Interview with AXIS

Photo Credit: Augie Ruiz

- I first heard Axis on the Weight of the World split 7" you put out a few years ago, and from the live videos I've seen of Axis recently, it seems like you still play "Irreversible" at most of your shows. Do you feel like that song still represents Axis' spirit and sound?

For a lot of people in Florida, especially since the album isn't out, it's the AXIS song.  I love that split and that song but it was with our first vocalist and it was before I feel like we really found our sound. It's more of an attempted emulation of the nineties metalcore sound rather than our own thing. We try to get away from playing it except for special occasions and it'll be hung up in the rafters soon.

- I hear the term "90's hardcore" thrown around a lot when describing your sound. How do you feel about being described that way? Is Axis heavily influenced by any specific bands from the 1990's?

I don't mind the term at all, it's definitely one of my favorite eras of any music genre. We try to capture what those bands did with a lot of what we do but I don't think that's all we're limited to. We draw influence from a multitude of places but the core of our inspiration nowadays would be bands like Turmoil, Kiss It Goodbye, All Else Failed and late 90's Converge.

- Axis has gained a great deal of recognition in a relatively short span of time, and it is encouraging to see what was a smaller regional band become a noteworthy name on any showbill in the Southeast. Do you feel that Axis has risen to that level because of your hard work, touring, networking, or good fortune, or...?

I think it's sort of a mix of all of that. We've just passed the 5 year mark as a band so I'm sure being at it for a bit has helped. We've just tried to tour as much as possible and really tried to hone our craft these past couple of years. We've had some good luck and some bad luck but I think that was the main benefit to whatever success we've had.

Axis / Self Defense Family split: "The Least Violent Time In Human History"

- How was the connection made between Axis and Self Defense Family that led to the split 7" last year on Deathwish?

Our drummer Tommy is a big fan and threw the idea at them on a whim. They were into the idea and it all fell together. I really love that split because it's basically two bands from opposite ends of the spectrum, not giving a shit and just doing something cool together. It reminds me of the Get Up Kids/Coalesce split.

- It seems like the split garnered attention from a spectrum of fans who wouldn't normally have listened to you. Have you been approached by anyone who first heard you through Self Defense Family?

There's some run over between the fanbases of both bands for sure. But I've definitely had people tell me they've discovered us through the split and probably wouldn't have otherwise. It's cool to have people checking you out beyond their scope of familiarity.

- Do you think you will continue to pursue connections with bands outside your genre?

I think it's likely in some capacity. All of us are into so many different things and as we get older we care less about being par for the course.

- I read in the notes for The Least Violent Time in Human History that "both Mikes quit and Jesse came back." Has Axis had to go through significant lineup changes to keep going as a band?

As of the past couple of years, I'm the only original guy from the first incarnation of the band. It's difficult to find people that all get along, have real musical chemistry and are down to hit the road as much as we do. Our main songwriting core (Tommy, Dylan and I) have been together since 2012, so considering that we've just kept adapting and I think we're a pretty solid unit at this point.

- For myself and others that play in hardcore bands, what advice can you give for being successful as a band? And on that note, how do you feel that Axis defines "success"?

Learn from your peers, write good riffs, find an aesthetic, find band members who are truly compatible together, don't be afraid to be a little different, tour a lot and put all of yourself into every aspect of what you create. Some of those things took me a long time to discover.

Personally, is if it makes you happy and there's others who honestly enjoy what you do, you're there. I get to keep pushing myself creatively and travel the world with my best friends. So in that respect, I feel really successful.

Photo Credit: Davey Burns

- I've wanted to ask this for a year now; I have a copy of Rites of Passage that has a different cover than the normal one, and I can't find it anywhere online. Even the label on the record doesn't look like the normal labels. Is it a tour press, or...?

If it's the Botch rip with the gun or the water panel cover, it's a tour press from between 2013-2014. We ended up with a stack of those 7"s without covers so we had a few different ones done.

- So you just announced that this August, you're touring with Old Wounds. I saw them for the first time a few months ago and it was like walking into a hardcore show in 1998. How does it feel to be able to tour with another current band who has chosen to forego the current hardcore trends in favor of the spirit and zeal of what many consider a bygone era?

