Rarely does an extreme metal band drop out of nowhere with a fully formed sound, and then you get Cult Burial. This London group quickly showed that there is a lot more than meets the eye on their self-titled debut, coming hot off the back of a well-received two-track EP titled "Sorrow". Simon Langoford's compositions pair effortlessly with César Moreira's varied vocal delivery - potent growls and twisted snarls collide with the daring range of styles employed making base from black/death metal and incorporating the crushing low-end of doom, some old school death but also doses of post-metal and even venturing into progressive territory. It's scary to think what Simon will do next.

Tomek

Thanks for taking time to do this, how are things in Cult Burial camp at the moment?

Everything is rosey, thank you.

When trying to find out more about Cult Burial I've read that it was born in the beginning of 2020 after some extensive bourbon tasting, was it a specific brand that triggered the idea of creating a band?

Great question. The brand in question was Woodford Reserve. I'm considering approaching them for a marketing deal, where they basically send me free bourbon, I drink it and then tell people how much I enjoy it.

March brought 2 track EP "Sorrow" and you released a self titled debut in November, talking about productivity!! How do you work on new music and what is your biggest motivation (except for bourbon of course)?

It starts with a chord progression or a riff and gets built up from there. Motivation wise, I'd never made heavy music before Cult Burial, so just to keep making the tracks as heavy as possible was the main driver. The question was always 'can I make this heavier somehow?'. The answer was usually yes.

Cult Burial is a brand new creature but I also couldn't find much about your past. Album kicks ass (no denying!!) and all music was written and recorded in 2020!! Can you tell us more about the creation of the band, the music and the album?

Yeah it was all written in 2020 and mostly during the lockdown. I wanted to make a heavy band and started writing music. I found Cesar and loved his band Enblood and contacted him to see if he'd be interested in doing some vocals. He was, and some tracks were recorded and Cult Burial was born. The rest came together pretty quickly and the album was written in 3 months.

You mentioned someplace that new music is in the works already, is it going to be more like what you did on EP or will you continue with what you did on the album?

It's going to be quite different I think. It's about half finished right now and the direction is either short, brutal songs like 'Dethroner' from the album or longer, more diverse pieces, more like 'Chaos' from the album. There's going to be more experiments with breakdowns and trying to incorporate more styles.

How proud are you of the Cult Burial?

Fairly. I didn't expect it to be as well received as it was. It's made some people's end of year best of lists, which is amazing considering the short time we've been around.

I have listened to your new record more than a few times already and I'm impressed at the level of detail you were able to place into songs. With two people in the band, how do you work out those situations where you do not agree with each other, where one's vision is different from the other?

Each component of the track is not particularly collaborative. It's more a case of: "here's a piece of music" and then "here's the vocals for that piece of music", and it just works.

For people that are reading this and didn't hear the album what would you say to them, how would you set the stage?

It's a mix of metal genres blended together over 9 tracks (or 8 if you buy the vinyl). There's fast sections, there's slow sections, there's loud sections (lots of them) and there's some quieter sections. There's plenty of guitar work, plenty of growled vocals.

The artwork on the album is something that really gets my imagination going. Is it something that was made for the album?

The artwork was created specifically for the artwork by Legerdemain. I was looking for someone to create a piece and came across his work, and fell in love with his work. Anyone reading should check out his fantastic body of work.

How does it correspond to the music and lyrics on the album?

The image to me conveys hopelessness. That's a theme that runs throughout the record.

What exactly is it, what are we looking at?

Honestly: I don't know. I know, however, that I like it.

For me personally, one of the most impressive elements on the album is the atmosphere. Combination of death and doom with some post and prog thrown in gets to me and is simply addictive. As soon as the album ends I want to (and usually do) press 'play' again. What was the most difficult obstacle to get through when composing and recording, which song gave you the most ass kicking and in the end, what did you fear the most and it turned out to be the easiest?

Thank you. The writing of the album came together pretty quickly, and I do know what you mean about musical obstacles, but there was none of those with this record. Everything flowed fast, and if it didn't, it was cut pretty quickly. The biggest fear was on the mixing. The record was mixed at my place and each track was mixed 4 or 5 times before getting comfortable with how it was sounding. I wanted in your face guitars and upfront drums that didn't take over too much, and it took me time to get there.

Most people think that metalheads only listen to metal. What is your opinion about this statement and how open are you yourself to different kinds of music?

I actually don't listen to much metal. Since Cult Burial, I'm listening to more, but historically I'm into anything atmospheric. My favourite record I think is by Portishead. I adore Massive Attack. Last year I was listening to Daughters and You Won't Get What You Want almost non-stop. I hope metalheads aren't only listening to metal, that would be a shame.

