24 Nov 2024 - Thorsten

Monastic Doom. At first many of us might think of another senseless promo-neologism, but when listening to “Untouched by Fire”, the sophomore record by Northumbrian project Arð, one will understand why the term was created to explain some of the vocal harmonies and the great soundscapes on it. Mark Deeks, the mastermind behind Arð, who is also a member of UK Black Metallers Winterfylleth, explains how he wrote the songs and why not a lot of it has to do with classical Doom riffs first of, why his love for playing the piano and conducting choirs paired with his interest in the musical representation of regions and their folklore basically had to result in Arð; a project which he basically describes as that’s what he is. That he goes further back in time with “Untouched by Fire”, into times before the Viking attack on Lindisfarne, should not come as a surprise to anyone who might have heard his first record “Take up my Bones”. That Mark is probably the second person on a VoS-interview with a PhD is also a point we talk about as well as his love for Grunge, particularly Alice in Chains, or his love for classic Peaceville bands or that he will collaborate with Aaron Stainthorpe next year! So you see, loads of stuff to get to know for you - thus: enjoy!

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17 Nov 2024 - Thorsten

Doing an interview on a Saturday morning can be really crazy, because people might not be really awake and yes, this shows in this interview as well. Some people had to look after their pets, others need to get a coffee and the last group might have to leave for a moment to give the touring bandmates some stuff they forgot. All of this happened in our interview with Luc Hess and Jonathan Nido, the drummer and guitar player of Swiss whatever-core band Coilguns. Whatever-core because they might be categorized as Post-Hardcore (especially on stage), Math-Core (especially on their first records), Noise-Rock (especially in attitude) and you know what, all of these might be true. What is also true is that their upcoming record “Odd Love” is an amazing record which shows a band that wants to say something, that has “matured” and still retains their energetic youth, and if you look at all these “genres”, maybe the best thing is to call them “punk at heart”! “Odd Love” should see them gather more attention because it is not a small step but a giant leap for the band. And with this interview we are very happy to disclaim that their next record is gonna be a Bossanova-record! Enjoy!

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20 Oct 2024 - Thorsten

Okay, so this is a special day for us. Back in September of 2021, our webwizard uploaded and published the first video here on this channel, a video interview with our dear friends in Årabrot and today he does so for the 200th time! So we thought we need to get something special for the occasion (which will be the first of several special occasions over the next couple of weeks) - and who better to have on the show than Eugene S. Robinson (Buñuel and Oxbow) who has been with us numerous times and this time we have a chance to again talk about a new music endeavor - the new Buñuel album Mansuetude which will see the light of day next Friday. The record showcases a band on a fresh start as their first trilogy of full-lengths (A Resting Place for Strangers, The Easy Way Out, Killers Like Us) was wrapped up two years ago. Releasing through our pals in Skin Graft Records and Overdrive Records this record shows some of the Buñuel trademarks like Noise attacks and yet, there are tracks on this record which are nearly dream-like (please think of a Lynch or Cronenberg dream, nothing too soothing). We get into some reminiscences and many of you might find some easter eggs within these 45 minutes - so enjoy!

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14 Oct 2024 - Thorsten

Ten Years After. Wait, no, don’t worry. We are not gonna talk about the old British blues band, no today we are talking with David from Kerretta and the ten years after refers to the time between their last record Pirohia and the new one called Angelm which will be out next Friday, October 18 via dunk!records. Yes, the informed ones will remember that they used to release via Golden Antenna Records, but then you will also know why this change was necessary. We talked about the way the band works nowadays that one part in in New Zealand while David lives and works in London. He also explains a lot about the way they compose songs and what he is looking for in his songs. A wonderful interview with a musician, who surely has a lot to say!

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12 Oct 2024 - Thorsten

Yes, we here at Veil of Sound are all huge fans of Envy, the best Post-Hardcore and Screamo band of all time. Period. And therefore we also gave you Knut’s review of their new record and are very happy that it was received so well. Yesterday, Eunoia was released and of course we wanted to know more about the record, its development as well as the band and its history. Tetsu and Nobu were so nice and answered our question in a wonderful, precise and yet elaborate way.
So, let’s not waste any more time and dive right into the interview with Tetsu and Nobu!

