This Chicago-based Neoclassical and Melodic Death Metal beast is ready to attack armed with the 11-track onslaught found in their sophomore offering.
Rising from the heart of the Midwest metal scene, Chicago, Illinois-based Neoclassical/Melodic Death Metal outfit Burned in Effigy is set to unleash their newest razor-edged assault, their sophomore opus titled Tyrannus Aeternum, or “the eternal tyrant” from Latin. Recorded at Beal Audio and Bricktop Recording, with production, engineering and mixing by Jordan Beal, and displaying a classy artwork by Timon Kokott, the follow-up to their 2022 debut Rex Mortem sees the band formed of Mark “Smedy” Smedbron on vocals, Steve Bacakos and Mike Hisson on the guitars, Matt Watkins on bass, and Eddie Dec on drums sharpen their sound to a lethal edge, delivering their most aggressive album to date while remaining loyal to their neoclassical and melodic foundations.
The band wastes no time and begins their metallic attack in Befouled Benefaction, led by the demented vocals by Mark and Eddie’s intricate and heavy-as-hell beats and fills, and the acoustic guitars by Steve and Mike will penetrate deep inside your soul before their absolute heaviness comes crushing in Retribution, a solid display of modern-day melodeath by those guys. Masquerade is a song perfect for slamming into the pit, sounding fast, heavy and caustic just the way we like it thanks to another amazing job done by Eddie on drums; whereas the Flamenco-infused interlude Procession puts us to dance and warms us up for Wage of Exile, a lecture in shredding and violence by the band, with their neoclassical vein clashing beautifully with their Death Metal approach.
The second half of the album kicks off with the hard hitting Sacrificial Seance, with Steve and Mike shredding their stringed axes mercilessly for our total delight while also presenting some dark, sinister passages. Monstrosity Reborn, perhaps the song with the most charming name of the album, again showcases Mark’s rabid vocals amidst a thrilling fusion of neoclassical sounds and pure heaviness. Then the second interlude of the album, titled Gallows Hymn, focuses on a classical music-like vibe, setting the stage for The Racking, a pulverizing tune that transpires Swedish Melodic Death Metal (made in Chicago, of course), with the band’s guitar duo once again sounding brutal yet very melodic. Crown Crusher is slightly generic if compared to the rest of the album, albeit presenting the band’s characteristic sounds, whereas Citadel closes the album on a high and very technical mode, with all band members being on total fire with their mix of intricacy and rage.
An 11-track onslaught that blends the band’s skillful musicianship and technicality with volcanic brutality, Tyrannus Aeternum is a must-listen for fans of extreme music with a strong melodic edge, and if you want to put your hands on such an imposing and vibrant album you can purchase a copy of it from BandCamp or by clicking HERE. Don’t forget to also show your support to those beyond talented musicians by following the band on Facebook and on Instagram, including their tour dates, and to stream their vicious creations on any streaming platform like Spotify. Because the tyrant might be ternal, but so is heavy music, and Burned in Effigy are proudly carrying the flag of a new generation of bands that surely know how to blend violence with the most epic and enfolding sounds you can imagine.
Best moments of the album:Masquerade, Wage of Exile and Citadel.
She’s by far one of the best rock and metal singers of the current scene hands down. Owner of a beautiful, stunning and extremely potent voice, she’s also a songwriter, pianist, guitarist, vocal coach and designer, known for her awesome contributions to bands such as Dead Venus, Burning Witches and Surrilium, among other very interesting bands and projects, always ready to rock our hearts with her mesmerizing vocal lines. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our metal chick of the month of August, the ravishing Seraina Telli, the unstoppable musician from Aargau, one of the more northerly cantons of Switzerland, who can flawlessly translate all her passion for music and art into emotional and inspiring compositions that will certainly captivate your hearts from the very first second. Having said that, are you ready to rock together with Seraina here on The Headbanging Moose?
