HEAVY Music Interviews HEAVY Magazine

Interview by Kris Peters
Kaosphere burst onto the Gold Coast metal scene in 2015, bringing with them a wave of brutality seldom heard on the Glitter Strip.
After slugging it out at local venues despite not playing a brand of music acceptable to the general population, Kaosphere steadily began building a fiercely loyal and ever-growing fan base that consumed the band's first musical offering in the form of Forsaking Shadows in 2017. As the Brisbane/Gold Coast heavy metal scene and community grew, so did Kaosphere, relishing the opportunities to spread their sonic tirade further at every opportunity. They quickly became the unofficial metal representatives of South East Queensland, and capitalised on that momentum with increasingly hostile live performances that represented their particular brand of heavy music.
Last year saw Kaosphere break into more of a mainstream market with a support slot to touring LA glam metal band The Midnight Devils as well as a featured slot at Wallapalooza 2023 which also presented COG, Butterfingers and 28 Days.
But it is here and now where Kaosphere are preparing to make their ultimate stand with the release on May 3 of their debut album In Scars We Trust. With three crushing singles already unleashed on the public, In Scars We Trust is shaping to be a pivotal release in the career of Kaosphere, with the whole band joining HEAVY on the eve of its release to run through it more, starting with how it feels to have the album finally coming out.
"Relieved," vocalist Ricci Dyer began. "Looking forward to it. It's been a lot of hard work gone into it, and now it's time to chill back and get to see the fruits of our labour."
"It's been over two years in the making," added drummer Sam Phillips. "A lot of build-up and a lot of work."
So far Kaosphere has released the singles Chainbreaker, May I and War Cry, so are those three tracks a good sonic representation of what to expect?
"Sort of," Dyer measured. "These's still a lot of groovy tracks on the album, and they all have their differences. Obviously, our flavour is still there engrained in it, but there is a lot of difference in some of those songs."
"I think that's mainly because we actually wrote the whole album itself as a whole pile of singles," bass player Leon Friis chimed in. "So we basically went into the studio and would write and record one song over one month or two months and then finish that and go to a new one, and we just worked our way through it like that. We occasionally went back and rerecorded a couple of the songs and spruced them up a bit more."
In the full interview, the band members further discussed the album release and plans for showcasing gigs in Brisbane and Gold Coast. The team discussed the musical evolution showcased in their new album, In Scars We Trust, highlighting the diverse influences and dynamic nature of the songs. They also discussed the introduction of clean vocals and the positive reception of the new material during live performances.
They also spoke around the release of the new single Bring Out The Dead and its music video, with the boys providing insights into the song's inspiration and the creative process behind the video. The team discussed their plans to release more singles as visualizers and create additional music videos for certain tracks from the album. The band delved into the symbolism behind the album cover art, which represents resilience and strength, and mentioned the special pressings with artwork for merchandise. The conversation revolved around Kaosphere's upcoming shows, with a focus on the diverse range of performances lined up, including a free entry show at Tribe Clubhouse, two shows with Melbourne death metal outfit Miruthan, a memorial show, and a festival at the Brightside.

Interview by Kris Peters
Eskimo Joe are in the rare and elite class of Australian bands who could probably never make another album again, but still draw people to their shows based solely on the quality of material they have released thus far.
Two songs in particular - Love Is A Drug and Black Fingernails, Red Wine - have etched Eskimo Joe into Australian music folklore, but their 27-year journey has seen many more highlights and relatable songs.
The band built their reputation playing festivals such as Big Day Out and Splendour In The Grass, but of late have been playing nostalgia-type festivals featuring classic bands from the past few decades that are still going strong.
The most recent of which was Lookout Festival which featured Incubus, Live, Eskimo Joe, The Superjesus and Birds Of Tokyo. It was a series of concerts that drew consistently high numbers and reaffirmed Eskimo Joe's standing amongst the country's elite live bands, despite having not released a full album since Wastelands in 2013.
With the release of their first single since 99 Ways in 2021 - a nostalgic number called The First Time - Eskimo Joe are embarking on a new chapter of their careers and learning to embrace the very fabric of music that excited them nearly three decades ago.
HEAVY caught up with bass guitar/keyboards/vocals Kav Temperley to find out more.
"This is certainly the first song we've put out post-COVID where we've actually played some shows in front of people and then recorded a song, which is a very different feeling," he said. "I think we've hit a real purple patch. Since we saw you at Sandstone Point, all of the shows that we have been playing have been these big, almost nostalgia fests. We've noticed that the gigs are filled with people who are in their early 20s to their 60s and 70s. They are people who would have been 5 or 6 when Black Fingernails, Red Wine first came out, and people who would have discovered us when we first put out Sweater. We've kind of hit this really interesting place where we're not cool or uncool anymore, we just occupy this Eskimo Joe shaped hole in the music industry, which is great. Putting out a new song has been wicked. Definitely the best pickup we've had at radio since 2010 I guess, but everyone is receiving it really well."
In the full interview, Kav talks more about The First Time and its sonic direction, the film clip that traces the history of the band over the last 20-odd years, if it is a stand-alone track or part of something bigger, the shows with Live and Incubus, some things they have learnt about themselves and their bandmates over 20 plus years of touring, the just started National Acoustic Theatre Tour and what to expect, playing the more intimate shows and the higher level of fan interaction, future plans and more.

