Martin Axenrot knew he had big shoes to fill when he was called on to sit in for Opeth’s long time drummer Martin Lopez, who had become ill and was unable to tour with the group. After completing five tours with the titans of Swedish metal, Axenrot became a full member of Opeth in the spring of 2006. Being a fan of many styles of music, Martin never had any difficulty adapting his playing style to authentically replicate Opeth’s music live, but he did feel challenged when it came time to enter the studio to record the band’s latest masterpiece, Watershed. But judging by his fantastic performance – a brilliant mix of blast beats and precise double bass offset by impressive prog rock chops – captured on what everyone from the band’s rabid fans to Opeth founder, singer/guitarist Mikael Akerfeldt is calling the group’s best effort, Axenrot had no need to worry. Continue reading An Interview with Martin Axenrot of Opeth→
This month, drummer Paul Bostaph – the guy who “took a lot of shit from Slayer fans for committing the cardinal sin of replacing Dave Lombardo” – talks to Metal Edge about his return to the drum throne of Bay Area thrash stalwarts, Testament on their latest critically acclaimed CD, Formation of Damnation. Enjoy! Continue reading An Interview with Paul Bostaph of Testament→
When Hate Eternal frontman Erik Rutan decided to take the band’s new line-up from a trio to a quartet, he enlisted death metal veterans Alex Webster (Cannibal Corpse) on bass and guitarist Shaune Kelley (Ripping Corpse) as well as a sick young drummer from Montreal, Jade Simonetto (of metalcore sensations, Camilla Rhodes) whose furious skin bashing provides a scorching backdrop for Fury & Flames, Hate Eternal’s fourth studio album. Rutan comments that Jade’s “dedication to extreme drumming and groove has made him the perfect drummer for Hate Eternal.” Continue reading An Interview with Jade Simonetto from Hate Eternal→
Since Strapping Young Lad disbanded in 2007, Gene Hoglan hasn’t exactly sat on his drum throne waiting for the phone to ring. In the past year, the drummer of such revered thrash/death metal bands as Dark Angel and Death – who’s also sat in for the drummers in Slayer and Opeth – has continued to add impressive projects to his resume. Before the holidays, Hoglan played a handful of European dates with Swedish metal trio Meldrum and laid down two albums worth of drum tracks for the group. Continue reading An Interview with Gene Hoglan→
Progressive Rock is a dinosaur and concept albums went out of vogue in the 70s. That’s what you think. Atlanta-based metal quartet Mastodon continue to challenge preconceived notions about the viability of mixing modern metal with conceptual Prog Rock with its musically acrobatic third album, Blood Mountain. For this ambitious album about an arduous journey to the apex of a mythical mountain – which boasts songs about one-eyed Sasquatches, benevolent tree people and crystal skulls – drummer Brann Dailor drew inspiration from both musical and cinematic sources, including the 1973 Alejandro Jodorowsky film, The Holy Mountain and Genesis’ 1974 epic masterpiece, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Continue reading An Interview with Brann Dailor of Mastodon→