What do you listen to lately? Are there albums or bands you listen to more than others?

I love the Garea album (as do most people), it's an incredible record. There's Almyrkvi/Ruins of Beverast split out earlier this year which I am obsessed with. Napalm Death's 'Amoral' was the least Napalm Death track there's been for ages, and it was amazing. I loved the Regardes Les Hommes Tomber record. I still listen to Deftones' "White Pony'' every few days, it's a masterpiece.

What are the plans for the future?

Album two is being written now. I just moved house so my home studio is in bits....when it's back together I'll get back to writing more songs and I hope to release an EP or album in 2021.

Last words are yours. Thanks for your time and good luck with everything.

Thanks for your support MetalBite! Wishing you all the best for 2021.

How talented does a band have to be to tour with power metal giants Stratovarius and Rhapsody after only one full-length album? Sonata Arctica, hailing from the frigid zones of northern Finland, have proven more than worthy. Their latest release "Silence" is seen as no less than a true masterpiece by the staff here at MetalBite, and it has gotten half of us into power metal in general. The genius composer and singer Tony Kakko has a way of creating melodies that will stick in your head for days! I had the privilege of having him take a break from mixing an upcoming live album to answer a few of my questions for all the hungry fans out there! Enjoy!

Luka ‘Wrath’


OK, I understand you just came home after a short tour in Finland, playing New Year’s Eve in Helsinki! How did that go? Are people still excited about "Silence"? What was the turnout like, regarding the relatively small population of Finland?

The shows in Finland, well, it's not touring in strictest sense of the word. We have mainly weekend shows. And we have those until the end of February. Not that many bands are able to really tour in Finland the way one can do in Europe for example. The show in Hell-sinki was ok. We had lot more fun on stage. We had guests from Japan(imagine, this girl came to our hometown Kemi on Dec 23rd, spent a week there, then took a taxi to Mietaa (400+km!!) where we had a show on 29th and ended the trip in Helsinki.), Germany, France & Sweden at least. Crazy people! "Silence" has sold nicely in Finland. More than "Ecliptica", which was expected. Relatively we sell best in Finland. About 10k albums to 5 million. We have sold around 40k in Japan, but there are zillion people in Japan. :)

"Silence" is a metal masterpiece! It has not left my player since I bought it, I must congratulate you as a composer, I am curious-what kind of musical education/experience do you have for such a young genius?

Thanks! Nice to hear you think so! Cool! I studied keyboards for 2 years when I was 18-19, but that really was not my thing. Frustrating to see little kids aged 5 learn and master things faster and better than "moi". SO other than that I'm "natures child", if you will.

Finland’s metal scene today is probably my favorite, with amazing bands like Children of Bodom, Stratovarius, Amorphis, Sentenced..., and now, of course, Sonata Arctica. Are you guys friends with any of these musicians?

Nightwish (HUGE addition to your list!) & Stratovarius are the closest ones. We toured with Stratos and got to know them. It's nice you can SMS or e-mail to these fellas as friend. Couple of years ago they were idols! I love this business (with all its little faults)! And Nightwish, well I've been working with them on couple of occasions and they are the closest thing we really have to a brothers/sister on this business. And Tuomas is my really good friend. It's nice to have someone to share this pain of creation. We have of course met a LOT of bands, but these 2 I consider being real friend bands.

One album left with Spinefarm; what are the plans for a new Sonata Arctica release? Do you have anything ready, or is it all coming from scratch?

We will enter the mighty Tico-Tico Studio in our town Kemi in September. I don't have any songs ready yet, some ideas though. A start of some kind. It's worrying to me that I'm more into making the ep/lp we release after the 3rd album. That is going to be a theme thing in vain of 'The End Of This Chapter', really dark thing.

What can we expect on the new one? Are you planning to progress your sound with time, or stick to the trusty old formula. Personally, I would love another album like "Silence"!

We have learned new things, new ways of doing some shit, naturally, so I'm pretty sure we have all something on it. But I agree you with this "Silence" thing. I'd like to get same kind of mood on it.

Where do you see yourself, or the band, in 20 years?

Hmmmmm...I'm turning 47....fuck. At least I'm not jumping on stage, that's for sure. And that kind of says what's the future of the band. There's time for everything. I hope to be able to do this as long as it feels good. Personally I'm sure I continue making music. Solo things maybe, other kind of music for other kind of band. Or then this kind of music for another band. Who knows. Music anyway. I will never go working on any factory. That would kill me.