It's pretty cool, they're all really awesome (and handsome) guys who take what they do seriously. Old wounds definitely has some 18v and Martyr A.D. feel to them. I think our bands compliment each other really well and if you are into metalcore pre-2003 this tour is right up your alley.

- This blog is based out of Augusta, GA and it looks like 9/4/2015, Axis will be at the New Brookland Tavern in Columbia, SC. Expect to see some Augusta kids there!

Awesome, thanks for the interview. I really enjoyed answering some of these. See you then!

AXIS - "Show Your Greed" Stream

Florida hardcore heroes AXIS drop their debut LP this Friday. Preorder link below. Augusta kids, check out the 9/4 date in Columbia.

PREORDER

loser - saturday mourning cartoons - Side A Stream

The two-piece Augusta hardcore outfit Loser has teamed up with Black Cloud Talk to stream the first half of their newest recording, a narrative of the inner struggles of a misfit high school kid, which will be released on Black Cloud Tapes this Fall.



"i’ll walk back and forth 
until i wear a hole in the ground 
long enough to lie down in 
'…the grasses waving over one’s head…'
no, i want the sun to warm my face every morning 
cycle neverending 
while the earth grows over me and i return to dust 

every sideways glance is 
another inch sunk into my chair 
every look in the mirror is the
hopeless salvation of seeing someone else 

you would think being nobody would be easy"

Pallbearer - Foundations of Burden (2014)

Arkansas doom practitioners Pallbearer set the bar impossibly high with 2012's masterpiece Sorrow and Extinction. The record garnered attention from nearly all corners of the heavy music world and firmly planted the band among the modern doom metal staples. Sorrow... was and is a timeless album that will maintain its value for decades. With expectations soaring high, Pallbearer returned to the table with Foundations of Burden, which is effectively a sequel to Sorrow... in both sound and execution.

Artwork: The overall feel of Foundations... is reminiscent of the early Castlevania games, which is actually what drew me to this record. The image is simple in its meaning but beautifully complex in its execution, and it almost looks like the map screen of Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse. This blend horror, fantasy and surrealism was a sucker punch to my "buy this record" button.

Structure: Foundations... flows through the same vein as its predecessor, featuring a handful of slowly developing dirge-like songs, averaging about ten minutes apiece. The length of these tracks may be intimidating, but each one flows like a slowly winding river, taking the listener gently by the hand on an awe-inspiring journey through a wilderness of emotion and rhythm. "Ashes" is the only track that falls distinctly outside the doom metal genre, featuring a piano and a quiet but emotionally-charged vocal backed by a beautiful string arrangement.

Sound: The most notable feature of Pallbearer is the melodious voice of its frontman Brett Campbell, which sets Pallbearer apart from a sizable majority of doom metal bands. Thick, chunky guitars create dense walls of beautiful chords and slow metal riffs throughout the album, but the sense is never given that Foundations... wants to raise your heart rate or excite you with speed or harshness or flashy performances. Every section of this album is heartfelt and real. Tonally, there are few standout sections offered here; Pallbearer seldom veers from their slow churn, but rhythmically, Pallbearer creates some intimately engaging head-nodding passages that stretch and morph into entire songs, grabbing the listener, again, by the hand gently and letting them coast through this whirlwind of beautifully slow riffage and tribal rhythms. The one and only flaw I feel exists in this record is that some of the guitar harmonies seem thrown together (see beginning of "Watcher In The Dark"), as they don't always... harmonize. It works, in a way, but in another way, it doesn't, and this happens throughout the record, which is why this is a 9/10 record and not a 10/10.

*Note: The video below is absolutely worth your time!


Lyrics: Pallbearer brings a surprisingly mixed bag of observations of the positive and negative aspects of the human condition. Existing in the "doom metal" spectrum sets a band under an assumed umbrella of negativity or hopeless, but on Foundations... Pallbearer creates many parallels that both create interesting imagery and prod the listener to question the meaning behind the verses. The opening passage "Without light, the dark encloses all..." is followed by "Without dark, the light burns out our eyes..." setting the stage for a record about comparisons and things being out of balance. The opening track ends with some beautiful verse: "I'm reaching out / Across frayed tapestry of lives / Eroding worlds / Cut through unraveled cords of time / Within this rift / Where lays our heart of hearts defined / My darkness and your light, still yet remain entwined."

