VOODOO BLOO’S TOP NZ VISITS

It’s what we like to call Australia’s little sister - but they definitely have a bunch of things over us - Jacinda Arden, Hobbitton, the gorgeous landscapes - the list goes on, and here it is! Leading up to his upcoming EP release, here are punk rocker Voodoo Bloo’s top 5 New Zealand faves;

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Wellington CBD - “I couldn’t make this list without talking about the place I grew up. Honestly the coolest city in the world. Everything in the CBD is very compact yet it isn’t overcrowded in the slightest, some of the best pubs you will find anywhere (try and hunt down the secretly placed “R Bar” if you want some pirate-themed rum cocktails and a good time), and street food cheap yet beautiful. What more could you want out of a hometown?”

Rotorua - “Okay, we get it, it smells a little bit eggy when you get there (and when I say a little bit, I mean a lot), but it’s the closest thing we have to an amusement park (sorry Rainbows End, you don’t quite cut it) in our small nation. The Luge and hot springs are especially a highlight, one of the prettiest places to go in summer.”

Mount Maunganui - “Yet another beautiful town in the summer. I actually stayed in a bach up there for 3 weeks recently and like all good New Zealand towns, everything is right at your fingertips. I’m not much for hiking, but the view from the top of the mount is well worth the trek, and unlike my previous pick, no traces of egg can be found anywhere.”

Taco Bell, West Auckland - “If you couldn’t tell, I’ve already ran out of places I wanna talk about in New Zealand, though I would endorse the one and only Taco Bell in New Zealand in a heartbeat (if Taco Bell is reading this, hit me up with that sponsorship deal yeah?). I’ve spent many hungover Sundays from my visits to the busy city in this fast food restaurant, all the perils of uneasiness and post-rager recovery have come to an end as soon as I take a bite out of that beautiful 5 dollar burrito wrap. Am I a simple man for putting this on the list? Probably, but this is my list not yours, so yeah.”

Wellington Airport - “Okay, I’ve not given up on Wellington, and I’m not trying to imply I wanna bail by adding this, but I simply just wanna say that you cannot find a giant gandalf riding a bird in any other airport. Is that not enough for it to be on this list? How about a massive dragon head (Smaug’s to be specific)? No? Alright. Your loss not mine. It’s awesome, 10/10, would fly again.”

Check out the latest release ‘Ha Ha Ok Ok’ below and keep an eye out for the album - ‘Jacobus’ is released Friday, December 4th.

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EP REVIEW: ZACHARY LEO’S ‘FEELS’ IS GIVING US THE FEELS

G’day, kids and kidlets! I know, been a while but here I am, and lawd do I have a stunner for you!

If anyone remembers, I reviewed a sexy little single called ‘Feels’; a beautiful blend of soul, r&b, and some pretty rock vibes all weaved into that mix. 

Well, wouldn’t you know who popped into our email inbox!

Without further ado; I give you….

Feels, an EP by Zachary Leo. 

1: Prelude

Ahh, what a start! This instrumental number is a little bit 70’s, little bit mysterious, and a whole lot of rock. It’s very… music for those good 70’s and 80’s movies- hear me out- Pretty in Pink? It's just so SMOOTH. It’s delicate, slow burning but oh so sensual. This whole intro really sets a high bar for the rest of the EP. It’s so magically weaved together, I can’t even see straight. Where are my glasses???

2: Insane

You know what? I believe there is a vinyl being released on the 20th of November. I am telling you now- I really fucking want one. The transition from Prelude to Insane is LITERALLY INSANE. It’s so smooth and just seamless. What a good start, Mr Leo!

This one is a bit more on the “Rock” side of Zachary’s somehow multifaceted genre. 

I did struggle to understand the lyrics a bit, but I think the focus was the instrumental aspect of this song. It was definitely interesting to hear the somehow unending vocal limit. I understand the angst in this song, this really conveys Leo’s struggle with anxiety and you can feel that? Once you know what the song is, you can hear it. 

