Wednesday, April 26, 2017

In Reverence/The Selected Breed/Non Serviam Records/2017 CD Review


  In  Reverence  are  a  band  from  Sweden  that  plays  a  mixture  of  death  metal  and  deathcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "The  Selected  Breed"  which  will  be  released  in  May  by  Non  Serviam  Records.

  Acoustic  guitars  and  oriental  music  elements  start  off  the  album  and  they  also  mix  in  with  the  more  heavier  side  of t he  music  which  also  utilizes a   great  amount  of  melodic  guitar  leads  while  you  can  also h ear  all  of t he  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  death  metal growls.

  When  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  along  with  the  songs  also  bringing  in a   great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  deathcore  elements  can  be  heard  in  the  mid  tempo  sections  of  the  tracks  and  at  times  the  music  also  gets  very  atmospheric a nd  when  high  pitched  screams  are  utilized  they  add  in  a  touch  of  black  metal  and  the  music  also  adds  in  a  more  brutal  style  of  death  metal  at  times.

  In  Reverence  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  brutal death  metal while  also  adding  in  elements  of  black  metal,  deathcore,  atmospheric  and  oriental  music  to create  something  original,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  mythological  themes.

  In  my  opinion  In  Reverence  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  death  metal  and deathcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check out  this  band.  REECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Gods  Of  Dehumanization"  "The  Six  Bloodletting"  and  "Gift  Of  Disintegration".  8  out  of  10.

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Death On Fire Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the musical project?
I started writing and recording music again after a 6year hiatus due to family and financial obligations. My amazing wife Danielle pushed me to start composing again and after I had written enough material I decided to release it and get some friends together to form our band and do a small tour in support. Musically it is a blend of melodic death metal and thrash with some hints of blues and jazz. I do some dodecaphonic stuff on one song that is fun too. Mostly it's just metal though

2.So far you have rleeased one album, how would you describe the musicaol sound that is resented on the recording?
I love Carcass and Megadeth, I have a ton of extreme music I enjoy but I always like a good melody. I was listening to a lot of Gojira and Amon Amarth when I wrote this album and I think it shows through rhythmically and with some of my melodies. I call it death metal but it definitely has melody.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects you explore with your music?
Most of it is very personal. I talk about regret and loss, depression, anger, betrayal and feeling isolated. Most of my lyrical content is me exercising my inner demons. I think you need to be sincere and honest with the lyrical content but I want it to mean whatever it does to other people. There is a dystopian theme about how America isn't as exceptional as we once were and how the corporate machine is destroying what truly matters. Lastly, I wrote about not being a victim. As dark as things get, for me I never want to lose without a fight and I struggle to compromise. I can be a bit self righteous.

4.Originally the project was called 'LazerWulf', what was the decision behind the name change and also the meaning and inspiration behind the name ;Death On Fire'?
There is another band in GA called Lzr/Wlf. They let me know about the conflict and we worked to change the name. They are great guys and have a cool math rock thing that they do. It took some time and several test names but Death on Fire just stuck. It has a good mental image for me. What could be more metal than a flaming skull piercing the dark to come take your life?

5.On this album you recorded everything by yourself, how would you compare it to working with a fll band?
I enjoy the process. I still collaborated though, mostly I spoke with friends about compositional ideas and things I studied at college. Once I found inspiration it was easy. I like this process because I can let the song flow naturally and stop or start the work process whenever I want. I do miss the band experience and there is real value to multiple people working together on a piece of art. That being said, I like the selfishness of writing music that sounds exactly how I want it to. Both ways are good, this was new and different for me since I normally write in a band and I think the newness of the experience was really refreshing. I already have a second album almost complete. It is just freeing to not answer to other people's opinions.

6.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
There are always people asking you to send them money and they will release it. That is a shame because they prey on people's dreams. Thankfully I have been around long enough to not fall into that trap. I would love to have a label that can offer support and hope the second album I am working on gets picked up. I am not pushing too hard at the moment though as we are focused on putting on a small diy tour to support the release and hoping that it catches some momentum.

7.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your solo project by fans of extreme metal?
I have had a lot of really good feedback. I think we are more melodic than some bands and that opens us up to a wider fan base. The only criticism I get is some people don't care for the vocal stylings but hey, it's extreme metal! Most people are very supportive and I feel honored that they enjoy the music.

8.Are you currently involved with any other bands or musical projects these days?
I am a bit of a gun for hire on that front. There is an excellent power metal band called Zephaniah that I sit in on bass for when needed. That is a lot of fun because it is something different for me and it lets me work on right hand technique similar to classical. I study with Ken Jehle locally and we do some jazz stuff hear and there. Mostly just self indulgent fun.

9.Where do you see yourself heading into as a musician in the future?
Hopefully signed and making music. I love what I do and try to grow with each recording. Right now I am looking at blending more jazz elements and more unique time signatures into what I write with out losing the flow and melody. I am also exploring atonality and how it can. E used to create suspense in metal.

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
 Like I said Carcass is huge, anything pre risk Megadeth, Pantera, Cattle Decapitation, Amon Amarth, all kinds of extreme stuff. I also really love faith no more, Mr Bungle, He is legend. I listen to more old recordings because they seem to have a power to the content. I don't like Djent outside of Meshuggah. I love 80's top 40s because the melodies are great. New stuff; probably Gojira, Fit for an Autopsy, Revocation. I love Leo Brauer, he is a Cuban composer on classical guitar. Barrios, Villa Lobos. I am fortunate to have been exposed to a ton of music and it all sneaks into what I do in some way or form.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?
Family is huge for me. Outside of that I love rugby and played it up until last year for the Chicago Lions. It's a great sport and I have life long friends because of it. Now I Power Lift and dream of classic muscle cars.

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thank you for taking the time to ask me these questions. I hope everyone likes what I/we are doing. Come see us on the road, buy the album if you can, and support your local scene!

Friday, April 14, 2017

Jotnar/Connected/Condemned/Massacre Records/2017 CD Review


  Jotnar  are  a  band  from Spain  that  plays  a  very  melodic  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Connected/Condemned"  which  will  be  released  on  April  21st  by  Massacre  Records.

