I love ‘Grey Skies & Electric Light’. It was my favorite album as of the original interview on 2012Mar29, and is still frontrunner six weeks later. Death always weighs heavy with Woods of Ypres, and the loss of founder David Gold brings a bitter denouement, as the music still rings sweet stabs every time. Much of this perfection was honed because of Joel Violette himself, and we speak at length about the development of ‘Woods 5′, straighten out confusion behind the various release dates and track listings, explore many memories of David (including his myriad looks through the years), and touch on Joel’s other project, Thrawsunblat, which he describes as “raw black melodic folk metal with a Atlantic Canadian twist”. We bookend with some of the new album—beginning with “Lightning and Snow” and concluding with “Kiss My Ashes Goodbye”.

The Buffalo bonecrushers are out for even more tympanic ‘Torture’, and we’re pushing as deep as the knife will go with bassist/co-founder Alex Webster …then driving past the hilt. There’s a lot about movies, a little about zombies, early misogyny clarification, layers peeled back about their latest work, and how they perpetuate the juggernaut of Cannibal Corpse.

I was recently graced with the opportunity to interview Nornagest—the frontman of Enthroned, a band that has been around since the early ’90s. I can still remember my first time listening to them. It was on the Burlington waterfront, and I had just bought 1997′s Towards The ‘Skullthrone Of Satan’ on CD at Disc-Go-Round. It wasn’t my first time hearing black metal, but it was definitely the point where I said to myself: “Holy shit, this stuff is real.”

I learned a lot about both he and C.O.C. through this interview: we both saw Metallica as our first major concert; Reed was straight-edge for thirty-four years; sometimes catering costs $20,000; and his dad was birthed in Burlington, Vermont—where I’ve lived and worked since 2000.

Neige is the mind behind Alcest—a French band birthed in black metal, but whose wings have broadened beyond its fledgeling origins. Read about the personal vessel that is Alcest, how significant is nostalgia through his creation, and the development of ‘Les Voyages de l’Âme’.

Yeah, that’s a bald-faced lie… but everything else in this interview is wicked sincere. Through harrowing tribulation and self-discovery, Selim feels his work now serves a higher purpose. Read about this evolution, the doctrines of Satanism that interest him, what it means to express himself through music, and true feelings about egocentrism and occult rock poseurs.

Hear about recording with Kurt Ballou this latest time around; the influence from touring with bands like High on Fire and The Sword; Jason’s reaction to comparing their song “Abyss” with “Wishlist” by Pearl Jam; and finally—favorite action sequence from a movie!

So it’s blackened Southern bluesy sludge by a bunch of French dudes? I know everyone lately opens with similar description, but if you’ve heard Glorior Belli, the badassery is obvious. After a full opening of “Dark Gnosis” from ‘The Great Southern Darkness’ and a bad joke from me, we get FULL-ON deep regarding their obscure name and origins, the underlying thread between Scandinavia and the Mississippi Delta, and how Julien channels his beliefs through the music. Then, just to reel it back a bit… questions about booze.

This is a written, slightly abbreviated phone interview I had with Heri Joensen of Týr on May 15th 2011 to speak about the band and more specifically their upcoming album “The Lay of Thrym”. He was super polite, intelligent, and interesting to interview, and I feel privileged that I got the opportunity to speak with him.

This music is lethal, infectious as myeloma, and already has a reserved slot on my Best of 2011 list. If your knowledge was spotty like mine, listen to their origins with previous band Usurper, and details on their recording style with producer Sanford Parker. Hear complete sneak previews of “March of the Dead” from their eponymous debut (which continues behind our conversation) and “Lonely Death” to conclude.