Grave Noise Interviews

The dos and don'ts of a festival. We’ve all got some rules we subscribe to and think others should too. Rules that keep you safe, rules that ensure you have a great time overall, and rules that ensure it’s a festival to never forget. In this interview, we ask an artist/band to give us three dos and three don’ts of a festival, while discussing their own upcoming experience.

In this case, it’s Bloodstock Open Air 2024, which is right around the corner. Taking place August 8th to August 11th, the UK’s premier metal festival has, once again, delivered a stellar line-up.

One such band on the bill is Hammer, the five-piece extreme metal band (who just so happen to have tons of groove) from Edinburgh in Scotland. They will play Bloodstock Festival this year, having earned their spot at the festival by emerging as victors of Scotland’s 2024 Metal to the Masses event.

On route to the festival, they’ve been keeping busy and latest single, ‘Accelerator’ is out now.

We talk a little bit about the new single in this interview, as well as talking about their journey to Bloodstock, what they’re hoping to get from the experience, what they plan to deliver when it comes to their set, the three dos and don’ts, and so much more.

Find out more here: https://linktr.ee/hammertheband

Website: https://gbhbl.com/

Ko-Fi (Buy us a coffee): https://ko-fi.com/gbhbl

Big Cartel: https://gbhbl.bigcartel.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GBHBL

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GBHBL_Official

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gbhbl/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gbhbl

Contact: [email protected]

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/gbhbl

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5A4toGR0qap5zfoR4cIIBo

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/hr/podcast/the-gbhbl-podcasts/id1350465865

Intro/Outro music created by HexedRiffsStudios.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKSpZ6roX36WaFWwQ73Cbbg

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hexedriffsstudio

The dos and don'ts of a festival. We’ve all got some rules we subscribe to and think others should too. Rules that keep you safe, rules that ensure you have a great time overall, and rules that ensure it’s a festival to never forget. In this interview, we ask an artist/band to give us three dos and three don’ts of a festival, while discussing their own upcoming experience.

In this case, it’s Bloodstock Open Air 2024, which is right around the corner. Taking place August 8th to August 11th, the UK’s premier metal festival has, once again, delivered a stellar line-up.

One such band on the bill is Straight from the Sun. Hailing from Birmingham in the UK, they embody the raw energy and force that defines the metal genre. Find a person who claims they haven’t head banged until it hurt when listening to this band, and you’ve found yourself a liar… or someone deaf.

Since their 2017 formation, they have been kicking down door after door, and living up to every bit of their potential. They deserve this spot at Bloodstock, and they are going to be one of the highlights of the entire weekend.

Which is an opinion shared by many, and something we get into in this interview. As well as talking about their journey to Bloodstock, what they’re hoping to get from the experience, what they plan to deliver when it comes to their set, the three dos and don’ts, and so much more.

Find out more here: https://straightforthesun.bandcamp.com/

Website: https://gbhbl.com/

Ko-Fi (Buy us a coffee): https://ko-fi.com/gbhbl

Big Cartel: https://gbhbl.bigcartel.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GBHBL

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GBHBL_Official

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gbhbl/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gbhbl

Contact: [email protected]

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/gbhbl

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5A4toGR0qap5zfoR4cIIBo

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/hr/podcast/the-gbhbl-podcasts/id1350465865

Intro/Outro music created by HexedRiffsStudios.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKSpZ6roX36WaFWwQ73Cbbg

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hexedriffsstudio

Benedict Harris-Hayes is an award-winning audio creative, composer and multi-instrumentalist best known for his work in MASS!VE DYNAM!C and ENOCHIAN THEORY, as well as his ‘progressive metal’ project, Oceanica.

It’s the latter that we know him best for, having really enjoyed the 2019 debut album from the project, OneDark (read our review here). As good as that album was, Ben improved on what the project could deliver impressively with the album, ‘Panta Rhei’, released in 2023.