Interview by Kris Peters
Having served the local music scene since the early 1990's Melbourne metal outfit Suiciety have truly been there and done that - twice - in the Australian music landscape.
While never cracking the lucrative markets of acceptance, the band has always maintained a strong and loyal fanbase on the strength of early releases Deeper Vision through to their latest EP Reincarnated, which is out now.
Despite band members being spread across the planet in the modern age, Suiciety still have that hunger and fire that only heavy punk rock-infused music can deliver, with lead vocalist Adam John Cooper sitting down earlier this week to chat about the new EP and history of the band.
The chat covered a range of topics, including the potential promotional benefits of bringing a band to Melbourne and the significance of interviews in the music industry. The conversation also touched on the impact of personal connections and the role they play in the success of bands.
Adam provided insights into the creative process and inspirations behind the tracks on the Reincarnated EP, highlighting the thematic elements of their music and running through the four songs track-by-track. He also shared information about RATFest, discussing the hand-picked line-up.

Interview by Kris Peters
Discovered by Fred Durst from Limp Bizkit early on in their career, US rock outfit COLD found themselves ahead of the game almost before they even started.
Following their self-titled debut album in 1998, COLD went on to release two now-classic albums in 13 Ways To Bleed and Year Of The Spider, striking gold with the singles Stupid Girl, Suffocate, No-One and Just Got Wicked and setting themselves on a path to rock immortality that has grown stronger by the year.
COLD will make their first-ever tour of Australia in October with fellow rock royalty ORGY, celebrating 20 years of Year Of The Spider and bringing their greatest hits Down Under for a long overdue run of three select shows.
Frontman Scooter Ward joined HEAVY to talk about the tour and longevity in the rock scene. We start by asking why the band have neglected us for nearly forty years.
"Honestly, it's been kind of hard to get over there," he smiled. "We were switched around on different labels, and we had always wanted to come, however, the powers that be want you to play in designated areas. So we had always wanted to be there, it just never turned around. Now we're more free to do what we want to do and we had the opportunity, so we took it."
As mentioned, COLD will be celebrating 20 years of Year Of The Spider, so does that mean the band will be playing the album in its entirety?
"I know we were going to talk to the ORGY guys about it," Ward nodded. "The thing about it is we've never played there before, and we have all this catalogue and music that people love from other records as well. So the hope would be to do Year of the Spider in its entirety and then do some extra songs as well for people. So that's the goal. We'll see how that works out."
Playing albums in full generally poses a whole new set of difficulties, mainly because when an album is first recorded, there is generally little thought given to ever playing it front to back. We ask Ward if COLD would come across any such obstacles should they decide to replicate Year Of The Spider.
"Not really," he said. "Throughout the years of touring, we've replicated those songs many times on different tours and different settings. Initially, when the record was put out, we did a Year of The Spider Tour, and we played all the songs so yeah, we're familiar. The band's familiar with all the songs and you know, we have just done a Year of The Spider Tour here in the States (where) we did 58 shows. So yeah, we're very in tune with that record right now."
There wouldn't be many places left in the world COLD haven't played in, but being their first trip to Australia will they be doing any research on what to expect or do they plan to discover as they go along?
"We have some friends from Saliva that have played over there," he offered, "and they said there's little things that are different without tour buses and flying from show to show and things like that. It's just basically the production parts of it all that we are unfamiliar with, but we're kind of excited about that. It's kind of nice, you know, cramming everything in. I mean, we're doing three shows, and basically it's a five day trip. So it's a long weekend. We do three shows, fly from place to place and bust it out."
The flip side to that is Australian fans won't know what to expect either.
"A COLD Show is like an emotional journey for people," he countered. "We take them to a place. When I wrote those songs, I was going through a hard time and they're all very honest songs. So I transport myself back into that place, and it translates to people that are watching the show, and it brings them… I try to bring them back to those moments when they needed that song to help them go through whatever they went through. Sometimes it becomes an over-emotional thing and the whole crowd sings all the songs with us and there's a lot of tears and a lot of joy. It's an experience...

