Aussie Hard Rockers HEAVEN THE AXE release “Enemy” videoclip

“Enemy”, the latest video from the Australian female-fronted hard rock band HEAVEN THE AXE, can be seen below. The clip was financed by the band after they secured approximately $30,000 worth of sponsorship from various community and private organizations. Continue reading »

Interview : Liv Jagrell, Jimmy Hiltula & Dave Sundberg – Sister Sin (2010)

Interview by Connie Bach

Rock with attitude. This is Sister Sin’s personality. The “attitude” aspect is loud, edgy, and melodic. If you are furious with someone this is a great album for the situation. And if you are not in a rage, there is energy for entertainment, and plenty to spare.

Hi, Liv. What’s going on with the band right now?

Hi! Right now we are playing lots of shows in Scandinavia and doin’ some tours in Europe, we hope to be back in US early next year! The album is just released in Japan too so hopefully we will get the opportunity to do a tour over there next year too.

This one’s for the whole band.  How did each of you get involved in rock music? What’s your background?

Liv : Well, I started to get into rock in my early teens when I found Nirvana and Hole, and a Swedish metal band called Drain. Drain had Pantera as their favorite band and that got me into Pantera and the heavier stuff. I so wanted to become a rock star that I forced my to best girlfriends to start a band with me. After a while they got into it too ha, ha… We were called Sisters of Kali and we´re very, very dark and angry on everything.

Jimmy : I got into rock music seriously when I was around eleven years old. I loved Metallica and Pantera at that time which friends introduced me with. Then I discovered more extreme music such as Slayer, Sodom, Entombed and later on bands like Morbid Angel, Deicide, Suffocation, Gorefest and also a lot black metal. I played in many bands in those days, mostly death and black metal bands. Then I had a break from playing and one day I heard from a friend that Sister Sin was looking for a new guitarist, knew nothing about who they were. But I gave it a shot since I always had a soft spot for classic hard rock and heavy metal. It turned out to be perfect!

Dave : I stole all my brother’s heavy metal vinyls after discovering Vanessa Warvick hosting “Headbangers Ball” in the early nineties. After that I got in to a lot of punk, hardcore and eventually black metal as well. Started playing guitar back then but moved on to drums for the usual reason that there weren’t any drummers around. And here I am today, piss poor but happy with a Metal Heart, ha ha.

It’s been a few months since Benton, Sister Sin’s bassist, unfortunately had to part ways with the three of you. Liv, how is the search for a new bassist going? What challenges does a change in line-up present, even with the qualifications you have in mind?

It’s always very hard to find replacement for someone that you liked and that suited the band so well and we have been thru this before so we are pretty tired of this whole bassplayer thing. That’s why this time we really need to find someone that has the passion for music and touring that we do and that could dedicate their life to this band. Even if you do find someone who is technically qualified the most important thing is always the social aspect. When spending so much time as we do in a van you can’t have one guy you wanna choke to death every half hour. I think we´ve actually found the right man for job but he´s gonna do at least one tour before we make it official, for both parties sake.

Why does Sister Sin require that the new bassist have studio experience?

Do we? Ha ha… I didn’t know that. No, but I guess it´s more of sorting out the serious ones, like we get so many e-mails from people who think that anyone can play bass and let me tell you; just because you can play guitar and get by doesn’t mean you can play bass.

What are you expecting with the tour with Grave Digger and Grand Magus?

I think that will be a blast! We haven’t toured so much in Europe with all the focus that’s been on U.S last two years so it´s gonna be cool for sure and we are hitting some very interesting countries as well, so I’m really looking forward to that. 

What determines where a tour takes Sister Sin, or any other band? Why?

Since we haven’t really sold shitloads of albums around the world we can’t exactly pick and choose where and when we wanna tour and whom with. Many people ask why we go on tour with bands like Arch Enemy or OTEP and the reason is just that we got offered those tours and we need to be on the road all the time. Got nothing against any of the bands we´ve toured but yeah, if we could choose we would definitely tour with headliners that are more close to our genre and fan base. We´ve been over totimes and the reason for that is that our label has spent more promotion over there and we need to back that up.

