ACUTEis currently touring with The Wildbirds and headliner, Jesse Malin on the Death + Taxes Magazine tour. Isaac Lekach, vocalist (among many other talents), graciously took some time to speak with me before the show in Tampa, FL. The venue doors were still locked, so we went around the corner to a bar to sit down and talk about the new album, Arms Around a Stranger.

Fears Magazine: Please introduce yourself and the main players in your band.

Isaac Lekach: My name is Isaac. I sing and play guitar for Acute. And then there's Patrick Edwards who plays drums, Matt Herman who's playing bass with us, and Jason Borger who plays keyboards and he also wrote all the arrangements for the record, all the strings and horns and everything.

Fears Magazine: And I know that you guys have all been in other bands, so how did you all meet?

Isaac Lekach: I had like a solo project thing that was called Poulain, and I was doing a tour with a band, and our drummer, my friend, Todd, didn't want to go on the last tour. He wanted to focus on writing his own songs and so through a mutual friend, I met Patrick and he was on hiatus from [[Ozma]], so he came on tour with us. After that tour, Poulain broke up and I formed Acute. Then Matt, he went to high school with Patrick. And Jason, Dave Trumfio who recorded the record introduced us to him because he knew that we wanted to have heavy orchestration on the record. We had a great time making the record and afterwards, Jason offered his services - if we ever were going to play a show and we wanted him to be a part of it, he would gladly do it. That turned out to be a great time as well, so now he's in the band.

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Mike Riggs, a.k.a. Riggs, is the founder, lead guitarist, and vocalist for the band Scum of the Earth (although he states he wishes not to be the latter) formed in 2003 after he departed ways with Rob Zombie . S.O.T.E. released its debut album "Blah...Blah...Blah...Love Songs for the New Millennium" in 2004. Known for the ex-pli-ci-tee of it all, Riggs and Scum push the limits not only lyrically, but visually as well.

Riggs recently spoke with Fears Magazine and offered his thoughts and comments about the band’s latest endeavor (Sleaze Freak) and more.

Fears: First and foremost, is the follow-up to Blah...Blah...Blah...Love Songs for the New Millennium (Sleaze Freak) completed?

Riggs: Just about.

Fears: How long did it take to put it together?

Riggs: Oh I despise just doing the vocals; I don’t even want to be the singer. I tried to find somebody else to be the singer for the record, but the record company wouldn’t let me use’em. A super rad singer that’s a kind of mix between the dude from Mudvayne and Phil Anselmo. A really good singer.

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Formed by members Shagrath , Silenoz , and Tjodalv , Dimmu Borgir has been the diamond in the rough for the Black Metal genre. Well orchestrated, thought provoking songs have been satisfying fans since the band formed in 1993 in Norway.

Fears had the opportunity to speak with the band, but it took some time and coordination (due to sound checks and other band obligations) to nail down the interview. On the last day of the U.S. leg of the Invaluable Darkness Tour, we finally were able to catch up with guitarist Silenoz at the House of Blues in Lake Buena Vista Florida (Downtown Disney for reference) and for about 35 minutes, he was gracious enough to answer all of our questions.

Fears Magazine: Since the inception of Dimmu, the metal industry has had its highs and lows. What has kept Dimmu Borgir on the radar?

Sven Atle Kopperud (a.k.a. Silenoz): I think we have persisted because of stubbornness, first and foremost, and believed in what we have been doing for years instead of letting outside influences take a toll. We've just had our own mission the whole time and didn't care what other people expected from us or wanted from us. We just did whatever we thought was for us and I think that's part of the success.

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There isn’t too much that can be written about Type O Negative that has not been written already. Known for their diverse sound / style of metal, Type O Negative has garnished many accolades and generated a fanbase which spans the globe.

Type O Negative recently rolled through St. Petersburg, Florida promoting their latest release, Dead Again . Prior to the band’s sound check, Kenny Hickey (Lead & rhythm guitars, backing vocals) gave a few minutes of his time to speak with Fears.

Fears: The band has enjoyed much success and it can be said that the willingness to go beyond the traditional means of creating music has been the key element. From a member’s point of view, what uniqueness set aside Type O Negative from the bands back in the day.

Kenny Hickey: I think that we definitely mixed ingredients that nobody had mixed before us, which are elements of hardcore, industrial and gothic.

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