Roxwel, Metalsucks and NARM teamed up during SXSW with a ridiculous lineup for the first annual South By South Death.
Kvelertak, Red Fang, Havok, Wormrot and Meek Is Murder ripped the roof off Headhunter's in Austin, and took a few minutes to chat with us about the festival, their new records and what's on the horizon.
Finally arriving in Austin after having a backpack full of the band's passports and visas stolen by some asshole at the airport, Norwegian rockers Kvelertak reveal that they don't consider themselves to be a metal band. "It's kind of hard to pinpoint exactly what we're doing because there are so many elements from different types of music, I just call it hard rock now," says vocalist Erlend Hjelvik.
The band recently won two Grammys - one for Best Rock and another for Best Newcomer - and their badass album is out in the US now.
Watch Kvelertak's live performance from South By South Death here!
Red Fang's Aaron Beam also chats with us about the Metalliance Tour they were involved in around the time of SXSW. Regarding the tour and camaraderie between bands in the genre, Aaron says, "Metal bands need to work together to make the scene kind of thrive...there's more support now from radio or whatever, but for the kind of music we play there's not necessarily as much of a mainstream audience for it, so I think it's awesome."
Check out Red Fang's live performance here!
Trying not to get distracted by the hot babes swarming the streets of SXSW, Havok lead singer David Sanchez explains why he doesn't get why "thrash metal" gets a bad rap because "all it is is heavy metal with heavy riffs and it's tighter and faster." Who wouldn't like that!?
Hear Havok thrash and see their energy dominate the stage in their live performance from Austin.
Explaining their relationship with Metalsucks, the guys in Meek Is Murder share that the online company offered to help them put out their first record after seeing a few of their shows. They released 50 very limited - and very personalized - editions of their EP (sorry, those sold out quickly!), but high quality digital downloads of the album, Algorithms, are available now.
Watch Meek Is Murder rock out hard during their live performance during SXSW!
Guitarist Rasyid of Singaporean grindcore band Wormrot tells us about the band's culture shock and shares that their new album "Dirge" on CD and vinyl TOMORROW, May 3.
Check out Wormrot's live performance from the festival here!
To see all of these badass shows back-to-back, check out this Roxwel's playlist of South By Southdeath from Headhunter's during SXSW 2011!