All around, it was a really punchy start to the vocal aspect of this EP. Zachary is really mastering the production of his own work, and let me tell you it is hard to stop playing with something until you’re sure that it’s reached it’s peak. This is that peak. The vocals and instrumentals aren’t battling each other for dominance. Everything is working together to create a great sound. Rock is really versatile in that it can basically reach everyone with very little effort. It’s a genre for the people. 

3: In My Head

Hello, gorgeous! This is a really funky little track. I'm wiggling in my seat, it is so easy to move to! I think there is a music video attached to this song, being released early! 

This is way more gentle than ‘Insane’, it’s got remnants of ‘Feels’ so you know it’s a kicker really, it’s got that slow build to the bridge and it just feels like it’s directed at me? I mean, the listener. 

You get your classic Zachary Leo Serenade, with familiar guitar licks and punchy bass. Very good stuff, Zachary. I can dig it. 

4: Interlude

Ah, this feels like the part where you’re supposed to take a breath and relax a little. Every single song on this EP is able to stand on it’s own; and yet they all work together so wonderfully? How does this happen?? 

This interlude is a little bit of lullaby, it’s so soft and delicate, I think this is exactly what the EP needed- just a teeny tiny little breather. 

5: Feels

Now listen; I know I already reviewed this song, however when I heard it again in the order of the EP, I felt like I was hearing it for the first time. I feel like there is a whole other facet to this song that I wasn’t hearing before. It’s a whole new song when tied into this EP. It’s so brooding and I feel like I’m sitting on the couch on hot (Australian) summer night, and Zachary is explaining what he’s feeling towards me, the listener, the partner, the fling-or-something-more, and he's just pouring his heart out, the little muffin. Poor darling. I hear you. When I heard it as a single, I wasn’t sure how it would sound in the EP but now, it fits. Here is the missing puzzle piece. It’s a 6 piece jigsaw but it still needed this song.

6: Out Of Place

Did you think we were leaving the rock behind? You are sorely mistaken, my friend. 

This is such a garage band kind of rock song. It’s super vulnerable but also so wonderful in the sense that we are being pulled in by the delicious guitar and enigmatic drum kicks, and the lyrics just set us down for a great show. This is the garage band your brother and his friend started and you go because his drummer friend is hot but you stay because you love the music. 

This one definitely fits with the title, Zachary definitely puts across that he's feeling out of place in the scenario; I can’t quite pin whether or not he’s been rejected or if it’s coming, but there's a little bit of angst hidden between the rock/grunge guitar riffs, and is that a solo I hear? Yes. Come to mama. 

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Overall, this is a really solid start to Zachary Leo’s Album/EP discography. I believe the songs all worked together to create a beautiful story of love and the mental struggle with comes with that whole thing: rejection, hope, questioning of self worth,; it’s all there if you listen hard enough. 

There is definitely some cohesiveness to each song and the transitions are wonderful, and while I think that while interlude was needed in such a multifaceted EP, it feels slightly out of place in it’ lullaby like form. It was a breath of fresh air from the heavier, rock/funk tracks, but I felt like maybe it could have gone at the end instead of the middle of the track list. A calming, almost moment-of-clarity end to the EP would have rounded it off well. 

In any case, it’s wonderful to see such strong music coming out of Melbourne; it’s looking like the music industry will recover from the hefty times we have all been through as of late. 

Great work, Mr Leo. 

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INTERVIEW: SKYWAY CHAT ‘CUT THE TIES’ AND UPCOMING EP ‘HOPE FLOATS, LOVE SINKS’

Skyway’s Rupert Muir recently got back to us with a quick chat about their most recent release ‘Cut The Ties’

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Listening to ‘Cut the Ties,’ I got the impression that it was about needing to break away from something holding you back, but struggling with that potential loss. What was the inspiration behind the song?
Disconnecting from things in your life that hold you back from your true potential.

I imagine that after a long break, you must all be excited and ready to get back into it. How does it feel to be working together again?
Yeah we’re stingin’ to do some gigs to play some of the classics and new songs. It feels normal, like riding a bike or rolling up a durry. A lot has changed in all of our lives but when we’re all together it’s all familiar.

