RAMzine 27 | Avatar, Festival Flashbacks, Sister Shotgun

ock & metal
ISSUE #27 WWW.RAMZINE.CO.UK

12
An interview with
Johannes Eckerström of
Avatar
“We have made our heaviest
most aggressive album in quit
some time”
Jay Brown
Assistant Editor
assitant.editor@ramzine.co.uk
GREAT
SUMMER
RELEASES
2020 has been the
worst year on record
for almost everything.
This awful global
pandemic has robbed
us of many things that
we took for granted,
especially live shows
and festivals. One thing
Covid didn’t take from
us this year though
is great releases, this
summer has been one
of the most exciting for
rock and metal with
an incredible lineup
of new records. Even
if we can’t enjoy new
music live, our favourite
bands and lesser-known
artists have
managed to create
some of their best work
and they need your
support now more than
ever, so check out the
new releases we’ve
focused on and beyond
and find your new
favourite record.
06
Sister Shotgun
Frontwomen Chloe Ozwell tells
us what she has been getting
upto during lockdown.
2

e
07
RAMzine Classic
In this issue’s RAMzine Classic
we take a look back at Funeral
for a Friend’s 2003 classic
Casually Dressed & Deep in
Conversation.
rock & metal
WWW.RAMZINE.CO.UK
Victoria Purcell
Editor
2020, The
Summer
of Virtual
Festivals!
As our last issue was
released we were
dealing with the
realisation that all of our
forthcoming gigs and
festivals were due to be
vicky@ramzine.co.uk
cancelled. We were left wondering how Covid-19
would affect the music industry and how long
things would take to bounce back. Drive-in gigs
were announced and then later cancelled due to
the announcement from the government of local
lockdowns. Bands and festivals alike have taken
social media by storm over the past few months
with virtual festivals, live-streamed performances
and virtual gigs; where you can attend online as
your digitally created avatar. This has highlighted
the rock and metal community spirit and given
us a chance to hear from bands online as some
simulated festivals in their own unique ways,
in back gardens and living rooms across the
country.
The government has started to ease restrictions
to which some feel it’s too soon, whereas some
feel the rules are too harsh. The government has
recently announced that socially distanced gigs
can go ahead. Do you think that this will work?
We’d love to hear your thoughts. Tweet us @ram_
zine or emails me vicky@ramzine.co.uk.
Ashley Crowson
Senior Contributor
ash@ramzine.co.uk
Guitarist, photographer,
geek, gamer, full
on metalhead and
allround barfly.
Neale McGeever
Senior Contributor
neale@ramzine.co.uk
An entertainment
writer from the North
East. I’m also big in to
movies & video games.
Lindsay Teske
Assistant Editor
assitant.editor@ramzine.co.uk
Originally from Chicago,
a self-appointed
Sex Pistols expert, and
lover of Led Zeppelin.
3

In recent years bands like Iron Maiden have released
beers, Slipknot has their own whiskey, Ghost
has their own gin (don’t go there...) and now we can
reveal the news of pioneering shock-rocker, Alice
Cooper, will put his name to a brand of chocolate
milk. This was revealed via the Ideas Collide Instagram
in July. Released through Danzeisen Dairy
proceeds of the drink will go towards Cooper’s
non-profit organization, Solid Rock, who provides
free music, film, art, and dance classes to youths
in Arizona. Cooper and Danzeisen Dairy have not
announced a release date or name for the milk
bottle yet, but it is set to be made available later in
the year.
If it wasn’t bad enough that every major festival
and tour was canceled this year the proposed
‘drive-in’ tours have also been scrapped. These
tours were put together by Live Nation and Utilita,
featuring the likes of Gary Numan, Skindred,
and Ash. The organisers put out a statement
on July 15th explaining why these tours can no
longer go ahead: “the latest developments regarding
localised lockdowns mean it has become
impossible for us to continue with the series with
any confidence”. The idea behind it would be to
park with a party of up to 5 people in your vehicle
and getting your own space to enjoy. Imagine
what Skindred’s Newport Helicopter would look
like in that environment?
4

Brit-nominated rockers Royal Blood have announced
a scholarship with Waterbear - The College of Music.
The institution is based in the band’s home city of
Brighton, which isn’t the only reason they have teamed
up. Both Royal Blood and Waterbeaer believe in innovation.
Royal Blood used this to cross the boundaries
of genre and having success in the mainstream while
keeping integrity, which is something Waterbear will
encourage as they pave the way for future stars. The
scholarship covers tuition fees for the lucky student
who will be based on campus or via distance learning.
The course is BA Hons Career Musician. Waterbear
offers the course via smaller classes, flexible courses,
and one-to-one mentoring.
After a really disappointing year of festivals, gigs, and allaround
normal life being canceled. It’s great to hear there is
at least one UK festival going ahead. Taking place at Lincolnshire
Showground, September 18th to 20th. Festival Director
Raz White had this to say: I’m really proud of what we’ve
achieved to date, although challenging, we firmly believe
that we can present a safe festival, adhering to government
recommendations whilst still retaining the friendly festival
atmosphere. Everyone is desperate to deliver, from the staff
to the bands, it’s what we do and now we just want to let the
music do the talking”. The organisers have also made clear
the event could be postponed to May 2021, if the government
guidelines change. Any tickets bought from July 17th
will not be valid for a refund but will rollover to May.
5

With Chloe Ozwell | Collated by Neale McGeever
In this new feature, RAMzine invites
a friend of the ‘zine to talk us through
something different, and something
they have experience in. In this edition
we speak with frontwoman of rockers
Sister Shotgun - Chloe Ozwell. You may
have seen Chloe absolutely smashing
covers of classic rock songs on social
media, so here is her guide to musicians
keeping busy in lockdown.
It’s been an idea thats been batted
around for years …
The boys in the band have always
said: “Why don’t you do covers?” I’ve
never had the time or the resources…
then this all happened and I was
struggling to find something to keep
myself occupied. So I looked up how
much everything would cost, and how
I could set it up and I thought it was
feasible and I had the time to do it. So
just do it, have fun with, and see if people
want to hear it. If not, at least I’ve
tried and kept myself entertained.
We’re in the starting process of doing
things [for new material]…
Because most of the boys are still at
work – it’s me and our bassist [Tim
Chambers] who is at home. So it’s
working around their schedules. I feel
if we were all in lockdown together, we
would have had tome to sit down and
write. We have already talked about
what we want to do and how we want
things to sound, what we are aiming
for. We are going to start the writing
process in the next few weeks.
If anything [recording covers] it’s kind
of confused me, a little bit...
These are really fun in a karaoke-style
where I’m singing songs that I wouldn’t
usually sing, and sharing them with
people who haven’t necessarily heard
me do that style. My heart is still in
rock and metal style so I know where I
want to go with it. I have a vague idea
in my head where I wanted to take the
new material. That hasn’t really influenced
what covers I’m doing.
The big problem with myself is I
don’t play any instruments…
It’s a totally separate venture at the
moment so I have to find backing
tracks and then doing something on
the spot is really going to be difficult.
[Matt Heafy] plays guitar, really well,
so it’s easy for him to pick up a few
chords and we’ll do the next song
live on Twitch, and then another. I
would probably need a playlist of
backing tracks to be able to do that.
Unfortunately, I don’t have the means
to record my piano into the computer
without it sounding a bit weird. Which
is a bummer because I could be doing
some live stuff. People have asked me
if I could do live stuff. For the moment
I’m enjoying recording these covers.
It will be 100% harder. It’s people
from this year being moved to next
year, but also adding more to the
lineup…
There will be a massive, massive
overlap. I like what Bloodstock has
done by adding an extra day because
that helps in this respect. Festivals like
Download would benefit from that
too I feel. Add an extra day, add extra
bands. We are supposed to be doing
a festival in September, not sure it’s
going to happen still. We make plans
for later in the year but we still don’t
know what the guidelines are going
to be, which is very scary, which is
horrible.
It’s massively unsettling. We booked
things for the end of the year, but we
don’t know if its going to happen...
6