  Atmospheric  sounding  synths  along  with  some  heavy  yet  melodic  riffs  start  off  the  album  and  after  a  few  seconds  later  death  metal  growls  and  high  pitched screams  also  start  to  make  their  presence  known  while  clean  singing  is  also  used  at  times  while  the  solos  and  leads  also  use  a  great  amount  of  melody.

  A  great  amount  of  modern  metal  elements  can  be  heard  in  the  bands  musical  style  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  they  also  mix  in  elements  of  electronic  music  in  with  the  heavier  sections  of  the  songs,

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful sound  to  them  and  acoustic  guitars  can  also  be  heard  briefly  and  they  also  bring  in  a  cover  of  Nelly  Furlado's  "Say  It  Right"  and  there  is  also  some  session  work  from  members  of  Soilwork  and  Ultimate  Fate  and  female  vocals  are  added  onto  the  closing  track.

  Jotnar  plays  a  style  of  melodic  death  metal  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  the  more  modern  side  of  the  genre,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  depressive  themes,

  In  my  opinion  Jotnar  are  very  great  sounding  melodic  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre, you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Remaining  Still"  "Suicidal  Angel"  "The  Sentence"  and  "The  Portrait".  8  out  of  10. 

Thursday, April 13, 2017

Apallic/Of Fate And Sanity/Boersma Records/2017 CD Review


  Apallic  are  a  band  from  Germany  that  plays  a  very  progressive  and  melodic  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Of  Fate  And  Sanity"  which  will  be  released  in  June  by  Boersma  Records.

  Atmospheric  sounding  synths  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  field  recordings  and  hospital  samples  are  also  used  briefly  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  more  of  a  heavier  and  melodic  direction  along  with  some  blast  beats  while  the  vocals  bring  in  a  mixture  of  deep  death  metal  growls  and  high  pitched  screams.

  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  when  clean  and  acoustic  guitars  are  utilized  they  give  the  songs  a  more  progressive  feeling  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sounding  very  powerful  and  some  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  there is  also  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts  and  there  is  also  a  short  in  length  instrumental  before  returning  back  to  a  heavier  direction.

  Apallic  plays  a  style  of  death  metal  that  is  very  melodic  and  progressive  sounding,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  disease,  sanity,  madness,  awareness  and  mythology  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Apallic  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic  and  progressive  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Awakening"  "Days  before  The  Black"  "The  Watchmaker"  and  "A  Taste  of  Lethe".  8  out  of  10.

   

Death On Fire/LazerWulf Demos/2017 Full Lenngth Review


  Death  On  Fire  are  a  solo  project  from  Chicago,  Illinois  that  plays  a  melodic  mixture  of  death  and  thrash  metal  with  a  touch  of  jazz  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  self  released  2017  album  "LazerWulf  Demos"  which  will  be  released  in  May.

  Tragic  sounding  keyboards  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  heavier  direction  where  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  while  the  vocals  add  in  a  more  aggressive  style  of  thrash  and  you  can  also  hear  a  great  amount  of  melody  in  the  guitar  riffing.

  When  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  along  with  the  heaviness  of  death  metal  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts and  elements  of  groove  metal  are  also  used  at  times  along  and  growls  are  also  utilized  at  times.  while  later  tracks  also  show  the  vocals  adding  melody  into  the  aggressive  parts  and  as  the  album  progresses  elements  of  jazz  and  acoustic  guitars  are  also  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  a  later  track  also  add  in  a  few  seconds  of  spoken  word  parts.

  Death  On  Fire  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  melodic  death  metal  and  mixes  it  with  modern  thrash,  groove  metal  and  jazz  to  create  a  sound  of  his  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  real  life  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Death  On   Fire  a  very  decent  sounding  melodic  mixture  of  death  and  thrash  metal  with  a  touch  of  jazz  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  solo  project.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "A  Slave  By  Your  Own  Hand"  "Blood  Eagle"  "Around  Your  Neck"  and  "Coward".  7/5  out  of  10.

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Noumena/Myrrys/Haunted Zoo Productions/2017 CD Review


  Noumena  are  a  band  from  Finland  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  melodic  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Myrrys"  which  will  be  released  on  April  28th  by  Haunted  Zoo  Productions.

  Pianos  and  female  vocals  start  off  the  album  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  a  heavier  direction  while  also  introducing  melodic  guitar leads  onto  the  recording  along  with  a  great  amount  of  death  metal  growls  and  the  riffs  also  use  a  great  amount  of  melody  while  all  of  the  instruments  sound  very  powerful.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  as  the  album  progresses  mandolins  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording and  they  also  add  in  a  touch  of  folk  while  female  vocals  also  return  on  some  of  the  later  tracks  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of acoustic  guitars  on  later  tracks  along  with  a  couple  of  the  songs  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Noumena  creates  another  recording  that  remains  true  to  the  melodic  death  metal  style  that  was  established  on  previous  releases  while  also  standing  out  and  being  different  than  most  bands  of  the  genre,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Finnish  and  cover  humanity's  ability  to  destroy  everything  so  vital  and  dear.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Noumena  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  melodic  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Metsan  Viha"  "Rohu"  and  "Syvalla  Vedessa".  8  out  of  10.   

Sunday, April 9, 2017

Adamantine/Heroes & Villians/Allegiance Recordings/2017 Full Length Review


  Adamantine  are  a  band  from  Portugal  that  plays  a  mixture  of  melodic  death  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Heroes  &  Villains"  which  was  released  by  Allegiance Recordings.

  Dark  and  tragic  sounding  synth  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  symphonic  elements  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  more  of  a  heavier  and  melodic  direction  along  with  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  using  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording.

  Vocals  are  mostly  death  metal  growls  along  with  clean  singing  being  utilized  at  times  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  as  well  as  mixing  in  a  great  amount  of  modern  thrash  elements  and  some  tracks  also  add  in  touches  of  progressive  and  heavy  rock  and  spoken word  parts  are  also  used  briefly  and  a  later  track  also  brings  in  a  small  amount  of  acoustic  guitars  and whispers.