Looking through social media, it’s safe to say that all of your fans are super keen that you’re releasing new music. Did you anticipate this type of response?
We didn’t really think about it to be honest. It’s very humbling to see some of the responses and that people have been listening to us over all these years. We owe some new tunes to ‘em and a gig or two.

Can you tell us a little more about your upcoming EP, ‘Hope Floats, Love Sinks’? What can fans expect?
5 tracks including intro and a cover. It’s pretty lit, it sounds like Skyway after a long hiatus. Some fast stuff. Some slow stuff. Some fun stuff. Good clean fun.

Can you walk me through the creative process that you went through to produce ‘Hope Floats, Love Sinks’?
Had a couple of Jams together and thought why not? Had a few tracks up the old sleeve so we finally hit the studio and the rest is history

With the current state of the pandemic in Australia, the music industry has definitely been put on the back burner. How has this impacted you, both musically and mentally?
I’ve been a hermit for years so I was mentally prepared for isolation and not much changed for me except for not being able to go to the gym or gamble. We’ve been pretty lucky in QLD and all of our respective industries were mainly unaffected. So we’re in no spot to complain. If anything its made us more hungry for gigs.

At the beginning of isolation, creatives were expected to create more and there was an immense pressure placed on them. Is this something you experienced with the production of ‘Hope Floats, Love Sinks’?

We had the foresight of the pandemic so we took that hiatus all those years ago to prevent any sort of creative pressures placed on us...We were mostly done with recording before C ‘Rone got skitz, luckily.

Who are some of your favourite Aussie acts?
Loser, Speed, Smash, Polaris, Violent Soho, Aversions Crown, Thy Art Is Murder,

INTERVIEW: REINS TALKS WHAT KEEPS HIM HERE

Since first listening to Chris Pearce’s solo project last year I have been waiting for more to be released. What Keeps Me Here is what Reins have blessed us with. I reviewed it recently and that just left me with more questions than answers, so I asked Chris if he was keen to have a chat about the EP

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So this is a little bit different to Saviour!

Yeah it is, big time. I’ve always done stuff like this, but I’ve always loved metal as well. It wasn’t a big change for me. If anything I was probably way less metal by the time I joined Saviour. Joining Saviour made me get back into metal again.

I’ve been following Reins for a while and I have a feeling that it was Nick Deveril that put me onto you.

He’s the most supportive dude.

Yeah we met through our common love for Saviour.

What Keeps Me Here is so good, I couldn’t believe that nobody had done a write up about it.

I didn’t really send it around. I probably should have. I had one review in the works but never followed up on it.

I had it on loop for about 3 or 4 hours when I wrote the review. There are so many messages in the songs

It’s an awesome review. Thanks for that.

The more I listened to it the more I got out of it. Then I realised that it loops from Losing Your Mind back around to Storm Clouds. Just like the pattern of depression can repeat itself. Did you know you had done that?

Nope not at all. I just wrote all the tracks and chucked them together on the EP the best I could kind of thing. Its even interesting hearing people see it as like this release around the one thing. When I was writing the songs they were all so separate. Every track was separate, and I pieced them together. I guess it’s worked out because they all flow well into each other.

I actually thought you were telling a story because when you listen to it from start to finish you start with that depressive state, you hit rock bottom and then you start to come good only to fall into that state again.

Some songs are obviously specifically dark and angry like Storm Clouds. I get weird sleep paralysis and start doing weird stuff in my sleep which my girlfriend has to put up with. So Losing My Mind is about that.

See I took a totally different meaning

I always try and write lyrics that are not super obvious, they are more that you can take it on however you want.

Which is what I did because that’s not how I interpreted it. I took it as when you are in that depressive state it paralyses you.

I write a lot of songs that are specific and others that aren’t. Temporary Fix is about when you have a problem with something, or you are unhappy, and you turn to alcohol or anything to try and numb the pain and forget about it. It doesn’t work, it always comes back in full force. It’s just that temporary fix.

I took Temporary Fix as being in that dark spot and self-medicating. 

It’s all along those lines

When I published the review I was like OMG I hope I got this right!!!

I really found it an interesting read. It was almost more in depth than what I’d kind of processed my own songs. I just write them I don’t really think about them.

