Israeli metal music lovers come in all shapes and sizes, just like in the rest of the world. Some love Metallica, others love Megadeth. Some love Death metal, and others love Thrash metal. The metal music scene is diverse, and not everyone is familiar with the same bands. But there is one performer that every metalhead in Israel knows: Yishai Sweartz.
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Sweartz, 44, is a metal producer and the vocalist of the Israeli metal group Tomorrow's Rain. He has been active in the metal music scene since 1997 and is responsible for bringing dozens of famous metal bands to Israel, including Kreator, Sabaton, Behemoth, Septicflesh, and Paradise Lost, to name a few.
Despite the challenges of the metal music industry, Sweartz never stopped believing in it and continues to fight for the small music scene's place. He is far from your regular "tough" metal musician and now, with the release of Hollow, the band's debut album, one could even go as far as to say that Sweartz is one of the most intriguing personalities of the Israeli music industry as a whole.
Hollow is not Sweartz's first musical credit, although it does seem that he gave this album his all, pouring all the knowledge he gained and abilities he developed over the years into it. The album features collaborations with famous international metal artists and members of bands such as Nevermore, Septicflesh, My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost, and more.
In addition to the international album, the band also created a version in which all but two songs were fully translated into Hebrew. Guest on these unique versions are no less notable and include iconic rocker Riki Gal, legendary guitarist Shlomi Bracha, and high –profile Israeli performers Micha Shitrit, Avi Belleli, and Kobi Farhi.
A musician from a young age
"When I was a kid back in the 1980s, my classmates were into Madonna or Duran Duran, and I was looking for something more profound. I used to listen to the radio for hours on end, and I would write down the music I liked and buy those records – that is how I first learned about The Smiths and The Sisters of Mercy.
"I found what I was looking for – the music of Iron Maiden, The Cure, Judas Priest, Ehud Banai, Black Sabbath – all these bands influenced my music from a young age and inspired Tomorrow's Rain as well," he said.
"I started testing the waters of the metal music industry from a young age. I wrote hundreds of songs as a child. When I was 15, I sent my lyrics to Berry Sakharof because I'd heard he was looking for material. I didn't let my age hold me back. In 1993 I released a poetry book called Rage Prophet and started performing with my first band.
"At some point, I even published a magazine called Rockpoint. At the height of the music CDs era, I owned an import company called Raven that helped distribute heavy metal music in Israel. Music has always been my first language and Hollow is the summary of my path in the music world so far."
Q: you wrote some of the material used in Hollow as a child. What made you use it so many years later?
"First off, I'd like to say that even though I invested a lot of myself, my experiences, and thoughts into this album, it is not my project, we are a band.
"I am the vocalist. Raffy More is our guitarist, he has been with me since the band's inception. He used to also play for the well-known Israeli metal band Distorted. Nir Nakav is our drummer, he is also a member of the extreme metal band Salem. We are joined by some prominent members of the newer metal generation in Israel – guitarist Yoni Biton from Ferium, bassist Yaggel Cohen from Black Widow, and keyboardist Shiraz Weiss.
"We were in no hurry to write this album. We took our time. In fact, it took us a long time to record it. Our band was formed in 2002, undet the name Moonskin, and we performed together until 2006. We took a five-year break, and in 2011 we regrouped under the name Tomorrow's Rain. We started to perform in 2016 and only recorded this album last year.
"I was afraid to deal with the contents of the songs mentally. Hollow is not an ordinary album. It is autobiographical. Everything that is written in the songs happened in real life. In the beginning, I thought Hollow was my personal story, but it turned out to be the story of the band. One of our band members lost both parents in one year, another member saw the end of a 25-year marriage, a third one suffered a severe injury.
"I realized that many people listen to music simply because they need background noise. In a way, this realization helped me release such sensitive personal emotions into the world in the form of songs."
Q: Why the name Tomorrow's Rain?
"'Tomorrow's rain will wash the stains away, but something in our minds will always stay' is a line from Sting's Fragile, one of the most perfect songs in the universe. This sentence reflects our message: rain will fall and cleanse the pain, but some scars will remain on you soul forever."
Q: Let's talk about the coronavirus pandemic. As far as you're concerned, was the album released at an opportune time?
"The band took a few hits because of the coronavirus. The first hit was, understandably, a financial one. The government's 'help' was not a grant but a loan – a loan that had to be paid back with interest.
"The second hit, for me personally, was the end of a long-term relationship. The virus caused my partner to 'take off her mask,' so to speak. It turns out she was more interested in my money than me," Sweatz shared.
"The third hit was that we couldn't perform and celebrate the release of the album with our audience in Israel and around the world. However, we don't let these things bring us down. We continue despite the pain and difficulties."
An unprecedented album release
"Hollow has two versions: one in English and one almost entirely in Hebrew. The idea was to give the Hebrew-speaking audience an album in their mother tongue. As far as I know, this is unprecedented. We are the first band in Israel to release two albums – one in English and one in Hebrew – simultaneously.