How do the songs come together in the band, do the rest of the guys help out or do you take care of everything? How long do you spend writing each song? Do you play the guitar or other instruments in order to come up with all the melodies?

I write all melodies and lyrics alone. Other guys are irreplaceable when the songs are arranged. I could not do that part alone. The songs would be quite different without them. They also function as my official critics: when something is not all that good, they tell me and I change it. Sometimes you fall in love with some crappy ideas. I don't watch the time when I'm working. That would make it too stressful. A song can come in 5 minutes, or it can take 5 years. I have lot of ideas, unfinished songs and such that I will rip someday and build whole new songs out of them. They just need some kind of frame to be installed in. I play keyboards, of course, and then a little guitar. Basic chords, but that's enough to write songs. 'Replica' is one I wrote with guitar. Melodies come by singing and playing at the same time. For some reason I can't come up with melodies by playing that easily.

I really love the slower tracks on the album like 'Tallulah' and 'Sing in Silence'! Do the lyrics here come from personal experience or are they fictional? I think 'Tallulah' is the ultimate anthem to any guy who has been dumped by a girl he likes, is this what inspired you to write it?

Ah, I like the slower stuff best as well. Weird. Lyrics, well, my guideline is never to open my life to public. It's my own territory. Therefor I never use my personal experiences when I write. It might be therapeutic but nit fair for the other person involved. And I'm not that troubled soul that I should even do that. I would be quite miserable case if it was my life I'm writing about, don't you think? I'm living happily with my long time girlfriend, things are superb for me. All lyrics are fiction. I might sometimes get inspirations when I look at the people around me, but I change everything...how do they say it in movies? "All characters are fictional blah blah blaaa to real person are purely coincidental...and stuff.

Try as I might, I just can’t understand the meaning, title, and lyrics of the song 'Weballergy'. Musically, it’s one of my favorite songs, could you explain what it’s about?

I thought it would be sexy to clue words web & allergy to one word. It looks weird enough to be my idea. Lyrically it's really sarcastic addition, part deux if you will, to 'Blankfile' from "Ecliptica"-album. 'Blankfile' was much more serious, I was kind of worried about people getting stuck too much in the internet. Now this one, again, is much more tongue in the cheek kind of thing. I also wanted to say something to the people criticising my lyrics "these are not heavy metal lyrics". So, I took a look at some of the lyrics they mentioned as "truemetal" and... sweet Lord....unbelievable. So I wanted to add my version of "truemetal" lyrics on the chorus. Crappiest peace of shit I ever wrote:"...if you live, you will die...". That's pretty fucking basic thing, when we talk about obvious things. Do yourself a favour and don't think about the lyrics too much. hehee. :)

Do you have a favorite track from "Silence"?

I have few I like better than others. Not in any order: 'Sing I Silence', 'The End Of This Chapter', 'The Power of One', 'Last Drop Falls'. The slower stuff basically.

Are there any plans of Sonata Arctica touring North America?

That is a dream of ours. We were supposed to come there already last year, but our European tour was re-scheduled and that kinda ran it over. We'd all love to come there so it's only matter of time. I hope!

What do you think of the heavy metal scene today? In the last decade, Scandinavian countries have definitely been the largest contributors of metal bands. Why do you think this is? What is it about the northern lands and metal?

I honestly don't follow it. I have few bands I like really, and well, rest are just the "scene". Nightwish, Stratovarius, Rhapsody, Children of Bodom...and of course all the bands we know personally like Gamma Ray, Vanishing Point etc. I suppose the scene is ok. I don't know. Sorry. Scandinavian people are stupid and they have nothing to do because it's too fucking cold all the time and those polar bears are REALLY dangerous especially after 5PM when all Scandinavian people are having dinner in their red/white wooden cottages on candle light and the sweet scent of fried reindeer meat spreads to the landscape from the chimneys. Penguins are also real pain in the ass. Those bastards usually invade all bus-stops so we can't go anywhere. That's why we play heavy metal. We have all the time in our hands. Ain't that something. OK, now, who believed what I wrote? Come on, raise your hands...so to put it short: Scandinavian metal kicks ass, because penguins have invaded our bus-stops.

What bands or albums would you consider your personal and professional inspirations? What did you grow up listening to, what bands influenced the sound of Sonata Arctica today?

My first love musically was Queen. They have definitely had a huge influence on me. I grew up with their albums. The came bands like Midnight Oil and Crash Test Dummies whose music I enjoy very much. Career wise Stratovarius's "Visions" has been the biggest thing to me. Sonata Arctica simply would not exist without that masterpiece. They have had a big influence on the way we sound generally, well naturally, because we have the same guy mixing our albums and all that, but also the style of music. Later I have been inspired by bands like Nightwish and Rhapsody, but their style of music is a bit too different for me to write songs like that. Maybe for my solo some day.