For Fans Of: Mourning Cloak, Thou, The Body

Favorite Lyrics: "Endless and obscured
The watcher in the dark
In the sea of illusion
A voyage to beyond, within"

Favorite Track: Watcher In The Dark

1. Worlds Apart
2. Foundations
3. Watcher In The Dark
4. The Ghost I Used To Be
5. Ashes
6. Vanished

Rating: 9 / 10 

Merch: Holy Mountain Printing
Listen: bandcamp
Follow: facebook // website

New Lows - Abhorrent Endings (2014)

After dropping their 2011 debut full-length Harvest of the Carcass on Deathwish, Boston bruisers New Lows returned last year to sum up nearly everything that defines the last decade of Boston Hardcore. Everything that was good about Harvest... is here, and with significantly less material to dig into, Abhorrent Endings delivers the goods, and more.

Artwork: Abhorrent Endings's cover shows Jacob Bannon reaching out to the edges of his familiar style. The vinyl release of this (the only record that I have a complete collection of) is essentially one-sided, with the songs all on one side and the back side perfectly flat, with the bands NL logo spray paint stenciled in lovely DIY fashion, giving each record a completely unique feel. The front and back cover art are very reminiscent of stencil art, as well, and the design aesthetic of the whole package gives Abhorrent... a hands-on feel - this wasn't just designed on a computer and spat into stores - the effort of which sings of the love and passion put into it.

Structure: This 12" EP plays like an average band's demo, featuring only five tracks. Some are more memorable than others, but this record plus Harvest... made me buy tickets to see them play a one-off show in Boston, 17 hours away.

Sound: New Lows still sounds like New Lows here, but Abhorrent... sounds more like a really good demo than a professionally produced album. Fortunately, this works in New Lows' favor, as these songs gain a degree of ferocity from the grit of their raw production that would be missing if extra polish was applied. It's a rager of a punk record that so shocked me when I first heard the first song, I had purchased the record online before the song was over.

Lyrics: P-Boy, vocalist and lyricist, pens some of the most beautifully pensive lyrics in punk music that I have ever read. Every line is trimmed to the bone - there is absolutely no filler, not a single word that does not serve a purpose, and the momentum of these songs grinds the verses into the listener's memory. These are tracks I have listened to over, and over, and over again, and will listen to in the future.

For Fans Of: Figure Four, Trash Talk, Converge

Favorite Lyrics: "Jagged jaws gnaw
Gnash at the past
Traveling troubled trails
Treasures in trash bags
Grief-gripped eyes blind
Insomnia tinged skies
Serpents search Earth
For life left behind"

Favorite Track: Shelter Shard

1. Abhorrent Endings
2. There's No Roses In The Rubble
3. Osaka Sun
4. Carving Crosses
5. Shelter Shard

Rating: 8 / 10 

Merch: Deathwish
Listen: bandcamp
Follow: facebook

Issue 2

This month, I was fortunate enough to talk with AXIS, and some friends of mine and I are carpooling to see them this Friday in Columbia. Next month will feature another interview with another great band and more album/track reviews, but will also contain a new segment that will continue through December.

I am working on plans to make Black Cloud Talk a quarterly print publication.

Also, Black Cloud Tapes will soon take form, beginning with the release of the new Loser cassette.

As always, submissions are encouraged. Send whatever you want to talk about to blackcloudtalk@gmail.com and I'll try to work it in.

Until October.

-Brian

"Hearts can break. Yes, hearts can break. Sometimes I think it would be better if we died when they did, but we don't."

-SK

Interview with Full Of Hell

Photo Credit: Angela Owens

I spoke with Spencer Hazard, who plays guitar in Full of Hell, about their latest release (Full of Hell & Merzbow), touring, maturing as a band, and their recently completed collaborative album with experimental duo The Body.

- How long have you been a band?

This coming February we will have been a band for 7 years.

- How did you form the relationship with Merzbow that led to your recent collaboration?

It was all due to his drummer Balazs Pandi from Hungary. We met randomly at a Phobia show we played in NYC. His was impressed with our performance so we kept in touch. Years later, he suggested we do a collab with Merzbow because he had shown us to Masami and ran the idea for the collab by him and he was totally into it. We had the Merzbow material almost for a year before we actually began working on it. We only ever exchanged emails until our performance together in Tokyo this past spring.