  Adamantine  plays  a  musical  style  that takes  melodic  death  metal  and  mixes  it  with  modern  thrash  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the   lyrics  cover  Lusitanian  Myths  and  War  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Adamantine  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  melodic  death  and  thrash  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Heroes  &  Villains"  "Remember  Who  You  Are"  "Grudge"  and  "Everything  Ends".  8  out  of  10.  

Saturday, April 8, 2017

Gravestone/Proud To Be Dead/Sliptrick Records/2017 EP Review


  Gravestone  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  a  progressive  form of  death  metal  with  a  touch  of black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  ep  "Proud  To  Be  Dead"  which  was  released  by  Sliptrick  Records.

  Hospital  sounds  start  off  the  ep  along  with  the  sounds  of  a  horror  movie  soundtrack  a  few  seconds  later  which  also  leads  up  to  a  heavier  sound  along  with  a  few  synths  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  death  metal  growls  with  a  few  screams  and  when t he  music  speeds  up a   great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard.

 A  great  amount  of  melody  can  be  heard  in  the  guitar  riffing  along  with  a  great  amount  of  90's  influences  while  the  screams  add  in  a  touch  of  black  metal  and  you can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  and  the  solos  and  leads  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion. 

  When  clean  playing  is  utilized  it  gives  the  songs  a  more  progressive  feeling  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  most  of  the  tracks  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  both  whispers  and  technical  elements  are  also  used  at  times  and  as  the  ep  progresses  more  symphonic  and  atmospheric  elements  are  added  onto  the  recording.

  Gravestone  plays  a  style  of  death  metal  that  mixes  progressive,  melodic,  atmospheric,  symphonic  and  black  metal  elements  together  to  create something  different,  the production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Lovecraft  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Gravestone  are  a  very  great  sounding  progressive  death  metal  band  with  a  touch  of  black  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Corpse  Embodiment"  and  "Flagellation".  8/5  put  of  10.

Friday, April 7, 2017

Enragement Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording of the new album?

Practice, more practice, beer, more beer, practice, practice, a couple of gigs and more beer... We actually recorded the album already last summer, meaning that loads of stuff have been going on since. After we were finished at the studio, we indeed played some intense gigs while waiting for Viktor Gullichsen to finish what was to become a marvellous work of mixing and mastering on the album.

This far, we have created all of Enragement’s artwork by ourselves and we started working on the album cover in the autumn. We also started planning the future release of the album and considering possible labels for co-operation, while keeping on the practice routine and writing some prototypes for new songs.

Around the turn of the year we moved on to planning the music video for the song ‘Blood for the Sun God’ together with Joel Korhonen. Before starting to shoot the video, we entered into negotiations concerning the album release with Inverse Records and after a while struck a deal that both parties could happily agree to. Our hands were filled with work because of the upcoming release, not to mention all the effort on the music video. Joel did an amazing job directing and editing the video in a rather tight schedule, and the end-product was released last month.
Now we finally have time to start looking for more gigs and focusing on the music itself, which feels great, even though we’ve had tons of good time working on the less-musical aspects of the upcoming release. Still, music is what most bands are all about, right?

2.You have a new album coming out in June, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

Our previous album, Omnimalevolence of Man, is characterized by what you could call a rough, home-made or garage kind of sound, which of course works well when it comes to death metal. Yet, we still yearned for a more professionally produced sound for the second album and hit the Suomenlinnan Studio getting exactly what we came looking for.
The new sound works perfectly for our style of mixing various extreme metal genres with a body of all the brutal sub-genres of death metal; Burned, Barren, Bloodstained lacks the fuzziness of the previous album letting all the brutal and technical riffs reach their full potential, the insanely fast drums blast through the brain and the bass support the heaviness of each song without losing any ground to the other instruments. This allowed us to develop our experimental approach to death metal to a whole new level.
Most of the songs on the new album are much shorter than on the previous one. This was a conscious decision as we wanted to increase the intensity of the songs by avoiding stretching them. Furthermore, the songs are clearly more technical, more brutal and more versatile than on the previous album. The new album also features a couple of songs written by the band’s bass player whereas the previous album was completely composed by the guitarists.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

Just like we enjoy experimenting with multiple musical genres, we explore various lyrical themes. The list of topics is pretty much just as long as the list of our songs, but basically nearly all of our songs explore the darkness and cruelty of human nature. This manifests in both historic and modern topics, social and religious themes and psychological contemplation that our songs have presented. The principle behind most of our lyrics is that no matter how evil things you try to come up with, the real world always seems to find a way to be even more insane and twisted.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Enragement'?

Rage is a force that pulses through both our music and lyrics. By this we mean the silent anger that grows inside a person’s mind as well as the exploding fury when the accumulated hatred breaks free. Well, ‘Enragement’ is a very fitting name for the band as it describes both the sound of our music and our philosophy.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?

The word that best describes our performance is probably ‘enraged’ (pun intended). We like to offer our fans a raw, natural sound without futile backtracks, effects and clicks etc. and let them enjoy the music. This lets the songs breathe and come alive in a new way each time they're played. Having three lead vocalists is also as much an advantage as it’s every mixer’s nightmare. It allows us to produce an unbreakable wall of guttural growls, but gives the guy behind the desk a real head-ache.

One of the most memorable shows took place last autumn as a good friend of the band asked if we could perform at his 30th birthday. We said hell yeah, and he booked a venue and invited the audience. Only what was special about this gig, was that we had to build the whole gig set-up at the venue, as there was nothing intended for playing musical shows at the site beforehand. This meant a one-and-a-half-day project of carrying equipment and sound-checking and so on. Just as we got everything set up perfectly and the gig was about to start in 10 minutes, one of our guitar amplifiers blew a fuse making it useless. You can only imagine the frustration…
Luckily, Robert Pylkkänen, another good friend of the band members, who mixed the gig, had by chance installed a kick-ass guitar amp modelling software on his laptop just a couple of hours ago, and we managed to start the gig with only a minor delay. The whole adventure added an extra dose of enragement to our performance, of which you can get a taste on our YouTube channel, as we filmed the show. So, we came pretty close to documenting a gig that never happened.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released?