Liv, you are featured as “Miss November” in Revolver’s “Hottest Chicks in Metal” calendar. How do you feel about the award? Nice job. The reason I ask is that for some it is a source of pride, whereas some feel it mocks women in metal.  

For me it’s a pride!! I’m very, very glad to be one of the girls in that calendar, it’s an honor. I truly can’t believe it really, I’m just a working girl from Sweden and a big American rock magazine wants me in a calendar ? That’s so cool! And I don’t understand these people that think it’s mocking women, if you are a beautiful woman with a talent, show it! Both your talent and your beauty, that calendar is a way to celebrate both in my opinion!

“True Sound Of The Underground” did quite well on the charts. What does that mean for the band?

Of course it means a lot to know that people enjoy our work and that we hopefully can inspire others with our music. Not that you have to sell a lot of copies these days to end up on a chart but it´s a nice motivator for us that there is a growing market for the kind of music we play.

Do each of you have a personal goal that you are fulfilling through being in Sister Sin?

Jimmy : Yes absolutely. I get to play guitar just they way I dreamed of when I first picked up a guitar and all the countless hours of practice finally pays off with releasing albums and touring, it certainly is a privilege and a dream come true.

Dave : Ever since first got in to heavy metal I always wanted to tour and see the world. And now I get to travel, see new places, new people and be on stage every night doing what I love to do. I’ve never dreamed of making lots of money (although it would be nice! ) and playing big arenas, I’m just glad that 3 nobodies like ourselves who have been stuck in a rehearsal studio for 5 years never gave up and it´s paying off the way I always wanted it to do.

Liv : This is my personal goal, to be able to be in a great band and play live all over the world! One thing that would make it even better would to be able to live from the music one day, that’s very much a goal for me. To just live 100% for the band, now I have to share my time with my job as a personal trainer.

Liv, Sweden (especially Gothenburg) has a huge metal scene, with many famous acts. Why does this scene influence Sister Sin?

I really don’t think there are any Swedish bands that influences us really. There´s a lot of extreme metal coming out of here which obviously is what Sweden is mostly famous for in metal. A lot of those bands, like In Flames for example definitely inspire in another way though that you can make it if you just hang there, never quit and be true to what you love.

Liv, Dave, and Jimmy, thanks a lot for your time. Your musical energy and commitment to Sister Sin is impressive. Hopefully we’ll see you in the States again soon.

We will be back 4 sure!

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Kirmizi – “İsyan” (2011)

Label : RedRec

Review by Tony Cannella

Metal truly is a worldwide phenomenon. That’s no humungous revelation there, but I am always blown away by the number of countries and cultures represented in the metal universe. Another example of this the Turkish all female band Kirmizi who has just released their new debut “Isyan” and it is filled with pounding, in-your-face straight-forward metal. No fooling around with this band, they get straight to the point. Lead vocalist Idil Cagatay may not be the most gifted vocalist on the planet, but she sure packs plenty of power and strength in her voice, as she goes from a more traditional metal style to a screaming her lungs out approach. The songs are sung in their native Turkish language and the while the band is straight forward there are moments of technicality that is quite impressive. The opener “Cekilin Basinden” is a huge sounding introduction. The next track “Uyan” is great as well as it gallops to the finish line. The 3rd song “Isyan” is a grand slice of mid-tempo, melodic metal. “Elveda” keeps up the power and momentum. “Azat Et”, “Kimsin Sen” are among the songs that should please metal fans. Kirmizi really impressed me big time with “Isyan”. Not much is really known about this band, except for the fact that they played (or will play?) some dates with Arch Enemy. As the CD progressed I also became a huge fan of the lead vocalist. The fact that the lyrics are sung in Turkish should not deter any metal fans. Good music is good music and “Isyan” is beyond a good album.