Grey and Old to me was someone at that suicidal point of depression looking forward into the future at what they might miss if they were to take their life. I’ve got this whole story from this EP!

That’s cool. Way more in depth than I went. Grey and Old for me is just every lyric is a specific memory that I have, something that has happened. It’s all good memories, yeah it’s more just memories to take when I am old really.

I’m still over here following this story that I have got happening.

I like that though, that’s cool. I like that your getting that vibe from it. I think it’s very upbeat and happy music wise, but a lot of people reckon there is still a darker tinge to it which is surprising. Because I listen to heavier music and emo music I see that song as a super happy boppy song, but other people are like no its still not that boppy.

The first few weeks I played it I was bopping around, and I was singing but not actually listening to what I was singing. It wasn’t till I sat down to review it and I’d already written this big blurb about what a happy boppy EP it was, I had to scrub it and start again haha.

Some of the songs have that emo vibe, like Storm Clouds. It probably makes the rest seem like they are emo, and they are probably not. Brightness is a happy song, that’s about family. But also acknowledging that you should put more effort into seeing your loved ones.

And I took a different take on that one as well

Whatever you wrote was almost that kind of vibe but more in depth. I think it was more feeling bad that you’re not being present for your loved ones.

I think my favourite is What Keeps Me Here but choosing one is hard. And I took that as, going back into that cycle again, and there’s that one person that is holding you here.

I don’t really know what I meant with that song, but it makes sense at the same time. It’s like a sad love song but its not at the same time. It’s for the people that put up with you through the bad times. They’re what keep you around when you could obviously be anywhere else. They are the reasons that you are where you are.

I think I wrote that it’s not the physical space of home it’s the people that you surround yourself with.

For sure.

Do you have more songs piled up?

I’ve got so many honestly. It’s hard to get through them there is such a big pile of songs to finish. I’ve got another EP, hopefully I finish it this year and release it early next year. It’s a follow up to ‘What Keeps Me Here’, like a part two.

Do you do a lot of the writing for Saviour?
No not a lot. I think I did three songs on A Lunar Rose.  We all throw in our little 2 cents worth, but Bryant does most of it. He’ll send stuff over and get me to have a listen. I’m not as good a metal guitarist these days.

You do alright playing stripped back guitar. Like I said WKMH is an EP that you can throw on Sunday mornings and get that chill vibe.

Yeah it’s definitely that kind of vibe. Mellow, chilling kind of vibe. The next one is going to have a bit more of a full sound I think. I’m going to write it as if it’s a band rather than a solo act. I’ve got a band that can play my songs, I’ve got some mates that can jump on board.

You’ve got some older stuff up on Spotify as well that I love.

Yeah the older stuff still sounds like a full band. I’m going to stick with a similar sound to what I’ve done previously but I just want to make it more fine and crisp I think.

This one is definitely different to your older stuff.

Some of the songs on this EP I wrote back when I did that older stuff. It was just finally getting around to them.

Do you do the recording yourself?

Yeah I do all the recording here and then send it off to a guy who does all the mixing and mastering for me. He recorded the drums on the EP as well for my drummer who is really good.

Did you have a band at the EP launch?

Yeah they all played at the launch. They are pretty much band members, but they don’t have to deal with all the other stuff. It was a good night, even though there are restrictions it sold out.

That’s great that it sold out. So they just turn up and play?

Yeah pretty much.

I guess that means that you can probably tour eventually???

Hopefully. Obviously touring is a bit out the window at the moment. Lots of people are touring WA at the moment though. I actually didn’t even record any music during lockdown. I’ve just been gardening, cleaning out the shed. Stuff I normally neglect!

It’s been a productive time. For the normal everyday stuff that you neglect, but also for bands to regroup and write new stuff.

Yeah. The number of albums that are dropping now, that are quarantine albums, is actually crazy.