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09 Oct 2024 - Thorsten

Fear Inoculum. The Sciences. Chinese Democracy. Three records which needed a lot of time to follow its predecessors, but none of them needed as long as Make it Fit, the upcoming record by none other than Karate, one of the absolute Indie-Rock institutions of the time around the millennium. The trio took some time off after Geoff had lost his hearing and then only due to a number of strange coincidences came back together and started to write music. Which coincidences? Well listen to our interview and you will know. The new record seems to have two faces, a pretty punchy one and a more elaborate one. How come? Check our talk where you will also get to know a lot more about the guys’ plans for touring, their very different approach to songwriting nowadays that all three live in different cities. Talking with Geoff was a wonderful opportunity as he is very articulate but never bragging or boasting. Enjoy!

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06 Oct 2024 - Thorsten

Usually we try not to outrun ourselves, try to stick to our initial plans. Initially we wanted to release this interview in two weeks (as you will also hear during the chat), but after having listened to Cool World again and again, I wanted to get this out ASAP. When talking to Raygun Busch about his band, Chat Pile, about the ideas behind his lyrics, the guys’ way of songwriting and much more - you get to know a humanist who puts a lot of thought into his work and who at the same time also knows the best way for his band to operate. Many people linken the band to rather negative, near-misanthropist ideas and thoughts - but when thinking about it, one must recognize that it’s pretty much the opposite. Cool World will be out via The Flenser on Friday and we are sure you are already hyped about it - maybe this interview can even raise the excitement for what you are to witness a bit more. Tell us if we succeeded with it?

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29 Sep 2024 - Thorsten

Decades ago George Orwell coined the term “Double think”, which was translated into German as “Doppeldenk”. That itself is the title of the new record by German Noise-Post-Punk band Gewalt, which is the last project of former Surrogat mastermind Patrick Wagner, who went into a long creative break before he started Gewalt like nine years ago. In our interview he comments that in that moment when he picked up the guitar again he noticed what he had been missing. Ever since then, the band has been all systems go and everything goes. The songs on the new record are vastly diverse, you will find tracks that might be modern Mamas and the Papas record or a Roxy Music track, but there are also hard, danceable songs and massive funky hardcore things. No red thread? Maybe, but isn’t that lack also already a red thread in and of itself!? Patrick and Helen give us a lot of insight into the new record, their attitude towards consumerism, their hometown Berlin and so much more. We are really happy to have this talk with you, because there are several moments when thinking out of the box becomes necessary and evident - just like when listening to Doppeldenk, which will be out next Friday, October 4 via Clouds Hill Music. Enjoy our conversation with Helen and Patrick from Gewalt!

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25 Sep 2024 - PBV

Coming off the ten ton fiery hammer of Exhaust that dropped a few weeks ago onto the streets across the world — we bring you a lightning round style interview with the skronkboyz of Pyrrhon. We hope you enjoy.

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22 Sep 2024 - Thorsten

When listening to Xiu Xiu you are either automatically disturbed or automatically enchanted. The former maybe because you feel as if music needs to serve your expectations - it doesn’t. The latter because you know that Jamie and Angela, the Xiu Xiu core, are able to always come up with a, miraculously new, idea, new soundscape, new aesthetic. Not one of hate, albeit, but rather one of trying to find a way to live with yourself in this complicated day and age. On Friday, September 27, they will release their latest record 13” Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto with Bison Horn Grips via Polyvinyl and, as it is amazing as always, we were very happy when Jamie agreed to sit down with us for an interview detailing the path to the record, their lives in Berlin and so much more. Enjoy our interview and don’t forget to check out their record on Friday!

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19 Sep 2024 - Thorsten

Listening to Mack Chami’s project God is War can be regarded as overwhelming, but if you listen carefully, trying to look past the harsh stuff, you will find a special kind of flow, one that the average metalheads do not come across very often. Talking to Mack is a pleasure as he clearly and poignantly articulates his experience as a Christian Lebanese-American, his position in US society, how that hardened him up. His music tries to disturb you, just like when he talks his mind about why he sometimes takes his art to places that purposefully do so. In that sense he becomes the Boogeyman, which is also part of God is War’s new record out on Profound Lore Records. Enjoy our interview with Mack and please listen to his latest power-electronics masterpiece Boogeyman, Inc. with an open mind and attitude!