Benedict Harris-Hayes is a talented musician, a very creative individual, and it’s his latest imaginative effort that got us talking. Coming late 2024, it’s ‘Try Not to Dwell on It’, a new 21-minute-long track from Oceanica. In this interview, we get into some of the details of the track, the creative process of it, and how it came about. As well as delving into Ben’s own personal creative path amongst the many projects he is and has been part of.

Find out more here: https://oceanicauk.bandcamp.com/

Website: https://gbhbl.com/

Ko-Fi (Buy us a coffee): https://ko-fi.com/gbhbl

Big Cartel: https://gbhbl.bigcartel.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GBHBL

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GBHBL_Official

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gbhbl/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gbhbl

Contact: [email protected]

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/gbhbl

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5A4toGR0qap5zfoR4cIIBo

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/hr/podcast/the-gbhbl-podcasts/id1350465865

Intro/Outro music created by HexedRiffsStudios.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKSpZ6roX36WaFWwQ73Cbbg

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hexedriffsstudio

Releasing on July 19th, 2024, via Mongrel Records, ‘Threnody: Songs of Fortitude’ is the new album from melodic hardcore metal band, Lower Hollow. Returning with unyielding resolve and a sound forged from the depths of adversity. Following the departure of three founding members after their debut album ‘Bloom & Expire’, the band has emerged stronger, fiercer, and more determined than ever.

Threnody: Songs of Fortitude is a very impressive release that proves Lower Hollow have survived their trials and tribulations and come out stronger for it. Having gone through enough hardship to kill most bands, and using those difficulties in a creative way, the band have reached deep inside themselves. The result is an eleven-track (including an intro) brute of a release. One with a thick rivet of pain running through it.

You can read our full review of Threnody: Songs of Fortitude here: https://www.gbhbl.com/album-review-lower-hollow-threnody-songs-of-fortitude-mongrel-records/

We spoke to founding member and drummer, Ashley De Beer about the new album and the creative vision behind it. Delving into the journey to this point, the hardships the band has been through, the drive to carry on, dealing with pain, and so much more.

Find out more here: https://www.lowerhollowhc.com/

Website: https://gbhbl.com/

Ko-Fi (Buy us a coffee): https://ko-fi.com/gbhbl

Big Cartel: https://gbhbl.bigcartel.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GBHBL

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GBHBL_Official

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gbhbl/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gbhbl

Contact: [email protected]

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/gbhbl

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5A4toGR0qap5zfoR4cIIBo

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/hr/podcast/the-gbhbl-podcasts/id1350465865

Intro/Outro music created by HexedRiffsStudios.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKSpZ6roX36WaFWwQ73Cbbg

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hexedriffsstudio

Waylon Reavis, frontman of A Killer's Confession, is an undeniably powerful musician in the metal genre. After three seminal albums as the frontman of Mushroomhead, Reavis retreated from music, only for it to draw him back in 2016.

He resurfaced at the helm of A Killer's Confession, delivering three cult-favorite albums — Unbroken (2017), The Indifference of Good Men (2019), and Remember (2021). A Killer's Confession explores the captivating repugnance of true crime, set to a soundtrack of melodic hard rock dosed with elements of metal and industrial.

Now, A Killer's Confession is gearing up for their most ambitious release yet, the concept album ‘Victim 1’. A newly-signed artist under MNRK Heavy, the band have already released several new singles, ‘Greed’, and ‘Martyr', and are about to drop the latest, ‘Filth’ on July 12th.

To date, A Killer’s Confession has tallied tens of millions of streams, in addition to collaborating with everyone from Brian "Head" Welch of Korn and Love and Death to Chad Gray of Mudvayne and HELLYEAH.

We spoke to Waylon about the upcoming new album. Diving into the concept, the excitement and challenges, as well as talking about recent touring and what fans can expect soon.