Anything else you want to tell us about the EP

Not that I can think of. You went pretty far into it (laughs) better than I did. I think I just write these songs and chick them out and don’t think too deeply as to what they are about.  Storm Clouds is such an emo song, I wrote that in one session. Wrote and recorded it before I even had a chance to think about what it was about! That happens frequently. I wasn’t even going to put it on the EP but once I wrote it I really liked it and I released it straight away. I got it out there as quickly as I could. That song did way better for me than anything else I have done so far. I was really surprised at how quickly it came together.

Sometimes they are the best ones!

For sure. Other songs like Grey and Old, I wrote the first half of it 4 years ago. I’d kind of forgotten about the track. My partner kept telling me it was a really good song and I needed to finish it. I was like yeah one day! Eventually I decided that I should try and finish it so the last half of the song I wrote 6 months ago. It’s kind of like a different track the bridge onwards but it works. I’m really happy with that song.

When you posted about which one was our favourite I couldn’t even really pick one because they are all good in their own way.

There doesn’t seem to be a clear favourite that I have seen. I thought Temporary Fix would be the least liked, but a few people have said that was their favourite. Heaps of people are liking the title track too. All my favourite songs I haven’t even released yet, that’s the funny thing.

That’s good then! Are they coming on the next EP?

Yeah. I have to get a move on I guess and get it finished. It always takes longer than you expect though.  

Hopefully it doesn’t take too long! What Keeps Me Here is one of my favourite EP releases this year and one you should definitely throw on Sunday morning while you’re having your morning coffee.

READ THE ‘WHAT KEEPS ME HERE’ REVIEW HERE

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INTERVIEW: SUZE CHATS ‘ABSENCE’ WITH INFINITE ILLUSION

Infinite Illusion have just dropped a new single ‘Absence’ and the boys have definitely taken it up a notch. Liam McDonald filled me in on what has been happening with the band.

How heavy is this new song!!

It’s funny because it’s our heaviest but also our lightest at the same time and I don’t really know how that ended up working. Dynamically it is so different to anything else we have ever done. We like it.

Me too. When I first heard it I was like Wow that went next level!

A lot of it has to do with the fact that our first lot of stuff was written by Sam when he was 15. We are all mid-twenties now, so Sam wrote that nearly a decade ago. We’d all been doing our own thing and when it came around to release it was a joke. We were all just hanging around and were like ‘hey do we want to release some music?’ and it just spiralled from there. And then we just kept going. This is the first real song that we wrote as a band now.

It wasn’t what I was expecting

I don’t think even we were expecting it. We got a new member at the back end of last year and we completely changed everything. We didn’t really have any intention of releasing any other music to be honest, we were a bit stale and then we got a kick to keep going. This is the first song that came out of it. We’ve got a few more coming after this. We are actually going into the studio the day before Absence comes out to start recording another couple of songs. I think after that we are planning to do an album, I’m not 100% sure. We’ll see how we go.

What’s the story behind the song?

The story behind the song is pretty interesting actually. Dan hit me with a concept, I write the lyrics for all of our stuff, but the concepts are somewhere I have always struggled I guess. Well not struggled but I tend to box myself in to certain topics and that kind of thing. It was really good Dan hit me with a concept of PTSD and reclaiming a loss of identity. Which is actually something I resonated quite well with but didn’t put a lot of thought into. It’s a personification of that kind of feeling, of being trapped and trying to come back and overcome depression, anxiety, PTSD, whatever it might be. It’s a very metaphoric story behind reclaiming who you are before mental health kicks in, as opposed to who you are after. And that’s were if you listen lyrically as it goes along it’s very much a song that literally tells a story. It starts off you’re being held back, you’re falling apart. This thing is attacking you. As it gets further along, the chorus tells the main story. As it gets closer to the breakdown, the breakdown hits in the song “I’ll break your fucking jaw myself” is literally a line about turning around and throwing back. Just fighting and getting out. I remember when I sent the boys that lyric, I loved it and I remember writing it and going that’s really cool. I honestly didn’t think I would get away with it, I thought the boys were going to come back and be like you can’t do that its ridiculous. Instead they were like no that’s staying. A lot of the song built on that lyric, that pre breakdown lyric stayed and I edited everything else on the side to really create that story of a reclamation identity. Fighting back against something that I think a lot of people in our scene deal with.

