MM: It’s been almost 5 months since you announced LTC’s disbanding. What have you been doing since then?

Ben: Well, I personally started attending UC Berkeley in August, so I’m busy with that.  I also have an awesome job at Pirates Press, who do all the vinyl manufacturing for all major metal and punk labels.  Other than that, jamming on some new music and enjoying life! Laura is bartending and most likely going back to school next year.  Jon, Ryan and Brian are all just working and looking for another project.

MM: Are you still in touch with the other members of Light This City and is there still a friendship factor there? Do you still work with Laura at all?

Ben: I won’t go into details, but MOST of us are on good terms. There was a bit of drama after Laura and my decision to break up the band, understandably.  There were some emotional times for a while, but for the most part things are great now.   As for Laura and I, we are working together on a new project that won’t be uber-professional and full-time,  so yeah Laura and I will still team up on something new, but I don’t want to divulge too much about that yet…

MM: You announced the disbanding on your myspace back in June. A lot of people were disappointed to see this happen so early in to your success. You kind of touched base on why you guys chose to go this route due to how touring full time had taken it’s toll on you, but it was still kind of vague to most. Would you care to elaborate on any of that?

Ben: Again, let me clarify it wasn’t everyone’s decision, just Laura and mine. In that sense we feel bad that we had to cut this career short for the other guys, we definitely do, but they are incredible musicians and they will bounce back soon.   In terms of the decision being early in our success, I am sure we could have gotten much bigger and sold many more records, but I had been doing this band since I was 14, so it was 6 years. We did 4 full length records and it was just enough for Laura and I. We were burnt out on the touring lifestyle, massively in debt, and not so excited about playing that style of music every night.  I guess it happens if you are exposed to it so often, but the band lost its fun and innocence that we really lived for in previous years.  We wanted to end it on a high note with “Stormchaser”, and we always promised ourselves we wouldn’t keep doing it if our hearts weren’t in it anymore.  We also had goals we wanted to accomplish before it got too late, and touring full time with the band wouldn’t allow those to be achieved.   We never wanted to do this band half-assed or 50%, so we decided to stop it altogether. So between all of those factors, we decided it was the best decision for us personally.

MM: Was that one of the toughest decisions that you’ve had to make? To bring to an end something that you put so much time in to?

Ben: It was definitely the hardest decision we’ve EVER had to make, but it suddenly became so clear to us.  It was a gut instinct, and we always follow those.  I don’t regret it, although there are aspects of the band we will always cherish and miss.

MM: The new Album comes out on the 11th. Obviously a lot of work went in to writing and recording this album. After the disbanding do you ever feel like all that work was in vain or is it more or less just another stepping stone in your career?

Ben: No, not at all. None of it was in vain. For me, metal and music in general has always been about the record, the songs, the listening experience. Sure, live shows are great, but sitting there with your headphones and really connecting to the music is what meant everything to me.  The new album is truly amazing, and undoubtedly our best work ever, and I feel honored that our fans will buy it and love it. What matters most to me is that our fans are able to pick up the album and appreciate it, which I am sure they will.  The absence of live shows they can live without I’m sure, but I am happy to leave them with this last record, which really does rule.

MM: You guys worked with Chuck Billy of Testament on the track “Firehaven“. Did you guys work directly with him or was the track finished and he recorded the vocals elsewhere?What was it like working with a legend in thrash metal?

Ben: We worked directly with him. He lives in the Bay Area as well so he just drove over to the studio and hung out with us for a day!  It was really awesome, and totally surreal.  He kept asking how we wanted this and that, and we were just like “Dude, you’re Chuck Billy.  You could do anything to this song and we will love it.”  It was a little crazy having to tell Chuck Billy what to do, but he was awesome!! Totally killed it, and the track is probably the heaviest thing we have ever done.

MM: Are you working on any different projects or bands that we might see in the future?

Ben: Jon, Brian and Ryan are already working on new projects, not necessarily together, but they will have new things in the works soon.  Just stay tuned to the LTC myspace site as we will keep people updated. As I said earlier, Laura and I are working on some new music, which won’t be metal, but will definitely be awesome.  I don’t want to talk much about it though being that it won’t come to fruition for a while, but we will let you know when it does..

MM: Is there any chance that Light This City will ever perform again, if not just for a local show or two?

