Known for his ferocious pummeling of the skins, SURYA PUN (Born 5th July, 1991) is without a doubt one of the best metal drummers active in the scene today. He is best known for his work with the influential black metal band Antim Grahan. Apart from that, he is also involved with the death metal band, Define Mental. In the past, he has also played with technical death metal band Bitter Euphemism and played live for black metal band Garudh in a couple of gigs.

Surya joined Antim Grahan in early 2009 and played his first concert for the band during Butwal Tour along with Vhumi. Since then, he has established himself has a formidable member of the band and a premier metal drummer overall. Along with playing in several concerts for Define Mental and Antim Grahan, he also boasts two full length albums ‘The Ruin of Immortals’ and ‘Putrefaction Eternity’ under his belt. Currently, he is working on creating more songs for a yet another Antim Grahan album.

Surya is a self taught drummer and can also play other instruments like flute, keyboard, madal and guitar. He cites Allan Shrestha (Cruentus), George Kollias (Nile), late Vitek (Decapitated) and John Longstreth (Origin) as major influences.

Here Surya shares the five records that changed his life forever.

1. CRUENTUS – “ASANTUSTA AATMA”

When it comes to life changing bands, a must-mention for me would be Cruentus, in that they not only amazed me with their music but literally encouraged me to get into the scene. ‘Rockheads 2005′ was the first time I got a chance to see all the talented musicians of that time, including Cruentus. The powerful dual growls, the heavy and raw guitar tones, and the brilliant drumming skills easily made them one of the tightest live bands I’d ever seen. Soon enough, I purchased the album “Asantusta Aatma” which right away blew my mind. You can imagine the influence Cruentus created in the mind of an 8th grader who was starting to grow a huge interest towards the metal genre and the local scene. I started learning their songs in my guitar and jam along with my friends. Allan Shrestha’s incredible drumming during the live shows was also a key factor that fascinated me towards playing drums. I really respect them as musicians and still have very much to learn from them. Kudos to Cruentus!

2. CRYPTOPSY – “NONE SO VILE”

This was the first album that got me into death metal, and it later made paved my way into more of the technical and brutal death metal bands. One of the craziest high pitched screams/deep guttural growl combo, powerful low pitched sick technical /heavy /catchy /groovy guitars riffs, backed up by a tight rhythm section with well written/recorded bass lines and brutal drumming with intense hyperblasts and fills makes this a very tight album and perfectly defines the term “Death Metal”. I credit “None so Vile” for making death metal one of my favorite genres to listen and to play.

3. SIKTH – “THE TREES ARE DEAD & DRIED OUT WAIT FOR SOMETHING WILD”

Sikth is one band that hit me really hard on my way of exploring new bands. They were nothing like I’ve ever heard before. The dual vocal attacks, intense guitar riffs, technical drumming, and beautifully written bass lines grabbed my attention on the first spin. Sikth broke all the barriers and took music to a whole new level. Justin Hill and Mikee W. Goodman singing back and forth (doing different “character voices” if you will) and creating an ambient atmosphere makes it a totally unique album. Pin and Dan Weller’s incredibly complex riffs with odd timings and difficult picking patterns backed up by brilliant flavorful fills and rapidly changing styles of James Leach on the bass and Dan Ford on drums provided me with a whole new listening experience. The whole album is nothing short of immense, and every member is on top of their game, going above and beyond what is “normally” required. They truly redefined heavy music and took it to a new level.

4. FREDRIK THORDENDAL’S SPECIAL DEFECTS – “SOL NIGER WITHIN”

Soon I began inclining more towards technical metal, and Meshuggah was responsible for infusing the “Djent” love in me. I am a huge Meshuggah/ ‘Djent’ fan, Which further lead me the way to this album – that curiosity to experience ‘the usual Meshuggah sound’. Finally I got to listen to it, and “weird” is a perfect word to describe my opinion on the first listen of this album. It took a while for me to get used to this record, and once it did this album changed my approach/perspective towards music. The metal/jazz fusion elements with unusual ‘psychonaught’ vocals and usual Meshuggah type math-riffs makes this album one of the must interesting and crazy thing to listen to. On top of that, Morgen Agren’s otherworldly drumming takes you far ahead than the average, and even makes you confused and puzzled at times. This album is said to be for musicians not listeners. “If you are a drummer this album is must. If you are musician, this album is for you”. Explore!