Dan wrote this song at a time when he discovered he has PTSD. Through 2019 he definitely had this big breakdown. He was in a couple of other bands as well and he overwhelmed himself and it broke him. We bought him in as a fill in drummer. I’m good friends with him so I asked if he wanted to fill in for a couple of shows. It was like an instant click, between me and him especially with these concepts and lyrically. And really translating that into music as well. I thought everything kind of clicked and he’s got these incredible experiences, he’s older than the rest of us, that we can write about and really tell some cool stories. This is the first one where we are really focused on the story telling of the song. Even though the music is important I think for us playing this live, when we get that chance, will definitely be a little bit more emotional than anything else we have done. I honestly think it comes across in the track as well.

Like I said when I listened to it I was like what the hell happened between Ill Intent and here?

We took a break to reinvent ourselves in all honesty. We took that break intentionally and everything fell into place.  We have been sitting on this song since January, obviously with a few things kicking in it pushed it back a bit further than we would have liked. But it gave us time to really think about who we were as a band. I think above anything that is a positive. We weren’t being forced to play shows, we had time to pull back and just think “What are we doing here? Who are we? Are we just another metalcore band? Do we want to attach ourselves to politics or mental health? What do we want to do?” We all have different political views so that was a big no, but the one thing we all absolutely resonated with was mental health. Having someone who has had such heavy experiences, my best friend died when I was 16 and Sam has lost a couple of friends, To The Grave losing Josh. We saw all that and we were like this is where we need to be. I think this is the one where we can actually help give people, not so much a space, but give them a soundtrack to that space. And just really focus on doing that. I think that is why lyrically we are pushing this content so much. Lyrically, above anything else, its quite a powerful song and we are really proud of it. I’m proud of the lyrics that I came up with, they came so naturally as well which makes it better.

It wasn’t forced, it came from an experience. It’s not something that you guys have just thought ‘Oh I’m going to write about this cos I can’

Pretty much that’s exactly it. Experience tells those stories better that anything. I think as well when we were writing it we had a big discussion: do we censor it or do we just make it violent. I’m not a big fan of censoring things, I don’t think it’s ever a bad thing to feel uncomfortable. I feel being uncomfortable is a huge part of growth. Obviously people are scared to feel like that, scared to face those truths. We made the song vivid for that reason, if it does make people feel a little uncomfortable that’s okay. It could be good; it might not be good and that’s a risk we had to take.

There is no point writing a song like that and not being real about it.

Definitely. We did get a lot of push back from quite a few people being ‘Guys this is a little bit graphic, you could really trigger some people with these lyrics’ We pulled them back a little bit, but it ended up being like what we had written to start with. The guy that we produced with was just like nah don’t pull back, just do it. You’re not going to make an impact if you are being safe. We were just yep that works let’s just do it.

I would totally back him with that one. If you want something to have an impact on people, don’t water it down. It’s not going to have the same effect.

Exactly. This song is all about that impact for us I think. Our last record wasn’t bad, I’m not a huge fan of it, I would never listen to it. That was the big one for me. This album we really wanted to make that impact. We want people even above anything else to just know out name. Even if they don’t listen to the song, that ok. I just want people to get used to seeing our name around because we have every intention of keeping it there.

You only have the one single ready to go?

In terms of all our demos, we have about 7 or 8 that are being recorded over the next 3 months. The plan is 3 stand alone singles, reinventing our sound and image off the back of those. Then we will do another record. Whether that is an EP, or an album remains to be seen. That depends on a lot of factors.  We are just playing it by ear, one single at a time. None of the singles that we release will be on that record. The record will be totally stand alone as the new version of us. Ill Intent gave us a start but it’s definitely time that we left that behind and really focused on the new version and sound that we have. Except for maybe Afterthought, that’s the only one that will stay around for a little while. We really like that song, and we think it’s a lot more modern than the rest.

I liked the EP!!!

I don’t think it was bad, it just wasn’t anything special. Musically it was good, technical, heavy breakdowns, big riffs. It was cool but there was nothing new about it. It was good if you liked it, but it didn’t hold people. I think it didn’t give people a reason to stay.

