Monday, October 31, 2011

Dead/Hardnaked But Dead/FDA Rekotz/2011 CD Review



  Dead  are  a  band  from  Germany  that  has  a  long  history  that  goes  back  to  the  90's  that  plays  a  mixture  of  porn/gore/grind,  death  metal  and  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2011  album  "Hardnaked  But  Dead"  which  was  reased  by  FDA Rekotz.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  a  good  amount  of  blast  beats  being  thrown  in,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  is  coming  out  of  the  guitars  and  at  times  they  sound  very  powerful.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  riffs  that  combine  grindcore,  death  and  doom  metal  together  with  some  groove  type  riffing  being  thrown  in  at  times,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  distorted  sounding  death  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads  that  have  a  rock'n'roll  feeling  at  times.

  Vocals  are  a  mixture  of  deep  low  guttural  death  metal  growls  and  high  pitched  grindcore  screams  mixed  in  with  some  samples,  while  the  lyrics  cover  gore,  porn,  violence  and  alcohol,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  heavy  and  raw  sound  but  still  professional  up  to  the  point  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  a  good  album  from  Dead  and  you  can  tell  that  they  have  progressed  a lot  as  musicians  with  this  album  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED   TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Liquor  Store  Goddess"  "Tits"  "A  Beer"  and  "Hardnaked  But  Dead".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

The Sequence Of Prime Interview


1. Can you update us with what is going on with the projects these days?


I would, but then I'd have to kill you. Hahahaha. No in all seriousness, I learned a long time ago too not talk to much about what I'm working on until it is actually done. All people need to know is that yes, I always have new things in the works :)


2. How would you describe the musical sound on your new album, and how did you achieve the sound that you got?


I would describe it as it "Doom-Tinged-Interstellar-Thrash-Grind." But really that's just absurd! When it all boils down it is just metal. I achieved the sound by combining two completely opposite ways of working. On one end of the spectrum, the recording of the guitars, bass and vocals are all approached as simply as possible. I did not cut and splice a bunch of perfected guitar loops together. The vocals were not rehearsed. For the most part these elements are all performed straight through in their entirety with very minimal punching in or correction. And on the other end, the drums, synths and ambient noise elements were all painstakingly programmed beat by beat. It is two entirely different worlds crashing into each other at an extremely high speed.


3. What are some of the lyrical topics and concepts that you explore with the new album?


Nuclear war, pollution, disease, nanotechnology, existentialism, just to name a few.


4. Have you have thought of using other members to do live shows with or work with on an album?


Yes, I think about it quite often! Though it's not realistic for me. I have a demanding profession and my time to work on music is limited and random. If anything I would collaborate with others on a limited studio basis. But touring or gigging at this point in my life is completely out of the question. There's just no possible way it would work with my schedule. I will say that nothing would make me happier than to be able to perform these songs in a live setting at least once or twice some day! I would just have to find the right people.


5. Do you have any other side projects besides this band?


First of all I don't have a band. It's just little ol' me, hahaha. Second, I have lots of different projects at all times, but I do not consider any of them side projects. If I am going to do something then I am going to put everything I have into it. All or nothing!


6. The new album was self released, are you looking for a label and if so what kind of label do you feel would be the best for your kind of music?


I'm not actively looking for a label. I have been writing and releasing music for a long time without ever having a label or endorsement of any sort. I only write music because I love it. That's the way it should be! Of course, I will keep my options open. I'm not going to say, "I'LL NEVER SIGN TO A LABEL!" Because hey, if I really felt something fit me and my vision I would certainly consider it. But it's not the goal. If I were to be in the scenario where I was considering a label I would prefer it to be something like Profound Lore, Nuclear War Now! or Ajna. I really like what they do.


7. How have extreme music fans responded to your new album so far?


So far the response has been pretty incredible. I never expected this level of interest.


8. How would you describe your musical progress over the years and what direction do you see the music heading into on future releases?


I would say that my music has gradually become more focused and thoughtful. I am now to the point where I approach my music exactly how I approach my art. It all revolves around developing a strong concept and finding the best way to execute it. As for the future, I certainly have ideas of where I want to go. But it is too early for me to say anything specific.