5. A PERFECT CIRCLE – “THIRTEENTH STEP”

And last on this list would be A Perfect Circle. It really is very different from what I usually listen/play, but nonetheless equally special for me and hence influences me on its own ways. I personally think ‘Thirteenth Step’ is a masterpiece as it shows a certain point of maturity, both musically as well as lyrically. It’s basically a concept album that relates to addiction to anything, I reckon. It is a kind of album that requires a few listens to like it, a few more to love it, and then some more to get you totally hooked onto. Throughout the album, we see musical variations in songs like ‘The Outsider’, ‘Pet’, and the likes of ‘Gravity’ and ‘The Noose’, but the theme of the album remains unharmed and unchanged. No doubt, its one of most addictive albums I’ve listened to in years.

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Interview appears on ktmROCKS E-mag Issue 9 “Drummers Special”.
Click the link to download the complete E-mag.
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?iwry5u6l8wtt163

If you are a death metal fan and you haven’t heard Malevolent Creation – you are not a death metal listener at all. We have been honored to conduct this interview with lead guitarist for death metal legend Malevolent Creation Gio Gerace, who was generous enough to reply the questions even though he was in the middle of Malevolent Creation tour. A big thanks to Brijraj Thapa (Cruentus vocalist) for making this interview happen. Here’s a brief interview done by Umes Shrestha.

ktmROCKS: Hi Gio, Malevolent Creation fucking rules. All hails from Kathmandu. Would you care to share us what’s the band currently up to?

Gio Geraca: Not much, we’ve been just been touring and I’m also writing new songs for my other band The Evil Amidst and promoting a new guitar string company called Blackstorm Coils, where I work.

k: How long have you been involved with MC? Did you ever imagine you would be playing with this band, wielding axe along the side with Phil Fasciana?

G: Yeah man, it’s been a cool experience. I’ve known Phil for a long time so it was quite natural that we started playing together. I’ve been in the band for about 4 years now.

k: How much were you involved during the writing of the 2010 album “Invidious Dominion”?

G: I wrote two songs and all the solos on that album, it was a fucking blast.

k: How is it working with Phil Fasciana (founding guitarist)?

Haha, Phil’s a trip man., dude’s got a big heart and bigger liver.

k: So do you have any plans for a new MC album?

G: No plans yet, there’s stil a lot more tours coming up for Invidious Dominion promotion.

k: You guys are located in Florida, which is considered the Mecca for death metal with so many legendary DM bands (Deicide, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel and Obituary) originating from this scene. How’s the scene right now over all?

G: Shit man it’s bigger than ever. I mean, all those bands are touring non stop right now. It was fun growing up in that scene back then, everyone hated us and we loved that.

k: Any favorite ‘new’ death metal bands from Florida scene?

G: New? No, I like the old stuff.

k: Apparently, the band supports “Metalheads against Racism” action – what does it mean?

G: Well, nothing much to say, its just that no one in this band is racist.

k: Tell us about some of the other bands you have worked with, before joining MC.

G: Hmm Monstrosity, Hell Witch, Wykked Wytch and lots of projects.

k: You also play in MC’s alter-ego band HatePlow? How is it different, playing wise, in two the bands?

G: No, I’m not really in that band, just doing some studio stuff maybe.

k: Is there any chance of recording new HatePlow album any soon?

G: I think soon. Phil’s in the writing stages now. I can tell you that Derick Roddy will be playin drums on it.

k: That’s an awesome news. Tell us, what’s the best thing about being in the band like MC and HP?

G: Hanging with my bros and playing the old songs I grew up listening.

k: Who are favorite guitarists of all times?

They are Chuck Schuldiner, Alex Scholnick and Yngwie Malmsteen.

k: Are you endorsed with any guitar?

G: Yes, I’m endorsed by Jackson, Fernandez.

k: When you are not touring with the bands and not recording music, what do you normally do?

Bartend with my buddy Brij..lol. Well besides hanging with my wife, I just stay busy with my other band The Evil Amidst. I am also working for the best guitar string company out there, check them out at www.blackstormcoils.com.

k: Well, thanks Gio for the reply despite being in the middle of the tour. Hope to hear new stuffs from your bands.

(Photos: Internet)

Grindcore means Napalm Death. Period.

Not only did the band pioneer the grindcore genre during the mid 80s, but by the start of 90s, it also defined and redefined the genre by incorporating hardcore punk, thrash and death metal elements. After almost 30 years, 14 studio albums and numerous EPs and splits, Napalm Death still maintains the cult status and daunting respect and still is one of the best in grindcore world.