Rating – 95/100

Tracklist

1. Cekilin Basindan
2. Uyan
3. Isyan
4. Elveda
5. Azat Et
6. Kimsin Sen
7. Geri (Kaypack)
8. Vazgecmem Asla

Line Up

• Idil Çagatay – Vocals/Guitars/Harp
• Saba Arat – Electro Guitar
• Ecem Otgucuoglu – Bass Guitar
• Asli Polat – Drums

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Interview : Foxy DeVille – Hollywood Groupies

Interview by Si Smith

Do you ever long for the lost days of hair metal, of Motley Crue and Guns’n'Roses? If you do then you could do far worse than checking out the new album from Hollywood Groupies, a rock quartet with a penchant for raunchy tunes like rock used to be, down and dirty. Femme Metal spoke to singer Foxy to dish the dirt on the band….

First thanks for talking to us, and welcome to the Femme Metal Webzine!

Hi everybody!!

I must say that it was a breath of fresh air to hear your debut album, it is nice to hear this kind of music being played again loud and proud. So who’s was the idea of forming this band in the first place?

Thank you so much!! I can say that the idea came from me and Kelly..

The band now consists of yourself, Kelly, Ace and Condor. Was it easy to come to this line-up or were there different people along the way?

Well it’s been a long trip..but it sure has worth all our efforts..there’s always been me, Kelly and Ace, along with other people who thought to go on their own way..and that ‘s how our paths crossed with Condor..

Your sound seems well-defined and clear to listen to. Who does what in the band when it comes to writing songs like these?

Everyone has an important role when it comes to give birth to a song, because we want everyone to feel a song like his own baby, but usually Ace writes the music and I write the lyrics..

As front woman all eyes turn to you when the band plays. What is your vision for the band?

I don’t really have a vision or an idea, everything comes from what you feel and what you want to prove to the audience at the moment, anyway most of the people who bought the album and then saw one of our show said we’re a lot better live, and I agree with them, we’re able to express ourself in a better way..

You must all have gone through different life experiences to get to where you are today. What do you feel each member brings to the band?

Sure..everyone had different life experiences.. emotionally and working adventures, these experiences make everyone the person that they are today, we formed in 2006 so I can proudly say that each one of us is important for the other ones in the band, that’s what makes us special, to share joy and sorrow with your band mates is one of the best things ever. So I can’t really tell you what each members brings to the band but I can surely tell you everyone brings something important to be a special band..

A demo was released in 2007. What happened to this demo?

What do you mean..has it become a gem?! If so I’m gonna sell it on eBay right now! hahah! There were not so many copies, there were just a few songs and just one is still alive and kickin’ in our setlist nowadays which is “Swallow This..” but we we’re thinking about “covering” one of the songs featured in that demo..

It was 2009 before the band began to get noticed in Europe and the USA – what were the stages along this journey for you?

It was a kind of surprise, we were working to get noticed in Italy and suddenly a lot of people from the U.S. and the rest of Europe started to contact us to say that they appreciated our music..

Getting included on “Glamnation Vol 4″ must have been a smart move. How did this deal come along?

Yes it was! They contacted us thru MySpace (which is a powerful way to get noticed for every musician) and we didn’t think about it neither for a second..we said yes!

“Punched by Millions, Hit by None” is now out and about on the music scene. What does the title of the album refer to?

It refers to every enemy that tries to put you down, everyone has at least one, someone who said to you in your life “you’re not gonna make it “, trying to discourage you.. the ones who try to throw a monkey wrench in the works.. hehe.. the title is the clear answer for that, you can hit me but you can’t beat me..

Last year you played the Free Wheels festival in France alongside many established acts. What are your live plans for this year?

That’ s weird to hear about it now, because right now while I’m answering to you, it recurs one year from Free Wheels festival and I feel pretty melancholy since it was one of our best band experiences and one of the best days of my life.. we’re gonna play a few gigs here in Italy and then we’re gonna play in L.A. on the 4th November at the Whisky a Go Go!

Your singing is very striking in its power. How do you train your voice?

I don’t train my voice at all and that’s one of my biggest mistakes but I don’t feel the need of doin’ it, i just drink a couple of drinks before go on stage..

