Interview #117 - Jonah Matranga (Sons of Alpha Centauri, Exile On Mainstream Records; Far, Deftones, New End Original and many more)

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!