This one will if the first single is anything to go by.

I’m a lot more confident with this one. I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve been listening to it by myself for the last 6-8 months! I took a break of listening to it then I came back to it. I was like yes this is good. Its really hard a musician to sit there and praise yourself, questioning could you have down stuff better. But coming back to it, I actually took this lesson off Mikey from Gloom, come back to it and if you still like it, its good.

I’m a classical piano player. I have been my whole life. So for me to join a metalcore band is kind of unheard of. I remember one of my old conductors from an orchestra I played in a couple of years ago was like ‘What the fuck are you doing? How do you make that noise, it’s disgusting’. I was like yep it is but its fucking sick!!

It’s a cool genre to be in. I think as a small band above anything else, its really really cool to be in metalcore. I’ve been in other bands over the years, nothing heavy. Blues and rock and one cover band that I don’t talk about! I’ve played big blues festivals and stuff.  But there’s nothing quite like the support I have experienced in metal. There is nothing quite like the community, it’s so amazing to see a community that is so supportive of each other.

So there will be no touring with this!

There’s nothing in the pipeline. Collide, we have had to push back twice now. Unify is looking like it’s not going ahead as well. It’s shit but at the same time at least we aren’t dead. You have to take the positives. I think it has given a lot of us time to grow as well. Time to reflect. I was working stupid hours, and I know the other guys in the band were the same. We had no time for ourselves. We can either use this time to loathe in the fact that everything has been taken away, or we can use this time to become better. Really reflect on past practises, how we do things and who we are. Make time for other things in our lives. Take the positives out of being forced to do nothing.

I started Recurrent Verse at the end of April and it’s just gone crazy. I’ve already posted 60 articles and I’m getting more everyday

That’s mental. That’s so good. It’s good to see some new publications around.

I only do Australian bands because there is so much happening here. Aussie metalcore is my passion.

That’s the cool stuff. I don’t know what it is about Australian metalcore but far out there is something in the water here. Jesus some of the bands that are coming out like Elision and Inertia. Deadlights, I’ve always been a huge fan of those guys.

I am so keen for new Deadlights. Mesma is in my top 10 all time albums.

It’s such a good record. Elision’s new stuff has been incredible. The technicality in those boys is amazing. They are a very talented bunch of dudes. I have so much respect for them. Inertia as well, they are one of those bands that I think has the ability to blow up. Outloved have just announced a record. I was like omg this is like listening to BMTH but not listening to BMTH!! It had that impact on me. It was like listening to one of my favourite bands. It was so good to hear. There is just so much good stuff out at the moment.

There’s so many new cool bands coming through too like Ghost Complex, Canyon, Tides Collide, Dweller, Wake the Blind so many good bands

And Lune. I forgot about them. Then you look at the big boys and what they are releasing. Alpha Wolf’s record I thought was really good. There’s more coming from other bands. That 2 year cycle has now reduced to 1 year. To see so many bands releasing stuff is so good. I honestly don’t think I have heard a bad release this year.

I haven’t either. Someone said to me that everything I write is always so positive, do you just not review bad bands! I said to them honest to god there had not been a bad release this year.

I think album of the year has to be Make Them Suffer or Currents. They are my two.

I would say at the moment mine would be Alpha Wolf, Make Them Suffer, Saviour and We Set Signals.

Saviour’s was sick too. It means everyone has to step up or you are going to get left behind.

Diamond Construct is another one! Who would think adding a DJ would work… I’m loving all this experimentation in the scene.

It’s super important to do that metalcore has always been such a non-accessible kind of genre. It’s always been you like it or you don’t. That is definitely changing now, metalcore as a genre is changing with bands like BMTH leading the way. Whether you like AMO or not, it has set a standard for what you can do in metalcore. I personally thought it was their best record.

I personally think that 'Absence' is Infinite Illusions best release so far! After talking to Liam I think we are about to see big things come from the boys. Bring on 2021 when hopefully gigs return, and we can see 'Absence' played in a live setting..

‘ABSENCE’ - OUT NOW

CHECK OUT SUZE’S REVIEW OF ABSENCE HERE

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