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14 Sep 2024 - Thorsten

You will be hard-pressed to find a release in 2024 whose sound is heavier than Norna. Dark, bleak, industrial, sludgey, doomy aka heavy as f… Their new, self-titled record was released two weeks ago through Pelagic Records (what a run these guys are having, by the way!!!) and if you thought that the trio could not get any darker than on their already amazing debut then you will find yourself proven wrong. Nevertheless, do not mistake Christophe, Marc and Tomas as a trio that just try to go as heavy as possible, they are trying to layer several elements on top of each other to create a sound that is much more multi-faceted than you would imagine at first listen. Of course we talked about some technical details but Tomas and Christophe also disclosed a lot about their songwriting process, which is of course very difficult for a band with its band members several hundreds of kilometres apart from each other. If you like it dark, repetitive, melodic and YES HEAVY, then you’ll enjoy Norna; and maybe this interview will provide you with the background knowledge to enjoy the record even more!

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08 Sep 2024 - Thorsten

Sometimes there are bands whose magic is hard to describe. They might not be virtuosos like the polyrhythmic Tech-Death masters we might feature or the heaviest of riffsters seen here. But they can weave sound carpets you just simply want to bathe in, because it all sounds so soothing - and Salt Lake City-Post-Rock band I Hear Sirens surely is one of them. Their songs have warmth but also strength, are not pushy nor lulling. All of that can also be said of their latest record Acheron released on August 23 via Post.Recordings and dunk!records and the record is so enchanting that we just needed to talk to them. Here you can hear our talk about the new record, an ominous movie, the journey of the band and much much more! Enjoy!

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01 Sep 2024 - Thorsten

YES WE ARE BACK! Our summer break is over and from now on you will get one interview every Sunday and maybe some in between as well. Of course we wanted to kickstart our now fourth season of interviews with a bang and we are very sure, we have one for you that fits that bill! God is An Astronaut, one of THE Post-Rock bands that more or less everybody can agree on will release their new record Embers on September 6th via Napalm Records, as is five days from now. Fortunate as we sometimes are, Torsten Kinsella joined us to talk about the new record, the painful death of his father, who was also the band’s biggest fan, some of the finer details and technical elements of the record, football and folk, Irish music movies and much much more. Listen to Embers when it comes out and till then, get yourself a bit more hyped about it by watching our interview!

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22 Aug 2024 - Thorsten

A few months ago we gave you the premiere of a video by Death by Gong, one of these newcomer bands from Germany’s vibrant capital Berlin. We (aka me, the Beavis and Butthead of our little blog here) saw parallels to METZ but with two more videos under their belt, they show a much wider variability. References from Radiohead to Slut, the Beatles and the Mamas and the Papas jump to my mind. Man, that’s show widespread array. So, why not gather those three visuals and talk to the band about their work and what we can expect from them? Exactly, we should, we did, we deliver. Enjoy our special on Death by Gong!

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21 Aug 2024 - Thorsten

Surprise, Surprise! Well, yes, we said there will be no interviews published by us in August, but hey, if we can give you an interview with Shane Embury, who would complain, right? In this interview we focus on Shane’s project Dark Sky Burial which released a great record back in July on his own label Extrinsic Recordings. We talk a lot about the new record Solve et Coagula, his interest in Jungian psychology, the collaboration with Mirai from Sigh, life on tour and of course we also touch on Napalm Death in general. If you want to know more about the guy behind the guitar in one of the most important Grindcore bands ever (maybe THE most important!), then enjoy our conversation with Shane!

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31 Jul 2024 - Thorsten

As we already told you on Sunday, sometimes one has to reschedule - therefore we leave for a month and yes, we want to go out with a bang, and which band and record could be more suitable for that than Thou, their new record Umbilical (out on Sacred Bones Records) and their singer Bryan Funck? Right, probably none! So, let’s dive deep into the new record, its meaning and theme and where to place it within their discography. Our man Hunter has already shared his ideas about the record and we want to supplement that with a detailed talk with Bryan, who is one heck of a laid-back interview partner, very open, clear and dedicated to his band. Even though those might not be the adjectives to describe the sound on Umbilical as the record is rowdy, noisey and yet melodic and positively dark. In our mind, this record is one of these people should be listening to now and for years to come - thus we jumped at the opportunity to do this interview. Hopefully you like it and maybe you give us a subscription, leave a comment and tell your friends about VoS. We will be back in September with the next interview and, my god, it’s gonna be a great one! So if you do not want to miss out - remember to keep twiddling these dials!

