ETERNAL CHAMPION: Leaning into strenghts


If you dive into the archive section of this site, something I strongly recommend you to do as there is a lot to read there, you can already find three interviews I did with Eternal Champion in the past. The first one was published right after the band released their demo, while I spoke to the guys again when they did the split release with Gatekeeper back in 2015. The last time I hooked up with the band was of course when the put out their debut album, the mighty “The Armor Of Ire” was hot off the press back in the autumn of 2016. Like always, singer Jason Tarpey is the one answering my questions. Looking back at “The Armor Of Ire” with a bit of distance to it, is he more satisfied  with it now compared to when you had it finished, or is it perhaps the other way around?

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ARMORED SAINT: From the heart


After a couple of albums that didnt’t do that much to me, “Win Hands Down” was a fine return to form from Armored Saint, one of the real veterans of the Los Angeles-scene. As I didn’t get a chance to speak with the band back then, I grabbed the opportunity with both hands when the band’s record label, Metal Blade offered me the chance to chat with bass player Joey Vera. What are his feelings about the previous album “Win Hands Down” about five years after it was released?

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CIRITH UNGOL: Back In Black


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A new Cirith Ungol-album, their first in nearly 30 years, simply can’t go unnoticed here at Metal Squadron. I called drummer and original member Robert Garven to get all the details on the long awaited comeback from what must be considered as one of the founding acts of epic heavy metal. Robert, when Cirith Ungol disolved you said that you would never touch the drumsticks again. What made you reconsider? Continue reading

SORCERER: Closer to heavy metal


jon_2020-01-11_1144 HiResWhen old bands reunite, and especially those who never advanced from the demo stage back then, it often ends with one album, fueled by a succesful festival apperance or something similar. Sweden’s Sorcerer has now delievered three albums since the band reformed, and it doesn’t seem like it will stop here. We have covered the band when they released both previous albums, “In The Shadow Of The Inverted Cross”, and “The Crowning Of The Fire King”, and just like last time, singer Anders Engberg is the one faced with the task of answering our questions.  He seemed really proud of  “The Crowning Of The Fire King” when we spoke together last time, does he still have the same feelings about it? Continue reading

DARK FOREST: Preserving the past


DEXTER WARD: Days of epic metal


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“III” is the title of the brand new album by the Greek/Italian constellation Dexter Ward, an album that sees the band venturing into music as well as lyrics that are even more epic than before. As Metal Squadron did back when the band released their second album, “Rendezvous With Destiny”  in 2016, we once more hooked up with singer Mark Dexter for a chat about the what’s happened in the camp since then. Continue reading

WOLF: Straight up heavy metal


 

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I have had the chance to speak to Niklas Stålvind, singer and guitarist in Wolf a few times already, but a quick search through the archives here at Metal Squadron reveals that none of those interviews are to be found here. Well, time to do something about it, as the band just released a new album “Feeding The Machine”. The following interview was also the title story in the March edition of Scream Magazine.

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IRONSWORD: The European Manilla Road


Ironsword-bandaHaving an archive with close to 200 interviews without a single feature on Portugal’s Ironsword is a fucking tragedy. It must have been Tann himself who sent me the 1998 promo tape for a review in Scream Magazine more than 20 years ago, and even though I have loved all their album since the self titled debut, I believe this is the very first time I have spoken to the man who is certainly one of the best songwriters of the European heavy metal scene for the last two decades.  “Servants Of Steel” is the title of the new album, and Tann is the man answering all the questions.

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ANGEL WITCH: Not rocket science


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Being a bit too young to experience the release of Angel Witch’s self titled debut, the band’s material still made a huge impact on me when I bought the vinyl version of “Angel Witch Live” at my local store when it was released through Metal Blade back in February 1990. It might have been the mystical cover art that convinced me, I can’t recall having heard anything from the band, not even the song “Angel Witch”, but as I listened to the album, songs like “Angel Of Death”, “White Witch”, “Sorceress” and “Atlantis” to name only a few, really impressed me. In retrospect, these songs fueled my interest in NWOBHM and underground metal in general. When the opportunity arose to hear Kevin Heybourne’s thoughts on the band’s brand new, fifth studio album, as well as some topics from the past, I didn’t hesitate a second.   Continue reading