9. I heard that you have an interest in science fiction and existentialism, can you tell me more about your interest in those fields?

You have heard correct! I want to make clear though that I am not the type of sci-fi buff people normally think about. I mean, I can't recite the names and races of all the aliens in the Cantina scene in Star Wars, ya know? I can't speak Klingon and I don't dress up and go to conventions. Hahahaha. That's not what I'm interested in at all. I'm into the overall ideas and messages portrayed by authors like Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov and H.G. Wells. And the real world transitions from science fiction to science fact.

As for existentialism, it is not just an interest - it is my philosophy. The closest thing I can relate to as far as established philosophies go, that is.


10. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music, and also what are you listening to nowadays?


To attempt to narrow things down I would say that some of my key musical influences over the years have been Metallica, Slayer, Overkill, Testament, Ministry, Front Line Assembly, Goblin, Emperor, KMFDM, Samhain, Danzig and Black Sabbath. The most significant album to me is Black Sabbath's "Dehumanizer." That was my first experience with metal and that cassette completely changed my life! Lately I've been listening to a lot of Nightbringer, Triptykon, Deathspell Omega, Today is the Day, Cobalt, Thorns, Teitanblood, Portal and The Crown.


11. Outside of music what are some of your interests?


Visual arts, animation, reading, video games, horror movies and laughing as much as possible!


12. Any final words or thoughts before we close this interview?


Thank you greatly for taking the time to ask me so many thoughtful questions. I really appreciate it! Live, laugh, love and lacerate! Hooaah!

The Sequence Of Prime/The Sequence Of Power/2010 CD Review


The Sequence Of Prime are a 1 man band from Kansas that mixes industrial, thrash, death metal,doom  metal and grindcore together to create an original sound and this is a review of their 2010 album "The Sequence Of Power".

Drums combine slow to mid paced drumming with a lot of fast playing and brutal blast beats with some weird elements being thrown in at times, while the noise effects bring an industrial element to the music, as for the bass playing it has a very strong and powerful sound.

Rhythm guitars combine a lot of different styles together with a lot of thrash riffing that brings in death metal and grindcore influences, while the lead guitars have progressive and psychotic elements in the guitar solos.

Vocals are mostly yelled out vocals that contain alot of aggression with some death metal growls thrown in at times, while the lyrics cover doomsday, pandemic, interstellar and existential types of subjects, as for the production it sounds very professional for a self-released album and you can hear all of the musical instruments that are present on this recording.

In my opinion The Sequence Of Prime are a very original band that brings 80's crossover thrash into 2010 with some modern death metal and grind influences, this is a band worth checking out. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Enlightenment" "Nuclear Winter" "Echohagy" and "Compression". RECOMMENDED BUY.

The Gardnerz/The System Of Nature/Abyss Records/2011 CD Review


  The  Gardnerz  are  a  band  from  Sweden  that  plays  a  very  melodic  and  heavy  form  of  doom/death  metal  with  a  black  metal  edge  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2011  album  "The  System  Of  Nature'  which  was  released  by  Abyss  Records.

  Drums  range  from  slow  to  mid  paced  drumming  with  not  much  in  the  way  of  fast  playing  or  blast  beats,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  strong  and  powerful  sound  to  it.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow  to  mid  paced  doom/death  metal  riffs  that  are  very  dark  and  melodic sounding,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  dark  and  melodic  sounding  guitar  solos  and  leads    as  for  the  acoustic  guitars  when  they  are  utilized  they  use  finger  picking  and  full  chords  to  give  the  music  a  progressive/folk  music  feeling  to  the  music.

  Vocals  are  mostly  deep  doom/death  metal  growls  mixed  in  with  some  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  and  whispered  vocals  as  well  as  brief  clean  singing,  while  the  lyrics  cover  philosophical  ideas,  religion  and  greed  of  mankind,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  dark,  heavy,  powerful  and  professional  sound  to  it  and  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording.