As an underground band, our plans live and change all the time. We’ll play at every opportunity that we get, but the future is still shrouded in the mists of mystery. Some of the gigs usually come with a short notice, but we’re trying to get some gigs planned with a longer time for preparation.

7.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of brutal death metal?

We actually set out to release the debut album without really having decided which genre would best describe our music as we already experimented with different styles quite a lot. We settled for calling ourselves a death metal band, but it turned out that our listeners considered us a brutal death metal band instead. This turned into a pretty interesting debate after the release of our first music video ‘Black Widow’, which gained an overwhelming amount of attention on the Metal Monks YouTube channel.
A long list of different genres was suggested for the song as everyone seemed to focus on different parts it consists of. These included brutal death metal, old school death metal, death core, melodic death metal among others. Even the black metal and slam death metal influences didn’t go unnoticed. We followed the debate with intrigue, as we considered all of the commenters to be right in a way, because the song was intended to represent various styles. We we’re glad that it achieved what we aimed for and encouraged to carry on developing our style.

As for the new album, we decided to start describing our music as Extreme Death Metal. We consider the term to balance all the instrumental, vocal and lyrical extreme metal and death metal influences expressed in our songs.

8.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band member are a part of?

Our bass player, Jarkko Niemi, will soon head to Japan for a tour with Brymir. Last year, they released a superior symphonic death metal album, Slayer of Gods, which gained marvellous acclaim from both critics and metal heads.

Lasse Sannikka, our drummer, throws gigs with his death core project, Reflection Dies. They will play at the Helsinki-based Heavy Metal Heart festival for the fourth time next autumn.

Like all metal drummers, Lasse seems to participate in about a hundred projects and so he also plays in a black metal band called Pillars of Crucifixion. Our guitarist Atte Ojanne also recently joined the project, which is working on its first full-length album after its debut EP named Parrhesia.

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

We aim at developing our musical style into a more unique direction by gathering influences from an ever-growing number of musical genres. Of course, we’ll keep on honing our technical and composing skills which will surely allow us to produce an even more brutal sound than now.

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

It’s pretty hard to name specific bands that have influenced our music the most. We draw influences from pretty much every extreme metal genre there is with a strong focus on death metal’s subgenres. However, we also keep our eyes and ears open for musical genres outside of the world of metal, because you never know what will give you the most thrilling combination of genres when you keep on experimenting with different styles. Who knows, maybe we’ll implement some pretty brutal gangsta rap beats to our music. Just kidding, there’s a limit to everything...

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

Sacrificing virgins to pagan gods, worshipping everything that’s malevolent and secretly peeking over our neighbours’ fences. So, let’s say that we do pretty much everything that’s dark and twisted.

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

Thanks for the interview and keep supporting underground metal! Hopefully we’ll get to play in your town and maybe have beer after moshing the brains out of our heads.

Iapetus Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording and release of the new album?

Matt: Well, as it turns out, promoting an album is nearly as difficult as making one—so we’ve been putting most of our time and energy into doing so. Most everything else has been put on the backburner while we reach out to the media, respond to the fans (something especially important to us), figure out merch production, etc… Both Jordan and I are relatively new to the machinations of the music industry, so we’re learning as we go; and, of course, everything takes a bit longer when you’re only a two-man operation. That being said, we’ve also been carving out time to work on material for the next album.

2.In March you had released a new album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

Matt: I think the album sounds exactly like what it is, which is a crazy mash-up of all of our influences—something neither Jordan nor I have ever been ashamed to admit. We’re proud of our musical heritage. The album has a bit of everything; some neo-folk, some melodeath, a good amount of prog, some symphonic aspects, and a bit of black metal, to be sure. To quote one reviewer, we “cover a lot of ground.” It doesn’t differ at all from what we’ve released in the past, actually, as our only previous releases—one demo, and one EP—feature songs that also and were always meant to appear on the full-length debut.

3.This is the first album in 5 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time span?

Matt: I wish there were an exciting story here, but the answer in reality is: nothing too much, really. For two years after the release of our EP, we continued to work relentlessly on the album, tweaking, arranging, rearranging, and finalizing everything about it, from the actual songs to the concepts and the artwork. Then we went into the studio. The process of recording, mixing, and mastering the album took another two years—a consequence of restricted studio access, a low-budget recording strategy, and our obsessive, manic perfectionism. Then, for nearly another year, we sat on the master tracks and awaited the final artwork. The last piece of the puzzle. So when we say that this album took six years to make, we mean it quite literally.

4.The lyrics on the new album have a concept to them, can you tell us a little bit more about the songwriting?

Matt: Sure! To start, the title “The Long Road Home” is in reference to the fact that the chemicals that comprise all terrestrial life were initially forged in the hearts of stars—and the album dreams of a future when man realizes his place in the cosmos, and returns to the stars from whence he came. It encourages a kind of cosmic perspective. It asks us to acknowledge two truths: that we are entirely insignificant in the grand scheme of the universe, and also that we are fundamentally a part of the universe. It posits a kind of romantic, hopeful nihilism, if that makes sense.

The songs themselves likewise explore the nature of human existence and humanities’ relationship to the universe. They do this in ways both big and small, abstract and intimate. “Savior Solitude” is about a man whose loneliness manifests itself into a physical, tangible being with which he can have a conversation—whereas a song like “Eviscerate Divine” explores human existence on a more macrocosmic level, and examines man’s proclivity to express himself through violence; an artform over which he has unique dominion. All the songs deal generally with mortality, religion, ontology, psychology, space, and science. Each of them adds a certain perspective to the album’s overall theme.

Our songs always start with an intellectual concept—whether it be through a title, a theme, a set of lyrics, or an idea taken from another work of art. The concept then influences the structure of the song, and how the music will sound. We apply the same logic on a larger scale, too, as we tend to view albums as singular, cohesive entities. So we write albums, moreso than songs; it’s all one thing to us—a continuous piece from beginning to end—so we make sure that, just as the music serves the concept of each song, each song also serves the concept of the album.  