"Two of the songs in the Hebrew version have not been translated. One of them is about [lead singer of Sanctuary and Nevermore] Warrel Dane, and the lyrics are full of allusions to songs he wrote over the years. We tried to translate it, but the meaning was lost in translation. The second song that wasn't translated into Hebrew is the theme song of Hollow. It is the only song in the album that wasn't written by me. Shiraz Weiss, our keyboardist, wrote it. It is a brave song that describes a break –up from a woman's perspective. I tried to translate it, Riki Gal even tried to help me, but in the end, we felt a translation did not convey the feeling of the song."
Q: Why the trubute to Warrel Dane?
"Warrel Dane was a talented singer who wrote mesmerizing lyrics. Like many musicians at that time, he also struggled with a drug and alcohol addiction. He was a good friend of mine, although I never touched any kind of drugs and can barely hold down more than two beers. Dane was initially supposed to produce the album. He even visited Israel several times for shows.
"During one of his visits, we were sitting in a restaurant and talking about future plans and about his success in quitting drugs. I told him how proud I was of him," Sweartz recalled.
"Our plan to produce the album never materialized. Two years later, when he came to Israel again, he was in a bad state. He started drinking again and it was clear that he couldn't produce an album. I was unable to help him. It tore me to pieces. A year later, he passed away. I wrote a song in his memory because I love him and I miss him. The world has lost a great musician. I lost a friend."
Q: Why did you choose to cover Nick Cave's "Weeping song" as the album's closing song?
"I grew up listening to Nick Cave. I decided to create a cover for one of his songs after seeing him perform here in Israel, right after his son's death. Nick chose life. He mourned his son through his music together with his audience. He is an example for me, an example of mental strength in moments when we need to deal with the worst."
Collaboration with rock singers
"The guest artists in the Hebrew version of the album – Riki Gal, Micha Shitrit, Shlomi Bracha, Avi Belleli, and Eran Zur – are not quite who you would expect to hear on a metal album. The thing is that in the English version of the album, all guest artists are from well-known metal bands, such as My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost. When it came to the Hebrew version I debated who should be invited. After all, you can't ask someone from England, Sweden, or Greece to sing in Hebrew.
"That's when I had the idea to collaborate with Israeli rock singers thatI love and who could contribute to our album with their vast experience. It truly excites me that these singers are part of it. In a way, it's an artistic statement that it is possible to create heavy, atmospheric, profound Israeli music.
"Israeli music doesn't have to be pop-dance. There's room for that kind of music, but there's also room for us. Music that is different is often excommunicated here. How is it possible that music magazines worldwide – Japan, Australia, Brazil, Germany, England, Sweden – write about us, but here, at home, we are ignored? In a way, it's musical racism."
Q: Why not collaborate with other Israeli metal artists?
"Our music has always been a combination of metal and rock. Perhaps what you should really be asking is how come in the English version, we only worked with metal singers and did not collaborate with rock, goth metal, and new wave metal bands. The thing is that I didn't feel comfortable reaching out to Peter Murphy, Nick Cave, or Andrew Eldritch from Sisters of Mercy for our first album. We can always do that for our next album," explains Sweartz.
"I don't write my music with only the metal music scene in mind. I make music for anyone who connects to it. I do not change my music in order to sell it better, but my music can appeal to anyone, be it a fan of Led Zeppelin, Nick Cave, Rami Fortis, or Morbid Angel, better yet all of the above."
Q: Most of the songs on your debut album are collaborations. Do you feel that perhaps Tomorrow's Rain has disappeared among all of them?
"All the songs had been written years before we even thought of inviting guest performers. The songs are 100% who we are.
"The songs are the essence of the album, the guest singers are the spice. It makes sense, as a listener you listen to the album for the songs, but you are also intrigued by the guest performers. However, if you don't like the music, you won't listen to it, even with the guest performer."
Q: Many of the metal guest artists you knew beforehand. After all, you were the one who brought them to perform in Israel. But how did you get to know the Israeli rock artists?
"Some I knew personally. Riki Gal, for example, was my vocal coach for years. Some came through my connection to [musician] Yossi Elephant. Others liked what we wrote and what we were creating. I believe that in the end, all artists decided to work with us because they liked our material."
Q: What is the story behind your connection to Yossi Elephant? How does it affect your work?
"Yossi and I grew up together in Ramat Gan. The song Trees is about our childhood on Mevo Zeev Street. I used to live one floor above Yossi when I was a kid. Yossi's father, David, was an Auschwitz survivor and my grandfather, Moshe, used to be a partisan. The two had a lot in common.
"There is no doubt that Yossi affected me and the album profoundly. His spirit is felt throughout the songs. Anyone who listens to some of his songs after listening to our album will find lots of similarities."
Q: Trees begins and ends with the sound of children playing. Is there a meaning behind this?
"Of course. Those recordings are of the children from the Sheila school in Ramat Gan playing during their break. Yossi and I both studied there. It was important for me that the sounds be recorded in that school. This is a return for us, a return to our childhood, but also these are the voices of the next generation."
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