Have you any funny stories from your band to share with us? Or does all go smoothly with you all the time…..?

It never goes smoothly! hahah!! Most of the times it ends up with me and Condor arguing for something.. I think the funniest stories are from our beginning but I can’t remember one in particular, maybe I was not that sober..hehe..

Finally, do you have any words of wisdom to share with your audience? We are listening…..

I’m never the wise one.. the only thing I tell you is always fight for your dreams, if you win you’d be satisfied and if you lose you wouldn’t have any regrets..

Thanks again for the interview, we wish you success in the future.

Thank you so much and thank you for the awesome interview!

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Interview : Candice Clot – Eths

Interview by Roberta Ilaria Rossi

On the wake of the most famous bands like Arch Enemy, The Agonist, In This Moment, a “newbie” French band is moving its steps in the European metal scene, with one only easy target: spreading the words on the other side of the French boundaries. We’re talking about Eths, a new French metal core/nu metal band, already known by many in their native home. Now that a few months have passed from the official release of “III”, FM had the pleasure of exchanging a short chat with Candice Clot, that has revealed us something. This is the result of our brief jaw.

Hi Candice. Welcome to our website. How are you doin’?

Fine, thanks!

Let’s start our interview. Recently, one of your first records, “Soma”, released in 2004, has been issued again by Season of Mist. What’s behind the decision of a new reissue?

It seemed to be clear for us to continue the road with SOM, we live in the same town it’s easy and we really know each members of the house. We have a great deal with them.

Talking about this new record, I think it’s a new and “fresh” one, quite strong. For a moment, please correct me if I’m wrong, my mind associated your sound to the album called “Follow The Leader” by Korn, because of the more robust sounds, which quite remind the thrash of Sepultura or the hardcore of Biohazard, embellished of course by your voice, which is the main point of the sound of the band. Do you agree with this statement?

“Soma” has been released in 2004 so it’s quite so long ago.

The first thing clearly noticeable in the listening of Eths music is surely your voice which is quite versatile, because you use a very cutting, sharp growl, showing a first-rate performance, maybe one of the best ever listened in the “female fronted” metal, going through then a use of the clean vocals which result more mellow and persuasive. How do you manage to lead these vocal passages? Do you train your voice a lot or is it a pure and natural talent?

15 years in the metal world breaking my voice but I worked a lot for my clean voice and find a way to mix both voices was with the help of a good breath and a coach. When you have the vocal technique you can afford a lot more things and it’s not just talent but only work and experiences.

Step back for a moment: we talked about your voice and maybe some fan has made some comparison with some famous growler vocalist like the German Angela Gossow or the Canadian Alissa White-Gluz. What do you think about these two women? Do you like their music, their vocals?

I know the music of Arch Enemy the singer is a real front woman, she really knows the job but I don’t know the other sorry.

Talking about “aggressive” vocalists like the ones I mentioned, is there any other person/female singer you like to listen to the most?

I don’t have any references about female voices, but I’ve always respected the work of Tarrie B from My Ruin.

Eths is a nu metalcore band from France, you are already known and famous there and you’re trying to get step by step the way to success all over Europe, but the project was mainly born in 1996 as “What’s the Fuck” and right after you changed the name in Melting Point, reaching at the end the final name: Eths. Could you please share something more about the band biography?

We played in Chile Brazil, Russia, England, etc. Done big festivals like Graspop, Szigets, Dour, Wacken etc .So we garnered a lot of good stage memories and saw many big bands, I think we’re lucky.

“III” is the latest and newest album, recently released by Season of Mist. The thing that captured my attention in this record was the choice of putting some tracks sang in French and also in English and I’ve noticed that the same has been done by your “colleagues” and friends Kells. What did cause the choice of putting these tracks in this latest record?

We made 4 songs in English it wasn’t easy to rewrite these songs because poetry in French is not the same in English, it’s the same subject but not the same words. It was a compromise to record it but the label didn’t force us to do it but they let us know it could be a big plus for the band so we made it.