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22 Jul 2024 - Thorsten

Joe Clayton is a good man, with an obviously big heart. The man is a progressive thinking man as you can see by his dedication to the idea of bands as collectives. Joe is an aspiring producer, who loves to check every detail of his own records. He is a great guitar player loving to nearly overthink his songs. Why we list these things and traits? Because we are so enamored with From Low Beams of Hope, the new record of his band Pijn. The record is the first one on their newly-formed label Floodlit Recordings, has been in the making for nearly five years, has seen line-up changes and re-recordings, heck it has even seen some delay because of a prison escape! We are very happy to give you this interview with Joe and hope you enjoy it, as it is one of the last ones before our little August interview break - we got two more for you before then, so keep twiddling these dials! Now enjoy From Low Beams of Hope and our interview with Joe Clayton!

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14 Jul 2024 - Thorsten

Personal records can be pretty difficult, if they rely too much on own experience, for all of that can sometimes be difficult to comprehend in full. When one then adds telling the story that’s not your own but of a close relative or friend it may become even worse as there is always the danger of creating something only valuable to a handful of people. Thus, the basis for Clouds of War, the magical story of Yishai Sweartz’s grandfather which Mona Mur has woven into music, is a difficult terrain to say the least; added onto that is the fact that Moshe, Yishai’s grandfather witnessed the death of his family at the hands of the Nazis, had to flee his home, seek shelter in the forest, became a Partisan and then went to what became the country Israel - there are many traps in that line to fall into a too obvious admiration-mode. However, Yishai, Mona and several friends - e.g. En Esch from KMDFDM, Anja Huwe from X-mal Deutschland or Yossi Sassi from Orphaned Land - created a record that is an excellent example of how to tell personal stories without becoming neither too distant nor too cheesy. The music is a miracle brew of Post-Punk, New Wave, 80s Industrial sounds and many other elements associable to that decade. By this description it surely becomes noticeable how many things we had to talk about and we are more than proud to present you with this audio-interview as it weaves so many things we love about music into a cohesive, thrilling ride that everyone who is into this kind of music and also who wants to know more about the Shoa from a very personal point of view - Moshe’s. Enjoy our conversation with Mona Mur and Yishai Sweartz!

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07 Jul 2024 - Thorsten

Melvins. ISIS. Neurosis. Khanate. Southern Lord, HydraHead, Neurot. A miniature excerpt from Seldon Hunt’s work as a visual artist doing posters, covers and so much more. Seldon, an Aussie-native who moved to New York City decades ago, must be considered to be one of the most popular visual artists in our realms of nerds and outsiders since the mid-90s. His importance can only be compared to people like Derek Hess, Frank Kozik or Arik Roper. Seldon never established THE Seldon-Hunt-style, which might be one of the reasons, why he seems a bit less known nowadays, but on the other hand that was also one of the reasons, why he was so sought after as hew as able to cater many different needs and wishes. We were very very fortunate to continue our little irregular journey into the visual side of things which we started way back in the early days with our talk with Aaron Edge and then we had Jacob Bannon and Aaron Turner. Seldon is a really great person to talk to who can share some stories on Khanate (also watch our interviews with Tim and Stephen from Khanate), on his work for many different artists, Aussie Football and even on working with a tobacco company some time ago. Enjoy our talk with Mr Hunt.

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30 Jun 2024 - Thorsten

The Promise of Rain. The Promise of Rain! THE PROMISE OF RAIN!! If you like Progressive Death Metal with a lot of atmosphere, mighty powerful songwriting, vocals to feed your brain and an overarching red threat that can be looked at from several different angles and interpretations - then you must listen to the upcoming record by Scarcity. This is already the second interview with Scarcity we are giving you, the first one was more or less exactly two years ago (see link below) and back then this was already one of the best records of the year. This one might become the best Death Metal this year. When talking to Doug Moore (Pyrrhon, Weeping Sores, Seputus, Glorious Depravity) and Brendon Randall-Myers (Glenn Branca Ensemble), it becomes clear how much time they spent on the record and how intentionally multi-faceted the songs and themes are. We spoke about a walking thesaurus, the deserts of the western USA, the upcoming tour (dates below) and so much more. Enjoy our interview with Scarcity - and do not forget to listen to The Promise of Rain, out on July 12 via The Flenser!