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Iapetus'?

Matt: For our purposes, Iapetus is the name given to one of Saturn’s moons—a moon which is, incredibly, entirely black on one side, and entirely white on the other. I first came across the word in an Astronomy textbook as I was sitting in an Astronomoy 101 class, and I knew, immediately, that I had found our name. Jordan and I are both science and space nerds, for starters, but we also thought that the moon’s dual nature was uniquely representative of our music, which switches so frequently between distorted sections and acoustic ones. It was only afterward that we discovered that Iapetus was also a figure in Greek mythology—the titan of mortal life. In other words, he was the titan who decided that human beings would ultimately die. It made the name even more fitting.

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?

Matt: We have never played any shows! To this point, Iapetus has been entirely a studio project. The lack of an actual band, the lack of funds for proper live equipment, and the lack of access to capable stage musicians have all contributed to this—but we’ve also always felt that it was a bit nonsensical to play live before we had anybody who wanted to see us play.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

Matt: No immediate plans, no. But as we’ve stated elsewhere, it’s something we’re definitely looking into, and should we find appropriate stage musicians, it’s likely to happen sooner rather than later. Jordan and I tend not to do anything unless we can assure it’s quality, so once we have that assurance, playing live is something we’d absolutely love to do.

8.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?

Matt: Neither. We haven’t received any inquiries yet, and we’re also not actively looking. Iapetus has always been steadfastly DIY. Because this is just a hobby for us, being unsigned allows for a certain freedom that an obligation to a record label would likely take away. We also have very strong feelings on how, when, and where we distribute our music—and I doubt any record label would very much appreciate us giving it away for free. That being said, if the circumstances and terms were right, signing with a label is something we’d certainly consider. Nothing is entirely off the table.

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of progressive and extreme metal?

Matt: The feedback has been absolutely insane. Beyond anything we could have possibly imagined, and well beyond our wildest hopes or expectations. We’ve seen an incredible outpouring of support and interest from new fans across the world—some of them already writing incredible, heartfelt messages—and reviewers to this point have been amazingly generous and kind. We’ve gotten attention from some of the biggest sites in the metal media (sites that we probably don’t deserve to be on). We only wanted people to hear our music. We hardly expected that they’d love it, or even like it. It’s utterly surreal. Whenever I read an amazing review, or get a compliment from a fan, I still can’t shake the feeling that I’m reading about someone else’s band. It’s quite a trip. Especially considering that we would’ve been content with a couple of views on YouTube and a handful of semi-enthusiastic words.

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

Matt: The music we’re writing now is a bit more mature, a bit more focused, more sophisticated, and a bit more varied. Most of the songs written for the debut were written when I was 18-22 years old—I was young, inexperienced, less technically able, and it was before I discovered a good deal of the bands that I know and love today. I just know more music, generally speaking; my horizons have broadened significantly, I’ve become a better player, and I’ve learned much about songwriting. What used to be a kind of singular obsession with all things folk-y and melodeath-y has now become an obsession with more atmospheric music; with more post-rock, post-black metal, shoegaze, ambient neo-folk, noise, etc… So our new music strongly reflects those influences (while maintaining the old ones). It’s generally just a bigger, grander, spacier, more cinematic, and more emotional version of what it was before. We’re taking everything to the next level.

11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Matt: There are so many! Agalloch is my favorite band of all-time. They’ve inspired my most fundamental thoughts about music in general—about what music is, as an art-form, about how it should be presented, about what it can achieve, about what it can mean to the people who hear it. They taught me that music is visual, that it is textual, that it is physical; that a good song contains a narrative as does any good book, or movie, and that an album should be created and treated as one singular work. Agalloch’s stamp is on most of the acoustic parts on the record; they’re the reason I often choose minimalism and melody over flash and technicality.

Opeth has also obviously influenced the structure of our songs—from their lengthy, progressive nature, to the frequent juxtaposition of acoustic guitars and distorted ones. I get almost all of my sense of melody, harmony, and riff-structure from the Gothenburg greats like In Flames and Dark Tranquillity. The cinematic grandiosity that I try to impart on my music has been significantly inspired by Ne Obliviscaris and Wintersun, who’ve shown me, mostly, that songs are like movies—they should have a beginning, a middle, and an end, and they should never end in the same place that they began. And my penchant for atmospherics comes from bands like Alcest, Anathema, Katatonia, etc…

Recently, I’ve been enjoying the incredible bounty of music that 2017 has already given us; the new releases from Junius, Heretoir, Persefone, Violet Cold, Falls of Rauros, and Sleepmakeswaves.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?

Matt: Outside of music, I work freelance as a writer and an editor, with a general focus on politics, human rights, and social justice—and I also dabble occasionally in fiction of the horror/fantasy/sci-fi variety. I’m a fanatical, hardcore gamer, so I’m never not playing something (Horizon Zero Dawn is my current obsession—it’s phenomenal). I’m also a film/literature enthusiast, and an ex-professional/still- professional academic (when the time calls for it). But generally speaking, I’m into anything to do with philosophy, science, sci-fi, space, horror, or politics. And if you couldn't tell from the album, I really love Carl Sagan.  

13.Before we wrap up this interview do you have any final word sor thoughts?

Matt: Thank you, first of all, for doing this review—it was an absolute pleasure! And thank you for the great review of our album!

There are no words that could possibly express my gratitude to those who’ve taken the time to listen to our record, and to show us support. Every compliment, every kind word, and every show of enthusiasm means the absolute world to us, and we couldn’t be happier that people are enjoying what we’ve made. We are honored and humbled beyond words. Thank you all for your interest and your support.

Lastly, a shout-out to my bandmate Jordan, who couldn’t do this interview because he’s in Thailand, on his honeymoon. Congratulations on the wedding, brother—hope you’re having fun out there!

