HEAVY Music Interviews HEAVY Magazine

Interview by Kris Peters
There isn't much Swedish metal royalty Hammerfall have failed to accomplish in their almost 30-year existence. With multiple international tours, gold certification, a succession of powerful and well-received albums, 100+ million streams and YouTube views and a passionate global fanbase, you would almost wonder if there's anything left to tick off the band's proverbial bucket list. But there is one glaring omission.
Hammerfall have never done a full tour of Australia…
That terrible blot on an otherwise stellar career will be rectified in January of next year when Hammerfall venture to this side of the world for five shows that see them play in every capital city this great country has to offer.
Not only that, but Hammerfall are also on the cusp of releasing their 13th and arguably best album yet, Avenge The Fallen, on August 9. With so much going on for the band, HEAVY cornered guitarist Oscar Dronjak to find out why Hammerfall have neglected Australia until this point and plenty more.
"We're very excited about this," he smiled. "We only did one show there in 27 years of existence, so it's gonna be fucken cool. Every time we do a new album we do press in Australia and everybody is asking when are you coming back? We never had anything to say about it, but finally now we do and it seems like it's… I have heard from friends of mine in bands who have been there and say it's great. Everybody wonders why don't you go there? I have no good answer for that, only the fact that we are going now, so that's enough. We've been all over the world for the most part, except Australia. It should have happened before (laughs)."
We ask Oscar if he will be doing any research before he comes out here on what to expect, or if he is more the type of person who prefers to go in cold and see what happens.
"We've been there once - it was nine years ago now I think - and that was a good experience," he replied. "If that is anything to go by, I think we're going to have a really good time at the shows. Ultimately - and this is my experience from touring all over the world - but ultimately heavy metal fans are more or less the same all over the world. They just wanna go to the show, be entertained, have a good time, listen to some great music, and watch a good show. That's all they wanna do. Hopefully, drink some beers too (laughs). If that is the attitude - which I believe it is - we're gonna have a really good time."
In the full interview, Oscar talks more about the tour and what we can expect from Hammerfall, what planets must align for the band to walk off-stage and be blown away, their upcoming album Avenge The Fallen and what to expect, how the band keeps improving with each album cycle, their recent tour with Helloween and more.


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Interview by Kris Peters
Gold Coast punk, thrash, hard rock outfit Goatzilla are one of those bands that don't really care if they are liked or not, they will still turn up to annoy the living shit out of you in the name of fun.
It's perhaps a bonus then that these guys are not only a whole bunch of fun, but they also sound pretty fucken good too!
After terrorizing the general public with their cracking debut album Muthafukasaurus in 2019 - which featured the irresistible track Drop Bear - Goatzilla have been a touch more measured in their approach, popping up sporadically to play a show so that people don't forget who they are while working diligently behind the scenes to create new music and secure that elusive success in the music industry of getting signed to a good label.
All of that would suggest that 2024 is the year of the Goat(zilla), which just so happens to be true. Today, the upstarts release the audio for their awesome new single Alien Nation, with next Friday seeing the music video follow suit.
The boys are out on the road as we speak showing off the new song, which happens to be the title track for their next album which will be out in August. And to top it all off, the gang recently signed with rapidly rising new Aussie label XMusic.
Things couldn't be going any better with Goatzilla at the moment, so HEAVY thought we would try and challenge that thought when we tracked down frontman Ben Zilla to find out all the juicy details.
"Really, really pumped," he enthused when asked how he was feeling about the single coming out now and the album in the near future. "This has been a long time coming. We started this whole process during COVID, and things just stretched and changed. It's taken a long time to get to this stage, but it's been worth it. We had Pete Jansen, our other guitarist, take on the job of mixing and mastering the whole thing and has done an absolutely phenomenal job. The songwriting we're really happy with, it's sounding great. It's a level up from Muthafukasaurus and the single is a lot of fun. Very, very excited."
In the full interview, Ben talks more about the single Alien Nation and it's frenetic pace, the upcoming music video and what to expect, how the new album is a step up from their debut, the musicality of the whole album and the alien theme and how it relates, their blending of genres to create a punk/metal hybrid that is bold, loud and infectious, their current tour and what to expect, signing to XMusic, future plans and more.


