Tag Archives: drummer

An Interview With Mitch Hull of SOFTEN THE GLARE!

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Mitch Hull is a drummer based in North Carolina whose musical resume includes everything from metal to country. Currently, he’s one of the busiest musicians out there – playing with everyone from unknowns to legends (Ryan Martinie & Bon Lozaga in their new band Soften the Glare). To meet Mitch, you’ll immediately find a friendly, kind, unassuming guy, yet within a few minutes of conversation, discover that he’s had a pretty enviable career (and, even had a hand in starting one for a now well-known recording engineer). STG’s highly anticipated first album, ‘Making Faces‘, is set to release Spring of 2017.

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SOILWORK Announces 25-Year-Old BASTIAN THUSGAARD as Permanent Drummer

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Photo Credit: Marc Duvollet

It was well publicized last year, when Soilwork’s drummer of twelve years – Dirk Verbeuren – departed from the Swedish melodic death metal band to join Megadeth. In response to Dirk’s exit, Soilwork enlisted young gun, Bastian Thusgaard, to fill in as touring drummer for the remainder of the band’s touring commitments during these last ten months. And now, the band has confirmed that Bastian is the permanent drummer for the band! Below is a statement issued by the band via the Soilwork Facebook page today, concerning Bastian Thusgaard’s addition to the lineup.  Continue reading →

FLAW Drummer Corey Sturgill Leaves Band…

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Corey Sturgill played his first show with Flaw almost 2 years ago on Jan. 9th, 2015. Corey was brought on board with the band at a time they were beginning their stride to put out an amazing new album after a long hiatus. Corey was a part of the band’s latest release which captured fans both old and new. The band released ‘Divided We Fall’ on August 19th, 2016, their first major release since 2004’s ‘Endangered Species’. Corey stepped up to the drum kit and immediately fit in and became a part of the Flaw Family.  The band has recently been touring heavily. They had a  headlining tour and also toured alongside Dope. The drummer recently showed his thanks and appreciation for the time he spent in the band but announced he was leaving to pursue other options and spend more time with family. While we are sad to see Corey go we certainly appreciate the music he helped create and also enjoyed the times we were able to see him perform live. There has been no official statement from the band, but Corey announced his departure via Facebook on Friday which you can see below. The band has some scheduled shows throughout December, the first of which is December 14th at Ground Zero in Spartanburg, South Carolina. So, Flaw will be on the hunt for a new drummer in the very near future or at least someone to fill the vacancy during those dates through to their New Years Eve show at Trixie’s Entertainment Complex in Louisville, KY.

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Getting To Know Byzantine’s Matt Bowles!

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The last month or so has been a very exciting time for West Virginia metal legends Byzantine. The band was auditioning for a new drummer, finishing up recording 2 cover songs, and on the verge of signing a worldwide deal with one of the best labels in the business; Metal Blade. In steps West Virginia native Matt Bowles formerly of the band Our Malignant Beloved. He is the newest addition to Byzantine. The band will soon begin the task of writing and recording a follow up to their highly successful album “To Release Is To Resolve”, which made several top 10 lists including ours. We were fortunate enough to catch up with Matt and get to know him a little better. Continue reading →

Byzantine Set to Announce New Drummer

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West Virginia’s kings of metal Byzantine have been without a drummer for a short period of time now. The band released their latest album ‘To Release Is to Resolve’ in February. The single “The Agonies” received major air play on Sirius XM and was on their top 10 list for a substantial amount of time. The band has always been the metal underdog and this album helped show how truly great they are and helped give them the respect they deserve. Chris “OJ” Ojeda (guitar, vocals) is one of the most down to earth people you will ever meet. Not long after they toured in support of the new album it was announced in December that the band had parted ways with drummer Matt Wolfe. They were quick to announce try outs for a new drummer. The following was posted on the Byzantine facebook page: Continue reading →

Interview: John Aragonez of Long Beach Vagrant!

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Recently I was able to hear two of the new songs from the forth coming Long Beach Vagrant album “Death Be Thy Name” that released this week. Immediately I was impressed and was fortunate enough to get in touch with one of the members of the band. Drummer John Aragonez took the time to speak with me about everything going on with the band and what the future may hold for the California based metallers. (There was a technical problem when we were speaking on the phone the call was supposed to be recorded so I could later write the information out, Due to the error I’m not able to quote everything exactly, so the following is in my own words). As some of you may or may not know Long Beach Vagrant (formerly Vagrant) has been around since the 90’s and has opened for some amazing acts in their long tenure. John spent some time in the band about 5-6 years ago. He was living in the high desert and the distance from the other members in the band made it difficult for him to commit to the band. However, now he is fully invested in the band and brings a great amount of experience to the band. He has an amazing drumming style which you can hear on each song. Some drummers that he looks up to are Joey Jordison formerly of Slipknot and All That Remains drummer Jason Costa. The one original member of the band is Mike Pain, who is greatly influenced by horror movies. He also is a renowned artist and because of that the band has a lot of horror related lyrics. They have spent time touring with other horror based bands. We also mentioned that a lot of horror based bands perform at horror conventions around the country as well. It really helps define their audience and fan base since they have horror based lyrics. Instead of trying to garner the attention of a broad audience they can narrow down the field to people that are already passionate about the subject matter. The band also has two new members in Randy Blount on vocals and Rob Gresham on bass. John mentions that these two guys have really brought some new life into the new band, and the fact that they are younger has brought some new influences into the band as well.

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