Interview by Kris Peters
Cradle Of Filth are a band best experienced live.
Their moody, atmospheric music - while still imposing and engaging on record - is elevated to another dimension when played out on stage and after an absence of far too long Australian fans will once again get the opportunity to marvel at the wonders of Dani Filth and his band of miscreants.
After unleashing their first live album in aeons last year titled Trouble & Their Double Lives - some of which was recorded in Australia - Cradle Of Filth have been making up for lost time by touring on a global scale, with their sights now set firmly Down Under where Filth has promised the band will more than pay their debts of absence.
They will be joined by Moldovan heavy outfit Infected Rain - led by the enigmatic and talented Lena Scissorhands - who will be making their debut trip to this country in a double-headed musical snake that promises to bite more than a pit full of adders.
Cradle Of Filth mastermind and frontman Dani Filth joined HEAVY to discuss the tour and other things happening within the band.
"Yeah, pre-pandemic, wasn't it?" Filth questioned when we mentioned it's been a while between visits. "That would be the main crux of the reason, then (laughs)."
We ask what has changed with the band between their last Australian run of shows to now.
"We've got a different line-up," he offered. "We've toured everywhere. We toured America during the pandemic, actually, right on the tail end. Aside from that, we have progressed with writing the new album. We've already done a track with Ed Sheeran as well, although that will probably be coming out on the special edition of the new album. I can't really talk much more about that with legalities and what have you. Our new album should be out… we should be dropping a new single actually, around the time of the Australian tour - maybe a little bit later - with the outlook for the album being dropping in March next year. That's almost finished, and we have just been super busy with the band. Lots of gigs. The album we started last July and the record company was like, why are you taking so long? And we were like, because we're on tour (laughs)."
In the full interview, Dani talks more about their upcoming tour in Australia, their new album, and the challenges of balancing recording with touring. He revealed that the recording is expected to be finished by the beginning of June, with a focus on mixing and shooting videos in the Czech Republic.
Dani also emphasized the distinctiveness of their new music and their willingness to push boundaries, while also expressing excitement for the upcoming shows and the support band, Infected Rain. The discussion also touched on the band's international composition and their collaboration with Ed Sheeran.

Interview by Kris Peters
It's been six long years since TesseracT last toured Australia, but ask diehard fans of the band, and it would seem like much longer. But the good news for those fans and the music loving public in general, is the UK progressive rock outfit are locked and loaded and ready to return, with the tour kicking off in Brisbane on May 2.
The technical metal maestros are pulling a double knockout blow, touring on the back of the band's fifth studio album, War Of Being, which was released in September last year.
Guitarist James Monteith sat down for an enlightening chat with HEAVY to bring us up to date.
"A long time had passed," he agreed. "We have been able to work on and release our album that everyone is more happy with than any record we have had before. We've also tried to up our live game and not only focus on playing our instruments but making it a bit more of a show and more of a performance. We've added some theatrical elements and have basically - for the last six years - been trying to up our game to be an exciting rock band rather than a just a bunch of guys nerding out."
In the full interview, James discussed the band's preparations for their World of Being tour, including their focus on improving their live performance and creating a seamless set list. He also shared details about their new album, War of Being, highlighting the band's approach to incorporating new elements while maintaining a nod to older progressive styles. The album's concept, a sci-fi story about internal conflict, was explained, as well as the strategic decision to release the title track as the lead single. The use of AI for creating the cover art was also discussed, with James justifying it as a tool to convey the artist's vision.