A self-employed musician and vocal coach, Seraina has always wanted to make music and sing, and although she’s a team player who loves to play in bands she sees independent people as their role models, saying that she didn’t want to be a singer who just needs a band to play with her, but that she wanted to learn what it’s like to make music herself, playing different instruments and therefore being independent. Her looks and attire are also an important part of her musical persona, with all of her piercings, tattoos and her dyed hair providing a unique look that more than fits in the world of rock and metal music, but you’re wrong if you think Seraina is only a beautiful woman, as she has years of formal and professional study that provided her an invaluable background, allowing her to become the exceptional performer she is. Just to give you an idea of her undeniable talent, she took classical singing lessons between 2007 and 2008, studied at the Jazz & Rock School in Freiburg, Germany from 2010 to 2011, achieved a Bachelor of Arts at hKDM and International Music College also in Freiburg, with focus on Jazz, Rock and Pop, between 2012 and 2013, and attended the Musik- Akademie Basel in 2015.
In regards to her career with Swiss Heavy/Power Metal band Burning Witches, Seraina was the band’s frontwoman between 2015 and 2019, having recorded with the band their debut self-titled album in 2017 and their sophomore effort Hexenhammer in 2018, as well as a four-track live album released in 2018 titled Burning Alive, recorded on September 30, 2017 at the Z7 Club in Pratteln, Switzerland. There are a few official videos on YouTube from when Seraina was the band’s vocalist, such as Hexenhammer, Black Widow and Executed, and also some unofficial live footage including a concert in Mannheim, Germany in 2018, and a pocket show at Salzhaus Brugg in 2018. I’m not going to extend this tribute to Seraina with the origins of the Burning Witches, but as already mentioned when their guitarist and founding member Romana Kalkuhl was our metal chick of the month in July 2019, during a party at a festival she met Seraina, starting a very healthy and productive partnership between them, with Seraina’s ideas and experience from her studies at the Music Academy and her bands being exactly what Romana wanted for Burning Witches. Furthermore, although Seraina always mention Heavy Metal as one of her passions, at the moment she is determined to go full throttle with her own band Dead Venus, saying Progressive Rock has always been her thing; however, we can expect to see Seraina venturing through heavier and faster lands in a not-so-distant future without a shadow of a doubt.
As we already started talking about Seraina’s brainchild, female-fronted Progressive Rock unity Dead Venus, where she’s not only the band’s vocalist but she also plays acoustic guitars, keyboards and piano, let’s discuss a little about the origins of the band, their goals and what their music represents to Seraina. Formed in early 2015 by Seraina herself around a year after being singing for a German Neo-Progressive Rock band named Surrilium, Dead Venus is a triumvirate currently comprised of Seraina on vocals, obviously, together with bassist André Gärtner and drummer Mike Malloth, delivering music that’s at the same time charming, passionate and incendiary, applying her multidimensional vocals to bring the desired message with each and every song, that being through her piercing vocals or just by whispering the lyrics. As a matter of fact, Seraina mentioned that it’s difficult to tell when Dead Venus actually started, as she began writing songs at some point and then began studying music and developed it further with music theory, learning the instruments and techniques better, which helped in the development of the songs, before she started looking for people to play them with. Seraina placed an advertisement recruiting musicians for Dead Venus, getting a reply from Mike, who also referred André for the band, whom by the way she already knew through her father (who had always spoken very well of him).
Apart from a couple of singles, the trio recently released at the end of 2019 their debut album, a 12-track Progressive Rock extravaganza titled Bird of Paradise (available for a full listen on Spotify), pointing to a bright future for Seraina and her bandmates. In addition, Seraina said that their goals with Dead Venus do not include appealing to a broader or more demanding audience, saying their music already has enough pop character in it despite not being disco dance music, of course. She complemented by saying that what Dead Venus and any other band needs is an audience that listens and that feels inspired by the music being played, as long as the music is authentic like what she does with Dead Venus, putting no boundaries to what the trio can do. You can listen to their music and purchase their debut album by visiting the MUSIC page on their official website, or by subscribing to their YouTube channel, where you’ll find some amazing compositions (and videos) for the songs The Sirens Call, Bird of Paradise and Redemptionless in both regular and acoustic versions.