Thursday, April 6, 2017

X.Kernel Interview

.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
Alina (keyboards): We are X.Kernel, from Kyiv, Ukraine, playing Melodic Death Metal inspired by Gothenburg sound. Quite cynical and sarcastic in our lyrics, but really optimistic in reality.
Nikita (guitars, back-vocals): And we are trying to move metal in Ukraine, where it is still in deep underground, and raise it to European level.

2.You have a new album coming out in April, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?
N: We spent a lot of time looking for the optimal combination of Gothenburg guitar sound, cold melodic keys, old school mid-range growl, deep baritone clean vocals and fat bass as the basis of a dense mix. Check out our album to hear how we’ve got it.

3.The band has been around since 2009 but has only put out 2 releases, can you tell us a little bit more about the gaps in between recordings?
A: While recording maybe the most important thing is having stable line-up with members that are pretty confident in their parts. The band started when we were students, and, as studies is the time when person is looking for him or herself, our line-up changed a lot of times before ‘freezing’. Maybe, the most dramatic issue we had several times to deal with was loss of vocalist. Also our band leader Nikita is a kind of perfectionist, and it takes a lot of time for him to make sure that the song and its arrangement are pretty good for recording. Especially when it comes to debut long-play release.

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
A: When we recorded all tracks for our album and started to think about their order, we suddenly discovered that songs can be divided on two logical parts. The first, ‘personal’ one, is dedicated to individual in conditionally peaceful times, though it is not bright at all. It is full of pressure, bringing fatigue and frustration, like in second track ‘Exhausted’, which is able to drive you mad like in ‘Locked in Delirium’, or just deprive you in your belief, like in ‘Dying Gods’. The second, ‘martial’ part, is concentrated on mankind’s war against alien beings and it’s horrible ending from track ‘No fate’. The final track ‘Dream of Sun’ stands apart of both of them, because of its historical background. We heard interesting theory that Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten planted a cult of the Sun because he was losing his vision, and found this concept impressive: idolizing something which is leaving you. One way or another, all our lyrics are about quite depressive things.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'X.Kernel'?
A: From the very beginning our line-up had a lot of IT-guys (and currently it entirely consists of them), so when we thought about name we found it interesting to build it around entity from IT. Especially we found it natural in light of our search for new, more modern sound. We found ‘kernel’ the best fitting word, as it is both central element of operational system and core, central concept of the thing. And ‘X’ is a kind of unknown, mysterious, something in tune with dark side of mankind to which we dedicate our lyrics.

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?
N: During our stage performances we are trying to give the most musical and sound nuances from our songs, convey their initial atmosphere and mix it with wild energy and catchy vivacity of our lead-vocalist Max.
A: And about shows: maybe, the warmest memories are connected with our concert in Vinnytsia, a big city on South-West from Kyiv, together with Kharkiv Death Doom band Mortalium and local Post-rock band The Moon Belongs To Everyone. Though it was Monday, the beginning of the working week and traditionally dead season for live-events, the club was full and we faced quite warm welcome from the audience, who was going wild listening to our set.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?
A: Right now we do not have definite tour dates, but we are planning to make a kind of presentation tour for our album in several big cities of Ukraine, possibly including some Eastern Europe’s places and fests.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of melodic death metal?
N: Nowadays MDM is not the genre on the top of popularity among metalheads, and it is not easy for us to find fans. But it is really pleasant when somebody is getting interested in our music. We are looking forward to our album’s release to reach a higher level and deliver our songs in good quality to bigger audience.

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
N: We've come a long way while composing tracks for ‘Face the Truth’ and recording it. Our line-up changed dramatically, in fact we’ve become quite different people during this time. So it is hard to tell exactly, how will our music sound in future. But we definitely know that it will be melodic, driving and epic, and it will still contain both modern influences and comebacks to the old school.

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
N: The biggest influence on us had Swedish Melodic Death Metal of the second half of 90-s, especially such bands as In Flames, Dark Tranquility, Arch Enemy and later Soilwork. Also we can’t forget American Metalcore like As I Lay Dying, Killswitch Engage, Shadows Fall, Trivium whose echoes you can hear in such tracks as Exhausted, Locked in Delirium, Dying Gods. Also we always loved classics, therefore we tend to a more musical, harmonious songs’ development.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?
Max (lead vocals): Militarism as it is, video games and crafting everything I can.
Nikita (leader, guitars, back-vocals): Travelling, video games, live role play games, books – all that stuff that helps me with inspiration and energy for creating new songs and ideas.
Alina (keyboards):  Writing science fiction and fantasy stories, hand-made jewellery, playing board games - everything where I can incarnate my wild imagination.
Oles (bass): I’m a big fan of tourism, especially speleology, motorcycle and bicycle riding. And last year I even went tracking on Nepal to the foot of Everest.

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
N: We had a long journey while creating this album, and do not plan to stop here. Wait for a lot more interesting staff from us! 

Fumigtion/The Path To R'lyeh/Invasion/CDN Records/2017 Split CD Review


  This  is  a  review  of  a  split  album  between  Ontario, Canada's  Fumigation  and Quebec,  Canada's  The  Path  To  R'lyeh  called  "Invasion"  which  will  be  released  on  April  28th  by  CDN  Records  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  Fumigation  a  band  that  plays  a  very  brutal  form  of  death  metal.

  Their  side  of t he  split  starts  out  with  a  sci-fi atmosphere  before  going  into  a  heavier  direction  which  also  introduces  technical  guitar  leads  into  their  songs  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sound  very  powerful  and  after  awhile  deep death  metal  growls  start  to  make  their  presence  known.

  A  great  amount  of  brutality  can  be  heard  in  the  guitar  riffing  and  when  the  music  speeds  up a   great  amount  of  blast  beats  are  utilized  and  the  songs  bring  in  a  great  mixture of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while t he  riffs  also  use  a  decent  amount  of  melody  and  the  mid  tempo  sections  of t he  songs  also  mix  in  a  decent  amount  of  slam  elements and  their  is  also a   brief  use  of  spoken  word  samples  and  clean  playing  before  returning  back  to  a  more  brutal  direction.