Find out more here: https://akcglobalrecords.com/

Website: https://gbhbl.com/

Ko-Fi (Buy us a coffee): https://ko-fi.com/gbhbl

Big Cartel: https://gbhbl.bigcartel.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GBHBL

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GBHBL_Official

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gbhbl/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gbhbl

Contact: [email protected]

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/gbhbl

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5A4toGR0qap5zfoR4cIIBo

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/hr/podcast/the-gbhbl-podcasts/id1350465865

Intro/Outro music created by HexedRiffsStudios.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKSpZ6roX36WaFWwQ73Cbbg

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hexedriffsstudio

The 2nd of August 2024 will see the return of Barbarian Hermit, Manchester’s leading purveyors of groove laden, stoner/doom metal. Released on APF Records, ‘Mean Sugar’ may just be the heaviest ever tribute to Northern life.

Recorded by Joe Clayton at No Studio and mastered by Chris Fielding (Foel Studios), the album sees the return of original vocalist Simon Scarlett who helped craft the band’s debut ‘One’ EP, originally released in 2016 (and reissued on APF Records in 2021).

Written over a 3-year period, it’s no surprise that ‘Mean Sugar’ is the sound of a band dealing with feelings of anger and frustration, but it’s also the sound of a band revitalised. When it all seemed to get too much, Barbarian Hermit wrote loud music, and the result of that can now be experienced to the fullest with this new album.

We spoke to guitarist Adam Robertshaw and bassist Rob Sutcliffe of Barbarian Hermit about the new album. The journey to this point, the highs and lows of the past few years, working with Simon again, rebuilding their name, refocusing on their goals, and so much more.

Find out more here: https://barbarianhermit.bandcamp.com/

Website: https://gbhbl.com/

Ko-Fi (Buy us a coffee): https://ko-fi.com/gbhbl

Big Cartel: https://gbhbl.bigcartel.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GBHBL

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GBHBL_Official

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gbhbl/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gbhbl

Contact: [email protected]

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/gbhbl

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5A4toGR0qap5zfoR4cIIBo

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/hr/podcast/the-gbhbl-podcasts/id1350465865

Intro/Outro music created by HexedRiffsStudios.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKSpZ6roX36WaFWwQ73Cbbg

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hexedriffsstudio

German post-hardcore trio Future Palace are back and with a brand-new album, ‘Distortion’, due for release on 6th September via Arising Empire.

Future Palace's music has always explored internal struggles, and Distortion is the brutal climax of this approach. The album title, derived from the psychological term cognitive distortion, reflects a world in which changing perceptions trap individuals in recurring pitfalls. Distortion addresses various mental illnesses and personal struggles, from ADHD to depression to narcissism. The band's third album is a powerful force of emotions, cycles, and cries of desperation, overwhelming listeners with its intensity.

We spoke to vocalist Maria about the new album, the gruelling recording process, and the stress they, as a group, experienced. We also delved into the creative mind of Future Palace, evolving as a band, touring constantly and consistently, dealing with a cacophony of hate, and so much more.

Find out more here: https://future-palace.com/

Website: https://gbhbl.com/

Ko-Fi (Buy us a coffee): https://ko-fi.com/gbhbl

Big Cartel: https://gbhbl.bigcartel.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GBHBL

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GBHBL_Official

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gbhbl/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gbhbl

Contact: [email protected]

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/gbhbl

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5A4toGR0qap5zfoR4cIIBo

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/hr/podcast/the-gbhbl-podcasts/id1350465865

Intro/Outro music created by HexedRiffsStudios.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKSpZ6roX36WaFWwQ73Cbbg

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hexedriffsstudio

Cleveland death metal legends-in-waiting 200 Stab Wounds return with ‘Manual Manic Procedures’, a superlative sophomore effort that follows 2021’s Slave to the Scalpel, their tour de force debut. It is out on June 28th, 2024, via Metal Blade Records.

If Slave to the Scalpel was the sound of 200 Stab Wounds kicking down the door of the death metal party, Manual Manic Procedures is the sound of them tearing it up on the dance floor. Albeit, in a way that leaves onlookers horrified and repulsed.

