In the world of heavy metal the genre of power metal pretty much stands alone. Despite being hyper-melodic and largely bereft of extreme vocals it has nearly no mainstream appeal. The melodies lean hard on over-the-top symphonic compositions and the high-pitched vocals can take a bit of getting used to. Generally speaking I’d say imagine three Iron Maiden’s playing simultaneously fronted by a castrato opera singer prophesizing about castles, dragons and rainbows.
Some bands play up the image for laughs but the best bands of the genre are the ones who blend in other styles of rock and metal, and emphasize a more original sound over image. Finland’s Sonata Arctica are a band whose name is frequently mentioned and praised by those outside of power metal’s usual sphere of influence. I spoke with guitarist Elias Viljanen, keyboardist Henrik Klingenberg, and drummer Tommy Portimo before their recent headlining show at Toronto’s Mod Club about their crossover appeal, their latest old-school sounding album, and the strange case of a French fan who walked 3,500km just to meet them.
Sonata Arctica are currently wrapping up their North American tour before playing dates in Puerto Rico, Russia, and their home country of Finland.
For my second interview from the Toronto edition of Riot Fest 2014 I spoke with guitarist Chad Gilbert of pop-punk icons New Found Glory. They’re just about to drop their eighth album Resurrection. We talked about how the album reflects their tongue-in-cheek nature, and the underground sensibility that separates the band from many of their peers.
Shot and Edited by Chris Tung
New Found Glory’s new album “Resurrection” is out this Tuesday October 7th on Hopeless Records.
For the first instalment of my coverage of Riot Fest Toronto 2014 I sat down with vocalist Adam Lazzara of pop-punk icons Taking Back Sunday. They’re now two albums deep with the reunited Tell All Your Friends line-up from 2002, yet the music they make now seems as far from that album as it can possibly get. I spoke to Adam about his perspective on his older material and legacy, plus how the “new-old” line-up mixed with the band’s commercial success from the years before the reunion.
Shot and edited by Chris Tung
Taking Back Sunday are on tour with The Used through October 6th including a stop in Winnipeg tomorrow. They’ve also just released a split 10” EP with The Used on Hopeless Records.
Detroit-native Carla Harvey is primarily known as the co-frontwoman of California modern-metal outfit Butcher Babies. The band has attracted an extremely dedicated cult of fans with their take on the 90s metal groove. Call it a more punked-up Pantera if you will. Released last year, their debut album Goliath, made a huge dent in the US charts. Carla and vocal partner Heidi Shepherd also gained a bit of notoriety from their old stage look consisting of electrical tape covering their nipples as a tribute to Wendy O. Williams (the band’s name is also a tribute to Williams’ song “Butcher Baby”). They’ve since ditched the tape and in addition to touring with heavyweights, they seem to be doing pretty damn well as a headliner in their own right.
Although it’s well-known amongst her fans Harvey has immense passion for writing. Many people first found out about the band when they released a comic book authored by Harvey at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con. She’s just released her first novel, a semi-autobiographical tale called Death and Other Dances. Through the protagonist “Autumn Franklin”, the book explores Harvey’s youth and coming-of-age in Detroit from the adult entertainment industry to her earning her degree as a mortician.
The semi-autobiographical nature of the book, as well as her pre-existing fame, initially made me draw comparisons to Pamela Anderson who also wrote a book from a similar perspective. However when we get on the phone late one evening, and Harvey starts dropping names like Bukowski, I realize that she may have loftier ambitions. Harvey spoke with me candidly about why the book wouldn’t work as a conventional autobiography and how being a musician initially hampered publication.
You can find out more about Carla Harvey and “Death and Other Dances” at www.carlaharvey.com. Butcher Babies release a new covers EP “Uncovered” this Tuesday September 30th and will be touring across Canada in December/January with Black Label Society.