  In  my  opinion  The  Gardnerz  are  a  very  good  sounding  progressive  doom/death  metal band  with  a  black  metal  and  melodic  edge  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  style,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Lady  In  The  Grave"  "Incident"  "Flaw  In  The  Axiom"  and  "Servants  Of  The  Warsmen"  which  is  a  Winter  cover.  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

Novembers Doom/Aphothic/The End Records/2011 CD Review




   November's  Doom  are  a  band  from  Chicago,  Illinois that  has  a  20  year  long  history  with  s  musical  style  that  I  would  describe  as  being  melodic  and  atmospheric  doom/death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2011  album  "Aphothic"  which  was  released  by  The  End  Records.

Drums  range  from  slow  to  mid paced  drumming  with  some  occasional  fast  playing  and  blast  beats,  while  the  violins  bring  a  very  dark,  tragic  and  atmospheric  sound  to  the  music,  as  for  the  bass  playing  it  has  a  very  strong  and  powerful  tone  with  some  heavy  riffing  being  thrown  in.

Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  to  mid paced  doom/death  metal  riffing  with  some  occasional  fast  riffs  and  melodic  parts,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  dark  and  melodic  sounding  guitar  solos,  as  for  the  acoustic  guitars  they  bring  a  very  dark  and  progressive  feel  to  the  music.

Vocals  are  mostly  deep  death  metal  growls  that  have  somewhat  of  a  black  metal  edge  to  them  and  a  great  amount  of  clean  singing  male  and  female  vocals,  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  emotions,  doom  and  symbolism,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  heavy,  professional  and  heavy  sound  to  it.

In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  album  from  November's  Doom  and  if  you  where  a  fan  of  their  previous  recordings,  you  will  not  be  disappointing.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Dead  Host"  "What  Could  Have  Been"  and  "Six  Sides".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

Mental Home/Black Art/The End Records/1998 CD Review


Mental Home are a band from Russia that plays an atmospheric form of dark Doom metal that has some black metal influences and this is a review of their classic 1998 album "Black Art" which was released by The End Records.

Drums are mostly slow to midpaced drumming with some ocassional fast playing and little to no blast beats, while the keyboards are very dark and atmospheric sounding, as for the bass playing it follows the riffs coming out of the guitars and they have a very powerful sound at times.

Rhythm guitars are mostly slow to midpaced melodic doom/death riffs, while the lead guitars are very melodic sounding guitar solos that have a very dark and evil feel to them that captures memories of the pagan ancestors and there is a small amount of acoustic and classical guitars being used at times and they have a feeling of meloncholy.

Vocals are a mixture of black metal screams, deep death metal metal growls, clean singing and a small amount of female vocals, while the lyrics touch on Slavic paganism, as for the production on this recording it has a very professional sound and you can hear all of the instruments that are present on this album.

In my opinion Mental home wher a very talented band for their time and if you are fan of atmospheric doom/death with a black metal edge you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Under The Wing (Of Gamayan" "Pagan Freedom" and "Winter Art". RECOMMENDED BUY.

Rest In Disgrace/As Beuty Springs From Mud/2010 EP Review


Rest In Disgrace are a band from Brazil that plays a style that mixes melodic death metal with doom metal and a small amount of black metal and this is a review of their 2010 e.p "As Beauty Springs From Mud".

Drums are a mixture of slow to midpaced beats with some fast playing and blast beats, while the bass playing has a very dark tone that follows the riffs coming out of the guitars and they have a very powerful sound on some songs, as for the pianos when they are utilized they brind a dark, tragic and ambient feel to the music.

Rhythm guitars are mostly melodic death metal riffs that also mix in some doom metal and thrash influences with some softer playing that sounds very progressive, while the lead guitars are mostly melodic guitar solos that have a classic metal feel, as for the accoustic guitars that have a very exotic scales that bring a Vedic feel to the music while maintaining a progressive edge.

Vocals are mostly melodic death metal screams with some deep growls and a black metal edge to the singing and there are spoken word passages used on ocassion as well, while the lyrics touch on Buddhism, Hindu Mythology, Eastern and Western Philosophies, as for the production on this e.p it has a very professional and you can hear all of the instruments that are present on this recording.

