HOZIER
continued from page 26
IE: There can be incredible beauty in chaos.
The films John Wick and John Wick,
Chapter Two, for example.
H: I have seen John Wick, but not Chapter
Two. My brother sat me down and gave me
a lecture on how John Wick was, in his
words, “The greatest piece of cinema.”
And this is a guy who did a Masters in
Film. So I look forward to Chapter Two now,
even more, then Chapter Three when it hits
cinemas this May. I’ll be on tour, but I’ll
have to see it.
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Kevin M Buck is
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IE: What’s “Shrike” about? The bird? It
feels like some traditional vintage reel, but
it’s an original, right?
H: Yeah. It’s mine. But I came across some
imagery of that bird — it might have been
in a documentary — but I saw this famous
ink drawing of a shrike by this Japanese
martial artist from 100 years ago. But I just
found that it was a fascinating relationship
that it has with the thorn bush, and how it
interacts with its prey. It’s pretty fucked
up. But again, I just found something
appealing about the imagery of the rela-
tionship between the shrike and the thorn.
It’s kind of a gruesome animal in a lot of
ways, in the way that it butchers its prey
and has seemingly no natural predators.
Nothing really fucks with it. But it still
relies completely on this thorn bush. It’s
just a plant, but it provides everything for
this bird — protection in its thorns, a plat-
form on which it can actually hold and
store and eat its food, and it provides a
nest. And, in turn, the bodies that are left
on the thorn bush, and the blood that spills
from them and the rotting of the food left
by the shrike, that provides nutrients for
the bush. Nutrients for the roots from
what’s left behind. I know it’s morbid, but
there was something in this symbiotic rela-
tionship — of the two being tied to one
another — which I found quite attractive.
So I just wanted to…write something
towards it, you know?
IE: I’m thinking you might need to get out
more.
H: You may not be wrong [laughs]!
IE: What have you learned from all this?
H: I don’t know much, in terms of knowl-
edge, but as you go along I suppose you
begin to let go of more things, which is
more of a helpful thing than what you gain
in knowledge. What you gain is arbitrary
knowledge. But it’s the letting go of shit
that’s more helpful. Then you have more
confidence in your own vision, and you’re
more comfortable with what that vision is
and what you really need to achieve it. It’s
about not sweating the little things.
Continued from page 34
www.kevinmbuck.com
[email protected]
(708) 655-3882
We play good, we feel good, and we go out
there and kick ass. I have a great bunch of guys
playing with my son and me. I think my
favorite Soulfly lineup of all time is this one
right now. And we’ve been with this one for a
couple of years now, and it doesn’t look like
it’s going to change, not for a while.
Mosh: How did Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe
come to sing on “Dead Behind The Eyes,” and
did you immediately have him in mind for the
song?
M.C: I love Randy Blythe’s vocals. I love Lamb
of God. He’s a cool dude. He was really tight
with Josh, and they made it happen. I got to
talk to him before he did the vocals, he picked
that song himself. Josh let him hear a bunch of
songs on the record, and he could pick what-
ever the one he likes to sing on, and he picked
that one. I love the collaboration songs. I’ve
done this on every Soulfly record. I’m glad this
one has Randy and Ross (Dolan) from
Immolation, another great singer I really like.
And I love what he did on “Under Rapture.”
The vocals came out killer.
Mosh: Your English has improved over the
years compared to the first few Sepultura
albums. It did have its charm, though. Your
pronunciation is so focused on Ritual. Is there
anything you paid more attention to while
making this recording?
M.C.: It’s more of the mood of the vocal really,
and not as much the (pronunciation). Here
and there, Josh will correct with my English.
What I like about my vocals is that I can’t real-
ly sing like Robert Plant or Rob Halford, but
it’s original. It’s a unique voice; it’s my own
voice. It’s a bit different from record to record,
and that makes it interesting. I do mess around
a little bit with this record with some highs,
44 illinoisentertainer.com february 2019
melodic stuff on the chanting on “Ritual.” I
explore a little bit. There are some talking
things in some songs, but the majority is the
Max voice. It just comes out like that. It’s
almost like an instrument at this point; it
comes out so automatic, and I don’t even think
about it. You just have to look after it the best
you can.
See Soulfly, Kataklysm, Incite, Alukah,
Central Discover and Architects of Ruin at
The Forge in Joliet, on Feb. 14.
MOSH-WORTHY RELEASES: Flotsam and Jetsam
The End of Chaos (AFM), The Ocean
Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic (Metal Blade ), Anaal
Nathrakh A New Kind of Horror (Metal Blade).
MOSH-WORTHY LIVE:
Immortal Guardian,
02/13), Aether Realm,
(Wire, 02/27), Morgue
AD, Lividity, Sons Of
(Reggie's, 03/01).
Marty Friedman,
Shokker (Reggie's,
Wilderun, Terranaut
Supplier, Nocturnus
Famine, Cereviscera
MENTION-WORTHY: Imonolith, the brand new
supergroup featuring members from Threat
Signal, Devin Townsend Project, Strapping
Young Lad, Fear Factory and Methods of
Mayhem, have recently released a new
track/video for the single “Hollow.” Plans to
release more new music are slated for later this
year. Another new group recently formed is
The End Machine, featuring classic-era
Dokken members George Lynch, Jeff Pilson,
and Mick Brown, joined by current Warrant
singer Robert Mason. The band’s first single
“Alive Today” is a scorching rocker with soar-
ing vocal harmonies and killer guitar solos,
which will appear on their self-titled debut out
March 22 on Frontiers Music SRL.