The production of the record has been given to Fredrik Nordström, which has worked in the past with masters like The Haunted, Dark Tranquillity, Dimmu Borgir, Arch Enemy and more and the final result is more than excellent. Why have you chosen to trust this man to work on your material?

Fredrik is a great producer, he’s pushing you to your limits to have the best but always let you decide what is the best cause it’s your disc, in front of him we could feel his experience in some details, he absolutely don’t want to complicate the things, so he was really efficient and we learned to go straight to the point. It was the first time we worked with of a real metal producer and we’re really happy with the sound he did, by the way I have to say that Henrik Udd (his acolyte) did also a great job and working with them learned us a lot.

Also the artwork of the record is quite curious. Would you like to talk about it? What is the concept behind it?

This is a post apocalyptic goddess who is the link between our songs. Nicolas Senegas did a real good job we are totally satisfied with the result.

‘Till now, your music has been chiefly written using the French language. Will we ever see a record totally sung in English in the future?

No, as far as I write the lyrics I can’t write an whole album in English even if it ‘s only a translation it’s a lot of work. Everything has to be changed even sometimes the meaning because of the musical with words. Everything has been simplified for an optimal hearing and I don’t like to write like this.

“Tératologie” (2008) was your last album and “III” has been released recently after 4 long years of silence. How come have you decided to wait for so long to release some new material?

After the “Tératologie” tour we were very tired, I’ve had a kidney infection at the end of the tour and Staif a hand tendinitis so we needed a break. It took a long time to Staif to be in a good shape because he couldn’t play guitar anymore. I took time to a have my daughter and time to reconnect to music. Also we realise we needed a break to tell new things, new stories to renew the music and it’s very important to create different songs.

Talking about your music career, I know that you’ve taken part in the track called “La Sphere”, by Kells. What could you tell about this cooperation and about your personal friendship with Virginie Goncalves?

I know her from quiet some time, we played on a gig with our bands and one day she asks me if I would sing on a Kells song. Yeah, it’s my friend even more today because we’ve been on tour together and we’re mothers, so we share a lot, we understand each other and the simple fact is that we scream, we sing and raise our children that’s funny.

Let’s talk about lyrics: who is the main person who do write the lyrics in the band? Where does the inspiration for the creation of your music come from?

I write the lyrics and everything could inspire me. Humanity is a great inspiration and I like to shell every part of it. Now “III” reflects a fact of life and a desire for change, a renewal for humanity. We talk a lot about 2012 in general but mostly I’m inspired about the different eras of our earth, the intelligence and the predictions of ancient civilizations disappeared which are necessarily developed the process of “III”. The planet has gone through several apocalypses and we are the fruit of it… it helps to ask many questions like birth and death.

Recently you’ve embarked on a mini-European tour with Kells. What could you tell about this experience?

It’s always cool being on tour with friends or other bands now the different thing was that I wasn’t the only girl so it was more girly but you know on tour. It’s always the same for every band known or unknown. You soundcheck, you wait, you play, you drink, your party and you sleep… with your friends.

What is the most beautiful thing in living on the road?

For sure not the road but to be on stage.

What could you tell, instead, about the relationship you have with the fans?

I’m not a fan of Facebook and I prefer talking after shows than reply to emails it’s a better way of communication. I generally do not like fanatics minds and I do not understand them but I owe them respect. We are often associated with young teenagers and I always try to remember when I was 15.

Unfortunately, I’ve noticed that Eths tours in Belgium and France only. Will you ever embark on a full European tour, setting foot on every single European country and, why not, all over the world?

And we need a good European agent or world agent it’s the only way to see us the band is not so big on Europe so we need someone who believe in the band to bring it abroad.

Any future goal for the band or yourself?

The best for everyone.

Thanks so much for your interest in us and thanks for having allowed us this interview. You have carte blanche in order to speak and say something to our readers and your fans! Thanks so much again!

Thank you all!!!

Credit Photos

Candice Clot Photo by Nicolas Sboub Delpierre

Band Photo by Eric Canto

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