoy! If you want to support VeilofSound, there are two ways: First of all - be a friend, tell a friend! Spread the word about our work. Second possibilty: Support us on Patreon and enjoy our interviews two days ahead of everyone else! Photo credit: Bailey Judd

A few weeks ago we published an excerpt from Michael Tau's book Extreme Music which deals with many aspects of music of the extreme kind, which does not necessarily mean that this is a chronology of Grindcore or Brutal Tech Death Slam Metal. Neither is he seeking out the most Avantgardish Throatsinging Mongolian or Himalayan Yak-bone-instrumented Noise-Pop, but he tries to define what is extreme music. We wanted you to send in some questions and we are happy we got several really good ones to ask Michael in this interview! Nerds of the world unite! Michael Tau might not seem like a savant of extreme music, but he surely is as Thorsten had to admit in the interview himself not knowing several of the artists mentioned by Michael in Extreme Music. Therefore this book might also be seen like the beginning of a voyage for everyone who wants to go down a rabbit hole trying to find unheard-of music (some old, some new) and that might also be the best way to “read” this book. Sit down, read and try to catch up on some of the bands and acts dropped in here before you continue reading. But before you do this - enjoy the interview with Michael!