We have all been itching to get on
stage as soon as possible. We book it
but tell ourselves not to get too excited
because it may not happen. it’s super
unsettling not knowing when you can
jump back into it. We get paid to do
gigs so we are losing a lot of income
not playing. Our last show was in February.
We may be taking a whole year
off which is terrifying.
It’s a massive opportunity to get
your music out there because
people are looking for new music to
listen to...
We were really successful with that
and we’ve had a lot of people just
discover our music over lockdown.
You need to take the opportunity while
you have all this time because people
want entertainment. I’ve been listening
to the new stuff by Machine Gun Kelly,
I’m a fan of his but the fact he has put
out a pop-punk album is great. Also
Beyond Unbroken, which features the
Money brothers from Escape The Fate.
Honestly, though I’ve been working
on my stuff a lot, I haven’t really
immersed myself as much as I usually
do.
We’re hoping to put out a new single,
we had plans to put out a new
video ….
Before all this happened! Obviously
back to writing, and hopefully get
back to the studio next year and get
recording. It’s all go, go, go! Frustrating
we can’t do it this year.
Practice wise, I would look up videos
on YouTube...
There are loads of vocal warm-ups,
teachers, there are loads of great
resources. Same for instruments, I’d
watch people who do it. Keep at it
while you have the time. The perfect
opportunity to learn a new skill. It’s
definitely kept my mind busy, I’ve had
my down days, but I’ve been getting
stuck into this project and stopped
thinking I’m stuck inside for however
long.
7

MODERN
CLASSIC
FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND
-
AND
CASUALLY
DEEP
IN
DRESSED
CONVERSATION
By Mark McConville
-
The emo circuit was fruitful and
in good health back in 2003.
Many bands circled the fire
of emotion and portrayed through
their music, sincerity and redemption.
These acts knew that the music industry
was on the cusp of alternation,
though, and that many of them would
change their sound to fit the market.
Welsh band, Funeral For A Friend,
was a young outfit railing against the
grain of innovation, as their debut
record Casually Dressed And Deep
In Conversation, blew open the doors
to quick fired popularity. This album
became a noteworthy tour de force,
and it came out of nowhere, solidifying
these bunch of kids as saviors of the
moment.
Casually Dressed And Deep In Conversation
is an album that jostles with
youthful abandon and torn love, a
collection of songs which resonate
far and wide, pushing the envelope of
emo music. In all its cathartic glory, it
symbolizes hearts under strain and
dreams pulsating to be released. Within
its core, there is songwriting that is
intelligent, lyrics that speak softly until
they cascade into a pit of rage. And
Front-man, Matt Davies, offers his voice
of reason, his pessimistic range, his
guts and soul.
And as a collection, it works perfectly
well. There is a seamless line throughout
it, a line that carries the weight
of the world. Raw in its delivery, the
album triggers the thoughts of days
gone by, those days when drinking
eased the pain of day-to-day life. For
it being a debut record it is complex,
offering us a route into the mind of
Davies, who is predominately the
weaver of words.
As a technical force, Casually Dressed
And Deep In Conversation is a brazen
effort. We all knew that these musicians
are masters of trickery, and on
their debut opus, the innovation is
credible, their instrumental value, superb.
Guitars are plentiful, tight instrumentals
create massive choruses
and breakdowns. It is a
wave of mastery.
And it may
sound audacious,
but
this album
relights the
minds. It
offers an
escape route
for many
disenchanted
souls who can’t
rest their heads,
who can’t fight to have
their voices heard. These
voices get stuck in the void, the abyss
where darkness shrouds hopefulness.
Casually Dressed And Deep In
Conversation enlightens with many
of its songs. ‘Bullet Theory’ is a dark
track which represents the darkened
days. It’s a song, blistering in guitar
brilliance, pushing these talented
musicians to their limits. Davies delivers
a great vocal performance too,
conveying his thoughts through poetic
poignancy.
‘Juneau’ is one of the most accomplished
songs Funeral For A Friend
has ever produced. It is heavy; it is
somber, and it’s a gallant push to
scorn the enemies who are adamant
to break you. It is also a masterclass
in songwriting. ‘Escape Artists Never
Die’ again breaks loose and is a track
which offers tight instrumentals.
Bridges are scorched
and nights are
deathly. ‘She
Drove Me To
Daytime TV’
is an infectious,
chorus
driven
song that
describes
the thin line
between
love and sacrifice.
Funeral For A
Friend’s optimism is shattered
on Casually Dressed And Deep
In Conversation, but it’s one of those
records of beauty trying to come to
the surface. What it lacks in elegance,
it delivers in sincerity and substance,
and that’s why it is a legendary debut
album.
Photo by Benji Walker
8

By Tom Dixon
Select six songs from the seventies was the brief. A seemingly impossible task as that decade saw the
growth of heavy rock, glam rock, the rise of punk and the early stages of the New Wave Of British Heavy
Metal. It was also the decade when I heartily embraced music and beer as I entered my teens. So, rather
than state the obvious Purple, Zeppelin, Sabbath, Heep, Tull, etc. I have selected six of the deserving but
relatively unrecognised bands that embody that innovative and, at times, challenging decade.
1
2
3
4
5
6
SOCRATES DRANK THE CONIUM
They took all that was good about the burgeoning underground rock scene, added quirky vocals and
some absolutely delightful, imaginative and addictive riffs, bass playing and soloing that makes the
whole album an enlightening experience. Their self-titled debut is a must-have and is a rock classic that
should be recognised; From this album, I chose the fabulous ‘It’s A Disgusting World’ that brings Cream/
Heep/Budgie together in a blissful seven-minute treat of excellence. (Just beware the, then unknown,
Vangelis contributed to their fourth album Phos and destroyed their individuality.)
JODO
Jodo album Guts is something special from a British band produced by Derek Lawrence and engineered
by Martin Birch. They’re seriously heavy blues rock with a quality that will forever make me
wonder how this great album only saw release in New Zealand and the US, although I managed to find
a CD reissue. The track, ‘One Night Stand’, is quality rock and could easily be an outtake from Green
Bullfrog.
PRIMEVIL
Primevil were a short-lived Indiana band and the brilliant ‘Your Blues’ from Smokin’ Bats At Compton
is a wonderful blues workout that sounds like Free were in their minds at the time. The guitar solo is
genius and it’s a shame they never did anything else.
FUZZY DUCK
Fuzzy Duck were a London band that may have been a bit Purple Heep, but their individuality still
shone through on their self-titled and only album. Difficult to choose just one, but try the fiery and
expansive ‘Mrs Prout’ to experience premium heavy rock with a bit of prog thrown in.
FLIED EGG
Flied Egg were a Japanese band with a sense of humour and their heavy rock debut, Doctor Seigel’s
Fried Egg Shooting Machine (yes, really) was an understated and fascinating guitar and Hammond
treat. Listen to the weird but lovely ‘Guide Me To The Quietness’ to hear a broad and entertaining pallet.
TOE FAT
Toe Fat wasn’t just a strange choice of band name; in fact, with Cliff Bennett at the helm, the band
should have succeeded. The first album had future Heep and Tull members but from the second
album, the brilliant ‘Three Time Loser’ was very Creamy but shows their weight and illustrates how
many of us missed out.
So, here are six exceptional ideas for your Spotification (other streamers available) although
(according to my iTunes) I could have listed 5,761! I hope you’ll agree that introductions to ‘new’ old
bands is better than rehashing the lists so many sites and magazines seem to think add to our musical
knowledge and scope.
9

