Change Your Position is the follow-up album to their acclaimed 2016 debut Fed To The Lions.

The band, Jack Taylor (drums) Antonio Angotti (bass) JP Jacyshyn (guitars) and Alex Veale (vocals and guitars) recorded the new album at The Chairworks Studio in Castleford, West Yorkshire. They insisted on recording with all four members of the band standing in one room, playing their instruments together, looking each other in the eye, to capture the raw energy and sense of joyous camaraderie that fuels all their work.

Change Your Position is released via Nuclear Blast on 9th March 2018.

We met the band in London to discuss the new release —

“We started recording the album April of last year…” they told RAMzine.

“On our first album we got to write the songs over a long period of time — but once we started to record the album it was quite quick — full on — we got into the studio and, even though it took a while to write the songs, it happened quite quickly. Whereas on Change Your Position we started recording this quite while ago, about nine months writing to recording, which was daunting to start with but looking back on it, it was really exciting. And we wanted to do it all fresh, because we were in a different place [from the first album] we’d changed and we guess that’s why the album title kinda works with it. It feels really good to us because it takes a snapshot of where we were, during that time — there were a lot of things influencing the writing. It came as a bizarre type of therapy session, I guess… And that’s the dream of being able to get a career in what we love… to put our feelings as to what’s going on around us into songs and to provide a snapshot of society as its going along.”

“We are all involved in the compositional side of things, so although we knew that each of the songs we went into the studio with were good, there was enough space for each of us to bring our own individual qualities… so for example, certain songs would start with a riff or a melody line or after a five-minute we’d  jam we’ll look at each other and say, “that’s really good… this could be something.” And there’s something magic about the numbers that come out of a jam. And we’re all about making it a sum of four parts, so something that naturally evolves from a jam is just different… and we’ve got some techniques that help us get there: For instance, we have some songs that we know will never go onto an album but, for us, they are launch-pads for moving us into other areas…”

RAMzine: ‘Money in the Bank’ has been described as “Year 2000 emo” — how do you respond to that?

“Really? We haven’t heard that. Maybe, though. We grew up through that era, so if we could travel back in time and speak to the teenage-emo version of [ourselves] we might understand. We admit, there is so much space in that song. And a lot of the best rock songs in history have got space between the notes. And the lead-on to the chorus is very definitely melodic, so I guess that’s where maybe, the idea of it being emo comes from. The melody is heavy-hitting.”

RAMzine: And ‘All that Medicine’ reminded us of Peter Gabriel…

“Cool. Well, that’s good. We love Gabriel and he doesn’t fit into a box, genre point of view. We remember hearing “Up” for the first ever time and thinking wow!  the sound on it was so superb. So, yeah, that’s a great comparison. And we’ve noticed, with the new album, that people have brought up some of the slightly different influences coming through. And those influences have always been there for us... but perhaps that’s what being a rock band is about. It’s being able to pick from all the great rock music there has ever been…”

RAMzine: Congratulations on a very fine album and we wish you best of luck on your forthcoming Spring tour.

“Thank you very much.”

Tax The Heat were talking to Neil Mach.

The post Bristol rock band Tax The Heat release new album Change Your Position appeared first on RAMzine.

Andy Slade (ex Gravil, Collapse, and Echovirus guitarist) has released new EP ‘Machine City’ under the name of Foundry. The EP has been put together by Slade completely on his own – a one-man band. If you want to hear something new and different in the form of dark melodic metal then the talented Mr Slade provides you with just that.

Influenced by: Nevermore, Children of Bodom, At the Gates, Gojira, In Flames, Sybreed.

Andy Slade: “This EP was just a way for me to vent out some of the built up creative angst I’d had sitting in me for a while. I spent a lot of time playing other peoples music in bands which got boring after a while. As a creative soul, be it a guitarist or a painter, you need to express your creative ideas or else you’ll be unhappy. So the EP has a lot of me venting in it… one way or another. I wanted it to be heavy and raw but not a repeat of what’s already been done. I don’t see the point in trying to be another ‘At the Gates’ or ‘Carcass’, you can’t surpass what’s already top of the line.”

RAMzine: How do you manage to play every instrument on one EP?

Andy Slade: “I’ve been playing the guitar and bass for twenty years so that part of the process was easy enough. I’ve always been a big fan of composing on other musical mediums such as other instruments or through software. Sometimes my ability to write music on the guitar alone dries up, and I lose inspiration. So naturally I’ve built up a few different instrument skills over the years. I wouldn’t say I was good at most of them… but I enjoy trying.”

RAMzine: At the moment you’re a one-man-band! Any plans to have a full band in the future?

Andy Slade: “Well, yes and no. I’ve been talking to some amazing musicians about possibly doing this live. I’d have to hang up my guitar for this one though, I’m no James Hetfield. But it’s all about the right people and the right chemistry. And if I did take this to the live stage I’d want it to be something original and interesting. I think fans of music, especially metal, deserve to get their moneys worth. I like an element of danger and mystery to a live show. Bands such as Rammstein deserve every moment of success they have. Those live shows took a lot of hard work and thought.”

 RAMzine: We hear rumours of new material in the future, are you likely to go in a different direction with new material whilst sticking to your metal roots?

 Andy Slade: “I’d like to get the second EP out before the end of this year. I don’t see why my approach or sound would change in that time. Maybe when this year is over I’ll look into how I can expand the sound more… but it’ll always be metal at the core. Having said that the thought of doing a Cindi Lauper style 80’s retro pop album does appeal to my dark side… Anyway, yes I imagine eventually the music will evolve. Everyone has a change of taste, or at least an expansion of tastes, over the course of their lives.” 

Listen to ‘Machine City’ in full here:

www.facebook.com/foundryUK

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