You can also enjoy Seraina’s unique voice in other interesting bands and projects, showcasing all her versatility and skills it doesn’t matter if it’s a rock band playing covers or a full-bodied progressive and symphonic act. For instance, she did female vocals for Swiss Melodic Heavy/Power Metal band Rizon from 2010 until 2014, having recorded with them the album Masquerade in 2012, which you can listen in its entirety HERE; and she’s been the vocalist for German Progressive Rock/Metal band Surrilium since 2011, having recorded with them the album Sir William in 2015. Seraina is also the vocalist for a distinct cover bands called Hit Grinder, taking hits that everyone knows and performing them in a unique way with heavy guitars, rocking drums and hard driving bass, giving those songs a more aggressive edge. The band is formed by Seraina on vocals, Stefan Schroff on the guitars, and a rotation between Yannick Schmidt and Emmi Lichtenhahn on bass and Franceso Gasparini and Alain Ackermann on drums, and you can get in touch with them and listen to more of their music on Facebook, on Instagram and on YouTube, with their renditions of Sia’s Chandelier and Michael Jackson’s Bad showing you all of the band’s awesomeness.
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Perhaps one of the most delicious works by Seraina is her personal YouTube channel, where she puts her heart and soul into delivering beautiful versions of several rock, pop and metal classics, usually only accompanied by her own piano. Simply visit her YouTube channel and you’ll be able to enjoy our talented singer kicking ass with her versions for Red hot Chilli Pepper’s classic Under the Bridge as a studio project band from the hKDM Music High School in Freiburg, Edgar Alan Poe’s The Haunted Palace, Rush’s masterpiece Closer to the Heart together with a children’s choir, Nancy Wilson’s The Nearness of You, The Misfits’ Dig Up Her Bones live at a pub in Zurich, Jason Mraz’s I Won’t Give Up, Sting’s The Hounds of Winter, Lady Gaga’s Million Reasons, John Lennon’s Imagine, and a very special version for Christina Aguilera’s Keep on Singin’ My Song, as according to Seraina herself Christina Aguilera was one of her teenage heroes and one of the reasons she started singing when she was around 13 years old. And let’s keep talking about her idols and influences, with bands like Opeth, Pain of Salvation and the almighty Judas Priest being among her favorite bands of all time. Seraina even mentioned in one of her interviews that playing with one of those three bands would be a dream come true for her, complementing by saying it would be beyond fantastic to be able to talk, interact and especially sing with the one and only Metal God Rob Halford.
When questioned about the fact she was in an all-girls band during her time with Burning Witches, our striking banshee said in the beginning the idea of only playing with other women in a band was quite funny for all of them, and that they never expected it to be such a big topic, having to face sexist comments and other situations related to the male/female gender differences. Needless to say, that didn’t have any impact on the way Seraina performs on stage, saying the most difficult part is actually dealing with her own emotions and feelings to make sure her voice perfectly sends the desired message. In addition, she said she usually has it under control, using the appropriate techniques to have the best results while playing live. Seraina is also responsible for designing her own outfits, saying it’s actually more like a hobby for her despite the fact she wanted to become a fashion designer before singing, mainly because it’s very time consuming. And regarding metal festivals, she said during her time with Burning Witches they always wanted to play something big such as Wacken Open Air, Sweden Rock Festival and Hellfest, but we must all agree that now with Dead Venus her focus is a lot more on smaller, more intimate venues and crowds.
