[Blistering At Heavy MTL 2011] This goes without saying, but without fans, there would be no metal. The fans are essentially what validates the music we are so devoted to, something Stephen Wood set to find out during this year’s installment of Heavy MTL, a 2-day festival that took place in Montreal, QUE in late July. Stephen was able to snag a handful of concertgoers who were kind enough to express their feelings about metal, thus confirming a lot of what we know already: Metal is more than just music, it’s a way of life.

[Trials – Striking A Nerve] “We honestly don't give it much thought. We're more or less a straightforward metal band, but we have other influences too, and our music is the result of that. I'm sure there's some guy somewhere who is pissed off about it – ‘Oh goddammit, there's clean vocals!’ or whatever, and they're entitled to their opinion. I don't see our music as particularly ‘modern’ or ‘commercial’ to begin with. And since when is it ‘metal’ to worry about what other people think anyways?” – Mark Sugar

[Crimfall - Unsheathing Their Frigid Sword] “Crimfall is a weird name we came up with Mikko (Häkkinen, vocals). It is basically a word combination of Grim and Fall. But by changing the first letter to C, it is more personal and sexier plus it is easier to find it with Google [laughs]. But it also describes our music in many levels. Beautiful, sad, emotional and visual.” - Jakke Viitala

[The Cleansing – Inevitably Inevitable ] “I actually think on all levels. It is just a more focused record. Also I think the songwriting have improved a lot, even though I am not bashing the songs on Poisoned Legacy. But this album is just closer to what I think The Cleansing should sound like. Also, personally I am lot happier with my guitar leads on this record. On this album Jeppe (Hasseriis) and I each wrote four songs and one together whereas on Poisoned Legacy we wrote a lot of songs together. Working like this gave the record a much more natural sound. Sometimes too many cooks spoil the broth.” - Andreas Lynge

[All Shall Perish – Rotten To the Core ] “I’m so consumed with everything I’m doing. During the recording process, I’m never happy – I keep re-recording stuff. And then once it’s down, I listen to it and I might have a favorite song and a favorite part for a couple of days, but then I get a different idea and start thinking I could have done something else. It keeps changing. The good thing about this album is that we wrote every single song to not sound like the one before it. Each song has its own identity.” - Francesco Artusato

[Arkan - Blending Music With A Vision] “We understand the trauma suffered by the United States on September 11th, 2001. Apart from the War of Independence and the Civil War, you've never really undergone war on your territory. So it was a shock for you and all Americans have perceived it as a declaration of war. But it was not as simple as that. The United States has not been attacked by another state but by an international terrorist organization. Furthermore, it is always cons-productive to impose its model of society by force to a people who do not want it. Regarding the boycott of French products, we have not been particularly affected by this.” - Foued Moukid

[Satan’s Host – The Devil’s Own Panzer] “Technically all music is Satanic, everyone is just scared to admit it, Music came from the devil, according to the hypocrites, but they all sing and dance on Sunday, don’t they? I think because especially with this new album we are just trying to get people in general to open their eyes, really look at everything with a magnifying glass and ask yourself what is really right and truthful and what is a crock of shit? And I think a lot of people are doing that at this point of time. I think [that’s] what sets us apart.” – Anthony Lopez

[Blistering Previews The Heavy MTL Festival 2011 ] Slated to kick of this Saturday, July 23rd in Montreal, Quebec at the Parc Jean-Drapeau, the two-day Heavy MTL Festival boasts a world-beating lineup, headlined by Kiss, along with a who’s-who in metal, including Disturbed, Godsmack, Opeth, Morbid Angel, In Flames, and Cryptopsy, among others. With three stages, it’s the worthy alternative to the rash of European festivals who essentially snap up metal bands at the drop of a hat...

[Arch/Matheos – No Exit This Time] “I’m proud of some of the things I’ve done, but I’ve always felt in the back of my mind that I could have given more. To all the accolades I’ve received from the fans who are die-hard, and they’re the most dedicated fans…I guess it really made an impact on their life when the albums came out. But I’m hard on myself and I don’t like to wallow in patting myself on the back. I feel good that now I’m able to do more with A Twist of Fate and the album coming up. I feel like I owe the fans more. It’s a good feeling that I have something left to give.” – John Arch

[Pestilence’s Technical Wizard: Patrick Mameli Part Two] “The States are vulnerable because look at the Twin Towers. We have so many different problems and they need to see death metal as an entertainment business. We want to give entertainment to the people and that’s what it’s all about. It’s not about putting your point across as being the harshest band in the world or being Satanic or whatever. It’s like giving an hour or hour-and-a-half of movie time and the reality is just that it’s entertainment. Most of the people who are involved in black metal or death metal or slam or whatever you want to call it are in it for entertainment.” – Patrick Mameli

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