10

By Ash Crowson

“We have made our heaviest most
aggressive album in quite some time”
Interview by Victoria Purcell
Johannes Eckerström is the frontman
of Swedish band Avatar who
are set to release their eighth studio
album Hunter Gather. The band have
already been making an impact with
their new video for ‘Colossus’, which
has had over 1 million views in its first
week of release. Avatar are like marmite
to some, however, their live show
is something of a spectacle whatever
your opinion might be. Their shows
are are fun, outlandish and theatrical.
In their earlier days, Johannes was
seen drinking from a petrol canister
on stage and then there was the
Clown’s curtain, and the King having
his own throne. Although there are
no shows booked for the foreseeable
future due to the global pandemic,
Avatar have plans for some new elements
of their live show once they are
able to perform once again.
RAMzine: How have you been during
lockdown so far?
Johannes: I’m very well versed in
Zoom now, but this is not what I expected
spending my summer doing.
One cool thing is that I’m not used to
having seasons change in front of me,
I’ve got very accustomed to travelling
to different weathers. So it’s been a
very stop and smell the roses kind of
year. With spring entering summer
and living in a place with enough pretty
spots, under the circumstances it’s
been pretty good. I’ve liked summer
this far actually.
RAMzine: It was back in 2014 that
RAMzine first spoke with Avatar
during Hammerfest in Wales..
Johannes: Hammerfest oh my god…
in Wales with the trailers? We were
watching Alien… sorry, a bunch of
memories just came flooding back as
it was quite memorable as it’s quite a
particular place.
RAMizne:: Yes Wales is an interesting
place to go (although the festival
has since moved) and that festival
is quite unique in the way it’s all
set up. That’s when Avatar started
really picking up some attention in
the UK and you had already had a
few albums out before then…
Johannes: Yeah and we had been to
the UK a whole bunch of times before
then, but you know it was lots of under
the radar type things and opening for
other bands. It was around that period
when things started to turn around
and started turning into something. I
think we had our first sold-out show in
London the day after Hammerfest in
a venue somewhere in Camden. We
premiered the song ‘Hail The Apocalypse’
there.
RAMzine: You had released Black
Waltz and was about to release
(what was at the time your new album)
Hail The Apocalypse you told
us “something clicked… and seeing
the make-up awakened something
that wasn’t there before.. suddenly
the music had its face”. The Clown
had been born. Since then you have
developed more characters through
your music over time, did you envisage
at that point how many albums
the band had ahead of itself?
Johannes: No, I didn’t, we take it album
by album. We really do everything we
can to keep the mindset from Black
Waltz that was ‘Ok this is our last
album’. Because we were at a place in
life where we felt very old at the age of
24 and felt very much like ‘Ok this is
our last album, so let’s make sure that
it’s everything that we want it to be’.
Now we are at no risk of this album
actually being our last album unless
something awful happens. So for that
reason, there is still a mental exercise
to say ‘If this were to be your last album,
what would you want to do?’
I’m also completely open-minded to
complete change, like painting my
face and stuff feels just as relevant
and interesting, or should I say just as
accurate as a form of visualization of
the music today as it did back then.
But that might change one day. It just
hasn’t changed yet.
RAMzine: Interesting, that’s not
something that we had considered
before but we’ve seen bands do that
in the past and it can work…
12

Johannes: Well it usually doesn’t
(laughs), it must hold some kind of
meaning to us.
RAMzine: It’s quite hard to envisage
what that could look like, as until
you have the songs, a story and the
music you can’t imagine what it
could be.
Johannes: Yeah exactly, well Avatar
as much as we are one to embrace
change every time and want to evolve
and not write the same song twice, the
one thing that we know and the one
promise that stylistically if our music
will be under the banner Avatar, it
will always be METAL. That is also our
first love in music, so for that reason,
it’s most likely to remain like that but
it also feels that at least with all the
crazy things that we force people to
do like call Jonas King for two years
or whatever stuff that we demand of
them whilst on this ride with us, then
it feels like the bare minimum that we
are promising in return is that we are
going to be metal all the way!
RAMzine: That’s what we like to
hear! Whilst the new album is still
very much metal, it’s got more melodic
aspects to it and it does sound
slightly more commercialised
metal, not in a bad way but more
accessible.
Johannes: I was thinking along a
similar line, where I was thinking we
have made our heaviest most aggressive
album in quite some time with
this one and yet I see as a side effect
of it a certain commercial potential in
there. I think what that is, is that it feels
well-articulated. I believe that with
this album more than ever before, the
songs will make people feel the way
we intended for them to feel when
hearing them. In that sense it feels
well-articulated like the angry stuff
is angry, the sad stuff is really sad,
well-spoken in that sense.
RAMzine: Do you feel the Clown has
matured or gained more elements
of his personality since the Black
Waltz?
Johannes: Well the thing is, he is me,
that is something that I came very
clear to terms with. I definitely know
that in the beginning, we thought we
had invented a character. But I pretty
soon figured out that this is not a persona,
there’s no stage name, it’s 100%
me, just an opportunity to express
myself differently then I would otherwise
and to visualise and articulate
something in the music, but the music
is also me, us, the whole band and that
comes out through that.
13

So yes he has matured hopefully
because I hope that I have matured
over the years. But we are one and the
same. Not if you ask my wife, not if you
ask people around me, they still have
some idea of me being in character,
but it’s more if you go clubbing on a
Saturday night or you sit with grandma
for Sunday roast, is one of them
in character and the other one not
in character? I don’t think so, it’s just
different times and places. Different
expressions, different aspects of a
person and this is an extreme version
of that. I don’t believe that means that I
have a more extreme duality going on,
opportunities for extreme expression
I guess.
RAMzine: It’s just a part of you that
exists and the band is your place for
it to come out.
Johannes: Exactly! It’s that space of
going crazy or acknowledging a lot
of stuff that is hard to find a home for
otherwise. That’s the psychological
aspect of writing and performing. The
whole reason why the job description
I want in this business is to write and
perform my own material specifically.
It’s all connected to that.
RAMzine: On the new album, Hunter
Gatherer, are there any tracks
that you think are particularly
unique?
Johannes: Well an obvious answer
would be ‘Gun’, just because we had
never gone that mellow before. It took
7 years to write that song, which I
guess adds up to one note per month
(laughs). It’s because that first little
piano theme that it’s based on and one
version or another of the first verse
existed for the longest time but then it
was just figuring out what sort of song
it would become. Each attempt included
a heavy power chord somewhere
in the middle, so I’m like ‘Oh this is Bon
Jovi now, this is a power ballad, I hate
it, throw it away and start over next
year’. That happened for such a long
time.
I think that the turning point was the
last tour before we went to the studio.
We were meeting with Jay (producer)
in Los Angeles, going through the
songs and I think John brought it up
saying ‘Johannas that give a boy a gun
song, that’s great, just finish it, or if you
can’t do a full song of it, just let it be
that little piece and have it be like an
interlude between songs, that would
be so cool’. And my ego 3 sizes and
I was like ‘Fuck you I’m not writing
fucking interludes, I write SONGS!’ It’s
funny because we do this all the time
with songs, take a step back, what do
you have, let this song be what it is, it
doesn’t need to transform into something
else if it doesn’t want to. Write
another song that is that thing, let this
song be that thing. I took a step back
and kept that minimalistic approach
and suddenly it was really easy to finish.
[It was] a huge awesome challenge
to record because I kinda started in
the deep end. I started yelling a lot in
this band, and have been slowly working
my way towards having more and
more nuances in what I do.
I think this was the greatest challenge
yet in that because yeah you wanna
sing pretty, you wanna sing in pitch
and on time, and just nail it musically,
but then if you want to convey that
vulnerability, that sense of loosing
and that brokenness. Then you can’t
just be super sweet either, ya know?
There’s a balance there and expression,
so that was a big challenge for
being a short simple song. It was a
tough one to nail.
RAMzine: Will you be taking ‘Gun’
into your live performance?
Johannes: Definitely yeah! I have
ordered a piano, but the delivery got
slowed down due to Covid. Yeah, it’s
definitely one that we want to do live
because it would add so much to the
live sound, it’s a nice little break in the
middle.
14