In my opinion Rest In Disgrace are a very talented band with an original lyrical approach and id you are a fan of melodic death metal or doom metal you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "The Viel Of Maya" "Unnnamed Feelings-Decension" and "Samsara". RECOMMENDED BUY

The Monolith Deathcult Interview


1. Can you tell us a little bit about the band for those that have never heard of you before?
Oh Yeah! We are The Monolith Deathcult and we are hailing from Holland. We are haling from Holland and exist since 2003. We released 4 albums on different labels( because huhmm..all labels who worked with were doomed to bankruptcy.) In 2005 we decided to broaden our sound with in deathmetal notdone stuff like techno, electronics, synths and other influences which will infuriate the diehard oldschool deathmetalfan. We still played ultra brutal stuff but we used more dynamics. A 40 minute blastbeat isn’t extreme after a few minutes, your ears and brains do not notice the noise as something really extreme. This results in the White Crematorium in 2005. After that album we wrote our best album in my opinion called TRIVMVIRATE(2008). On that album all the different elements of our sound came together. Because of the complexity of the music we decided to use a pop producer from Holland(Guido Aalbers) to mix our next album. Guido worked previously with acts like Muse and Destiny’s Child. We want fresh ears and an other view on our music than a deathmetalproducer. The result was killer and we will use him again on our forthcoming album. In 2009 we discovered that The White Crematorium was sold out. We bought back the mechanical rights and realized that it isn’t TMDC style to do simply a repressing. We re-recorded the album, created new artwork and released the album in the USA through Epitomite Productions and in Europe through twilight-Vertrieb.de.

And here we are now.

2.  Where is the band based out of and what is the metal scene like there?
The band is based out of 4 and sometimes 5 people. We have a traditional setting. 2 guitarplayers, a bassplayer and a drummer. I play guitar and do some vocals together with the bassplayer who is the leadvocal.

Sjoerd Visch – Drums, percussion analog and triggering
Robin Kok – Fretted and fretless bass, vox and howling insanity
Martijn Moes – Unearthly intoxication and high-pitched sqealing
Michiel Dekker(thats me) – Doubtful poet, vox and out-of-tune solo leads
Offline member:
Carsten Altena – Stalin organ, sonic booms and mammoth orchestral stabs. In the past he played live the samples and synths but nowadays we use some laptops for the ochestra’s en industrial sampling. Carsten will appear on the albums as the fifth member

We have a good metalscene here in Holland with a lot of good bands like God Dethroned, Severe Torture, Asphyx, Hail of Bullets, Textures and Deadhead. We also have for such a small country a lot of clubs were metalbands play and we have some huge festivals. Holland is a good country for metal and especially Americans like it here(Ofcourse because of the legal drugs and the red Light Districts you can find in every big city.)

3. How would you describe your musical sound?
As an insult to all people who loved good music

3. What is the meaning behind the band's name?
There is no meaning behinf the name. When we started wo just called ourselves Monolith. After we discovered that there were too many bands using that name we added Deathcult to the name. I read that name in a article about Brittish rockers The Cult who called themselves in the early years The Southern Deathcult. We want a huge and massive name so it became The Monolith Deathcult shortened to TMDC. My bandmates accused me of self-idiolation when they discovered that TMDC also could be The Michiel Dekker Club

4. How would you describe the lyrical content of the music?
Short question, big awnser. 99% of the songs are about historical events. Because of my work as a teacher history. I am fully aware that certain historically accurate matters are quite sensitive in some countries and THAT is were I like to write songs about. We write a lot about the Third Reich, The Soviet union and the radical Islam
Our underlying message is: systematic ideological extermination was/is being carried out on both extremes of the political spectrum, it’s just that people fail to recognize the significance of the fact that 15-year old kids walking around with hammer-and-sickles on their shirts is the same as wearing a swastikashirt.

On The White Crematorium 2.0 is a song called The Cruel Hunters. The Cruel Hunters were the infamous SS-Muslim battalions Handzjar and Skanderberg and they want to exterminate the Jews in the Balkan and Caucasus and when the job is done they want to cleanse the whole world from the sons of Zion. This song was especially written for those who called us Nazi’s because we wrote songs about the cruelty of the Islam. Another cool title is the title of the album. ‘The White Crematorium’ is a sobriquet for Stalin’s labour-prison camps  called the Gulag Archipel. These deathcamps were situated in Kolyma, a place which looked like a barren moon landscape in the extreme cold north of Siberia. Political prisoners called ” enemies of the people of the Soviet union” were forced to dig for gold and minerals under terrible circumstances. The people of the Soviet Union feared Kolyma more than any other region of the Gulag Empire. "Kolyma znaczit smert" was the common phrase whispered at the time, and translates to "Kolyma means death.
As you already noticed, we don’t like the ordinary stuff about blood and gore.

