STUCK MOJO
SOUTHERN BORN KILLERS
Stuck Mojo are somewhat of a unique beast. Sure, the rap-Rock/Metal crossover thing has been done, and done to the extent that it’s pretty much burned itself out.. But noone has done it quite the way Stuck Mojo have done it, and for 10 years now.
And their new record opens a new chapter for the Atlanta Five-piece. They appear to be attempting to forge into some new territory on Southern Born Killers, and not just re-hash themselves and the rap-rock subgenre. And in general, it works very nicely. There are still some snarling, nasty heavy moments, but also some experimental flourishes as well. Check out ‘The Sky is Falling’, with it’s electronica and gothic keyboard overtones, and the spoken word ‘ For the Cause of Allah’, which has some radical things to say about politics and religion. ‘Open Season’ has an Indian/Middle Eastern feel over a fat heavy groove, with hip-hop vocals over the top! And it IS over the top! It probably shouldn’t work, but it does. And with some style, as well.
And when they’re not experimenting, they’re doing the rapped verse/melodic heavy Rock chorus thing extremely well. Plus rich Ward’s leads are brief, but make a strong statement. My only beef is ‘Yoko’ is a little on the dreary side, for such an ‘up’ band. Fortunately ‘Home’ brings it back on course.
It’s a sound that I’m sure would appeal to fans of both usually distinct and disparate genres. I’m sure you’d see long haired black t-shirted Rockers as well as blingy rappers at their shows. Southern Born Killers is an enjoyable and sometimes unusual ride.
(Riot) Rod Whitfield

THE AMENTA
NON
Non is a highly appropriate title for the newie from this Sydney Black Metal Industrial chaos merchants. It’s rare to hear such a nihilistic dirge in Metal, especially from an Aussie band. Being a massive fan of The Amenta’s first record ‘Occasus’ from 2004, I was breathless with anticipation for the follow up.
Does it match up with the debut? It’s not a question easily answered at all. Viewed in isolation, it is a work of art of monumental proportions. To keep such a noisy slab of cold Black Industrial mayhem interesting from start to finish would be an insanely difficult proposition, and they pull it off magnificently. It’s an album that makes in incredible impact on the ears and psyche of the listener, and leaves him/her feeling utterly devastated by the end. Especially closing cut ‘Rape’, which is about as powerful, intense and dramatic as can be imagined. It resembles the soundtrack of some crazy, massive budget Sci-Fi Horror picture!
Overall it stacks up incredibly well against Occasus. They have upped the noise factor of the sound, and in the only very minor disappointment of the record, slightly scaled back the symphonic nature of the first album. It’s difficult to imagine a darker or more extreme sound in ‘mainstream’ Metal. And once again the musicianship and production values are of a world standard.
Uninitiated listeners beware. This album will scare the bejeesus out of you! Which is of course the absolute intention. Non is an astounding achievement from these Aussie prodigies, and should garner them further worldwide recognition and success. Another Australian band has produced an album worthy of top 10 (at least!) for the year status.

(Stomp) Rod Whitfield

Bleeding Through
Declaration
Bleeding Through are one of those bands, love them or hate them they keep reinventing themselves and coming back every few years, with another masterpiece. The long awaited follow up to the 2006 hit ‘The Truth’ is finally upon us and packing more punches than Mike Tyson when saying goodnight to a lover. Declaration is the first album to feature Jona Weinhofen, the superstar former guitarist of Adelaide’s best export, I Killed the Prom Queen after the departure of founding member Scott Danough. The album slowly builds up til the first breakdown of the title track, at that point you want to go nuts and punch a baby or 2. Declaration is the mature album you’ve been expecting from Bleeding Through forever pretty much, they’re come so far as song writers but at the end of the day I feel that Bleeding Through is still trying to give the dying genre of metalcore a good name. They’re trying to show people that you can be heavy and not sound like everyone else in the genre. The weakest part of the CD is the breakdowns. Bleeding Through has shown a lot of diversity and originality, with clever orchestrations and influences of black and death metal. Lessening or even eliminating the generic breakdowns would make Declaration even stronger. Declaration will win over a lot of new fans for the band and make old fans happy but you have to ask, where do Bleeding Through go from here?