very confrontational towards myself
but then also the grander scope of us
being in the way of ourselves.
Now we have a pandemic, and like
every other pandemic its caused by
our domestication of animals If you
ask the people who know a lot about
these kinds of things, this [Covid-19]
was a practice round, the bad one is
around the corner and it’s going to
come from our chicken factories. I
don’t think chicken nugget sales will
go down ever so slightly in the coming
years.
RAMzine: The video for ‘Colossus’
is great, we like the intro, was that
something that you wrote specifically
for the video?
Johannes: That was like a homage to
the way that the early season to The
Twilight Zone would start. The witter/
creator of the show (Rod Serling)
would basically come in as the kinda
host, but he would be on the set, and
show up and do his introduction of the
episode. So it was kinda a homage to
that. It’s not on the album, it’s specifically
for the video. That idea came
from Ewan who asked me to do it and
then I wrote it out. He acted as my
editor for that text like all the sentences
were way longer to begin with.
That was a nice little exercise actually,
to stay concise and when you are in
a topic that is kinda out there, and
there’s a poetic flair to what you are
presenting, it’s quite philosophical and
quite tempting to empty your lungs on
each sentence. I enjoyed the challenge
of that as well.
RAMzine: After the intro the video
goes over to the robot/humanoid…
what are they doing?
Johannes: It’s an experiment, but the
point is to harvest the fireball qualities
of the human brain’s ability for
abstract thinking and problem solving,
combined with the more cold calculations
of the computer brain. Its basically
harvesting human potentially with
no regard for the actual individual,
and therefore a very unethical experiment,
reaching the next level of knowledge
and dammed the consequences.
Done by these faceless scientists that
are only presented in the form of a
surveillance camera.
RAMzine: Towards the end the
robot lady gets quite annoyed at
herself, because she did the experiment
wrong?
Johannes: Yeah they need to find the
right balance of the different qualities
of the way she operates and a brain
operates. Also trying to use her humanity
too which is against her, in the
sense of pushing… motivating her but
through the threat of losing her little
new friend.
RAMzine: So was this written as a
series of stories on the album or are
they not linked?
Johannes: Well this album wasn’t
written as a concept album. We ended
up having a red thread [running
throughout]. When looking at all the
lyrics there was always an aspect of
standing in one’s own way on each
song. That goes on a personal level
into relationship stuff like the biggest
problem, like… my biggest issue in
this conflict is me. I am in the way of
moving forward from this and becoming
what I should become or taking
actions that I would like to take. So it’s
Although things like that might actually
save us from having an even worse
catastrophe and that is an example of
us standing in our own way. ‘When All
But Force Has Failed’ starts with the
lyrics ‘bird carcass with a belly full
of plastic, one more year and I’ll be a
millionaire’; that song summarises it
pretty well and that side of the conflict
and the grand scope of being one’s
own way.
With the title Hunter Gatherer, it’s all
kinda looking at this whole thing of
who we are biologically. We have been
the same for millions of years. Homosapiens
have been very much the
same, we haven’t had time to evolve
at the pace that civilization around us
has. We are very detached and we are
out of our natural habitat at this point.
At the same time with all the problems
that it has caused, I don’t believe that
you can go back. You can’t go outside,
climb a tree and call yourself a monkey
and think that things are going to
be fine. The solutions lie ahead of us.
15

I feel like we are very much in a hurry
to choose what type of science fiction
scenario we want to live in the coming
decades and the choices between
Terminator 2 and Star Trek. I’m voting
for Star Trek despite the fact that I
haven’t watched a full season of it. It’s
the principle of just working out our
problems here on earth, and going
into space kinda idea. [Which I think]
sounds more appealing than exterminating
ourselves and making this
planet unlivable for us.
So it’s all in this conflict of what it’s like
to be a Homosapien, in this artificial,
digital high-tech gilded cage, this
cyberpunk dystopia, that Fear Factory
warned us about 25 years ago! We are
living it now and the future is here. It’s
trying to shine different lights from different
angles, upon what that means.
What does it mean to be us right now,
or more often than not, what does it
mean to be me right now?
RAMzine: So essentially the album,
whilst it’s got some tracks that are
quite personal to you. There’s also
a bigger message behind it which
is about how humans are living on
earth today and the issue we face?
Johannes: Yeah or at least that is
always on the backdrop because I am
one of those humans and the only way
for me to comfortably point fingers at
a group is if that group is every single
one of us, me included.
RAMzine: So if you could tell the human
race one message what would
you be trying to get across?
Johannes: Well right at this particular
moment, like in general the message
is [to] take care of yourselves and be
good to yourself and take care of each
other. I usually end the shows with
that.
Ultimately right now I’m starting to
become more explicit. But I don’t
like the idea to become preachy as
I’m not qualified enough and I don’t
have enough answers for it. And I’m
not going to go into the empathy for
animals thing at this stage, although it’s
something that I believe in a lot. But it’s
just right now for the sake of our own
survival don’t be a selfish bastard and
don’t eat chicken.
RAMzine: As bad of an impact that
the coronavirus has had on many
countries, what it has provided is
time for some people to stop and
think and realize their work-life
balances, certainly in the UK many
people haven’t been to an office in
about three months and they have
been able to spend time with their
families. Some people are working
from home and are discovering
what they have been missing.
Perhaps now is a good time for people
to start opening their minds to
things, during this time of change.
Johannes: Yeah and let’s see if it lasts.
It’s just crazy how our economies are
collapsing because people are buying
less shit that they don’t need. Whereas
at the time being at least, we are still
able to feed ourselves and stay warm.
So for the time being ultimately, it’s
crazy that our survival [depends on
the economy]… that’s the scary thing
once economies crash is that you can
tie those numbers to real debts when
things get really bad in places. Which
is crazy as all the resources are still
out there. We still have all those things
that we need right now. But we are in
this weird system which needs to always
expand, it’s strange times. It will
be very interesting to see what lessons
we will learn from this if any.
RAMzine: Yes it will be interesting
to see what things stick and what
things people just go straight back
to naturally.
Johannes: Yeah I think that’s in our
DNA, that’s I guess a survival mechanism;
to forget and go back to normal.
You know, to dance again that kind of
thing. I was asked ‘Do you think that
mosh pits will happen and people will
want to stand next to each other at
shows?’, of course they fucking will, it
will take a day!
RAMzine: Especially after a few
beers...
Johannes: Especially after a few
months of not doing those kinds of
things, not having an outlet and damn
the consequences. I get that and I
agree with that, but I just think that it
might be connected to the problem of
how long we deal with outrage, and
what we learn from different situations.
Do you remember Cecil the lion? It
was a lion that was poached by some
American dentist who shot it. It was
one of those [stories] that caused
particular outrage and made people
go very deep into anti-poaching for a
while there, I guess it was four years
ago or something. No one remembers
that because there was another sad
thing or another little thing like that.
I guess more dentists can go a shoot
more lions in Africa, so you know,
without the world caring as much anymore.
That’s just scary and we all do it,
and I’m not saying this in a way where
I intend to point fingers at anyone
because I am forgetful as well. Again
it’s a useful ability we have to forget
and move on but we sometimes have
to fight that behaviour in ourselves as
well
.
RAMzine: Another song that caught
our attention on the new album was
the song ‘Scream Until You Wake’
firstly because of the song title. I
thought it might have something to
do with sleep paralysis but when
you listen to the track it’s not about
that, what’s it about?
Johannes: I haven’t experienced sleep
paralysis but I’m very well aware of
the phenomenon and the similarities.
I know what you are talking about,
as I’ve had weird night terrors where
I’ve got up and run and thought I was
16