Ben: We are trying to work out a last San Francisco show, but it is slow coming. There are a lot of details to work out, so it may or may not happen. But I will never rule out any reunions or shows years down the line.  Who knows what will happen. All we knew is that for right now we wanted to stop the band, it was what was best for us as people and musicians.

MM: What is your main focus right now as a musician?

Ben: I am actually writing a lot of music on guitar, as I always have, and really enjoying it.  Writing different kinds of music is totally refreshing, and pretty exciting. I am constantly buying new CDs of new bands that people tell me about. So I would say my main focus is honing my songwriting and really delving into what makes a song amazing, and trying to accomplish that in the future.

MM: Your label Creator-Destructor Records has released Mirror Of Dead Faces new cd and Signed Nekrogoblikon this year. Is there any other new acquisitions or are you just focusing on the bands currently on your roster?

Ben: I am also putting out a new EP by the Funeral Pyre, who’s last record was put out by Prosthetic. That is called “December” and should be out in March 09. Other than that, I am just focusing on Mirror of Dead Faces and Nekrogoblikon. The MODF record is out now, and it absolutely crushes.  Make sure you melodic death metal fans out there check it out, it is true quality!

MM: That’s all the questions I have. Is there anything that you’d like to say or add?

Ben: I just want to thank you for this interview and helping get the word out about this new record. A lot of press are understandably not interested in covering a broken up band, but this album is the best thing we have ever done and definitely deserves the attention. Pick up the new and final record, “Stormchaser” on November 11th!!

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Post from: Metal Martyr

After the winter tour with fellow label mates All That Remains, Light This City got in to the studio and started recording Stormchaser. They headed out with God Forbid and Death Angel on the In Thrash We Trust tour early in to the summer but about midway through they announced their plans to disband. Sadly for their many fans, Stormchaser would be the band’s swansong, but the founding members Ben Murray and Laura Nichol had their reasons to disband. You’ll find out more in an interview to be posted later this week.

November 11th will mark the fourth and final release of Light This City and if you’re a fan, then chances are that you’ll be very happy with this album.

Stormchaser picks up where Facing The Thousand left off and does so with a vengeance. Each song has a lot of thrash driven melodic guitar work with great hooks and rhythm. Lyrically the songs are well constructed and each song tells a story. Ben Murray and Laura Nichole offered a little bit of insight in to two of the songs that I favor the most. Firehaven feature Testament front-man Chuck Billy and the last track on Stormchaser, Self Portrait.

On Firehaven:

Laura: This is my favorite title from the album. For a while, I considered titling the album, “Firehaven”, but I was outnumbered. I love the concept because it is the complete opposite of “Stormchaser”, which is all about the hunger for adventure and being a touring machine. This song came at a point where I felt a little fed up with the touring lifestyle. I was reading Ray Bradbury’s The Illustrated Man, and one of my favorite short stories in that book is one called “The Long Rain”, about a spaceship from Earth that crash-lands on Venus, a planet where it never stops raining. The men go, unprepared, on a journey in search of a “Sun-dome”, a refuge that earthlings built all around the planet to shelter visitors from the rain. But the Venusians hate earthlings and smash all of the Sun-domes. The guys from the rocketship are just wandering aimlessly, being driven insane by the constant drops pounding on their heads, looking for something they might never find.

At times on tour, I felt similarities the protagonists of the story. Here I was, searching for adventure, and I got it tenfold. Of course there are days you love being on the road. But sometimes the adventure gets to be a bit much, like a cloud constantly overhead, and you end up thinking that you need to be more careful what you wish for.

But then you get Chuck Billy to do guest vocals on a song and everything is right again! …That was such a trip. I would look into the vocal room and see this guy that probably fills up most of the booth he’s in, and then I look to my right and see our little Ben giving him all this direction on how he should be singing for the part. Chuck is the coolest dude ever. I just wish we had better beer to offer him when he visited the studio.

Ben: As Laura said, what stands out about this song is Chuck’s appearance vocally, but the music is also incredible in my opinion. I think the practice-room title for this was “Municipal Waste” because it was SO thrashy, we couldn’t help but call it that! The beginning just hits you in the face and doesn’t let up until it’s over. The chorus is a bit darker/melodic death, while the verses are totally mid tempo thrash, which we really explored on this record. When Chuck’s vocals come in at the end it just peaks and ties it all together, from there there is a heavy slam anthrax-style riff, followed by a ripping solo. All of that was really new to us and totally fun to play.

