Slik Helvetika recently released their album Walk Through Fire and we had the privilege of interviewing Michael Myers to speak a little more about the album. Each track has it’s own story behind the lyricism, but the track “Walk Through Fire” really shines. The track represents the tension between how technology is progressing and how humans are slowly losing themselves to it. Will humans lose their identity? Or will humans take control?
“Is AI becoming all the rage by surpassing humans? Maybe it is surpassing the mentally bankrupted and limited victims. Unlimited humans have potential capacities to walk over red hot coals, to see when blindfolded, detect colors without eyesight, remote view, perform psychokinesis, obtain photographic memory states from sub liminality and so much more. Stop believing you are insignificant. Your thoughts and consciousness create reality. You are more than you are told…..!” – Michael Myers
Interviewer: Can you give us some insight about how Slik Helvetika formed? And what type of musical style does the band have?
Mike: “Slik Helvetika was formed from the ashes of a band called Destroyer. After a fairly successful run in the boom of the hair metal and 80s metal, Destroyer signed off temporarily as popular musical styles changed to Grunge and Rap and the hopes of a lucrative record deal were out of sight for a melodic heavy metal band. Slik Helvetika was essentially the rebirth of the style of music Destroyer performed but, in a new era with some shared key members/writer as rock and metal started to come back into vogue.”
Interviewer: “Walk Through Fire” is your newest album; what is the central theme of this album? Or does it have several for fans to relate to?
Mike: “Walk Through Fire is the newest release from the band and is based around the title cut and its general theme of both walking through the fire of life and what human potential can be when uncapped and unchained by the burden of negative manipulation into trainable slaves by our media and leaders. We can fire walk over hot coals when in deep focus states, but we can’t get through the day when the controllers have the reigns. Of course there is great diversity contained in this release. Some teary-eyed ballads about life, some serious brutal heavy metal tunes as well as humorous and groove-oriented catchy stuff.“
Interviewer: How do you want fans to feel after hearing it front to back?
Mike: “I hope people feel like they’ve questioned some facets of life or have been inspired by some of the lyrics. I also hope they feel like they’ve tapped their feet, maybe got teary-eyed, felt the power and been on the musical journey that has the right amount of driving rock, catchy metal and different themes to keep their interest.”
Interviewer: With the new album; are there specific stories that happened to anyone personally in the band that made certain songs more impactful?
Mike: “All these songs and concepts were a part of my life. One Way Street was about a relationship, so that’s a story. Beautiful is another story. All these songs are stories. NINE is the biggest one. I’ve been surrounded by a bit of what you would call a paranormal life. There is no paranormal when you’ve got the laws of physics correct. I’m going to leave that enigma in the haze for a bit for everyone to think about. Shards may come out as we go along.“
Interviewer: I love knowing the process of how music is created; how was the writing process for this album? Any setbacks?
Mike: “This album was a good mix of ideas and songs from many years back and totally new concepts and songs. Many bands have different ways they come up with music. I go away and come to the plate with the whole song. There did not seem to be any setbacks other than having too many songs.“
Interviewer: Which track do you think will surprise fans the most?
Mike: “I don’t know what track will surprise fans the most. Maybe it will be NINE. There are some distinguishably different tracks here.“
Interviewer: Do you feel this album reflects growth personally or musically?
Mike: “I feel this album does show both musical and lyrical growth and I don’t think I could have executed them this well years ago. The skillset and maturity seem to have taken a leap.”
Interviewer: Does the band have any upcoming live shows coming up? If so; what songs are you most excited to perform live?
Mike: “The band is getting ready now for some upcoming shows as support TBA and has slated a performance at the Lehigh Valley Rocks Re-union Oct 10 at the Gin Mill in Northampton Pa. That is and was a super cool concept that involved an album, movie feature about the much-overlooked Lehigh Valley music scene that was packed with talent and hopefuls but seemed to bypass all the attention of the 80s record labels that focused on NY, LA, and Phila bands. We can’t wait to play all these songs live as well as previous releases!“
Walk Through Fire Tracklist:
Solarhead
Beautiful
Shoot
Walk Through Fire
Time Flies
Crown
They
Bitch
Fox on the Run
Black Widow
One Way St
MK Axial
Nine