somewhere else and stuff. It doesn’t
happen often but it has.
[The song] is a way of saying how to
deal with yourself and your own situation
and I hope to kind of feel a sense
of empowerment in a desperate situation.
It sometimes happens that people
are victims and people should not be
denied the right to victimhood when
they have been robbed. I despise selfhelp
literature culture that’s always
like ‘just say no’ or whatever, fuck that!
That being said, there are a lot of times
and a lot of places where the solution
to our problem lies within. There are a
lot of you know instances where we do
have the power to be the change that
we want to see in the world. Where we
can fight for ourselves, that ultimately
can be the saving grace that takes us
out of our own nightmares.
RAMzine: I quite like the song musically
as well, as it’s got the mix of
melodic and screaming vocals, and
a good guitar melody and a catchy
beat.
Johannes: Yeah and we struggled with
it. The whole song was pretty much
finished, the song was pretty much
the same but with completely different
drums for the longest time. That is
always the secret, I feel to what makes
metal work. If you change the drums
to ‘Iron Man’ it doesn’t matter that it’s
the best riff ever written because with
the wrong drums, if it wasn’t Bill Ward
doing those things, then the riff would
be pointless as well. We were stuck in
a rut with that song and in hindsight,
the solution was simple: Remove all
the necessary stuff and lets just fucking
rock. That made everything fall
into place. Then suddenly the emotion
was conveyed, speaking of being articulate
before.
RAMzine: The album artwork which
is essentially your mouth with a
light in the middle. What does the
light signify?
Johannes: Well that is the incredible
potential that can lie within a person,
that is unleashing what is within really.
It refers to the title, you have the idea
of confronting our inner nature, of
being this Stonegate naked ape that
we are in this crazy crazy world. So
there’s that, there’s exposing your inner
nature but there’s also unleashing
your potential. That refers to why 14
years old John thought that Avatar was
a good name for a band, to be a manifestation
of a band, a god in the skys.
What that came to mean in a very
atheistic group is the metaphor, the
idea of us carrying this great potential
within us. We all carry incredible power
within us if we learn to untap it, and
that symbolises that power.
RAMzine: What do Avatar have
coming up for the rest of the year,
given the state of the world?
Johannes: An increased social media
presence! All live shows are cancelled
and we just want to find ways to continue
being a band feeling like a band.
That being said we don’t feel like we
want to simulate an Avatar concert
online, all the power to those who
want to do it but it just wouldn’t work
for us. That would turn into acting and
we’re not actors, we are theatrical yes
but as it’s called in a movie, it’s based
on a true story and our type of theatre
and we can’t do that. The kind of
performance that is meant to be done
in front of an audience, can’t be done
without the audience there.
RAMzine: Yes absolutely, that’s the
one thing that you just can’t truly
re-create online, the atmosphere of
the gig…
Johannes: If I go to a concert I expect
my face to be buried in another man’s
sweaty armpit at some point and I
wanna see that steam coming off people’s
shoulders.
RAMzine: Yeah! The band needs the
crowd and vice-versa. Because it’s
nice watching some online performances,
but it’s definitely not the
same.
Johannes: No and I enjoy some of it,
I think Devin Townsend did a great
job. Finding the right tone and setting
for it, but it works for him. He is in a
particular position as an artist for who
he is and what he does and what he
conveys does it make perfect sense.
To be ‘1, 2, 3 ,4 clap your hands’ by a
computer just doesn’t work [for me].
17

GENESIS at Knebworth
24th June 1978
By Laurence Todd
In 1978, Genesis were probably, along
with Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, one of
the three biggest bands in the world.
They’d survived the loss of charismatic
frontman, Peter Gabriel, and had
ridden out the crescendo of vitriol
from Punk, which was supposedly all
about getting rid of these dinosaur
bands who not only played lengthy
songs, but who also prided themselves
on their musical ability, and were
filling stadia all over the world.
The sole UK date for Genesis on their
1978 world tour was at Knebworth in
front of a 90,000 crowd and, as a fan
since buying ‘Trespass’ in 1971, plus
having seen them several times with
Gabriel, I was really up for this event.
My girlfriend, however, wasn’t interested,
and neither was the boyfriend
of a girl on my course, Alison, so we
talked about it and we agreed… sod it,
we’ll go. So, with tickets bought, transportation
arranged (she was going to
drive from London to Knebworth), she
picks me up very early on Saturday
morning, and we get to Knebworth
in reasonably good time and were
extremely fortuitous with where we
managed to park, right by the exit,
which would become a Godsend later
in the day, for reasons I shall come on
to explain. All the way to the site, along
the A1M, the weather had looked ominous,
threatening rain, but, late morning,
the sun made an appearance and
hung around most of the day. Ally and
I made our way into the arena and
parked ourselves right at the back of
the crowd, near to the beer tent
(I wasn’t driving !) and the toilets, but
still with a great view. We consume the
days first beers. So far so good.
The opening acts Devo, Brand X and
Atlanta Rhythm Section pretty much
came and went unnoticed. Brand X
were at least musically very proficient,
but hearing sophisticated jazz-rock
played in 17/5 time at 1.45 on a sunny
afternoon didn’t quite hit the mark.
The Atlanta’s were wholly unimpressive
and, while Devo were at least entertaining,
sadly a few idiots down the
front saw fit to throw mud and bottles
at the band, all wearing white boiler
suits, which meant their set having to
be curtailed.
Late in the afternoon, however, came
the first real highlight of the day as
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers took
the stage for their UK debut gig, and
they blew a hole in the place with a
stupendous set and got a great reception.
Then came the days first big disappointment.
Late 60’s American psych
legends Jefferson Airplane had, by
now, morphed into the more commercial
Jefferson Starship and, when they
come onstage, I looked anxiously for
Grace Slick as I’m a big fan of hers
(forget Stevie Nicks, Grace is the real
queen of the west coast) but she didn’t
appear. The Starship’s set was fair
enough but it lacked the star quality
Grace gives the band. In the music
press the following week, it was stated
she’d been sent home in disgrace for
unspecified reasons. But at least west
coast legends Marty Balin and Paul
Kantner played.
To fill in the lengthy gap before the
headline act, perennial seventies festival
favourite Roy Harper turns up and
played an unannounced solo acoustic
set, which is a delight.
Around 6pm, Ally decides she has
to use the ladies, so off she goes. She
arrives back soon after, saying the
queues for the ladies’ toilets are really
long (surprise !!) so she’d decided to
wait till the queues get shorter. They
don’t. She tries again a little later,
waits her turn, goes in then comes
straight out again, stating the toilets
are ‘absolutely disgusting.’ At 8pm,
Ally was now really feeling the need to
go, so I suggest she goes behind one of
the many bushes around the edge of
the field. She reluctantly agrees, and I
stand in front to afford her some privacy.
A couple of minutes later, out she
comes… she can’t do it in a bush !!
Fast forward to 9pm… The days second
big disappointment is about to
occur.
I’m buzzing; the crowd’s anticipation
level is building, the stage music has
stopped, the house lights are going
down, huge cheer from the crowd as
90,000 fans get on their feet; Genesis
.. the reason I’m here, the band I came
to see .. are about to take the stage. It’s
pitch dark all around us and the stage
now becomes completely bathed in a
glorious white glow from God knows
how many stage lights which, from
where we’re standing, looks almost
celestial. Genesis then bound on stage
to the kind of reception only superstars
get .. at which point, as the first
notes of their opening number can
18