This is an interview with Mark “Barney” Greenway – perhaps grindcore’s one of the most recognizable figures – a leader, frontman and vocalist, done by Umes Shrestha on behalf of ktmROCKS.

ktmROCKS: Hi, this is such an honor to be able to interview you on behalf of all Napalm Death fans in Nepal. Thank you so much for your time.

Barney: The pleasure is all mine.

k: To start with, when is the new album due?

B: Well, it was meant to be this year, but we ended up with so much material that it took a lot longer than expected. With everything required for that, it wasn’t possible to get together in time the other things required aside from the actual music. It will be delayed now until early next year, but, really, it’s not a big deal. It’s not as if Napalm is ever really inactive – there’s plenty to be getting on with.

k: Since the 2005 “The Code is Red “album, Napalm Death has evidently embraced its earlier grindcore sound. Does this mean Napalm Death will now stop experimenting? Like for an instance in “Diatribes”.

B: There are always smaller elements of many different sounds on any Napalm album right up until the present time. Maybe you didn’t listen that closely, but there are definitely other non-traditional grindcore elements in there from “Code…” onwards. For example, there are alternative influences from bands like Swans and Slab and many other things. So, we are definitely still experimenting whilst maintaining that the core sound of the band (fast and furious) in definitely the main thrust of anything we wish to do.

k: Which bands/artists have been significantly influenced you as of late?

B: There is a lot of really intense and interesting fast music out there – mainly fast hardcore – a lot of it seemingly coming from the USA and, generally, across Australasia. So that definitely has a big influence on me in terms of trying to keep Napalm on its toes! I couldn’t really be that specific with band names though, as there’s too many to remember! Sorry if that sounds a bit vague.

k: Do you keep in touch with any current grindcore bands? Or share your experience in this genre of music etc.?

B: There’s Extortion from Australia who I’m in semi-regular contact with. We met a couple of Australian tours ago, as they were supporting us and just blew me away. You have to hear them if you’re a fan of super-energetic, uncontrolled, catchy hardcore such as Infest / Deepwound / Siege / S.O.B.
Other than that, it might sound a bit strange, but it has been quite some time since I last sat around and actually listened to music in any form. I need to be kicked into action again by some exciting bands!

k: You have also written reviews on progressive music for Kerrang! What aspects of progressive music do you actually like? Any progressive bands that you listen to?

B: Yeah, I kind of just fell into that music journalism thing. I don’t do it now because I kind of woke up one morning and didn’t feel comfortable saying negative things anymore about other bands. Specifically on the progressive thing, I like a few bands here and there, which can range from anything from early Genesis to Dream Theater to Isis or Botch or Dillinger Escape Plan. ‘Progressive’ is such a loose term that it could mean a number of things.

k: Has Napalm Death integrated elements of progressive music?

B: Well, if you take the genre to have a wide scope as I just mentioned, then you could say that bands from Repulsion to Celtic frost to Slab or Swans that influenced the Napalm sound were all progressive – highly influential bands that significantly moved forward the sounds of respective genres. But if you’re asking if we’re influenced by Yes’s ‘Fragile’ album or something like that, I would wonder perhaps if you were drunk when you wrote the questions. Haha!

k: You guys have been a 4-piece band for around 7 or 8 years now. Do you miss the presence of Jesse Pintado while playing live?

We miss Jesse as a person of course, but Mitch proved he could handle very well the approach of the two guitarists live. It was a situation we had to adapt ourselves to through necessity at first because Jesse was not turning up for shows / recordings intermittently while he was still technically a member of the band. Once we’d settled into that situation and Jesse was eventually asked to leave the band, we then kind of came to the decision that we were quite settled as four people together, so it didn’t seem practical to bring a fifth person into that to have to get used to our bullshit ha ha!

k: Is there any particular Napalm Death line up or era that you love the most?

B: That’s a slightly awkward question for someone that’s in the band…well, I suppose the only thing I could say is that Napalm Death was my favourite band before I joined, so I liked every era of the band back to the early days. I couldn’t really pick a favourite – they were all enjoyable in their own ways.

k: Are you guys in contact with the original ND members? Have they had any feedback regarding how the band is doing now?