  Fumigation  plays  a  style  of  death  metal  that  is  very  brutal  and technical  while  also adding  in  a  touch  of  slam,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics insects,  rodents  and  chemical  themes

  In  my  opinion  Fumigation  are  a  very  great  sounding  brutal  and  technical  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  their  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Forced  Vaginal  Harbourage"  and  "A  Beard  Full  Of  Maggots".

  Next  up  is  The  Path  To  R'lyeh  a  band  that  plays  a  very  brutal  and  technical  form  of  death  metal.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  a  very  heavy  sound  where  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  their  side  of t he  recording  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  brutal  blast  beats  can  be  heard  while t he  vocals  are  mostly  deep  death  metal  growls  with  a  few  screams.

  Clean  playing  can  be  heard  in  some  parts  of their  music  while  the  riffs  also  bring in  a  small  amount  of  melody  and  the  vocals  also get  very  guttural  at  times  and  the  solos  and  leads  are  done  in  a  very  technical  fashion  and  there  side  of t he  split also  always  remains  very  heavy.

  The  Path  To  R'lyeh  plays  a  style  of  death  metal  that  is  very  technical  and  brutal, t he  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  based  upon  the  writings  of  H.P  Lovecraft.

  In  my  opinion  The  Path  To  R'lyeh  are  a  very  great  sounding  technical  and  brutal  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  their  side  of t he split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Dream  Eater"  and  "Extra-Terrestrial  Abomination".

  In  conclusion  I  feel  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  and  I  would  recommend  it  to  all  fans  of  brutal  and  technical  death  metal.  8  out  of  10.         

Diana Rising/Stars Can't Shine Without Darkness/2017 Full Length Review


  Diana  Rising  are  a  band  from  France  that  plays  a  mixture  of  deathcore  and  metalcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2017  album  "Stars  Can't  Shine  Without  Darkness".

  Acoustic  guitars  along  with  synths  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavier  musical  direction  which  also  uses  a  great  amount  of  aggressive  screams  and  metalcore  elements  and  they  also  mix  both  the  atmospheric  and  heavy  parts  together  while  death  metal  growls  are  also  used  at  times.

  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and clean  guitars  can  also  be  heard  briefly.

  Diana  RIsing  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  deathcore  and  metalcore  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sound s very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  alchemy  themes.  

  In  my  opinion Diana  RIsing  are  a  very  decent  sounding  mixture  of  metalcore  and  deathcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Rise"  "Infinite  Dimensions"  "Diamond  CLouds"  and  "You  Should  Have  Known".  7/5 out  of  10.  

Abrasive Interview

.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since
the recording and release of the new album?

Hi! Ralf here. We had a lot of great shows with DEFILED, STOMA and had also the chance to play Heidelberg Deathfest with GOD DETHRONED, HAEMORRAGE, DERANGED, …
We also earned a lot of good reactions about “Book Of Sin”.

2.In January you had released a new album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

We gave our music the banner “Raw Intense Death Metal”. I would describe it as Death / Grind with a lot of old school influences and some Slam Parts. The main difference to our older stuff is, that the songs are better arranged and the musical level is higher. Also, Alex did more vocals on the new release.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?

It is still about sexual fantasies and erotic. Also some of the new songs deal with topics that are going on in the world now.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Abrasive'?

It means raw and aggressive. That fits perfect to our sound.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?

We had a  lot of very good shows in the past. We were on tour with SOILS OF FATE and SANATORIUM for 3 days a long time ago. That was a cool experience. Also some festivals like Soul Grinding, Ludwigshafen Deathfest, Mountains Of Death, … were amazing. We met a lot of cool people over the years and remained friends with them. Playing in foreign countries is always fun.
About the stage performance, we had to fill the stage as we are only 3. So we have to take short trips away from the microphone when it is possible. We try to be not boring on the stage.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

Touring would be cool. But we have no plans about that. We always have some shows. But if anyone is interested, book us.

7.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of brutal death metal?

It was amazing! We didn’t think about that. A lot of people write us from everywhere and tell us, that they like our music. I think, we are better known outside of Germany, than in our home country, hahaha.

8.Currently the band is signed to 'Rebirth The Metal Productions', are you happy with the support that they have given you so far?

Yes, totally satisfied. Andi does a very good job.

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

I think we will continue our style and make the best songs we can write.

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

We still get influenced by Death Metal, Grind and some Thrash bands. I don’t think, that there are certain bands that have an influence to our music. In the last time, we listened to NECROVILE, ANALEPSY, MALIGNANCY and also a lot of classics too.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

To be honest, our most interest is music. Collecting CD’s and LP’s, going to shows.
Besides that, bike riding, sightseeing, being out in the nature.

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

Thanks a lot for your interest. Check out our stuff! Feel free to contact us.

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Avulsed/Night Of The Living Deadgenerations/Xtreem Music/2017 Double CD Review


  Spain's  Avulsed  have  returned  with  a  live  recording  which  is  also  in  the  old  school  style  of  gore/death  metal  and  this  is  review  of  their  2017  double  live  album  "Night  Of  The  Living  Deadgenerations"  which  was  released  by  Xtreem  Music.

 
  A  very  dark  sounding  intro  along  with  audience  feedback  start  off  the  album  and  after  the  intro  they  go  into  a  heavier  direction  along  with  a  brief  instrumental  while  dark  yet  melodic  guitar  leads  are  also  used  at  times  and  the  vocals  are  mostly  deep  yet  guttural  death  metal  growls  along  with  a  few  screams.

  When  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  along  with  the  tracks  also  bringing  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  you  can  also hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  and  some  of  the  fast  riffs  also  use  a  decent  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  some  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  there  is  also a   brief  acoustic  track  before  returning  back  to  a  heavier  direction.

  On  this  live  recording  Avulsed  covers  a  lot  of  years  worth  of  material  and  also  adds  some  modern  touches  to  the  newer  songs  while  still  keeping  an  old  school  vibe,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  death,  gore,  mutilation,  sex  and  perversion  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Avulsed  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you should  check  out  this  live  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Stabwound Orgasm"  "Sick  Sick  Sex"  "Blessed  By  Gore"  and  "Hidden  Perversions".  8  out  of  10.  

