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Frankenbok

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The ‘Bok have a new single about to be released, with a full album soon to follow, their first full length record since 2007. McDougall himself joins Beat at the famous Young and Jacksons pub in Melbourne city to discuss all things Frankenbok and local metal.

“Busy,” he states plainly, when asked how things are in the ‘Bok camp, “but good. It’s been a year of getting the album done, and recorded, it’s taken us about 11 months to record the album. We’ve all got work and kids and shit,” he grins, “so fitting it in – in our spare time – now we’re finally getting towards the end of the process; we’re just starting to ramp up towards putting it out. It’s been pretty crazy, getting everything rolling towards putting it out… so it’s good to be finally pushing it to that next level.

“It’s definitely the most intense record that Frankenbok’s done,” McDougall adds of the new album, “it’s definitely a thrash metal album. We’ve got a couple of sorta slower songs, but they’re still pretty heavy,” he chuckles. “It’s gonna surprise a lot of people, primarily with the lyrical content, and what we’ve decided to discuss on this album. With the previous singers, it was hard to know what they were really on about; this one’s a little bit more direct.”

The new single, Dine In Hell, is being launched this Saturday night at one of Melbourne’s better new live music venues The Prague in Thornbury, with their great mates Dreadnaught, and new band Wildeornes (featuring former members of Downriver) playing their debut show. Both Frankenbok and Dreadnaught’s sets are to be filmed for future DVD releases, and the ‘Bok have put a great deal of time, money and effort into making this show a memorable one. There some other surprises in store as well, so fans of heavy music of all kinds are strongly encouraged to attend.

“We really want to put on a good show,” McDougall admits, “we need as many people as we can get there. The more people we get there, the vibe’s gonna be awesome, and we’ll kick some serious arse… Richie from Dreadnaught contacted us about the show, and said ‘do you want to film there, ‘cos we’re going to film it. So I was like, ‘I’ve never been there, never seen it’ (The Prague), but it’s a new venue, new PA: it’s up and coming. I reckon it’s gonna be the new Arthouse; it’s gonna take over that moniker,” he muses.

“We’re actually going to expand the stage out another metre,” he adds. “I like to get right in there amongst it, in the crowd. And also put in a drum riser, so it’s sort of a three-tiered stage,” he grins. “We’re also talking to the stage company about having one section of the stage with a perspex top, so we can lights in underneath it, and even film from there.

“We’re going all out man,” he adds, “we want to make it look awesome, we’re bringing in all this extra lighting… it’s costing us a pretty penny. It’s not cheap being in this business, you gotta love it!”

Beyond the single, the band also have some rather unconventional plans as to where they want to take things once the album is released, as McDougall explains. “Yeah we’ve been discussing things,” he states. “I think the album, and what it’s about, would have more grounding in more third world heavy metal countries. It seems like a crazy idea to try and push it in those areas, but there’s so many fans there,” he nods. “Indonesia we’re looking at, primarily. After speaking to a few people who’ve toured there, it’s just an amazing place to play. The crowds are enormous, they’re fully passionate, as opposed to in Australia where it’s almost a joke. Over there it’s taken seriously. They don’t have any money, but they’re crazy for it.

“So at the moment we’re all working on getting us over to Indonesia. The plan is to maybe bring out a band from over there, and then have them return the favour, and we’ll go over there. That’s kind of our plan at the moment.

“I really think we’re in a position now to start pushing Australian bands,” he states, “there’s now enough Australian bands that have an Australian sound… finally, after 20 years, the metal scene here is just as good as anywhere else in the world.”

It’s the absolute truth. In the meantime, there’s the unique chance to check out three of Australia’s finest metal acts all in the one spot this weekend at The Prague – it’s one of the better opportunities to support Australian metal you’re likely to experience, especially with Frankenbok loading up for what’s sure to be one of the better metal records in recent memory. And hell, you may even get your mug on their DVDs.