B: We see people like Nick Bullen, Justin Broadrick or Lee Dorrian occasionally – usually by accident or coincidence or the odd occasion when our bands are playing together – and they’re old friends. I would suppose they just pick information up on the internet or general scene grapevine, assuming they’re even interested. It’s not too difficult to get hold of stuff, as you know. But of course I can’t read their minds, so couldn’t say for sure. Ha!

k: How has been your personal relationship with former Napalm Death members, especially with former drummer Mick Harris?

B: Just like any other friends, we get on fine. There’s no jealousy or bitterness or anything like that as far as I am aware. Life is surely too short for that. Mick Harris is the slight exception in that me and Mick just didn’t have any reason to meet for quite some years – we went in quite different directions in what we were doing. I said and did a few stupid things directly after Mick left, not because I hated him or anything (I find hating illogical and a waste of time), but just because I was pissed off. Seeing him again for the first time only a few weeks ago though on a flight to Estonia, that made my day. It was really nice to chat with Mick, especially as we were such close friends at one time.

k: Since Napalm Death is vigorously touring most of the times, how do you manage your commitment towards the band and your personal life?

B: Currently we’re not doing elongated touring as much as what we did, say, ten years ago. It’s not because people have disowned Napalm Death or anything, but just because people in general are a bit more selective about going to see gigs these days. The festival season seems to be all-year-round now in Europe especially, so people would rather see 20 bands in one place than 5 bands here or there. This means you can’t do two or three multiple-week tours over in Europe any more per year, which in turn means we tend to fly in for a couple of gig days a week and perhaps have the rest of time at home to deal with personal stuff. That said, we’ve always been a band to trek across the wider world, so there are always lots of possibilities to tear ourselves away from our personal lives in blocks of time. Everybody needs time to themselves and space to breathe, and I don’t feel that I lack that yet, so there’s not too much of a problem balancing band and personal life.

k: Do you have any favorite gig that Napalm Death ever played?

B: I try to make the most of every gig I play, but perhaps being the first band to independently play Russia (when still the Soviet Union) – and the 2 nights of thousands of people at the Moscow ice hockey stadium – was pretty unique. And fairly historic when you think about it.

k: Any band you’d pick as your favorite that Napalm Death has toured with?

B: We played a few shows here and there with Motörhead, so as they were kind of the band who started extreme music for me back in the classic three-piece era, they would be my favourite by default. But the most fun, laugh-out-loud times we’ve had I would say was sharing touring transport with Sick Of It All and another time with Sheer Terror.  We played a lot of childish games on those tours, and it really bought home about the freedom of touring in bands and not taking it for granted. Similarly, having At The Gates supporting in the mid-nineties was also good, stupid fun.

k: Are you a part of any other project apart from Napalm Death?

B: If you’re talking musically, no, I don’t have the time to commit to another project to try and come up with anything of quality. I’m not really motivated to at the moment either and Napalm keeps me occupied. I may do in the future though, you never know.

k: Just out of curiosity, could you tell us – how does Shane Embury manage to work on so many projects and still give time for Napalm Death?

B: You would have to ask Shane that to get right inside his head, but he knows that Napalm is the main thing, so he deals with everything else accordingly. He gushes with ideas for many different things, so good luck to him.

k: Okay, I suppose you write the lyrics for the band. Tell us what influences your lyrics the most?

Literally my own human instincts, senses and reactions. I do enjoy and take some cues from bands like Crass and Discharge, but if you think about it, it’s kind of a falsehood and a nonsense to directly lift other people’s opinions and feelings, even if they might run somewhat parallel. Subject matter I generally cover is the lack of humanity and inequalities that continue to blight the humanrace. We still don’t fully realize that it’s unacceptable that some are allowed to thrive and prosper at the expense of others.

k: Well, Polish death metal giants VADER is playing in Kathmandu (Nepal) this October, would you guys consider coming down and play for your fans here?

Absolutely. Anybody interested in bringing us should get in touch with MAD tour booking through http://www.mad-tourbooking.de
We’re usually the band who makes into places before anybody else, so we’d be somewhat envious that Vader made it in first! Ha ha!

k: Any message for Napalm Death fans in Nepal?

We’ll see you soon hopefully. Thanks for thinking of us and hopefully we’ll be able to see you soon. The thought of playing in Nepal is fascinating to me. It seems like it’s a very unique and curious place in that part of the world.

k: Thank you once again for your time. This has been an absolute honour, cheers!

B: All the best, my friend. Peace and love.

[Photos: Internet]