Band of the Day: Nuclear Winter

Another rarity, or perhaps a first, for us today – a band from Zimbabwe!

Simple things first – where are you guys from?

From Harare – Zimbabwe

How did you meet?

Nuclear Winter is basically just me – a one man band – but I’ve had friends come and do additional vocals, like on Night Shift there was Chris Van and Matt Sanderson from Dividing the Element doing some extra vocals. The music I’m working on now though is purely a solo effort.

How long have you been playing as a band?

Well Nuclear Winter really began in 2013 when I did my first album called Ghost.

Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?

When I worked on the ideas for my first album, where the lyrics dealt a lot with the extremes from things like love/hate etc and the fine line that separates them, I thought Nuclear Winter worked well with that – as being the extremes of heat and cold but is a devastating thing within itself.

What are your influences?

Wintersun and Devin Townsend are my all-time favourites but a few of other favourites are Lord of the Lost, Fleshgod Apocalypse & Powerwolf. I also like other non-metal stuff like Blutengel and Ghost. Even orchestral trance now and then is cool.

Describe your music. What makes you unique?

I describe my music as Modern Melodic Death Metal. I don’t think there’s anything especially unique about my music. I just try to aim to make songs I’m happy with and just hope some other people like it too.

Do you have any particular lyrical themes?

I like melancholic / nostalgic type lyrics as well as themes that deal with darker emotions.

What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?

As a one man band recording my stuff at home I’ve not performed any of my music live yet unfortunately.

What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?

I’ve not been to that many shows.. One of the problems of living in Harare. But out of the ones I have seen – nothing out of the ordinary seemed to happen.

What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?

I use a Schecter Hellraiser 7 string guitar mostly, but I also have an Ibanez PGM. I had a cheap 6 string bass guitar which got stolen, so since then I’ve just been using a virtual bass instrument in Cubase.

I have a few pedals and a Boss GT-8 effects unit plus an old Peavey Bandit 112 amp which is great but I’m actually preferring to use amp sims now – On my Stormscapes EP (which is out end of May) I used the Mercurial SS-11x almost entirely for the guitars. Except for New York, New York where I only used a Mooer 005 micro preamp direct in.
The mic I’ve been using for vocals is the Audix i5. I have an SM58 beta and an old AKG C6000b mic, which surprisingly is great for micing up an amp. The Audix though just seemed to work better in my case for vocals.

As for the drums I use the Metal Foundry and Metal Machinery from Toontrack.

What, if anything, are you plugging/promoting at the moment?

Currently there’s my Stormscapes EP which will be out at the end of May. Then there’s a couple of cover songs which will be released separately at some stage.

What are your plans for 2020?

I’ll be continuing to work on new songs when I can. I work as a 3d artist as well so I’ll be busy with that work as well.

If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!

It would be great to have Zimbabwe’s only other metal band Dividing the Element. Then I’d have to choose Wintersun to be supporting.

Nuclear Winter: facebook | twitterbandcamp

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