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23 Jun 2024 - Thorsten

Don’t we all know some of these bands and artists which have been doing it for a long while and which have delivered time and again with multiple bands and that still have not seen the success they deserve? Thalia Zedek is one of these (for me at least), and she has been around for 40-some years. Maybe her most popular band was Come, one of these under-valued Indie Rock bands from the late 80s and 90s. However, even after the end of Come, she has been releasing music constantly (as she had also been doing before) and one of the continuous projects has been E. They have a new record out and we were fortunate enough to talk to all three members of the band about the record, which is wonderfully channeling the harsher side of Indie Rock. A few weeks ago, they released their latest full-length called Living Waters and one must admit, that it is still experimental in nature but also has a lot of punch. It is really tight, because Thalia has taken on some bass duties which she does by using two strings of her guitar to provide the accompaniment to Ernie’s drums. That of course also changed their songwriting, but that also became more necessary because the band is now spread across the US and that makes it much harder to come up with new tracks. Harder but not impossible as the new record shows, which might be their most poignant up to now. We were talking to Thalia, Ernie and Jason about the new record, the different soundscapes, Thalia’s new way of playing the guitar, the guys’ songwriting process and much more! Enjoy our interview with E! And by the way - the band is on tour right now, so if you have some time - go to one of their shows which you can find below!

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16 Jun 2024 - Thorsten

There are big bands that not enough people know of and very often these bands, in hindsight, are referred to as bands’ bands because they have a much bigger influence on the scene than their “success” really implies. McLusky or Mother Tongue would be two prime examples from the 90s for that, and a pretty good more recent example would be Insect Ark, which consists of 50% Swans and 50% Khanate, but the sound of Insect Ark is neither here nor there, when comparing it to these two mega-acts. Nonetheless, one usually cannot but listen to the IA-songs and be amazed at not having discovered this band before, for their soundscapes are capturing and mesmerizing (in the original sense of the word), inviting and pulling you in for a deep dive. When allowing this, one quickly loses track of time and that surely is a great thing for any musician to achieve, and their new record Raw Blood Singing (out via Debemur Morti Productions) does just that. Therefore we had enough reasons to catch up with Dana and Tim, talk about the record, the uselessness or usefulness of genre-descriptions, their way of writing the eight new tracks and why they never once jumped into the ocean when recording! Enjoy!

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02 Jun 2024 - Thorsten

One of the bands that do not need any words to lay out all human emotions in front of us is MONO, the band which has now been mesmerizing audiences for 25 years - in our interview he also tells us how many more years the band will continue to do so. MONO has perfected the Post-Rock formula with their own tuning and expansive sound. As soon as we heard that the band was to release their next full-length record Oath we twiddled all our knobs and we are so lucky to have spent 30 minutes with mastermind Taka on the record, on the role of instrumental music as being able to go beyond words, and also on the effect that Covid had on the record. We also dive into some humorous moments and we are happy to give you this wonderful interview with a man so in peace with himself and everything around us that it was a humbling but in no way condescending experience. Enjoy our interview with Taka and tell us which MONO record up to now has been your favorite?

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27 May 2024 - Thorsten

“Kevin Hufnagel is an American musician, based in NYC. He is known for his solo guitar works, for forming the progressive instrumental rock/metal band Dysrhythmia, and for being a member of Gorguts, Vaura, Sabbath Assembly, Veldune, and Byla. He also is a full time guitar instructor, teaching both in-person and virtually.” (source) That’s what Wikipedia has to say about our guest today and it sounds soooo boring, as if a sheer enumeration would be able to show how important Kevin is for today’s Progressive Metal scene as founding father of Dysrhythmia and as a member of so many other bands that transcend that realm by so much (also that enumeration is not even complete!). Dysrhythmia will be releasing a new record (Coffin of Conviction) in a few weeks (pre-orders are already up at their Bandcamp page, link below) and it is Dysrhythmia at its best - even though they changed their songwriting approach a bit this time, in order to keep it fresh. We talk in detail about the new record, we also talk about some of the bands mentioned above AND we have a big surprise in store for you! Enjoy!

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