Ramblin Man Fair 2019 Photo Memories by Erik Damian
be heard, Ally leans into me and says,
“I’m sorry, Laurence, I can’t hold on
any longer, I’m gonna use the toilets
at the service station on the A1M. You
coming ?” It’s clear from her face, not
only is she in some very considerable
bodily discomfort, she also doesn’t
want to leave on her own either, so I
agree to accompany her. I tell her it
makes sense and we leave the arena…
just as Genesis are playing the intro
to one of my favourite songs off their
latest album .. and, as the car was
parked right by the exit, we got away
from the site easily, and I could hear
Genesis playing in the distance, and
see the gorgeous light show glowing
behind the trees, as we pulled out the
park and onto the main road.
Ally now drives down the A1M at a
speed Lewis Hamilton would have
been hard pressed to keep up with,
and we reach the service station in
record time. She eventually emerges
from the toilets with the most relieved
smile I’ve ever seen on any woman.
There’s no re-entry to the site once
you’ve left, so it’s off back home. All the
way back to London, Ally looks and
sounds mortified and keeps saying
things like, “I’m so sorry, Laurence, I’m
really sorry,” and I reassure her ‘it’s
okay, no problem,’ whilst thinking ‘I
wonder what they’re playing now?’
Next morning my girlfriend asks,
‘So how were Genesis ?’ and I reply
‘I’ve no idea’ as I had to leave early ..
I explain why and she approves; she
says You did absolutely the right thing
by Ally, and follows this up with the
casual comment ‘Genesis are crap
anyway.’
I see Ally in college on Monday and
she apologises again for Saturday and
offers to pay for my ticket .. but I don’t
want her money. Ally had been good
company and we’d had a fun day just
hanging out together. My disappointment
at missing Genesis had gone by
now. The following Thursday, however,
I read in the music press about how
Genesis had played a blinder and had
gone down a storm. Disappointment
returns… “F**k it !!” …oh well…
I’ve long since lost touch with Ally… I
think she moved back to Lancashire
but our almost seeing Genesis at Knebworth
day is a real fun memory of her.
I wonder if she’s been to any more
outdoor events since?
19

Ramblin Man Fair
July 2019
By Erik Damian
Last year I got to witness Kent’s own
Collateral hit the next level as they performed
on the Rising Stage at Ramblin
Man Fair. As the band took the stage to
the excitement of the crowd, something
amazing happened – what was
only about a hundred or so people
started growing exponentially. By the
time the band were ripping into their
third song, there were people as far
as the eye could see all flowing down
to the spot where the stage was set. It
was hard to not be swept up in the moment,
and it was clearly an emotional
moment for the band as thousands
of the rock faithful took to them and
became new fans on that day. Moments
like that are rare and should be
cherished. I’m glad I was there on the
day and that I was in the privileged
position of being able to document it
with my lens.
Download festival
June 2012
By Neale McGeever
in 2017 but I will always remember the
festivals I spent with him. I hope he is
enjoying a pint with Lemmy and Kurt
Cobain in the afterlife.
Sonisphere Festival
July 2011
By Sean Rafferty
I attended Sonisphere in 2011, it was
my very first festival and I was sixteen.
We were walking back from the first
night having just seen The Big Four.
We just came across another group
who invited my lot to sit with them.
They were all older but friendly and
they let us in on their festival expertise,
giving us tips and tricks that
helped us make the best of our first
festival outing. We discovered we had
a pack of bacon but no BBQ whereas
they had a BBQ but no food – we
combined forces to make the most
epic bacon sandwiches that have
ever been had at a festival. There was
one of their group who was cooking,
he was so drunk we couldn’t understand
anything he said except for “I
am the chef.” It was just a great night
of strangers bonding over nothing
but a shared love of metal. We didn’t
see them again after we left that night
for the rest of the weekend…. UNTIL
we bumped into the ‘chef’ who had
sobered up and confirmed to us that
he in fact a real chef…
At Download 2012 my friend Liam
(aka Roj) had never camped at a festival
and didn’t bring any wellies. This
meant he had to wear his trainers and
that really hurt his feet after a while
so he used a spare white tentpole, as a
kind of Gandalf style ‘staff’ to help him.
When we queued for the arena, everyone
there was searched, other than
Liam. I asked why not and he realised
he was holding a white stick and wearing
shades. We went the next year but
booked a B&B. He sadly passed away
20
Various Photo Festival Memories by Martha Fitzpatrick

Various HRH Photo Festival Memories by Lisa Billingham
21

PRIMAL FEAR
METAL COMMANDO
ON HOLLOW GROUND
BLOOD IS BLOOD
ELIMINATION
OF GODS AND BEASTS
German metal titans Primal Fear
are set to release their thirteenth
full-length studio album Metal Commando.
Packed full of fist-pumping
anthems, Metal Commando is power
metal as good as it gets. Ralf Scheeper’s
high, soaring vocals overlay the
brilliant musicianship displayed by
the rest of the band, particularly from
Michael Ehré on drums. As is typical
of power metal, guitar solos are abundant
here and are used to great effect
on the album’s opening track ‘I Am
Alive’ and ‘Hear Me Calling’.
Review by Alex Chapman
On Hollow Ground deliver moments
of grimacing heaviness combined
with many eclectic elements to show
you they’re not about to be told how
to sound. Plenty of tracks feel crafted
to be heard live. ‘Broken’ and ‘Even
Though’ are relentlessly heavy but balance
this with chants and calls. Tracks
such as ‘Surviving Life’ showcase their
nuanced side with a slower, grander
chorus right next to Meshuggah-like
riffs. Blood Is Blood might just be one of
the more wildly unique releases from
this wildly unique year.
Review by Sean Rafferty
UK thrash metal band Elimination have
churned out a vicious slab of blistering
old-school metal that owes as much to
Venom and Slayer as it does the Teutonic
trio of destruction, Kreator and Sodom.
There is a warm, organic feel to these
three compositions, and on top of that,
they are brimming with confidence and
a palpable sense of energy. This EP is
neither original nor innovative, but it is a
headbanging delight that is as catchy and
vile as it is charming and dark. Elimination
release Of Gods And Beasts is out on 7th
August 2020.
Review by Jens Nepper
FIGHT THE FIGHT
DELIVERANCE
This explosive Norwegian metal outfit has
made quite a name for itself in underground
circles these past few years and it is easy to
see why. Big riffs and even bigger choruses,
intricate melodies and clever arrangements,
and a seemingly endless supply of energy and
groove pretty much sum up what this musically
accomplished and oftentimes remarkable
record is all about. The music is layered,
progressive and varied while various genres
and styles of music are mixed to great effect.
Simply put, Deliverance totally slays.
Deliverance is out via Indie Recordings on 18
September 2020.
Review by Jens Nepper
23