TERMINUS: Not shouting for attention


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With “The Reaper’s Spiral”, one of the strongest albums released in 2015, Terminus debuted with a bang. Packed with powerful epic metal, the album surprised a lot of people. In the wake of the album’s release, the band also built a reputation as a convincing live act, but something wasn’t quite right, and in October 2017, the news broke that the band had quit performing live. Continue reading

ATLANTEAN KODEX: Under pressure


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If I tell you that «The White Goddess» was my favorite album of 2013, you don’t need to be a genious (although I know most of my readers are) to understand that I had high hopes for the follow up. After some turbulent times and lots of delays, the album is finally here, and I am delighted to say that Atlantean Kodex delivers once again. I called guitarist and main song writer Manuel Trummer and we had a pretty interesting chat about the more than six years since the last album, the pressure the band felt while making it and the power of social media.

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RAM: Proud to be heavy metal


RAM from Gothenburg in Sweden is a band I have followed closely ever since the guys sent me their first EP for review back in 2003. When “Rod” was released in 2017, I spoke with gitarist Harry Granroth, but since I wasn’t fully satisfied with the end result, the interview was never published here at Metal Squadron. This time, I once again got on the phone with singer Oscar Carlquist, who I also spoke with when “Svbversvm” came out.

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HELVETETS PORT: Quirky parts in abundance


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Whether you liked what Helvetet’s Port did in the past or not, chances are good you will agree that their new album, “From Life To Death” is a considerable improvement compared to their past works. We got in contact with singer Tomas aka Witchfinder to get an update on the band and some details on the new album. First, Tomas, Helvetets Port apparently was on hiatus from around 2012 until 2014, but why has it taken such a long time since you got active again to get this new album out?

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PRELUDE TO RUIN: Band of brothers


Some time ago, the Michigan-based label, Dystopian Dogs released a two and a half way split release featuring the bands White Magician, The Great Kaiser’s White Magician and Prelude To Ruin. While I was impressed with pretty much all the 19 minutes of music included, I decided to do a feature on the latter. Members Victor M. and David Ruiz and Sean Cyriis Sethi all contributed in answering my questions.

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LUNAR SHADOW: “Heavy Metal bores me to death”


LunarShadow_1Metal Squadron was one of the very first medias to feature Lunar Shadow when the band put out the EP “Triumphator.  However, we never got around to do an interview  when «Far From Light» was released, so let’s start there. How do Max, guitarist and main man, view this album today, a couple of years after its release?

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RAVENSIRE: Beware of easter eggs


Ravensire_2Since we have covered almost everything there is to cover about the history of Ravensire before, let’s catch up with the happening after the release of “The Cycle Never Ends”. How would guitarist and main songwriter Nuno describe the reception this album got and how satisfied is he with the coverage the band got in the press and the opportunities to play live this album generated?

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SMOULDER: A mystical and arcane vibe


 

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As documented very well on the recent, excellent compilation, “Trapped Under Ice”, the Canadian scene is really vital at the moment. While they’re not represented on that particular release, Smoulder is one of the bands leading the charge, catching many people’s attention with their “The Sword Woman”-demo, released on tape and as a 7″ vinyl through Hoove Child Records  last year. With their first album out on  Cruz Del Sur, wonderfully titled “Times Of Obscene Evil And Wild Daring”, pretty much the whole band gathered to answer  Our questions.

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ARCH/MATHEOS: Pushing boundaries


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The guys behind this constellation probably don’t need an introduction, after all we are speaking about a legendary vocalist whose voice graced three releases by Fates Warning during the eighties, as well as a guitarist who is still the brainchild of the same band. As I have had the opportunity to speak to John Arch before, and loved the last Fates Warning-album just as much as this new opus by Arch/Matheos, I said yes when the chance to chat with Jim Matheos appeared.

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ENFORCER: Nothing to lose


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While their new, and fifth studio album “Zenith”, are being received with what seems to be mixed emotions, I found myself enjoying the diversity of it a lot and got in contact with Olof Wikstrand for what I think is my fourth chat with the band. The last interview we did, can be read here, and looking at it, it’s already been four years since “From Beyond” came out. What does Olof think of the album when he looks back at it today?

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