Drones For Queens---welcome to the riff-hive

This is a Philly-based band that's building a strong reputation the tried and true (but also very hard) way, playing shows all over the east coast and leaving only debris behind them. Drones For Queens play a grinding and dissonant form of metal with a variety of influences, only some of which are detailed below. The band includes Shane Madden (currently second guitar in Sovereign, formerly in Woe, etc.) and brother Evan (also ex-Woe, among many others) on drums. Here's what guitarist/vocalist Shane had to say:

Are there particular bands or styles that influenced the songs on the new EP?

Most of it was written over a year ago so I'm honestly a little hazy on what I was listening to heavily at the time. Probably some Complete Failure, His Hero is Gone, Mouth Sewn Shut but I can't say those are direct influences on the EP in a conscious way. From the beginning of this band we've been inspired by The Crown, Impaled Nazarene, and Burnt By the Sun to name a few. We try to let the songs develop over time, staying in the realm of whatever we consider to be a Drones for Queens song, but also not chasing just one specific sound or influence.

What have been the best and worst parts of touring the U.S. of A. in 2015?

Touring really rips, man. We've been working towards doing more of it. For the first three years the band existed we were living in 2 different states a few hours apart. Now we're all in the Philly area so things have become easier logistically with playing live locally and traveling when we can. We just did a quick 2-show weekend and we're headed out for 3 shows in August including our first shows in Canada. Touring can present challenges but the highs hopefully always outweigh any lows.

What have been the best and worst parts of touring the U.S. of A. in 2015?

I think the only band we've played with more than once this year is Die Choking. They're absolutely sick as well as being good dudes and total professionals. Night Raids are always awesome to see. We were just introduced to Pathogenesis from North Carolina. They played up here in Philly and we happened to play with them in Atlanta shortly afterwards and are hoping to see more of them in the future.

Are you working on material for a release in the near future?

Yeah the next step is a full length. We have been writing for a few months and just started to test some of it out live. That will continue through the fall and we'll have something out in 2016.

Thanks for doing an interview with us. Feel free to give a shout-out if you're feeling one...

Thank you man! 

Occult 45---puking in an alley near you

When a band's 7-inch artwork immediately pulls you in, the music usually turns

out to be great. Jan Ghostlord Tyrant's art for this record is like if Grief's 

Eric Harrison did art direction for Superjail. And the music is a skin-flaying

torture device meant to bludgeon pathetic scum like you. Each song on the band's

longest release to date is a loathsome war-machine that refuses to slow down.

Unless mongo-violence jams and razor-wire punk riffs count. This band's idea

of progress is to dig in their heels, entrench, and imbibe. I sent the members

some questions about getting into my local "Hellfire Club" and if they had

any tips on removing goat's blood from taupe drapes.

Was there a particular theme you were

drawing from for inspiration on this

release?

John: The title Human Abhorrence kind of speaks for itself, but generally speaking just a negative feeling towards most people that we have to live with on this planet.

Biggest influences on the direction of the band, musical or otherwise?

Dean: The Melvins, Napalm Death, Anxiety Hangovers.

John: James Brown, Santuccis, Napalm Death, Allen Iverson, Kiss.

Favorite band to play a show with?

John: We've had the pleasure of playing with so many rad bands on the east coast, but nothing beats playing with Ramlord every night on our tour that we did together. Those guys are air tight and never let up. A perfect blend of angst and emotion that is hard to re-create.

Chances we'll see an Occult 45 full-length?

Dean: You will, just a matter of when. I'd bet sooner than later. However we have a tape split with Hivelords, that should be out before the end of July, and a 7-inch split in the works with Ground from New Jersey. 

Favorite record you've heard this year (individually or otherwise)?

Dean: Fight Amp - Constantly Off, Ghast - Dread Doom Ruin, MTHR - Howl  

John: Primitive Man - Home Is Where The Hatred Is, Goatsnake - Black Age Blues, Outer Heaven - Diabolus Vobiscum

Thanks for your time. Feel free to leave a

message for the official fan club members who paid extra for one.

Dean: All y'all rockers out talking that grind shit, but can't write a riff. Stop fakin' the funk. Get your L's up. Get em up.

MOROS---have a shit life

With a name like Life Assisted Suicide, it's hard not to think of good old Dr. Jack Kevorkian, flaunting man's mortality like a festering boil on a stripper's exposed leg. The self-exterminating blow in question this time, however, is the soul-squishing march of our day-to-day reality. Philly's Moros drain the boil with rumbling doses of Sludge'n'Roll and bitter violence from the gut of guitarist/vocalist J.D. I don't reference certain bands lightly when describing a new band's sound, but Grief, Iron Monkey, and Graves At Sea are fondly brought to mind here. Mortality comes to a halt at a mid-paced stomp. I exchanged questions for answers with the dudes to find out how all this came about (to end painfully).

Since this is your first authorized interview, give us the basics: how did the band come together and what influences the sound (musical or otherwise)?

