The lights flicker, the amps hum, and somewhere in the back of Melbourne a keg of dynamite called Ablaze has just been cracked open. Their new record, Sink Ya Teeth In, doesn’t so much “drop” as it does leap from a bar stool, smash a pint glass, and demand you buy it another round. This isn’t polite background music. This is all sweat, swagger, and a goddamn hangover waiting to happen.
And at the eye of this storm is Dan “Mango” Mangano, the man on the drums — the engine, the heartbeat, the lunatic keeping time while the rest of the band burns down the stage. I wrangled him into a chat for KillerTube, and let me tell you, it was like trying to interview a thunderstorm with a pulse. We went deep into the new album, cracked jokes about the road, and rolled through talk of touring, influences, and the glorious mess that is rock ’n’ roll life.
Mango doesn’t play drums, he weaponises them. From the opening blast of “Gasoline” to the heavy-footed gospel stomp of “End of the Day,” this record is built to be played loud enough to knock the paint off your walls. And that’s exactly how Ablaze want it.
But it’s not just about the record. The band are back on the road, gearing up for Europe, and the way Mango talks about touring is like a junkie talking about his next fix — pure fever, pure necessity. They’re chasing the chaos, dragging their rock circus across borders and leaving beer-soaked stages in their wake.
This is Australian hard rock at its most unapologetic. No filters, no half measures, just five guys chasing the eternal high of volume and sweat.
If you want the straight shot — the full, loud, uncut conversation — you’ve got to watch the interview. Because print doesn’t do justice to the grin in Mango’s voice, the crack of the snare, or the madness in the eyes of a drummer who knows his band just delivered their best record yet.
👉 Watch the full interview on KillerTube here:
This is gospel.
I bite crowd surfers.
killer.
