Interview by Kris Peters
Wellington thrash metal outfit Bulletbelt have made massive inroads over their 15 year existence, supporting bands of the calibre of Municipal Waste, Napalm Death, Carcass, Dragonforce, Venom Inc and Arch Enemy to name just a few.
Their brand of metal is fast, brutal and uncompromising, a welcome relief in a musical landscape that is becoming more predictable by the day.
Despite numerous line-up changes over the course of their brief foray in heavy metal, Bulletbelt have delivered a string of consistently addictive albums, with their most recent, last year's Burn It Up, introducing new vocalist Diego Attinger and kicking off yet another chapter in Bulletbelt's Glossary Of Metal.
That album saw the band introduce clean vocals for the first time, adding a depth and sincerity to their music that until now they had not known was missing.
Later this month, Bulletbelt cross the seas for a run of three Australian shows, with their headlining spot at Brisbane's Necrosonic Festival promising to be a thing of pure metal ecstasy.
HEAVY sat down with Attinger earlier this week to find out more. We spoke about the three shows and what Australian fans can expect, the response to Burn It Up, the introduction of cleans and how much it has affected the core Bulletbelt sound, his joining the band and how it came about, stepping into an established band and finding your feet, new music in the works and more.