Stone Circle Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording and release of the new album?

We've just done a successful album launch show, and now we are booking as many gigs as possible, including a tour with Meta-Stasis in July, and some headline shows leading up to that. We're also working on some more video content to put out as well. Never a dull moment!

2.In December you had released a new album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

We've had a bit of a gap between the last album and this one, we feel the song writing has matured, and more concise, but remaining diverse. Obviously over this time the recording quality is better, and more assured in how we sound as a band.

3.The band has been around since 2004 but so far has only released a demo, and 2 full length's, can you tell us a little bit more about the gap between releases?

We have released several EP's under a different name, which were a valid part of our evolution, however we decided we didn't want to re-release them under the new name. This is before the days of Facebook and even Myspace!

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

Mostly dark stories with some mythological themes, with some of our thoughts on religion, society and humanity thrown in for good measure! Easter Island, for example, is about the rise and fall of human life on the island, as a model for human life in general, and how self destructive humans can be.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Stone Circle'?

We are all from Gloucestershire which is in between, both the Avebury Stone Circles, and obviously Stone Henge, and we feel the subject matter of the band connects with nature, mythology and early humans relationship with the earth.

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?

We've been lucky enough to play some fantastic shows in our time, including Bloodstock, Download and supporting Fleshgod Apocolypse, Breed 77, Evil Scarecrow (those guys are funny bastards), plus we love a packed out club gigs. We focus on playing well, enjoying the music ourselves, and hopefully transferring that energy to our audience.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

Yes (As above!), we're very excited to be joining the gruesome Meta-Stasis in July, but we have lots of other bands we want to tour with in the future as well!

8.The new album was released by Terrorizer Magazine, do you feel having this legendary magazine behind you has helped get your music out there a lot more easily heard?

It's certainly been an honour to be on the front cover of such an awesome magazine, and definitely helped us reach a wider audience. We wanted to make this album as easy as possible for people to get their hands on, so this was the best way to do this (along with free bandcamp downloads, soundcloud etc)

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of progressive death metal?

So far, the feedback has been very positive for the new album, especially by fans of progressive death metal. We like to think we've brought together our favourite parts of the metal genre, so there's plenty to appreciate, regardless of your usual preferred sub genre!

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

The band will always evolve, but no matter what changes happen as long as we're enjoying the music and feeling fore filled by what we're written. Hopefully people will want to come along for the ride!

11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

We all have quite a diverse taste in music in general between the four of us, and metal is only one part of it. There's some post-rock influences on the album, as well as classic metal bands like Gojira, Opeth, Meshuggah, Katatonia who are obvious influences. But in terms of song writing, we often take elements from other genres that are less closely related to metal.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?

We all have quite different other interests! Joe does Martial Arts, is a coffee connoisseur and travelling. James (Rambo) is very into video/photography, media production and does marketing, and a qualified snowboard instructor! Sams main interest is playing rugby (if you ever see us live, you'll see why!), and enjoys a quiet fishing trip on the lakes of the countryside. Skelly (Tom) is a water sports instructor, and likes getting shitfaced...

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

Ha Final Thought is the last track on the album... We hope you enjoy the album and if you like it, share it!

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Stone Circle/Self Titled/Terrorizer Records/2014 CD Review

  Stone  Circle  are  a  band  from  the  United  Kingdom  that  plays  a  very  modern  and  progressive  form  of  death  metal  which  also  has  elements  of  melodic  black  metal  and  doom  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  titled  2014  album  which  was  released  by  Terrorizer  Records.

  Bee  noises  start  off  the  album  before  the  music  goes  into  a  heavy  and  modern  prog  metal  direction  along  with  some  deep  death  metal  growls  which  also  bring  in  black  metal  screams  at  times  and  you  can  also  hear  a  lot  of  melody  and  technical  elements  in  the  bands  musical  sound  and  the  solos  and  leads  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  talent,  skill  and  melody  to t he  band s musical  style.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  also  bring  in  a  trace  of  post  metal  at  times  and  you  can  also  hear  some  clean  singing  being  utilized  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  some  of  the  tracks  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  acoustic  guitars  while  the  main  focus  remains  more on  a  melodic  and  heavy  sound.

  A  good  portion  of  the  slower  riffing  shows  a  heavy  doom  metal  influence  and  as  the  album  progresses  some  of  the  tracks  also  bring  in  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  aprts  along  with  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats  and  they  also  take  the  modern  progressive  death  metla  sound  and  mix  it  in  with  some  influences  from  the  more  progressive  and  technical  death  metla  bands  of  their  early  90's.

  Stone  Circle  plays  a  modern  style  of  death  metal  that  is very  progressive  and  they  mix  in  influences  from  melodic  black/death  metal  and  doom  to  create  some  very  original  sounding  music,  the  production  sounds very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark,  mythological  and  philosophical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Stone  Circle  are  a  very  great  sounding  progressive  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Easter  Island"  "Mary  Celeste"  and  "Final  Thought".  8  out  of  10.

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