Many people believe that there is a strong resurgence of metal today. 2001 was one of the best years for metal in a long time. Do you think real heavy metal bands like Sonata Arctica will always remain in the underground scene, or is there a chance of metal making it big in the mainstream market again?

Well, it depends solely on record companies, sadly. If they decide to make some band a huge thing, then they put money on it and if the band can't write songs of their own, someone will write them. For a "real heavymetal band" it's very hard to make it big without big record label. Of course it can happen, but as long as these "rap'n rollers" like, well, let's take Limb Bizkit are on favor, there's really no room for other kind of metalkind music on he top IMO. We can, as all bands, make it on the certain level, but from there on it's hard. We could write really poppy songs to sell more, but that would be too painful. I really prefer staying on Stratovarius level, taking that we ever make it that size.

What are your feelings about the growing surge of internet media like Mp3 downloading. Do you think it is hurting your sales to a certain degree, or perhaps improving them, since it’s an easy way for people to hear a sample before they buy a CD. Did you support Metallica’s legal action against Napster?

I'm totally against Napster and all communities like that, even though I realize that is a good way to find new bands and all that. But let's face it. It will not improve sales in the end. Win some, lose a bit more. That's what I think. It would be ok to have samples on internet, but on form of real audio. Mp3 has way too good quality. Too often you are tempted not to buy actual album after you vacuumed the whole fucking works from internet for free. It's just not fair. If this goes so far, I can't make a living with this, I quit on the spot and world gets to live without my music.

What kind of music are you cranking in your player these days?

Nothing. I'm not listening music that much. I enjoy silence much more. I sometimes take and listen some new album I've never heard when I'm typing these e-mail interviews. But not now, because I'm mixing our forthcoming live album in Helsinki. 800km away from home... :( I hate hotels.

Thanks a lot for answering my questions! I wish you guys all the best as a band, do you have any closing remarks?

I really hope to be able to play there in North-America as sooooon as possible. But I'm pretty sure it's not before 2003. Rock on and Stay Heavy!!! Ok. Thanks and you're welcome.

In the wake of the recent “mellowing out” of ‘Speed’ Strid’s main band Soilwork, many fans were starting to get worried that the thrash had been lost in our fellow Soilworker. Well those fans can indeed rest assure that this is certainly not the case as Terror2000 get ready to release their sophomore album. Harsher and faster than before, Terror2000 take you on a thrash ride you will never forget. I had a chance to speak with the singer/bassist Bjorn Strid about the new record and possible future plans for the project. Read on...

Adam Block


First of all I would like to ask you how does it feel to be releasing a new Terror2000 record? I know for a while many people might have been thinking that you had softened up or something.

Well I guess Terror2000 is like a substitute for Soilwork. A way to get all the thrash stuff out of your head. The album is even faster than before. It’s even got more retro thrash influence like Kreator, Sodom, Slayer and stuff like that. So it’s a hell of a fast album with a lot of ripping riffs...

So a nice balancing act with the more melodic direction that Soilwork has taken...

Yea [laughs] exactly!

With each Terror2000 member dedicated to his respectful project, how difficult was it to get everybody back to do another record?

Well I guess it was pretty much the label that pushed us. (In a label exec. accent:) “Hey guys you gotta record another album.” and we went “Oh!” cause we had not thought of Terror2000 in a long time. We started to go down to the rehearsal room to see what we got with the riffs and stuff and try to pull songs together. I think it worked out pretty good cause we had received such an amazing response on the first one so we decided to do another one. I guess we wanted to be even faster than we were on the debut.

Doing new Soilwork and Terror2000 around the same time, did you have a moment where you just had the give the chords a rest for a couple days. I hear Devin worked you really hard on the new Soilwork album.

Yea that was very tough being in the studio with Devin I’ll tell you. Oh man! He pushed us to the very limit. I think we recorded the vocals for like 12 or 13 days and that’s like 5 days when my voice was totally fucked up and I couldn’t sing. I couldn’t sing a tone so I had to rest for like three days or something.

Did you do Terror2000 before or after you recorded the Soilwork one?

After... directly after actually because the day that I got the master of the Soilwork recording, we started to record the Terror2000 album. So that was a pretty tough time. Maybe it was a little too much I guess...

Well your new record is called "Faster Disaster". What would you say you went about differently when writing the music on this one as opposed to your debut?

