We chat to Dan Walmsley of blackened metal band, Magnetar. A new trio, the band have just released their brilliant debut record, There Will Be No Peace In My Valley (our review here).
Dan discusses how the project came together, the influences on the record, potentially playing live and if there will be an album number two, amongst other things.
How did the Magnetar project come about with your own writing and getting Rob Harris and Nick Wallwork involved?
I’d been putting together ideas for tracks for a while on my own, and it got to the point where I felt if I don’t make an album it might never happen. I’m busy with work and sometimes you need to step back and remember the things that are important to you. I’ve been friends with Nick & the Winterfylleth lads for a few years and I knew he has this amazing voice – more in the middle register like Abbath or Krieg – so I played him some ideas and he was into it. With Rob it was a similar thing – I knew him from Necronautical’s tour with Winterfylleth. We got on and I saw he’s a monster of a drummer. Drummers are so important to get right in a metal band. He’s got that technicality but a bit of Bonham roll which is important for our stuff.
You play all the music, bar the drums, on the album. Did Rob and Nick give much input or was it solely down to yourself?
Well I wrote the music and tracked mosts things yes, but Nick was involved with getting the vocals right for him and better for the song, in the demo stage. Also he’s a metal encyclopaedia and has great taste with arrangement ideas. So he was involved across it. With Rob it was a question of him working things out on his own, bringing it into the practice room (although covid interrupted this) and the to and fro of what worked. Some of his ideas are my favourite bits of the album. I was conscious to let them bring their own personalities to the recording sessions. There were parts of tracks that needed to be just as I’d written, and parts where they brought their own interpretations that I would never have thought of. When you get the chance to work with people as talented as Nick & Rob they are going to elevate the work beyond your initial concepts. So they contributed their interpretations and suggestions, and unquestionably elevated the album.
Has it taken a long time for the project to be released then, with COVID interruptions etc?
Well… yes absolutely. In fact there were times I thought it was cursed and would never see the light of day! There was actually a finished earlier version of the album, mixed, mastered, the lot. COVID delayed it. The label that had decided to release it dragged their heels. In the meantime the niggling doubt that I hadn’t quite found what I wanted to say with that album grew into a major doubt. So I scrapped it. Much to everyone’s chagrin! And fair enough. But I wanted to get the first album perfect and we went again. And since then there’s been loads of delays. We struggled to find the right label – I’d become wary after the first experience. Then the pressing plant messed up the vinyl press so that put us back from Spring ’24 to Autumn ’24. It’s been a journey.
What made Vendetta Records the right home for Magnetar?
Stefan has a genuine love of extreme metal and enthusiasm for finding new bands. I like a lot of what he releases, obviously it’s more Black Metal than we are but I still thought we fitted well. He’s a no-bullshit straight talking guy that I warmed to immediately. The quality of his vinyl releases are spot on. It was an easy decision to make. Trust is important in the band/label relationship and he’s trustworthy guy.
Check out more from Vendetta Records here.
Are there any tracks/individual parts that you are particularly proud of?
I think we all have different favourite parts, but personally SCUM was the gateway to everything. When I wrote that I finally knew where we were going stylistically. That end point had been in my mind but somewhat intangible. I couldn’t quite hear it. But that track opened the floodgates. I wrote it in 2 hours flat which is incredible as it takes me months usually. The title track is great as it goes some different places but also manages to encapsulate all facets of our style.
Adorned In Flame was a blast to write. I just put everything into that and then attempted to tie it together. I had early Megadeth in my mind on the first section, when Mustaine was at full erm… speed. And that middle section stomp has what might be my favourite riff. Always puts a smile on my face that bit and Nicks vocals are incredible there. Mostly now I concentrate on what the other guys are doing because their performances didn’t live in my mind for years, and are still fresh to me. I think now it’s out I’ve started to feel genuine pride in the album.
Many of the influences are clear on Magnetar; you mention Megadeth, but are there any other particular artists that you felt yourself going back to for inspiration?
Sure. Quite a lot as we cover quite a lot of ground. Primarily the No Fashion Records bands of the early 90’s are probably where we fit the most if we’re talking sub-genres. Dissection obviously, but just as important are Merciless, A Canorous Quintet and Unanimated. The muscularity of 80’s Slayer and Sepultura. Jeff Hanneman’s eerie riffs. Maiden and Priest. It’s really important to me to balance that ferocity with melody. So the NWOBHM era is a big influence. Immortal and Darkthrone. Jake E Lee’s work with Ozzy.
Those two Skeletonwitch albums Serpents Unleashed & Forever Abomination have some of my favourite vocal performances and do a great job of being melodic and fierce. Vanum are an awesome band. Their EP Burning Arrow helped me to see a path for traditional heavy metal within the extreme metal context. And then I’m always drawn to that time in the 80’s before all these genres were formed. A lot of the European bands like Poison, Messiah, Sodom. Infernal Majesty – Non Shall Defy was a big influence. That is an all time great in my opinion. And in their absence I’d say the other guys would have a lot of Death Metal to discuss that I know very little about!
The artwork for the album is incredible. It sums up the title, and feels like an old school album cover. How did you settle on the cover art?
That artwork makes me feel like the 80’s kid in the record shop I was. I’d pull something unknown out of the rack and if it had monsters or was vaguely terrifying I’d spend that week’s money on it. There’s an element of nostalgia for simpler times, but I love old-school metal artwork.
Rob had just worked with Misanthropic Art on the recent Foetal Juice release (a great album) and had a positive experience. So I talked to him and had a broad concept related to the lyrics of the title-track, and we discussed the colour scheme. He went away and came back with what you see. I could not have been happier with how it turned out. Everyone seems to really dig it as well.
As your pages say, Magnetar is born from the fury and decay of North-West England’s post-industrial landscape. What is it that drew you to those thoughts, feelings and emotions?
Since I was very young, metal has always been an outlet for the sometimes frustrating circumstances of growing up in a tough area. Not to get too Monty Python here but I’m originally from a town that had poor employment and social issues. I don’t channel those in a conscious way, but if art is about expressing the entirety of a person then those early experiences must be wrapped up in there for anyone making something.
There is a visceral quality to metal that I’ve always found provides a release to my frustration with what I see going on around me. It’s always been a companion in that respect. So rather than write about a topic, I’m more about expressing the indefinable outwards through the music.
Finally, are there any plans to take Magnetar on tour?
Next year maybe. It’s a question of timing. Everyone has jobs, family and other band commitments. I’m currently deciding whether to make album two and plan to tour after that, or do something sooner. We’d need at least one new member which complicates things further. I can say that I’m keen to play some shows so the motivation is there. These songs were monstrous in the practice room, I think they’d come over well on stage.
Many thanks to Dan Walmsley for taking the time to chat to us. You can check out our review of There Will Be No Peace In My Valley here. The album can be obtained through Magnetar’s Bandcamp page (here). Check out SCUM from Magnetar below.
Magnetar: Bandcamp / Instagram / Facebook
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