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Showing posts from July, 2017

An Interview With Doro Pesch

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Editors note: ( My very first interview was over the phone with the fantastic DORO PESCH)      Years ago I had the pleasure of meeting Doro Pesch at the New Jersey Metal Meltdown.  She rocked that stage, sandwiched in between a host of death and new age metal bands;  she stood her ground and played from the heart. Doro is one of the metal community's shining stars. A veteran musician she has been on tour in some form or another almost her entire life. That dedication and passion comes through, not only with her music, but also her personality. She is metal.  You can hear her love for the genre in her voice as she excitedly speaks of music she has created and plans for the future.  Her latest album, "Raise Your Fist" is loaded with both traditional heavy rockers, and powerful ballads.  My initial goal was to obviously discuss the new album but I found there is so much more to learn and discuss with this wonderful, classy, icon of metal.  Her positivity was infectiou

CRY OF THE WOLF INTERVEW WITH JON 5

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Editors note:(Back when I first started this I had the chance to interview jon 5 at the mayhem festival.)    How is the Mayhem tour going? Tour is going great so far. I can't complain. Good shows, nice weather. We had a power outage in Scranton. Everything is going really well. Looking for more in the future. Are you happy with the production and the stage on this tour? Oh yes. So huge. It can't get much bigger. As  a matter of fact we can't even use all of it today. People are going to watch a really cool show. The album is doing great and is really an excellent hard rock album. Yeah the album. It's great. We recorded it at Rob's place and we had no distractions. No cell service, nothing. Just focused on the writing. The album came out great we are really proud of it. I love it. I love listening to it. How does the writing process work for this. Does Rob have the ideas and you bring the guitar parts to him or?.... Yo

CRY OF THE WOLF MAGAZINE Interview With FRANKIE BANALI Of QUIET RIOT

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CRY OF THE WOLF MAGAZINE Interview With FRANKIE BANALI Of QUIET RIOT QUIET RIOT was not the first band that got me into heavy metal. I was already well entrenched in the power and the glory of bands like Sabbath, Saxon, and Dio. But for an impressionable youth the constant nagging from the "cool" kids at school about how lame metal was became very bothersome. Cliched white sneaker wearing future lawyers were constantly picking on me and my metal head friends. QUIET RIOT one day came on the radio and changed all that. Like an asteroid hitting the dinosaurs they wiped away all the so called un coolness about metal and made it mainstream. Suddenly all the jocks were "banging" their heads to songs like "Metal Health", And "slick Black Cadillac". So years later after the heavy smoke has cleared I got the chance to speak with one of the key architects of QUIET RIOT, Mr. Frankie Banali. They are about to release ROAD RAGE on Frontiers Records and it s

TRAGEDIAN INTERVIEW WITH CRY OF THE WOLF MAGAZINE including rare photos and a special guest

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For most of my interviews I don't usually get a break down of equipment used. Gabrielle from TRAGEDIAN has been kind enough to have his guitar tech write up an explanation of the gear he uses. One thing I know from Gabrielle from my past playing with him, is that he is dedicated to his craft. CRY OF THE WOLF MAGAZINE receives regular updates from the road and studio from TRAGEDIAN. Below is the interview and the guitar tech's viewpoint as well.        Thank you to  Oliver Illias liakos! 1- Describe the writing process for THE new album? The writing process this time around was a bit similar to the "Dreamscape" sessions. Again more a band effort than "Decimation" as to where I wrote 95% of the material myself except for the melody lines, bass and keyboard parts. First I wrote just the guitar parts for all the songs and then I would meet with Alex once a week for a whole day and started from song 1 and he would compose a melody on the spot and

Tower Of Babel - "Lake of Fire"