It’s hard to offer anything fresh sounding in this genre, least of all when the focus is still on delivering garish and grim death metal sounds. Yet, 200 Stab Wounds already proved they had plenty to offer with their debut, and now they surpass that high bar with an album of contemporary heaviness that isn’t afraid to look outside the death metal genre for inspiration.

We spoke to guitarist Raymond MacDonald about the album, and what it has taken for 200 Stab Wounds to get to this place. Digging deep into the creative process, his personal input, why this is such a satisfying release for the band, and so much more.

Find out more here: https://www.200stabwounds.net/

Website: https://gbhbl.com/

Ko-Fi (Buy us a coffee): https://ko-fi.com/gbhbl

Big Cartel: https://gbhbl.bigcartel.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GBHBL

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GBHBL_Official

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gbhbl/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gbhbl

Contact: [email protected]

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/gbhbl

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5A4toGR0qap5zfoR4cIIBo

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/hr/podcast/the-gbhbl-podcasts/id1350465865

Intro/Outro music created by HexedRiffsStudios.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKSpZ6roX36WaFWwQ73Cbbg

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hexedriffsstudio

Get ready to embark on a journey through time as up and coming 80s rock purveyors Nestor, hailing from the vibrant music scene of Sweden, showcase their long-awaited new album, ‘Teenage Rebel’. Released via Napalm Records on May 31st, 2024.

An album of pure nostalgia and sounding like it came right from the golden age of rock. The goal for Nestor is to be as anthemically pleasing as possible, and across the eleven tracks of this album, they easily surpass it.

Check our full review here: https://www.gbhbl.com/album-review-nestor-teenage-rebel-napalm-records/

We chatted to vocalist Tobias Gustavsson about Teenage Rebel and the work that went into making it a reality. We also spoke about their creative progression, not looking to write ‘Kids in a Ghost Town’ Part 2, their ever-increasing popularity, having fun making this music, and so much more.

Find out more here: https://www.nestortheband.com/

Website: https://gbhbl.com/

Ko-Fi (Buy us a coffee): https://ko-fi.com/gbhbl

Big Cartel: https://gbhbl.bigcartel.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GBHBL

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GBHBL_Official

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gbhbl/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gbhbl

Contact: [email protected]

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/gbhbl

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5A4toGR0qap5zfoR4cIIBo

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/hr/podcast/the-gbhbl-podcasts/id1350465865

Intro/Outro music created by HexedRiffsStudios.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKSpZ6roX36WaFWwQ73Cbbg

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hexedriffsstudio

Epic progressive metal act Dreamslain will unveil their powerful and empathy driven sophomore album ‘Forge of Rebellion’ on 14th June 2024.

Never a band to shy away from creating something wholly unique, somewhat strange, and convincingly unhinged. Dreamslain are back and back with something that requires focus and thought. Forge of Rebellion is a grand example of how this band defies genre labels and takes the listener on a journey that can simply be summed up as epic.

You can read our full review of the album here: https://www.gbhbl.com/album-review-dreamslain-forge-of-rebellion-self-released/

We spent some time speaking with Dreamslain about this new album. Delving into the creative process and the journey to its release. As well as discussing the highs and lows of the experience, feeling more free and confident in what they do, bringing these songs to the live environment, and much more.

Find out more here: https://dreamslain.bandcamp.com/

Website: https://gbhbl.com/

Ko-Fi (Buy us a coffee): https://ko-fi.com/gbhbl

Big Cartel: https://gbhbl.bigcartel.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GBHBL

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GBHBL_Official

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gbhbl/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gbhbl

Contact: [email protected]

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/gbhbl

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5A4toGR0qap5zfoR4cIIBo

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/hr/podcast/the-gbhbl-podcasts/id1350465865

Intro/Outro music created by HexedRiffsStudios.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKSpZ6roX36WaFWwQ73Cbbg

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hexedriffsstudio