FOOT
THE BALANCE OF NATURE...
Stoner rock has been around for an age
now, but it still seems to be a genre constantly
giving the goods, Foot are no different.
Wrapped in a blanket of desert rock
from the off with hints of doom, The Balance
of Nature Shifted is 46 minutes of absolute
fuzz heaven, tracks are rich and basking in
the sounds of Kyuss and QOSTA. If stoner
music is your thing, then Foot have quite
possibly written you the soundtrack to save
the summer of 2020. The Balance of Nature
Shifted is out via Cooper Feast Records on
31st July 2020.
Review by Ash Crowson
DARK SARAH
GRIM
Gothic kinescopic metallurgists boasting
former Amberian Dawn singer Heidi
Parviainen are a surreal world of orbs
and crows, beginning with the orotund
euphony of ‘My name is Luna’, the protagonist
in a world of dreams. ‘Illuminate’
has emotional, whooshy/dreamy
vocals. ‘All ears!’ is like Maria Brink
sidestepping metal to join the Laibach
avant-garde for a Traviata; but also a
little Japanesey, perhaps Yōsei Teikoku,
yet darkly psychedelic. Grandeur meets
mood-altering polyphony in an escapade
of symphonious februation.
Review by Neil Mach
DEVIL’S WITCHES
GUNS, DRUGS & FILTHY
Devil’s Witches add to their list of
impressive releases with the Guns,
Drugs and Filthy Pictures, a two-track
EP ensuring the kink/commentary
of the past remains! The title track is
Sabbath heavy but with a melodic
punkishness. It is also very sweary
with a damn good guitar solo. ‘Cross
My Path I’ll Cross Your Face’ is a paradox,
a country song with great lyrics,
harmonies and slide guitar. It’s bloody
good though and very addictive!
Check out their previous stuff for the
covers if nothing else.
Review by Tom Dixon
FROM THE DEPTH
MOMENTS
Italians From the Depth have their
second album, Moments, on release
and it lives up to the first with power
metal anthems like ‘Spread Your
Fire’ delivered at a frantic pace but
with melody and panache. ‘Streets of
Memory’ is a paradox as the gentle
instrumentation still has the power
drums, neat! ‘Just Ice’ has a more symphonic
feel and is my favourite (for
the title too). ‘Somewhere’ illustrates
how power metal can be subtle. This
band deserves a higher place in this
crowded genre.
Review by Tom Dixon
25

BROADSIDE
INTO THE RAGING SEA
THEY CALLED HIM ZONE
IF YOU’VE GOT A TASTE FOR TERROR
THE RIVEN
WINDBREAKER / MOVING ON
Lyrically imaginative and a step up
musically, Into The Raging Sea is a
statement of intent, their stab into the
light where darkness tries to flood. It’s
also poignant, and at points volatile
with no clichés present - which is a
rarity in these times. The moment of
truth comes when the opening track
‘The Raging Sea’ becomes an infectious
treat to cold ears, with brazen
guitars and powerful lyricism breaking
the
boundaries of pop-punk. This can
only be a future incentive for
Broadside.
Dark rock duo They Called Him Zone
have unveiled their first full-length
album If You’ve Got a Taste For Terror
through Eromeda Records. Combining
elements of electronica, dance music,
and ambient rock, the band have
created their own strange and unique
brand. The Bradford based double act
have an unconventional style working
in their favour. They Called Him Zone
are already making waves in underground
scenes and are certainly a
group to watch for those who like unorthodox,
dark-sounding electro-pop.
Review by Alex Chapman
Swedes The Riven, have new EP Windbreaker/Movin’
On out to support their
two previous releases. The revitalised
vinyl 7” format is available in digital is
still anathema to you. Both tracks blend
melodic weight with Maiden like bass
and an almost Lizzy guitar attack. A slight
NWOBHM feeling pervades them both
and spices it all up to give two solid rock
songs with harmonies and solos to satisfy
most fans and may even remind you of a
time when music was raw, heartfelt and
expressive. The new EP is out 28th August
2020 via The Sign Records.
Review by Tom Dixon
SOUTH OF SALEM
THE SINNER TAKES IT ALL
Bournemouth’s South of Salem are set to
release their debut album, The Sinner Takes
It All. At the start of 2020 the band’s first show
in their hometown had sold out, but then
Covid-19 struck. Shame, as these ten tracks
provide rock by the galvanised bucketload.
‘The Hate In Me’ is commercial without losing
weight. Another play on words, ‘No Plague Like
Home’ is apt and rocks. Almost ballad ‘Demons
Are Forever’ show the abilities of the entire
band. This is an accomplished debut and deserves
a listen if you like well structured heavy
rock with a metallic tinge.
Review by Tom Dixon
26

PAIN OF SALVATION
PANTHER
Every genre has an artist or band who stands
apart from the rest and goes its own way, and
for prog this band is Pain of Salvation.
Relentlessly determined and fiercely individualist,
Panther is a concept album for the 2020s
based on the differences between ‘normals’
and those who are ‘differently wired.’ The music
incorporates electronica (‘Panther,’ ‘Keen
to a Fault’), a mandolin-based instrumental
(‘Fur’), straight rock (‘Restless Boy’) and they
close with the 13 minute plus epic ‘Icon’. Pain
Of Salvation’s forthcoming studio album is due
for release August 28th, 2020 worldwide via
InsideOutMusic.
Review by Laurence Todd
LAURA EVANS
RUNNING BACK TO YOU
DOKKEN
THE LOST SONGS
STEVE HOWE
LOVE IS
Singer/songwriter Laura Evans has
new EP, Running Back To You, that is
split between blues and country. ‘Drag
Me Back In’ is a cracking slice of bluesrock
with her vocal apt and admirable.
‘Running Back To You’ has electric
and acoustic versions, the former is
very latter-day Fleetwood Mac. ‘Mess
of Me’ is piano-driven countrified and
beautiful. ‘Aberdare’ is all country and
damnably catchy. Although I’d prefer
her output to be the grittier blues,
there is no doubt here’s a serious talent.
The new EP is out 31st July 2020.
Review by Tom Dixon
Dokken need no introduction. The Lost
Songs 1978-1981 lets you hear the development
that brought the young Don
to prominence on his move to Germany.
Hooks, riffs, and melodies abound with
Halen (sounds on ‘Felony’), Nugent
(sounds on ‘We’re Going The Wrong
Way’) and pure Dokken (on ‘Day After
Day’); then have a bit of melodic punk
with ‘Back In The Streets’. The album
is a thoroughly enjoyable insight into
this rock institution and must-have for
any Don Dokken fan or classic 80s rock
lovers.
Review by Tom Dixon
Legendary guitarist with YES, Steve
Howe has put together a shining collection
of tunes on Love Is, the latest in
his series of solo works. The album is
half instrumental and features Howe
drawing on his range of influences and
styles to put together some very accomplished
tunes, with influences ranging
from prog to jazz. The lyrics of these
tracks reflect his beliefs in the universal
power of love, for individuals and
ecology, and his message is put across
with style and class. Guests include Jon
Davison and Dylan Howe.
Review by Laurence Todd
27