Jason: Moros evolved from John and I (who play together under different roles in Occult 45) trading riffs and working on some ideas over the last couple years. We kinda always knew we wanted to start another project with each other but not until we approached Drew did it catch much traction. Personally my influences, especially for this e.p., are a mid-winter post-surgery opiate binge,  busting my balls in a 130 degree kitchen, watching my neighborhood go from working class drug and hooker ghetto to white bread consumer utopia with hookers and drugs, and also not being a terribly good guitar player. I certainly listened to a lot of COFFINS, NOOTHGRUSH, GRIEF, AC/DC, MELVINS, and of course EYEHATEGOD to catch inspiration. Also, just to be generic, weed!

John: Strangely enough, we started writing songs that were supposed to come together as a Bone Awl worship band. It sounded ok, but one practice we just slowed everything down and dialed back some distortion and SWISH!

Your second show was opening up for Krieg and the newly reactivated Unearthly Trance. How was the response to your set?

Jason: Good...maybe not loud enough. We're gonna work on that part aggressively.

John: They warned us beforehand that we might wake up the neighbors or some shit. I thought we were well-perceived, but the lights were so fuckin bright I couldn't see a thing.

What's next as far as recording or shows?

Jason: October will see us in Binghamton, NY (Oct 2), Providence, RI (Oct 3), and New Brunswick, (Oct 4), and we will be playing Detest Fest here in Philly October 25th. As far as whats next for new music we already have a hand full of songs and riffs we're working on and have plans to do a split that we are very excited about that we will announce in the near future!

How did you decide on the perfect nihilism that is the title, Life Assisted Suicide?

Jason: Humanity is dumb enough to think it's invincible, we salute and praise commercial and material triumphs as human progress but still don't respect each other and aren't willing to help each other thrive. We can't help our selves, because our own life is too important in the moment, but when you die nobody is really gonna fucking care that much, and it was probably your own fucking fault anyway so fuck off. The song and title encompass those feelings to me.

In closing, your favorite reminder that humanity is an open sore on the planet?

Jason: Riding public transportation in Philly is a pretty easy one.

Thanks for your time.

Interview with Sovereign (PA hardcore/d-beat)

Lansdale, PA's Sovereign have been on a tear in recent months. Gaining steam from the

autumn 2014 release of their debut album "The World Takes" and a recent split with

Syracuse's Bleak, their newest release is a two-song EP titled "Heretic". Sovereign's music is

gritty and ferocious d-beat hardcore in the vein of Perth Express, Tragedy, Cursed and

Momentum. Every riff hits like a freight train (protip: Sovereign love trains) and takes no

prisoners. I  sat down (behind a computer) and sent nine questions their way. Here's what

vocalist/lyricist Danny had to say:

Since this may end up being the band's first official interview, let's start from the beginning.

How did Sovereign get started?

I had been playing guitar for a metal band for a while, but really wanted to play music that was

aggressive and more to the point. Add to that the fact that I have done some pretty heinous shit to my

hands doing jiu jitsu, and singing just seemed like the best option. I put up a facebook status, and

Trevor (drums), Ross (bass), and our dink original guitarist replied.  We didn't really play out much,

but that ended quickly after we had our first lineup change.

Bring us up to speed on the current members and your new second, but by no 

means secondary, guitarist Shane Madden.

Well, you summed it up. We've had two other guitarists that aren't part of the band any more.

Brian, our first guitarist, quit in a pretty shitty way, and Taylor just wasn't a good fit for the band.

After Brian quit, Jeremy got in touch with me and learned our whole Mouthbreather EP in all of a

day, and then we wrote a song with him the very next practice. He pretty much saved the band. With

Jeremy we built up a lot of momentum, and he is responsible for 98 percent of our songwriting so far.

Shane got in touch with me when he heard we were looking for a second guitarist, and worked really

hard with Jeremy to get up to speed. I’d always been a huge fan of the bands Shane was in, so it was

really cool that he wanted to take part in Sovereign. I was all about him joining the second the idea

was proposed.

How much has the direction of the band changed since its inception?

Well, I actually wrote a fair amount of the early riffs that became Mouthbreather, and when we

started, we really didn't have a unified sound. We kinda just threw shit against the wall, and whatever

stuck, stuck. I knew I wanted to do a hardcore band, but I don’t really like a lot of what falls under

that umbrella, so we kind of wrote stuff that was on the fringes of that with Mouthbreather. Now,

we've definitely moved in a more d-beat/crust direction, which is really what I was hoping for from

the beginning. We still have some hardcore cliches like moshy parts or whatever, but I don’t really

see us as very similar to most hardcore bands going now, if for no other reason but I really enjoy the

kind of stuff we play. Trevor and Jeremy really steer the ship musically and they trust me enough to

handle the lyrics and vocal patterns. So far, I haven’t let them down. I have used some ideas Jeremy

had for lyrics, and that Trevor had for vocal patterns. It just doesn't happen very often. As a band,

we’re really great at our “assigned jobs”. Jeremy drives literally everywhere and writes most of the

riffs, Ross promotes and books like a motherfucker, Trevor does a lot of our graphic design and is the

glue for song writing so to speak, Shane’s job is being new for right now, and mine is all contract

related nonsense, and yelling at people.

