Betzefer

Betzefer (Hebrew: ?) is an Israeli groove metal band, originating from the communal settlement Maccabim-Re'ut. The band was formed up in 1998 and was signed to Roadrunner Records from 2005 to 2007. Betzefer is notable for becoming Israel's first heavy metal band to have released its debut album on a major heavy metal label.

Betzefer's biggest influence is Slayer, while Pantera and Sepultura are also credited as being major influences. The band's upcoming album will be produced by Down producer Warren Riker.

History

Betzefer was formed in 1998 for a one-off high school gig. This fact is the origin of the band's name, which is an ad lib translation of the Hebrew term "Beit Sefer", meaning "school". The original lineup included singer Avital Tamir, guitarist Matan Cohen, drummer Roey Berman and bassist Menashe "Mashy" Hazan. Following the usual gigs as a cover band and several replacements of the bass players, Betzefer started their own songwriting. 1999 saw the release of their first demo followed in 2000 by the EP, Pitz Aachabar ("Pitz the Mouse"), a parody on a popular Hebrew children song. In 2001 they released the EP Some Tits, But No Bush and later in 2003 the EP New Hate with new bass player Evil Haim (Haim Binyami), all self-financed and self-released.

Not long after the release of the EP, Evil Haim left the band, and stayed only to work as the band's soundman, additionally for the new band he formed after the departure from Betzefer, Whorecore. Rotem Inbar replaced him as the bassist.

In June 2004 the band took off to Belgium to record their first full-length album, Down Low, with producer Kris Belaen to whom they were introduced by Sven De Caluwe of Aborted and Whorecore. They eventually recorded the album with Belaen, while the final mixing and mastering was done by Danish producer Tue Madsen. During the recordings, the band was offered by Fear Factory to tour with them as their supporting act. During their performances the band was noticed by the major label Roadrunner Records who signed the band to a 4 album contract. After the signing, the band came back to the studio to finish the recording. On , 2005, Roadrunner released Down Low and the band toured Europe intensively to promote it.

Beginning March 2007, They toured with Sepultura supporting their Dante XXI tour, supporting Lamb of God and Soulfly on their German tours and Chimaira on their UK tour, and through 2007 performed in such venues as With Full Force festival in Germany and Planet Music in Austria. They were joined by Sepultura guitarist Andreas Kisser a few times for a performance of "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC. On , 2007, Betzefer opened for Megadeth in Tel Aviv.

On December 2007, Betzefer parted ways with Roadrunner Records, stating that the record label doesn't fit anymore for what they are looking for.

On , 2008, Betzefer opened for Machine Head in Tel Aviv. At the show the band performed all the songs from their upcoming second album. A few days later, the band entered the studio to start recording their second studio album.

On , 2008, it was announced that Betzefer's upcoming 2nd studio album won't be mixed and produced by Tue Madsen after all, and that it will be instead mixed and produced by Grammy Award winner Warren Riker, who has produced albums for Down, Santana and more. The band has commented that as much as they liked working with Madsen, they decided to work with Riker instead, since they have the option, because they do not want the new album to sound like the latest one, and they hope Riker will bring the new sound they look for. The band stated that their new songs will combine the old elements of the band's music along with new experimental material.

On , Betzefer finished the recording of their second studio album and announced that the album is in its final mixing stage. They then performed at a donation heavy metal festival in Herzliya on , 2008, in which they said they were recording the crowd for a new song called "Doomsday" in which vocalist Tamir stated they needed to have people screaming the word "Day" in the chorus, for the record. At the show the band also played two new songs: "Doomsday" and "Best Seller". It was recently announced that the current title for Betzefer's second studio album is Freedom to The Slave Makers and that the album will be released in September 2008 and not July 2008 as it was said before. Yet, since then, the album was delayed once again to an unknown date in 2009.

Musical style and Influences

Betzefer's musical style is mostly regarded as groove metal and thrash metal, influenced by bands such as Pantera, Slayer and Sepultura, although on an interview with an Israeli extreme sports magazine, vocalist Avital Tamir also stated Guns N' Roses and Metallica, as influences, additionally to Pantera.

They are described by many as metalcore, groove metal, thrash metal, post-thrash and even alternative metal and nu metal, but the band disproves any labeling on their genre and vocalist Avital Tamir stated in an interview that their genre is purely rock or alternative rock, and that they see themselves mostly as part of the Israeli alternative rock scene, and that no one of the band members even saw himself as a metalhead before, and the connection between the band and metal music is simply because the music is fast, heavy and harsh.

In another interview with Avital Tamir and Matan Cohen, they stated AC/DC, Aerosmith and Black Sabbath as their rock-rooted influences. They also mentioned they have influences ranging from hard rock and heavy metal, through punk and even blues.

Slayer is thought to be the band's biggest influence, since in their biggest hit single "Down Low" the last verse of the song praises Slayer's album Reign in Blood as "the best damn fuckin' album ever". They also play the opening riff of the Slayer song "Raining Blood" in almost every concert, as a finish to their song "Down Low".

Band Members

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Original Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betzefer