Well I guess we wanted the album to be even more retro cause that was the whole idea for the first one. but it went out pretty 90s thrash I guess. It was pretty much At The Gates II, but when we started to write new material we wanted it to be more retro while putting a little bit more heavy metal into it, but keeping it very fast. I guess that was the thoughts about writing the new material. The previous one was pretty technical and it is still technical but more straight forward.

The artwork is incredible! Who came up with the idea for the cover art?

Well I guess I had some ideas to make a very ironic cover with racing stuff. You know... with the racing flag and all that stuff and I think it was me and Carlos sitting at his place drinking some Vodka trying to figure out a cool cover. The motorcycle was supposed to be the original cover, but this one is even better with the skeleton holding the flag and some burning tires on the back and I think racing is very suitable for thrash music. The lyrics are ironic with lots of mumbo jumbo stuff so it’s pretty cool.

So Nuclear Blast is releasing the record June 25th in the states. Did the fact that Soilwork is on the same label help to get this deal together?

Well I guess it started when we went to the Milwaukee Metal festival last year and I talked to Phillip about it from Nuclear Blast. He had heard the first album and liked it very much and we talked about it and he said that I should send the next album to him to check it out. I sent it to him and he liked it very much and they really wanted to put it out in the states so that’s how the deal came through.

Do you ever see you guys doing any touring as Terror2000 or do you think it is best to be left as a studio project?

I think we’re keeping it as a studio project because there isn’t too much time to tour with Terror2000 because of...

Darkane, The Defaced, Soilwork, Construcdead...

Yea exactly and I work part time and I have a girlfriend so I guess we will have to keep it as a studio project. It would be cool to do some gigs but I guess it is impossible. There is a pretty tough schedule for Soilwork this year.

I am curious to hear about some of the guests you have on the new album. Peter from Soilwork was telling me it was almost like Terror2000 with friends. Did this help to fuel a carefree and fun environment while in the studio?

Yea that was very cool to invite some friends into the studio for some guest solos and some guest vocals too. That was a pretty cool thing to do. As you probably know, Peter has a guest solo on the track 'I Am Speed At Night' and then we had Christofer of Darkane with a guest guitar solo on I think it was 'Back With Attack'. Henrik from The Defaced did some guest vocals on one of the tracks so there was a lot of people in the studio and when we had the listening session for the new Soilwork, all the journalists did some gang vocals in one of the songs. I guess there were like 30 people doing gang vocals so that was very cool.

What would you say was the main inspiration for some of these lyrics?

[laughs] I guess the main inspiration is alcohol... alcohol, racing... you know all that stuff... death and destruction... all that thrash is about. Those would definitely be key words for this album.

Do you see yourselves doing another record further down the road?

Well that’s hard to say. I guess we will busy with Soilwork for the next two years I hope. Hopefully we will get to tour a lot more. We will see in the future but there are no plans yet. We will see how the album goes and if we find any inspiration to make another album.

This year Megadeth, who were one of the leaders of the American thrash movement along with the now country trio Metallica, have announced their breakup. Has events like this along with the deaths of Chuck from Death and Paul Baloff from Exodus effected you as a metal fan in general?

Oh it is so terrible to hear all this stuff. There are a lot of metalheads who are dying. And I don’t know why there are a lot of singers dying. I hope it’s not all about the screaming vocals. That’s very sad to hear because Chuck was a great singer and a great guitarist too of course. I hope I will never get cancer...

What are some of the bands you are into right now and what are some you just would like to go away!?

I do not listen a lot to the new metal records at the moment. I am pretty much listening to old AC/DC vinyls like "High Voltage" and stuff like that. I still like the Opeth album. I listen to that album a lot and also the Dimmu Borgir album...

Aaaaaaaah...

Yea you like that one...

Hell yea... it is really fast and whenever I listen to it I feel like jumping into the walls and stuff!

Exactly, that is the same with me.

With bands like Dew-Scented, The Crown, and Carnal Forge gaining a massive underground following, do you feel thrash is making a comeback within the extreme metal community?

Well that is hard to say. Melodic metal seems to be very popular at the moment but I guess the thrash scene is growing. I have heard that Carnal Forge have received a lot of good response for their latest album and hopefully there will be a growing thrash scene like the one at the end of the 80s. That would be cool.

Well that is all I have for you now Speed. Any final words you would like to share with the Terror2000 fans reading this?

Well just check out the album cause it is even faster than before. That’s a good reason to buy it I guess (laughs). It is hard to say if we are doing any shows. I do not think so, but check out the album and I hope there will be a lot of Terror fans at the Soilwork shows so we can grab a few beers!

Official Terror2000 Domain