Interview with Implosion Circle

Switzerland's Implosion Circle, whose "The Angry and Enraged" (link below) made my best of list for 2013, were kind enough to answer some questions from Heavy Metal Time Machine. Playing a potent brand of groove heavy thrash this band is loaded with talent and primed for bigger and better things to come! Enjoy the interview and then be sure to track down a copy of
"The Angry and Enraged" for yourself as it's just to good to pass up!

 Andy (A)-First things first. I love your band name! How did you guys come up with that?

Implosion Circle (IC)-We had our first stage performance organized but we did not have a band name. So we listed a long list of strange and funny sounding words (it had to be English) and decided during a boring school day that we wanted to have a band name with two words. The best placed two words  were Implosion and the Circle. We knew it’s a strange mixture but that is what we found special about it. There is no band in the world with that name. Try it on Google…
 

A- Can you give us a brief run down on whose who and how the band came together?

IC-Michael Maierhofer (vocals and guitar), Mischa Blaser (drums) and Manuel Wiget (vocals and base) were in the same class at school, but the idea of forming a band had to grow first. 
We made our first stage experience in a school band organized by our class teacher, playing some cover songs of Nirvana, Coldplay, Avril Lavigne… with other students … and there we met our fourth member Philip Dublanc (guitar).

We pretty soon decided to form our own band and play more heavy stuff. In the beginning we played covers of Metallica and Iron Maiden, but we also started right away to create our own songs. We also had very soon our first gigs on small local open airs and one and half year later already some great success by winning a major Swiss song contest. 
 

A-How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard Implosion Circle before?

IC-It is a groovy trash metal style - speed, solid sound through a profound base and hammering base drums, mixed with quiet intermediate parts and intros, and lots of speedy guitar solos sometimes with two guitars in dialog.

One cannot say that it is just Thrash Metal, because if you listen carefully to Implosion Circle you can hear also a lot of influences from different bands like, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Slayer, Trivium and other bands.

We always try to differentiate our sound especially to other Hardcore Metal bands, but still blend in some basic styles from modern Thrash Metal.
 

A-As a band and as individuals what are some of your influences?

IC-Every band member has his own favorite Bands and music styles. It ranges throughout the Heavy Metal scene to the AC/DC rock. Some members also intensively listen to Classic music (e.g. Beethoven, Chopin…) and also Blues and Funk… that widens the horizon. But the most inspiration comes definitely from Bands like Metallica, Devil Driver, Iron Maiden, Dream Theater, Aborted, Rammstein and more. When it comes to play the music we love most, it is definitely the Heavy Metal we play on our album.

 

A- Your latest EP, "The Angry And Enraged", is short and sweet. What was it like recording it? Did you sense the overwhelming beast in your presence at the time?

IC-After a longer break with the band – some Band members spent a longer time in the USA – we had a lot of new ideas and songs ready to be produced. We selected the best five from our basket and started to work with them.

We rented a house up in the Swiss alps to optimize our ideas - away from the daily hustle and bustle. Based on a lead track we started to work with the drums and took care of every little detail to get the best out of the songs. After this inspiring week we started to record the songs for real. It took us quite a long time to finish the recordings of the just five songs, but it was an enlightening experience pushing ourselves sometimes to the limits while recording “The Angry And Enraged”! And we are proud to have it produced 100 percent by ourselves without any influence or help from outside. And with the experience gained there is much more to come……

A-How has the reaction been to it in your homeland?

IC-The release party was a highlight with great atmosphere and our fans in Switzerland like the EP very much. We got some excellent feedback and very good reviews from the local and meantime also from international press (see face book).

A- Do you have any favorite tracks on the EP?

IC-That’s a difficult one. Maybe “The Finale Battle” could be a favorite because the song is straight to the point of Heavy Metal with very dark lyrics, good rhythm and an excellent solo. That solo was created during a sleepless night in New York 

A-Have you toured behind the EP?

IC-We have played a couple of shows around Lucerne but have not gone on tour yet. A possibility for a tour offered to us, we finally could not accept as some of the band members are still studying and have exams colliding with the tour dates. But soon there will be more room for touring.

A-Who are some of the bands you've shared the stage with and who would you love to play with if given the opportunity?

IC-Cataract was probably the best known Swiss band we played with, but we have also played with German or Czech bands ……… and of course there are lots of local Swiss bands like Abinchova, Insanity, Zirrus and many more.

There are many international bands we would like to play with, I could imagine being a warm-up band for somebody like Children of Bodom this could be one of our targets in the near future.

A-There's a bit of groove going on with you guys and yet your sound, which seems to worship the almighty riff, is bone crushing in it's heaviness! I imagine it just slays in a live setting. Do the kids get wild and crazy for you guys?

IC-From the beginning we were a life band and we gained quite some experience with teasing the audience with our songs.

Our Live shows are always great and very heavy stuff. There´s lots of head-banging and when the Band melts with the crowd in a strong rhythm and the mosh pit is getting wilder - that´s the moments we live for.

A-For fans here in the U.S. how can they find out more about Implosion Circle? 

IC-We got some very good friends in California and in Washington D.C. The best way to find out about Implosion Circle, however is still via Facebook, or just Google “Implosion Circle” and you might find a few Videos or other info.
 

A-Any parting shots? I give you free reign of the mic!

IC-We live for the music.

One fine day we would love to tour the USA!

A-And we would love to have you!

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