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Interview by Kris Peters
Last year's album Blackout by metal outfit From Ashes To New was a groundbreaker for the band, in terms that it encompassed sonic variations from each of their albums and spewed them forth with a fresh, new dynamic that more or less signalled the full coming of age of the popular band.
While success of that magnitude generally guarantees the release of a Deluxe version of the album with bonus cuts and/or remixes, more often than not such a move reeks of merely another means to get hard-earned cash from the band's fan base but every so often the obligatory follow-up hits the mark - and then some.
Such is the case with Blackout Deluxe, which is set to land on June 7. More than just an afterthought triggered by success, this Deluxe album was actually discussed in the lead-up to the original album, with some songs earmarked for such a release even before Blackout was completed.
Blackout Deluxe will consist of the original album's twelve tracks, plus six bonus tracks featuring artists such as Aaron Pauley from Of Mice & Men, Chrissy Costanza from Against The Current, Yelawolf and more. It is more an expansion of the original release rather than an afterthought, with one surprise bonus track featuring guitarist Matt Brandyberry making his debut vocal performance.
Brandyberry joined HEAVY to go into Blackout Deluxe in more detail.
We start by asking if he gets as excited about releasing a Deluxe album as he did the original album.
"We've done some deluxe's in the past," he measured, "and I'm not sure that I've had the same excitement levels. But I can say for this one, yes, because there is a track that's not released yet, and it's something that our fans are probably not expecting."
We ask about the response to Blackout from fans.
"I think it was above what I was expecting," he replied. "It's been phenomenal. Our ticket sales are at an all-time high, our merch, VIP, album, everything. We're cruising, man, things are going good."
Along those lines, we question Brandyberry on how a band measures the success of an album in the modern age of music.
"I think it's overall streaming," he nodded. "Some of that doesn't matter, I don't think, because you'll see an artist or a band that streams really high, but then they don't have anyone at their shows, and sometimes you can see the exact opposite. I think to know if what you're doing is working is if people are all-encompassing. Are people wearing your new merch? Are they listening to your new music? Are they going to your shows? It's kind of all of it together."
In the full interview, Matt runs us through each of the six bonus tracks individually, talks about the guest artist on each and why, the genesis of these songs in relation to the original Blackout, the song which features his vocals, their current tour and upcoming shows, new album conversations, giving the fans what they want musically and more.

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Interview by Kris Peters
Brisbane metal outfit RVN//NT (pronounced Revenant) have accomplished a great deal since forming just last year. They dropped their debut single Void Of Mind in March, closely followed by Bleed Within, establishing themselves as a band on a mission with plenty to say.
June 7 sees RVN//NT unleash their third and darkest song yet, Distain, a hard-hitting track about the addictions and struggles with mental health and addiction.
With a string of further releases planned and a debut EP on the horizon, vocalist Connor Gutteridge took some time out to chat with HEAVY about RVN//NT’s plans to spread their brand of metal.
"The thing that we've been explaining to people when talking about Distain is its kind of the big, bad brother of Void Of Mind," he began. "It's a little bit more in the metalcore style with some tasty little licks, but then we're also experimenting with some synth stuff as well. It's honestly just a killer track. It's a big track. We've got all of the elements that we've hit forth so far - growl vocals mixed in with clean vocals quite nicely. We've got - in my opinion - one of the better drummers out there at the moment with Jake Brown, he's phenomenal. Then Damien, my brother, plays guitar for us. He's literally come from a bedroom guitarist - this is his first band. I think it was the third or fourth track that he sent through to us initially, and I couldn't believe it (laughs). As soon as we heard it, I was like 'you're joking'. He's levelling up a lot."
In the full interview Connor talks more about Distain from a lyrical standpoint and its subject matter, the darkness of the song and why it was necessary, how it differs to the band's two previous singles Void Of Mind and Bleed Within, if they are stand-alone singles or part of a bigger picture, if those three songs are a good sonic representation of RVN//NT or if there are more layers to their sound, upcoming live shows and more.