When asked about her singing style, her limits as a vocalist and her writing and composing process, Seraina said she always puts her heart and soul into singing, it doesn’t matter if it’s a heavy-as-hell metal song or a serene rock ballad, complementing by saying that it’s all a matter of practice to know and understand your limits and what’s causing that barrier, such as breathing techniques and discipline. For example, she said she doesn’t do much Opera singing as she’s not professionally trained in it, but maybe with some time and by applying the right techniques she can reach a good performance singing it. Her process for writing and composing her songs is also very detailed and honest, with Seraina usually writing something on the piano and then complementing it with the guitar, not working with sequences and, therefore, sounding a lot more organic. She also said the order in which she writes the lyrics and the music is never the same, always depending on the song being composed and the situation she’s in, with most of the ideas for the music by Dead Venus coming from her past experiences, especially due to her anger, energy and creativity as a teenager, saying it wasn’t easy in the beginning for her as she doesn’t come from a family of musicians like several other artists.
If you also enjoy watching Seraina perform and not only listen to her powerful voice, you’ll notice she always carries a special chain or necklace, a symbol of luck that’s linked to her family. She said she had a very strong bond with her sister when they were kids, which by the way lasts until today, with the necklace being a gift she got for her 12th birthday from her stepfather that symbolizes two parts that are connected together and forever. As a matter of fact, the Dead Venus logo is a variation of that symbol, a Celtic cross knot with an “S” at the end. Talking about stunning looks in rock and metal, Seraina was asked what she would say if one day a band like Arch Enemy invited her to sing for them, and albeit she said she simply loves the charisma, the voice and the looks by the she-wolf Alissia White-Gluz, she said she couldn’t see herself fronting such distinct band.
Lastly, as an artist that has been making music for a long time despite her young age, Seraina said she will always pursue a career in music no matter what, saying she got to know a lot of good people with both Dead Venus and Burning Witches that provide her all the support she needs to keep moving forward. She sees a lot of potential with Dead Venus, the type of music she has always wanted to do, but you can also hire her to feature on your next album doing backing vocals or singing one or more songs, for example, as she has already done a few studio and advertising jobs in her career. She can even sing in German (or Swiss German) if you prefer, and you can actually check Seraina speaking (not singing, though) in her mother tongue in a short interview where she talks about what it means for her to be from Aargau, how much she loves her hometown, and her life in the city. I guess after knowing about her personal life, her career and her passion for heavy music, there’s nothing better than banging our heads to Seraina’s piercing vocals or simply sitting down, relaxing and enjoying her more delicate creations, resting assured we’ll hear a lot more from such talented artist in the coming years.
Rising from the heart of the Midwest metal scene, Chicago, Illinois-based Neoclassical/Melodic Death Metal outfit Burned in Effigy is set to unleash their newest razor-edged assault, their sophomore opus titled Tyrannus Aeternum, or “the eternal tyrant” from Latin. Recorded at Beal Audio and Bricktop Recording, with production, engineering and mixing by Jordan Beal, and displaying a classy artwork by Timon Kokott, the follow-up to their 2022 debut Rex Mortem sees the band formed of Mark “Smedy” Smedbron on vocals, Steve Bacakos and Mike Hisson on the guitars, Matt Watkins on bass, and Eddie Dec on drums sharpen their sound to a lethal edge, delivering their most aggressive album to date while remaining loyal to their neoclassical and melodic foundations.
An 11-track onslaught that blends the band’s skillful musicianship and technicality with volcanic brutality, Tyrannus Aeternum is a must-listen for fans of extreme music with a strong melodic edge, and if you want to put your hands on such an imposing and vibrant album you can purchase a copy of it from BandCamp or by clicking HERE. Don’t forget to also show your support to those beyond talented musicians by following the band on Facebook and on Instagram, including their tour dates, and to stream their vicious creations on any streaming platform like Spotify. Because the tyrant might be ternal, but so is heavy music, and Burned in Effigy are proudly carrying the flag of a new generation of bands that surely know how to blend violence with the most epic and enfolding sounds you can imagine.
THE HEADBANGING MOOSE 