Tower Of Babel - "Lake of Fire" tracklist 1. Dragon Slayer 2. Its Only Rock N Roll 3. Lake Of Fire 4. Addicted 5. Midnight Sun 6. Eternal Flames 7. Once Again 8. Stardust 9. Eyes Of The World 10. Lamb And The Wolves 11. Troth 12. All Out Warfare Produced by Csaba Zvekan and Joe Stump Tower Of Babel Vocals - Csaba Zvekan (Exorcism, Raven Lord, Metal Machine) Guitars - Joe Stump (HolyHell, Raven Lord, Reign of Terror) Bass - Nic Angileri (Exorcism, Jorn) Keyboards - Maestro Mistheria (Vivaldi Metal Project) Drums - Mark Cross (Tainted Nation, Outloud, Firewind, Helloween, Metalium). Tower Of Babel - " Midnight Sun" video link Biography Tower Of Babel is the new American / European high energy international heavy rock band features vocalist Csaba Zvekan, (Exorcism, Raven Lord, Metal Machine), virtuoso guitarist Joe Stump (Raven Lord, HolyHell, Reign of Terror), b

Cry OF The Wolf Interviews Guitarist PETER GRAIGS, from SCARS OF GRACE

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Cry OF The Wolf Interviews Guitarist PETER GRAIGS, from SCARS OF GRACE SCARS OF GRACE guitarist and solo artist, PETER GRAIGS, has seen it all. In a lifetime dedicated to his craft he has lived the life many of us only dream about. I found him to very down to earth and we actually talked politics of the world and were on the same page. A rarity in the world of metal I can assure you. After suffering a debilitating parachute accident which left him with broken fingers and a broken back, he basically had to reinvent himself, his style of playing, everything.      "Back in the day it was playing fast. After the injury I had to reinvent myself. I go with the flow." We moved on to his influences.      "Classical. I grew up with my dad playing songs on the accordion. From rock to pop. I stay away from the radio. My main guitar influence is of course, Randy Rhoads."  So you stay away from the radio. Why do that?      " I just don't want other

Cry Of The Wolf Magazine Interviews Troy Norr of THEM

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     The night had fallen around me as I watched the stars cross the sky. I Felt the humidity rise as a small warm breeze rustled the tress, and brought in a hint of  bug spray... and death. The night belongs to those who fear little and wander beyond the light of the sun. The night is when musicians pack their gear and approach the stage with a communal reverence like the pagans of old. The phone rings and I know The person on the other end also belongs to the night. He who was born of the King Diamond nightmare world. But I digress, here is the tale as it was told to me, you may not believe all of it but I know it is true...I was there... Troy Norr relates quickly how his band, THEM, is not a King Diamond clone band.       "while we pay homage to King. This is not a clone band. Without King there would be no band of course. He is my main influence. But this band is different sounding and possibly even heavier." Troy will be singing every night once his tour begins

Cry Of The Wolf Magazine Book Reviews AMERICA 51 By Corey Taylor

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Cry Of The Wolf Magazine Book Reviews AMERICA 51  By Corey Taylor DA CAPO PRESS       The author states that his original chapters for the beginning of this book were deleted shortly after the last election. This writer as well had to delete the first attempt at reviewing this...book. So in that respect Mr. Taylor, we are on the same page. The overall review is that the book reads like a slipknot concert, loud, rude and full of anti-for the sake of anti-diatribe awash in profanity. It's a sweaty, whiskey vomit, un showered thrill ride deep into the mind of someone who clearly never got enough hugs as a kid.    But hats off to Da Capo Press for having the nerve to publish this complete manifesto of self driven, holier than thou piece of dripping slugde. The book itself is put together well. The cover and the promotion are top notch. As is the case with Da Capo. They take pride in what they do no matter what the subject matter may be. And of course I am sure this wil

Cry Of The Wolf Magazine interview with Brett Scott from VANLADE

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Cry Of The Wolf Magazine interview with Brett Scott from VANLADE Pouring rain outside as I await the phone call from VANLADE'S vocalist Brett. My head is spinning from the sonic perfection that pours out of my speakers. This is a classic sounding metal band with a modern twist. Heavy metal at it's American finest.  What follows is a cool conversation with a true metal fan and performer. And yes Toto, we are not in Kansas anymore... What is new with VANLADE? We are deep in the writing process. Most of the songs are written. Looks like early 2018 for the release or sooner.   Who are your influences? Number one would be DIO. He got me obsessed not only with his voice but metal as well. Ian Gillan(DEEP PURPLE), Eric Adams(MANOWAR). Being a vocalist I always look for the harmony and the melody. What makes the perfect song for you? Any song that gives you those goosebumps. It has to be hard, heavy. I like a lot of vocal harmony. Heavy, fast, and melodic How acti