Name some of your influences and inspirations, musical or otherwise.

In Sovereign, I definitely take a lot of influence musically from Chris Colohan of Cursed/The

Swarm/Left For Dead/a million other bands, Todd Burdette of Tragedy/His Hero is Gone, Alex TC

from Fall of Efrafa/Light Bearer/Momentum, and lately, Primitive Man has definitely influenced my

vocals.  I listen to a wide variety of shit from weirdo Black Metal to Katy Perry, almost obsessively,

so I definitely have ideas that come from a wide variety of places. However, we aren't an

experimental band or whatever, so all of my ideas are built within the “parameters” of Sovereign. I

enjoy a lot of books, comics, television and movies, but from those I take the sense of mood if

anything. Specifically, True Detective and Black Mirror are two things I watched that really drew me

in. If I can create a sonic embodiment of the shitty feelings you get from watching that stuff, that’d be

awesome.  Themes of alienation and true horror (not some cheese-dick zombie shit) seem to really

appeal to me, and I've always loved Kafka, so I can see that a bit in my own writing. I’m just not even

close to as talented. Maybe one day, I’ll be in a different place mentally and start spouting Vonnegut-

like whimsical lyrics, but for now, not happening. I can’t really say anyone’s lyrics are a big

influence on me. I think I've spent so much time listening to foreign bands, that lyrics go in one ear

and out the other for the most part anymore. Aesthetically, I really love how Blut aus Nord has a lot

of esoteric imagery coupled with their music. The 777 trilogy is indicative of such great care and

thought put behind it, and they’re one of my favorite bands ever too. Lyrically, I find that most of my

inspiration comes from my daily interactions with people, as well as my career. I’m not the most

optimistic person and it shows. I’ll leave it at that. I don’t really have any strong political stances to

sing about, so perhaps my lyrics seem a bit unsophisticated and inwardly focused, but they’re honest.

I don’t write a thing for its impact on anyone else.

How did your recent Converse Rubber Tracks studio session come about and what was the

experience like?

Jeremy made that whole thing happen. He applied, sent in the Bleak split, and we got accepted

pretty quickly. It was an amazing experience, and the closest I've ever felt to a “professional”

musician. I highly recommend it to anyone. The staff we dealt with were all really cool, and we got

free shoes. Who doesn't love free shoes?

If you could play a show with any five band lineup, who would make up the other four bands and who would close out the show?

Cult of Luna would headline, preceded by Blut aus Nord, His Hero is Gone, Fall of Efrafa/

Light Bearer split set, then us. I’d probably want to play like 3 songs and then just sit there in

amazement the whole time.

The digital release date for your new EP "Heretic" was yesterday (March 10th). Is there a

basic theme tying the songs together?

No, not really. 'Mictlan' is actually about the Aztec ritual of eating the heart of their fallen

enemies in combat. I just like the imagery attached to that. 'Kvlt Story Bro', while making fun of

black metal a bit in the title, is really just me being a bummer the whole time over some really cool

noise rock sounding riffs. I chose the title "Heretic" more for how it ties into my philosophy as a

human being as opposed to these specific songs. A heretic is a label that gets thrown on people who

don't follow or believe in established religious conventions, and that’s definitely one thread

running through a lot of Sovereign’s lyrics. I’m not so into those things myself, so I talk about

that from time to time.

Syracuse's Bleak have joined you on several weekend tours and shows. How did that relationship come about?

In my precious little spare time, one of the things I do is run Dullest Records. We had the

pleasure of working with a black metal band from Syracuse called Ebony Sorrow, whose front man

John Bukowski bridged that connection. John is seriously one of the nicest and best people in the

world, so when he said he had friends who wanted to trade shows with us, I was all about it before

even meeting Bleak. Now that we've played a billion shows together, I fucking love those dudes.

Hell, I love the dudes those dudes get to fill in for them when they can’t play an out of town show.

Bleak are the hardest working and heaviest fucking band around right now, and I could spend a

whole interview plugging them honestly. Playing with them pushes me to step my game up, and I

love that.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Thanks to you, Zach, for this interview, and your support on numerous occasions. Thanks to Jon

Moran and Downgrade Records, John Bowes for a million merch related favors, and to him and Dave

Heck also for giving us a place to practice, thanks to every band we've played with, especially

Dysphoria, Bleak, Pillars of Villainy, Oldbones, and LRS records for putting the Bleak split out on

pretty vinyl for us. Thanks to anyone who has supported us in any way.

Thanks to Danny for his time. Keep an eye out for new Sovereign material and shows in your vicinity.