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Interview by Kris Peters
New Zealand/Aotearoa metalcore quartet No Life announced themselves with their crushing 2022 debut EP Delinquent. Their fresh spin on established genres such as nu-metal, metalcore and hardcore almost dared you not to listen, with an aggressive and uncompromising sonic delivery of epic proportions.
The band have followed that debut with their latest single, Obnoxious, which sees the band team up with vocalist Frankie Palmeri from Emmure.
A cut-throat and aggressive offering from a band with a chip on their shoulder, Obnoxious is unapologetic at its core, calling out 'deadbeats' that leech off of others and carry little respect for those around them.
HEAVY sat down for a chat with vocalist Connor Dickson to find out more about No Life and their music, starting by asking how people have liked the new single.
"It's been crazy," he smiled. "We didn't really expect too much. We always try to manage our expectations as much as we can, so we weren't really expecting too much. But, man, it's going off. The numbers are racking up, the video is racking up as well and we're super humbled. It's a great feeling."
We ask Connor to tell us more about the musical side of Obnoxious.
"Obviously, we're big fans of Emmure," he offered. "Myself and DJ, the guitarist, we both love the song Gucci Prison by Emmure so we said we need to write a song like that. Then DJ wrote it so quickly and I heard it and said we have to get Frankie on it. I wrote the song just to call out deadbeats, but the more I think about it, it's probably a bit of a slight at my father and my upbringing, because he's a bit of an alcoholic and a bit of a partier. It's kind of taken its own shape, but it was meant to be a not-so-tongue-in-cheek call out of deadbeats, and I think a lot of people can probably relate to that."
In the full interview, Connor talks more about the genesis of Obnoxious, how they got Emmure vocalist Frankie Palmeri involved, what he brought to the song musically, previous single Identity Crisis and if the two songs are part of a bigger picture, how the new material differs to the music on their previous EP Delinquent, their current tour and how it has been going, upcoming shows and more.


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Interview by Kris Peters
Sydney heavy rock outfit Wicked Envy shook the music scene to the core with the release of their debut EP What The Hell Am I Doing in June 2022.
Bringing to you all forces of modern rock and metal, infused with heavy, powered riffs, gritty vocals and bewitching melodic vocal interplay, Wicked Envy were a breath of fresh air amid a cluttered market with a commanding live performance to match.
Following last year's single Paralysis Demon, Wicked Envy continue on their merry way this week with the premiere of Final Descent via HEAVY at 5 pm on June 5 before an official release the following day. The dominating new track commands attention, taking you on a gut-wrenching final journey through a doomed flight with a sonic intensity to match the increasing tension of the lyrics.
Desiree Hancock (vocals/keys) and Jakub Kyral (bass) joined HEAVY earlier today to discuss Final Descent and the immediate future for Wicked Envy. We start by mentioning the song's intro, that starts off almost leisurely before whipping into a frenzy. It's a nice, steady, unnerving passage of music that is used to good effect.
"Originally it was going to be very hard rock, like we've done in the past," Kyral began. "And then we went into the studio and our producer Clay was very much 'We have to make a few changes, what are some of your influences on the song? Where do you want it to go?' Des and I were talking about it, and we wanted a very Spiritbox with Sleep Token, ambient vibe…"
"A modernised sound," Hancock added. "We'd been speaking with our producer Clayton, and we wanted to go in that more modernised direction. We're pretty much classic rock, hard rock based with a little bit of dark vibes. Now we wanted to try and push for that modern feel."
In the full interview, Desiree and Jakub discuss in greater detail their new single, Final Descent. They discussed the band's decision to depart from their traditional hard rock style and embrace a more modernized sound, drawing inspiration from Spiritbox and Sleep Token. They also explored the song's theme, which draws inspiration from aerophobia and the movie Final Destination, and discussed the band's plans for future releases and live shows, emphasizing their high-energy performances, horror-themed theatrics, and the desire to connect with their audience on a deeper level.


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