(Riot) Ryan Cooke

INTERVIEW:
WHITECHAPEL
‘This Is Exile’ has been very well received to date and it’s hitting all the charts. It seems a little bit more mature then ‘The Somatic Defilement,’ which one was more fun to work on for you?
This Is Exile was more fun because The Somatic Defilement was honestly just a collection of songs we had written since the band started, we got signed and went into the studio and recorded what we had. This Is Exile was written with a purpose over 2 months and we were really excited to being writing and recording our Metal Blade debut. It was a really exciting time for us.
How do you come up with some of these titles?
The song titles from ‘This Is Exile’ were all developed by Phil the singer. The song titles correlate with the concept of the album.
In your last CD, ‘The Somatic Defilement’ what kind of headspace do you have to be in to write something blood-and-guts death metal like that?
We just wanted to write the heaviest and darkest album possible. We had the mind set to just write the most brutal album possible.
You guys have only been around for 2 years You have already seen 2 major labels and toured with some great bands. This is an opportunity that a lot of bands don’t have. What do you guys credit all of your success to?
That’s a hard one to say really, we’ve really worked hard for everything we’ve gotten so I feel like we’ve definitely earned it, but at the same time I think we had some luck on our side too. I think the combination of us being in the right place at the right time with our hard work and determination got us where we are so fast.
Behemoth has those fans that have gotten tattoos and what they have done is compiled a bunch of photos and put them on their website, you’re doing the same?
Yeah if fans get a Whitechapel related tattoo we post the picture with their name and location on our Myspace. It’s just our little way of saying thank you for their die hard dedication to us and our music.
With three guitarists. How has that effected what you write and record, especially in terms of the live show?
We try to incorporate 3 guitar parts in our music as much as possible. Whether it be 2 guitars doing rhythm, 2 harmonizing a lead and 1 doing rhythm, or all 3 doing something different. I feel it really gives us our own unique sound and makes our live sound crushing.
The band name came from the infamous Whitechapel murders in London. Who do you think Jack The Ripper was? Have you done much research? Have you been to Whitechapel? Does Tennessee have any interesting mass murderers?
We aren’t really die hard into research the Jack The Ripper cases. We just thought the name had a cool meaning behind it and wanted something that was memorable and to the point. We haven’t been to Whitechapel yet but hopefully we will soon! And I don’t know of any Tennessee mass murders if there are any.
While on tour who is the biggest baby of the bunch and who is the biggest problem child?
I woud say Zach is the biggest baby, he complains about anything and everything hahaha. And Gabe is causes the most problems, mainly because he drinks the most and has a short temper haha.
How do you think your band differs from more old school death metal bands?
We incorporate a more modern sound that the younger crowd can get into with sing along parts and breakdowns and such. We just try to keep our music as heavy and energetic as possible so that fans of all ages can enjoy it.
What would you say are some of the biggest influences on your band?
Cannibal Corpse, Dying Fetus, Meshuggah, Slipknot, Behemoth, etc.
How does your hometown scene in Knoxville, Tenn. influence your band?
They’ve really helped us since day one. They’ve always been behind us and extremely supportive. Our local shows have went from 60 people when we first started to 700 when we played our last hometown headliner, so we always appreciate their support.
Have you been to Australia before, if not what do you know of the country if yes what are you looking forward to seeing again?
We’ve never been there before, and honestly I don’t know much about the country other than Kangaroos and good surf hahaha, so hopefully we’ll get to find out a lot more about the country while we are there.
Have Australian fans been corresponding with you?
Yeah we have a lot of Aussy fans interacting with us on our Myspace, so hopefully they all come out to the shows and hang out!
How would you describe your live show for someone who has never seen it?
Very fast and intense. We put as much energy as possible into our show and try to give our fans their moneys worth. Our live sound is very heavy and pummeling with the wall of guitars as well.
How do you think the internet will change the music world?
I think it’s already changed it a lot, but I think it helps musicians more than it hurts them. We have a lot of Aussy fans that will be coming to our shows when we come over because they’ve heard of us through the internet. If it wasn’t for the internet we probably would come over and no one would come to our shows because no one would know who we are hahaha.