On Self Portait:

Laura: Music has a way of traveling through one’s body like water through cracks in a rock, searching out and filling up that core of someone, touching on emotions one didn’t even know how to bring out of themselves. Working these lyrics into the music flowed just like that. Ben sat down with what I wrote, played the song, and we were able to figure out the vocal patterns in half an hour, without changing a thing.

I always wanted to find a way to thank the bands that have inspired me and pushed me to accomplish things like creating “Stormchaser”. I remember riding around on the bus when I was fifteen years old, listening to Darkest Hour, and feeling like my eyes were being opened to the world of music. Not radio crap or the stuff my guitar teacher showed me. Real music. Music I could make if I just listened and learned. “Self Portrait” might read like a love song, and it sort of is one, but it was inspired by listening to my favorite bands. And I wrote it as an ode to them (and one band in particular) for continuously challenging me, causing me to realize certain aspects of myself that make up who I am today.

Ben: This song came together pretty slowly in the practice studio, and it was one of the last ones we wrote. I feel like this along with “Beginning with Release” has the most impressive guitar work the band has ever done. Ryan’s solo at the end just blows me away. This song always felt like the last track, it was so epic and felt like a finishing track. The chorus reminds me of a Darkest Hour Kris Norris kind of melody, and the harmonies are just so sweet. We didn’t really anticipate how well this song came together but I’m pretty sure it is a band favorite. The whole thing just flows great, and turned out being a really nice surprise towards the end of the writing process for “Stormchaser”.

This isn’t your run-of-the-mill metal album thrown together to satisfy a contractual obligation of a band on their way out. A lot of time and effort was obviously put in to this record. Brian Forbes and Ryan Hansen are great guitar players and bring a lot to the table with lead riffs and rhythms that are both memorable and relevant to the style of metal that Light This City established themselves with. Self portrait has a solo near then end that almost oozes with Dave Mustaine influence, or at least it kind of has an Into The Lungs Of Hell feel to it, to me.

The only thing that I can say that can be taking in a negative manner about Stormchaser is that I would have liked to see a bit more variation in Laura Nichol’s vocals. She has a great scream but there is something that I feel could make it sound even better and I can’t quite explain it. If there was a bit more of a fluctuation in her vocal tone at times I think I would enjoy it a little more.

Overall Stormchaser is a great album and a good closing to a band who’s career was just starting to take off. If you liked Remains of The Gods and Facing The Thousand then you will love Stormchaser.

Keep an eye out later this week for a short interview with Ben Murray. He will catch us up on what he’s doing these days and a little more detail in to what led up to the decision to disband Light This City.

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Post from: Metal Martyr

That night when I spoke to LTC it disappointed me. How the fuck are you going to throw away something that only one in a million people can do? Most people don’t have the talent to BE this. Most people don’t have the RIGOR to do this. Most people can’t HANG with this. If some people can’t hang on it doesn’t mean YOU have to fall. ARE YOU HEARING ME? What’s growth without pain?

Read the rest here:

GOD FORBID’S DALLAS COYLE WRITES AN OPEN LETTER TO LIGHT THIS CITY

Post from: Metal Martyr

Hey Everyone,
I know this is extremely unexpected and disappointing to a lot you out there, but Laura and I have decided to end the band recently because of personal and practical reasons. While this may come as a shock to many, I hope I can shed some light on the reasons behind the decision.

First and foremost, the touring lifestyle and playing on stage every night, as well as making this band our entire lives and our profession had overtime become stale and anxiety-ridden for both of us, and in the end, not enjoyable anymore. We started this band because we loved playing this kind of music and loved the release that we got out of it, and the satisfaction we got from jamming with our friends, and taking it across the country. The fact that it had not been that way for a while was enough reason for us to hang it up and leave the band as 6 years of amazing memories and amazing accomplishments. There are other life goals that both her and I have that we felt would not be reached had we taken the band further, say for another 5 to 10 years, and we didn’t want to string our other band members along in something that our hearts weren’t in 100%. That’s just not who we are, and not how we ever wanted this band to be. Both Laura and I want to get back to the root of why we love playing and writing music, whether it be professionally or not, and not have this burden of feeling alienated from our friends and scene because of what the touring lifestyle does to bands. It is a feeling that we just couldn’t handle anymore, and didn’t want to deal with on any level, because at the end of the day, music IS our entire lives and we want to keep it that way. We wanted to keep it enjoyable as an amazing catharsis, which it was quickly becoming the opposite. With all of this, on top of the financial and logistical burdens we have come across in touring fulltime, we felt it was the right time to make this announcement. As disappointed as our friends and fans may feel, we hope you understand and respect the reasoning behind this decision, and can understand why we’d make it.