- Could you describe the live performance that you were able to put on with Merzbow? Did you play any of the Sister Fawn tracks together, or was it more free-form?

The performance was 100% improvised. We discussed briefly backstage a concept for the performance but there was still a language barrier, but we were able to pull it off. We wouldn't been able to pull off Sister Fawn live just because those tracks were basically put together on the spot at the studio. Plus, Masami's contributions were very manipulated from the initial tracks he had sent us. It would have been impossible unless computers were used during the show.

- On your recent tour with the Body, I noticed that your set list had changed significantly from previous tours. How do you decide what songs to play on a given tour?

We do tour a decent amount so we want our sets to be fresh for us and our audience. Some of our older material we have played so much we just have to lay it to rest, or we cannot relate to the material anymore. We are constantly trying to push ourselves musically so some of the older material feels out of place in our sets these days.

- The guys from The Body seem like pretty cool dudes. How much fun was touring with them? Any tour antics to report?

They are some of the coolest guys we have ever shared the road with. No antics to report, but we did eat alot of unhealthy food together almost every single day.

Photo Credit: Angela Owens

- I think I remember the Roots of Earth... records you had on that tour being the fourth pressing. How does it feel to have had so much success commercially? Did you expect for your releases to be as desirable as they are now?

It's very shocking to me personally. I was so stressed releasing that LP since it was our first. I am still surprised today that that record means so much to certain people and that it's still being talked about however many years later.

- How has your relationship with A389 helped to further your art?

Working with Dom has very been a very good experience on the business side and musical side of things.  We loved Pulling Teeth so we very much respect his opinions and he has always been there pushing us.

- Full of Hell is in the very top tier of current bands, lyrically. Your whole catalog features highly literate and evocative writing that reads sometimes like ripped pages from a madman's diary. Where does the inspiration for that come from? Do you read a lot, while on tour, etc?

I personally don't write any of the lyrics, but I know everyone in the band likes to read at home or on tour. From my understanding, most of the lyrics Dylan write come from a personal place, but he puts his own twist on them with inspiration from other artists we enjoy.

- In a scene of bands who don't venture beyond the given boundaries of hardcore, metal, etc. Full of Hell is one of a handful of bands actually pushing the boundaries outward. Did you decide one day that you wanted to be pioneers, or is your sound just the sound that you wanted to create?

I don't think any band ever really sets out to be pioneers and I don't consider us pioneers in the least bit. I feel like bands try to push boundries because they are making music they want to hear or they want to challenge themselves artistically. Since we started as a band I looked up to more aggressive/experimental bands and I wanted to put those influences into a hardcore spectrum. I still feel like we are connected to hardcore but even at this point I think we have pushed ourselves beyond that and are just trying to challenge ourselves as much as possible.

Photo Credit: Angela Owens

- How do you think Full of Hell has matured over the years as a band?

I think from being on the road so much and being in so many different bad and good situations we have learned a lot. We have always tried to carry ourselves as professionally as possible, but everyday with the band is a new learning experience and has made us wise up on how we handle situations much easier.

- It seems like early on, Full of Hell took that crucial step in creating more than the sum of your influences. I play in a hardcore band and had someone tell me at a show after our set that we reminded them of Full of Hell. How does it feel to have reached the point of influencing other bands so early in your career?

I personally think it's cool that we can be a stepping stone band for other kids. I like being able to wear our influences on our sleeves and help other people learn about different genres or bands. I just want people to take those influences from either us or bands they discover from listening to us and put their own spin on it, and not just be a clone.

- Where do you think you are headed sonically in 1, 2, 5 years, etc.?

I'm not sure. It's something I try to think about, but I'm sure it will come naturally. The newer material we have been writing has more of a metal spin to it, but I also don't want to lose focus on where we came from or not have room to experiment. Hopefully with the years we will just keep getting more experimental as well as more sonically devastating.

- Would you like to add anything about your upcoming collaboration with The Body?

With this collab I feel as though you can feel more of an imprint from both bands compared to some of the negativity we heard from the Merzbow record. I think both bands took aspects we liked from each other, combined them, but also had fun with it since it's a one-off recording project. I can say it's very industrial and there are a lot of electronic elements.