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Iapetus/The Long Road Home/2017 Full Length Review


  Iapetus  are  a  band  from  New  York  that  plays  a  very  atmospheric,  melodic  and  progressive  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2017  album  "The  Long  Road  Home".

  Dark  soundscapes  along  with  some  atmospheric  sounds  start  off  the  album  and  spoken  word  samples  can  also b e  heard  briefly  and  after  the  intro  heavy  riffs  and  melodic  guitar  leads  are  added  onto  the  recording  while  the  acoustic guitars  also  gives  the  songs  more  of  a  progressive   feeling.

 
  A  great  portion  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  a  great  amount  of  melody  can  be  heard  in  the  guitar  riffing  and  when t he  music  speeds  up  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  along  with  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  using  a  decent  amount  of  tremolo  picking.

  Throughout t he  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  when  vocals  are  added onto  the  recording  they  are  mostly  aggressive  screams  that  bring  elements  of  death  metal  into  the  songs  while  clean  singing  can  also  be  hard  at  times  and  as  the  album  progresses  a  brief  use  of  female  vocals  can  be

  Iapetus  plays  a  style  of  death  metal  that  is  very  melodic,  atmospheric  and  progressive,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  are  a  concept  album  and  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Iapetus  are  a  very  great  sounding  atmospheric,  melodic and  progressive  death  metal  band  and  if  you a re  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Of  Hangmen  &  Vertebrae"  "Savior  Solitude"  "Crown  Of  Stars"  and  "The  Long  Way  Home".  8  out  of  10.  

  

Monday, April 3, 2017

Logic Of Denial Interview


1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording of the new album?

Of course, since the recording sessions we had the chance to play some shows in Italy and abroad and, in the meantime, we rehearsed some of the new stuff in order to play it live. Also, we’re working on a couple of new concepts for the next releases but… it’s too early to speak about it yet!



2.You have a new album coming out in June, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

Compared to the last album Atonement, also released on Comatose Music four years ago, we see the new one as a more complex and various work. Perhaps it’s more rooted in the brutal death metal field, but it also represents better our personal way of expressing ourselves. Aftermath shows a better research on riffing and structures and, in our opinion, has a better mix of fast, brutal tempos, and ominous atmospheres.




3.The lyrics on the new album have a concept to them, can you tell us a little bit more about the songwriting?

When we start the writing sessions of our stuff, we always write a lyrical concept first. Since Atonement, we have started a reflection on the human being from a biological and psychological perspective. Aftermath explores the stages during the grieving process, focusing on resentment and human vulnerability. It’s a lyrical journey through the stages of abscission, sufferance and defilement (from loss to catharsis through the perpetual feeling of pain).




4.Originally the band was known as 'Collapse', what was the decision behind the name change and also the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Logic Of Denial'?

“Collapse” was the name I gave to this band 14 years ago. Originally the lineup was totally different from today and we didn’t play death metal either. The style change made us switch to a new name and we came up with Logic Of Denial basically for two reasons: “denial” is a psycho analytical concept, a defense mechanism which leads men to deny their suffering; also, the “logic of denial” is a philosophical concept which expresses the evolution within contradictions, a sort of dialectical outlook on conflict and its evolutive potential




5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?

We always worked as a four piece band and, since the recording sessions of Aftermath, we played like that with guitar, bass, voice and drums. Now we are so happy with our new lineup, with two guitars which permit to express ourselves in a more complex way. Unfortunately, we haven’t a full time drummer in the band yet, so we’re playing both with programmed drums and sessions. If we had to mention a couple of substantial shows, I’d say our support to Disgorge in Florence (when our close friend Mariano Somà from Septycal Gorge had a cool featuring with us on the Atonement track “Vile blessing prelude”) and two of the shows we played in Bristol: the last date of our UK mini tour with Necrosisat the Gryphon – an amazing show in a small venue and with an incredible atmosphere – and the Slamfestat the Bierkeller – a killer venue where we presented one of our first shows with programmed drums and two guitars, with an awesome response from the crowd -. I think our stage performance is basically founded on aggression and accuracy: we try to show a sort of “controlled mayhem” or, at least, we always work to improve this feature of our performances.




6.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released?

We are organizing some shows in order to support the release and, in the meantime, we’ll have a EU mini tour with our friends in Hateful during Easter holidays.




7.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of brutal death metal?

We couldn’t be happier, the feedback to our stuff has always been great and this amazing support represents a huge motivation for us.




8.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are a part of?

I could say that our other guitarist, Marco, is actually involved in three other musical projects (Grumo, Haemophagus, Blood of Seklusion) rooted in the death metal/grindcore fields. I’m personally involved with our bass player, Marcello, in two other bands, but it’s too early to reveal something about them!




9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

I think our musical research is heading into something even different from the material we recorded in Aftermath: if brutal death metal is the way we have chosen to express our musical views, we’re constantly re-shaping our way to craft riffs and songs.




10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

In the band everyone has his personal tastes and sensibility and everyone brings his style into compositions and arrangements. I’ve been influenced a lot by bands like Suffocation, Defeated Sanity, Deeds Of Flesh, early Decrepit Birth, Disgorge; but I’m also into Deathspell Omega, Gorguts, Ulcerate, Spawn of Possession, Abhorrent and stuff like that. The last album I heard is Desecrate The Faith’s latest one, recently released by our label Comatose Music: a killer album with a tasty Suffovibe, these dudes rule!




11.What are some of your non musical interests?

I’m personally into education and theoretical studies about human sciences, but I’m also a huge horror and psychological drama movies fan: the works of Lars Von Trier, Takashi Miike and Park Chan Wook, just to name a few, have had an enormous impact on our lyrical concepts.




12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

Hope the new album will be appreciated! We put a huge effort and some years of hard work to come up with something that fully represents the band today, we’re proud of this work and we can’t wait to share it with you guys. Thanks a lot for your support!

www.comatosemusic.com