While many are confused at the timing of this decision, with the release of the new album and all, there is more explanation to be done. The new album will definitely be released within the next 4 months, and it is absolutely amazing! The most important thing to us right now is that all the fans we made be able to buy this album and enjoy it as a last ending high note of this band’s career, as we are sure you will love this album like we do. We all feel it is definitely the best Light This City record ever, and Brian, Jon and Ryan absolutely made it something spectacular. We will keep everyone updated on the release of the album, and there will be news about it within the coming weeks, as well as some new tracks online. As for as musical futures, everyone in the band is going to stay involved in music, and I am sure you will hear about everyone’s plans in the near future.

We want to personally thank everyone that has ever helped this band in furthering our career in any way, whether it be booking us, housing us, feeding us, or just supporting us and coming to the shows. All of our friends we have made know who they are, and know how much their love and support has meant to us. Everyone says this, but really, we couldn’t have done what we did without all of that support, and we love every one of you because of it. All of the friends we made and experiences shared have made this totally worthwhile, and we don’t regret a single part of it. Thanks to everyone, and we will keep you posted on the new album. –Ben

Image Source: Prosthetic Records

Post from: Metal Martyr

I interviewed Ben (Drummer) and Laura Nichol (Screamer) back in march in Charlotte, NC. Everything seemed to be going well at that time. But we all know how things can change, especially on the road in a van. Check out the interview below.

Post from: Metal Martyr

Revolver Magazines Hottest Chick In Metal III Out Takes.

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Hottest Chicks In Metal II Outtakes: Nee Pic Of Bleeding Through’s Marta

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Revolver Magazines Hottest Chicks In Metal III Outtakes

Revolver’s Hottest Chick In Metal III Outtakes

Image Source: Revolver Magazine Myspace

Post from: Metal Martyr

Right now you can view a few pictures of Maria Brink of In This Moment and through the rest of the week a new set of pictures for the other beautiful ladies will be posted there as well. Don’t miss out!

Revolver Mag’s Hottest Chicks In Metal III Out-takes

The Hottest Chicks in Metal III issue, which went on sale just over a week ago, features Brink, as well as tattoo artist, L.A.
Ink star, and professional rocker babe Kat Von D, returning cover girl Marta of Bleeding Through, Sonic Sydicate bassist Karin Axelsson, Winds of Plague’s Kristen Randall, Light This City vocalist Laura Nichol, and Lennon Murphy of Devil’s Gift. Check back tomorrow for new outtakes.

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Post from: Metal Martyr

This months feature The Hottest Chicks In Metal, starring Marta of Bleeding Through, Maria Brink of In This Moment, Karin Axelsson of Sonic Sydicate, Kristen Randall of Winds Of Plague, Laura Nichol of Light This City, Lennon Murphy of Devil’s Gift, Lennon and lastly L.A. Ink’s Kat Von D. You may be asking “Why is Kat Von D there? She’s not metal.”, Yeah, me too. But she’s got a lot of tattoos, listens to a lot of H.I.M. and is dating Nikki Sixx so that must make her metal, right? All very attractive and intelligent ladies. I wish I could scan and post some photos but image use policies are very strict on our Blog network, sorry. Moving on to the rest of the issue.

There is a great write up on Iron Maiden and the Somewhere Back In Time Tour and Ed Force One. Testament talks about Formation Of Damnation and what led up to it and In Flames talks about the evolution of In Flames with their recent release A Sense Of Purpose. Soilent Green talks about their bad luck in the past few years with Katrina devastating their home town of New Orleans and their van crash in 2001. Those are about the highlights of this issue. EIC, Tom Beaujour talks about the main reason why Revolver does The Hottest Chicks In Metal issue every year and he is pretty blunt about it when he says because “we move a lot of unit”. Can’t blame them for that. Plus it’s always nice to see some of our favorite female metal stars looking sexy instead of screaming or headbanging…even though I’m sure there are people that find that aspect sexy, and that’s cool too.

So if you have $4.99 to spend and can stomach the usual crap like Atreyu and a bit about the garbage that’s infesting Taste Of Chaos this year then pick up June’s Revolver issue.

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Post from: Metal Martyr