THUNDERMOTHER
HEATWAVE
Despite steady-shuffling line-ups, the AC/DC
template remains a constant within
Thundermother’s wall of sound. This time
round it’s still only rock & roll, but producer
Soren Andersen’s presence is felt to good
effect with more rounded arrangements,
clearer hooks and guitarist Nässil’s solos given
succinct purpose.
‘Loud And Alive’, ‘Heat Wave’ and others all
solid slabs of rock. The sexy ‘Purple Sky’
expands upon their remit into soul-rock, and
with ballad ‘Sleep’ Guernica Mancini’s voice
adds a mature depth to proceedings that could
take them far.
Review by Paul H Birch
THE TANGENT
AUTO RECONNAISSANCE
NEAL MORSE
SOLA GRATIA
VOYAGER
GHOST MILE
Andy Tilson is a musician never
afraid to go his own way, and here The
Tangent serves up an album heavily
tinged with jazz influences, but also
with prog, pop, and R&B thrown in.
‘Under your Spell’ is almost easy
listening, and ‘Jinxed in Jersey’ is pure
Canterbury Scene Kevin Ayers, but
the album’s centerpiece is ‘Lie back
& think of England,’ a very ambitious
28-minute piece with plenty of Tilson’s
wry social observations about his
home country. Auto Reconnaissance is
released on the 21st August 2020.
Review by Laurence Todd
Neal Morse is an amazingly prolific
musician, as well as one of the most respected
names in prog rock, through
his stints with Flying Colors, Transatlantic
and his eponymously named
band. His latest solo album maintains
the high standard of all his other work,
and with tracks of the quality of ‘Never
Change’ and ‘In the name of the Lord,’
Morse continues to amaze with how
he’s able to set and keep the bar high
with every new release. Collaboratorsinclude
Mike Portnoy, Randy George,
Eric Gillette, Bill Hubauer and more.
Review by Laurence Todd
The increasing impact being made
by Australian bands is continued by
Voyager. They hover midway between
being full-on prog and heavy rock,
and they inject high energy levels into
their music. Ghost Mile is essentially
the same album as their 2017 release
but with the addition of three ‘live’
tracks... the eponymous title track,
‘The meaning of I’ and ‘Lost,’ with its
mid-song trance rendition of ‘Danube,’
“who’s ready for some trance... said
no prog fan ever,” yells singer Danny
Estrin.
Review by Laurence Todd
28

COMANIAC
HOLODOX
THE NATURAL DISASTERS
TORMENTA
CENTRE EXCUSE
FAVOURITE SOUL
Swiss thrash metal outfit, Cromaniac,
delivers a solid thrash metal that feels
reminiscent of the glory days of the
big four of Teutonic thrash. The record
delivers grandiose harmonised thrash
guitar riffs and breakneck double bass
drumming, as you’d expect from this
kind of record but is somewhat interesting
in the vocal department as they
can best be described as “an acquired
taste”. Holodox boasts a great deal of
variety and is recommended for fans
of Sodom, Destruction, Kreator and
Suicidal Angels.
Review by Dale Unsworth
Despite being heavily associated with the
tone that is black, as a music subgenre
goth is a bit of a grey area. Copenhagen
based band The Natural Disasters fuse all
sides of the coin on their new album Tormenta.
This is a project by multi-instrumentalist
Alioscha Brito-Egana, with guest
vocalists. Although there is some great
musicianship on this album, all the tracks
seem to blur into one. There’s a good song
in there, just spread out over eight tracks.
Some good ideas but it could have been
slimmed down to a short EP. Tormenta
will be released August 2020.
Review by Neale McGeever
Somewhat like what the New Romantics
and New Wave bands ala Depeche Mode,
New Order, and Sisters of Mercy were
doing, Centre Excuse dabble in synthpop/
electro rock with Gothic undertones to it.
Well-crafted, nicely arranged, and suitably
melancholic, Favourite Soul is definitely
competent, but it does not offer any
surprises as such. ‘Moon, Sky and Stars’
and ‘Joy Joy Joy’ are wonderfully anthemic
pieces that will go down a storm in a
future live setting, and despite a few fillers
this is a satisfying listen. Out now via their
own label, New Motion Records.
Review by Jens Nepper
HÄXAN
WHITE NOISE
Häxan are a UK (not US) classic rock trio but
with a metallic bite and new album, White
Noise, is a varied, accessible and bloody
good album. The three cat loving girls supply
heavy, melodic and original rock but with the
sound of a band of five. ‘Nine Lives’ illustrates
the power and melodies that fill the album
with a helluva guitar solo too; see their video
featuring a post-apocalyptic demolition derby
Single ‘Skeletons’ has a great comic style video
to back the intelligent rock that pervades. A
special debut that needs a listen. White Noise
is out now, go grab a copy!
Review by Tom Dixon
29

GOBLINS BLADE
OF ANGELS AND SNAKES
German metal band Goblins Blade
have released their first full-length
album Of Angels and Snakes through
Massacre Records. The album comes
following the success of the independently
released EP Awakening
back in May 2019. The German fivepiece,
formed back in 2018, take their
name from a song by the American
thrash group Heathen.
The band delivers an old school
heavy metal sound mixed with a
more traditional power metal sound.
With Florian Reimann’s vocals that
sound akin to what Bruce Dickinson
belts out combined with heavy riffs,
Goblins Blade come out of the blocks
with archetypal power metal. Unlike
some power metal groups, Goblins
Blade don’t rely solely on speed as a
means of carrying their songs; Instead
constructing engaging and powerful
riffs expertly played by guitarists Jörg
M. Knittel and Claudio Enzler. This is
further backed up with Roberto Palacios’
basslines and the drumming of
Claudio Sisto completing the outfit and
building the solid base upon which
Reimann’s vocals can take flight. This
slower style does not hinder Goblins
Blade at all, as the more aggressive,
punchier style more than holds its
own.
The use of guitars is highlighted in the
brilliant solos on display throughout
the album, especially in the opening
track of the album ‘Snakes from
Above’ and again on the longest track
of the record ‘When the Night Follows
the Day’. On both tracks well-executed
guitar solos help carry the
song and pin them up as aggressive
fist-pumping anthems. In the latter of
those songs, the drumming of Sisto is
particularly impactful indicating his
work as core to the sound of Goblins
Blade. The album is closed out well by
‘Call for Unity’ for its strong sound and
slow fade into silence to bookend the
album.
Of Angels and Snakes is an impressive
debut album and is a decent foray into
the slightly more aggressive side of
power metal. Whilst not being too explorative
it adds an entry to the genre
worthy of recognition and a listen to.
Review by Alex Chapman
30

STARMEN
KISS THE SKY
The title of Kiss The Sky may suggest
a homage to the great Jimi Hendrix
(there is a Dylan/Hendrix cover), and
the cover may allude to a certain band
known for their makeup, but Starmen
are all original, in fact, they are a rock
band of some quality that take ‘Snake
and ‘Halen’s best bits with some of
Kiss’s foibles and serve up a fresh
sound at the same time. They wear
makeup in the shape of stars and go
by the names Red, Silver, Purple and
Gold Starman… not hugely original
perhaps but, the musical evidence
is that they are all about good time
rock and this album is a solid listen. It
seems that this originally came out in
2018 and they do have another album
(Welcome To My World) available but
this one is out on July 24th.
Moving past that, opener ‘The Stealer’
gives the perfect meld of those three
bands with a bluesy rock song that
has quality riffs, vocals and solos…
what more do you want? Now for
the dangerous act of the Bob Dylan
song that shone in Jimi’s hands: ‘All
Along The Watchtower’ is a thoughtful
attempt with acoustic guitar and piano
introducing the deft vocals for the
first verse, before swirling Hammond
brings the band in at full tilt. The neat,
new bridge and pedalled solo keep it
interesting and the bass lines are very
clever. No, not as good as Jimi…but still
a bloody good attempt.
‘A Mystery Thrill’ has eastern overtones
before nearly becoming ‘The
Gates Of Babylon’, so add Rainbow to
the list of influences; good song too.
The title track sounds like they are
playing with a couple of Hendrix riffs
and then brought Coverdale into the
vocals with Ozzy and Leppard doing
the chorus! It is amazing and still very
enjoyable. ‘Bad Tattoo’ brings in David
Lee Roth duetting with DC and Eddie
adding some flourishes! The closing
track, ‘A Magical Ride’ is one of my
favourites as it is pure Starmen and
catchy as a catchy thing with a slight
60s psyche feeling pervading.
Forget the Kiss-esqe image and all of
the comparisons: listen to the songs
and decide, it is a rewarding album
that will be getting repeated plays in
this house.
Review by Tom Dixon