DEVIL'S ISLAND featuring Copehill Down
Welcome to this weeks edition of Devil's Island! Every week we maroon a band or artist on the island and see what they get up to, how they cope with being all alone on a small island in the middle of the ocean. It's not your average desert island and we'll see just how each person copes with the extreme conditions.
This week when we arrived at Devil's Island we find Copehill Down sat on the beach. The island is far from their home, so how did they end up here and how did they cope with life on Devil's Island?
Find out now...
Welcome to The Razors'e Edge and our somewhat lovely, warm desert island. Don't worry about it's name I'm sure it's not as bad as that would suggest.
So you're marooned here on this island, but before you ended up shipwrecked you chose one album that you couldn't live without. Which album did you each chose and why?
Neil: That’s so hard to answer, so I’m just gonna choose one where I think there isn’t a bad song on as it’s hard to come across an album where there aren’t any fillers…August Burns Red – Found in Far Away Places.
Dave: Impossible decision but probably Killswitch Engage – End of Heartache, pretty much a perfect album with loads of nostalgia attached.
James: I would have to go with Phronesis by Monuments as it's the perfect balance of awesome riffage and some class vocals by Chris Barretto – unlike someone else I know, HA!
Dan: This changes regularly - but at the moment it’s Hail Stan by Periphery. The array of vocals Spencer Sotelo delivers is class. This alternates with Unearth III: in the eyes of fire! For its sheer unrelenting energy throughout.
Rhys: Catch ThirtyThree by Meshuggah
Just behind that palm tree is a shack for each of you to stay in, with enough space for you to put up a poster on the wall of one album cover. What album cover do you each chose?
Neil: That’s a tough one, I love all the old classic metal/rock albums like Iron Maiden – Powerslave, even the original appetite for destruction by G’n’R, because of the fine detail in the artwork. I think I’d have to go for something iconic though, I’ve always loved the ‘diving man’ image from Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here, think that would be really cool sprawled across a wall.
Dave: Iron Maiden - Somewhere in Time, it's been my favourite album cover since I was a kid.
James: Any album cover that has sexy ladies...I'm sorry what was the question again?
Dan: Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath – classic artwork and pretty haunting.
Rhys: ...And Justice For All – Metallica
There's also a bar on this here island. But alas each of you only get to choose one drink for the entirety of your stay. What's your tipple of choice?
Neil: Heineken…without a doubt!
Dave: Peroni Nastro Azzuro, probably the finest beer on the planet, plus someone's got to try and inject some class into this sorry situation. We're not savages yet!
James: It would have to be something strong or copious amounts of beer to drown out Dan's incessant nonsense.
Dan: If there’s no fridge or ice I’d have to go with Talisker whisky - can drink that neat and warm!
Rhys: Four Roses Bourbon
Your suitcases were lost when your ship sank, but you managed to salvage one item of band merch. What’s the merch and for what band?
Neil: Would definitely be my August Burns Red Found in Far Away Places album T-shirt. It’s subtle and the mountain and trees artwork on the back is a bit different to most bands’ t-shirts.
Dave: My Unearth hoodie I got for Christmas last year, no other reason apart from it's just so incredibly comfy!
James: Ill Nino 10 year anniversary tour top to remind me of epic new metal pits back in the day before all this waving your arms about crap came in.
Dan: Probably my Unearth watchers of rule T-shirt – it’s a classic metal looking t-shirt.
Rhys: My Melvins Houdini t-shirt.
You’re sat on the island thinking “I’m stuck here on this island with my bandmates for eternity”… who would you rather have been shipwrecked with?
Neil: It would have to be my favourite comedian of all time –Louis CK!
Dave: My wife and daughter obviously, they could be reading this! Love you honey! Oh, and our dog!
James: Bear grills, he might have got me off this bloody island.
Dan: Suppose I should choose my wife! Haha! But if she couldn’t make it, Ricky Gervais might be a laugh or Karl Pilkington.
Rhys: Rather find some animal company.
There's a walkman in your pocket, on the tape inside is the recording of the one live show that stands out for you. It could be any show, from any band, anywhere in the world. What show is on that walkman?
Neil: As it’s a tape and has 2 sides I’m gonna pick 2 shows. Growing up I had a bunch of bootleg Metallica live shows on cassette, that I used to get from record fairs. One stood out in particular for me. It was on the Master of Puppets tour not long after Cliff Burton’s death, so Jason Newsted hadn’t been in the band long. The show was in Poughkeepsie, New York. After Burton’s death I think they were infamous for playing everything at breakneck speed for a while on that tour and their playing in this particular gig is the fastest I’ve ever heard them play. The show opened up with battery and right from the off where James brought the opening riff in, I would say it was at least 10 or 15 bpm faster than the album, it just absolutely shredded! At the time, it just blew me away, how the playing could be so meticulous and so fast at the same time. The other gig is Alexisonfire at Reading festival in 2015. I’ve not seen many bands play with that much passion and energy ever. It’s a performance of epic proportions, no exaggeration!
Dave: Iron Maiden - Live After Death (1985) at Long Beach, California for that incredible performance of Hallowed Be Thy Name alone - so much energy! Chills every time!
James: Devin Townsend, Bloodstock 2021 performance. Blown away by the shear talent of the session band that had to practice the entire set in 3 days and the show was mind blowing.
Dan: The best live show I’ve seen would probably be August Burns Red in Bristol at The Fleece in 2017 on the Phantom Anthem tour! The energy was insane! I managed to clamber on stage and stage dive a few times at that show.
Rhys: Probably Maiden at Donnington when Bruce flew the plane over.
You're getting desperate, you decide the only course of action is to put a message in a bottle and hope someone finds it. Your message could be to any member of any band, but should be the most suitable for a rescue attempt. Who is it?
Neil: Someone with enough cash to fund it – any member of Metallica or Iron Maiden!
Dave: Any members of August Burns Red, just seem to all be genuinely nice guys who might actually give a s**t
James: Five Finger Death Punch's Ivan Moody. I'm sure he has a secret military stash somewhere.
Dan: I reckon the guys from Parkway Drive might be able to jet ski or surf or sky dive in or something!
Rhys: Message would be to Daniel Gildenlow of Psi of Salvation. Would ask him how he is so ripped and what he does?
You've been stuck here for a while and food supplies are running low. There's only one thing for it... which fellow band member gets sacrificed to help the others survive?
Neil: James! We’d live off his midriff for months…maybe even years!!
Dave: Give it a week with this lot and I'd probably volunteer myself.
James: Neil! Give us youngsters a chance at survival, and the lean meat would help with losing the dad bod.
Dan: James - haha! He probably would be glad to be put out of his misery!
Rhys: Dan gets sacrificed of course because there is a lot of meat in his head (sniper's dream)
Finally, when the ship sank you each managed to save one person from the wreckage. That person is the one musician that has influenced your career the most, shaped your way of thinking and your outlook on life. Who did you save?
Neil: Just from the point of view of the level of impact on me growing up, it would have to be Hetfield!
Dave: Cliff Burton - I'm assuming I can bring people back from the dead? He was the reason I picked up the bass in the first place, he was such a creative force behind early Metallica and he died so tragically young! It would be great to bring him back.
James: I would save John Browne as his writing style is so unique and has completely changed the way I approach my rhythm playing, my tone set up and the way I approach my studio mixing.
Dan: Myself - typical front man style! I’m outta here! I’ll send help! Haha!
Rhys: Would save Fredrik Thordendal as he completely changed my appreciation of rhythm and time in music and how it can be used as the driving force of a song other than notes.