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and how would you describe your stage performance?
For me the best shows we did were in Prague, London and all the shows we did in 2008 with Gorefest on their reuniontour . The stagepeformance is intens but tight. People call us often arrogant because we do not talk to the audience about having a good time and keep metal alive bla bla bla. We let our music do the talking and plaster the crowd against the wall.

6. Do you have any plans to tour the U.S in the future?
We try to work something out, maybe next year. I all depends on if we are booked. I hope they will let us in, because we did once a show(available on You Tube) while dressed up like the Saddam clan.

7.  How has the feedback been to your new album from death metal fans worldwide?
I can’t say it enough, but it isn’t the NEW album. It is a new release. The original 2005 version was sold out and we had the change to redeem the mechanical rights so we decided take the 2005 recordings of The White Crematorium to the higher level of perfection we already stated with TRIVMVIRATE.  For our fans it might be a financial kick in the head but is was for us the perfect cover-up operation to rehabilitate all musical blasphemies and clerical howlers.
We add shiny new vocals without all the hideous grammar mistakes. Colossal Pro Tools editing to restore all goofs. Immense editing on all slips of abominable clerical errors and blasphemous sonic booms on 0.017Khz. We also added our 2002 promo, 2 videoclips and an intense teeth-on –the-dancefloor techno remix of Kindertodeslied.

I just read some reviews who stated that The White Crematorium 2.0 is the follow up of TRIVMVIRATE . That is not true. Yes, it is the next release but it is NOT the new album. We can do better that that. This release was created to fill the gap between TRIVMVIRATE and the new album. We hope that people who like TRIVMVIRATE also check out The White Crematorium 2.0 That album was the blueprint for what we doing now. Second reason was we wanted a USA release. It is a shame that our albums are hard to get there so we wanted The White Crematorium 2.0 released in the USA.

8. Do you have any side projects besides this band, if so who are they and what kind of music do they play?
Not really. I play bass in the Dutch doom band Beyond Belief and I do some producing & session work for Extreme Cold Winter(also dooooooommm) and Temple(Deathmetal in the vein of the first TMDC album The Apotheosis. The mainfocus is on TMDC. I have the freedom to add into the music what I want so I don’t need sideprojects. It is a waste of time and energy.

9. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and what are you listening to nowadays?
The Monolioth Deathcult is a mixture of all music we find interesting. The blueprint is deathmetal because of the grunts. Bands who infleunced me as mainwriter are Strapping Young Lad, Fear Factory, Rammstein, Type O Negative, Cradle of Filth, Nile, Slipknot, My Dying Bride and Laibach. There is much more. Is you can see the focus is on industrial. I believe in a blending of ultrabrutal death/speed/thrash/doom metal with furious industrial passages. Carsten who wrote all the orchestral parts and I are huge fans of soundtracks like Titus, Gladiator, Pirates of the Carrebean. People who check espesially TRIVMVIRATE will regonize the elelemens of all the above mentioned bands and artitsts.

Nowaday I do not listen to much music. Mostly in my car. Yesterdat it was Candlemass and Alice in Chains

10. What role does Occultism play in the music and how would you describe your views on this topic?
Occultism doesn’t play a special role in our music. We have a lot of religious elements in our lyrics. There are lyrics which can be described as occult but not in the satanic way. We have nothing to do we satanism. We prefer lyrics about people who want to be a god like Saddam or Stalin, about people who are talking to an evil entity while they think it is God who is talking to them.  We deal with Islam and Christianity, but also with Brahma and Amon-Ra. There is just one song which mentioned Lord Master Lucifer and that is The Malleus Maleficarum Manusscript, a song about witchcraft in the Dark Ages.

11. What are some of your interests outside of music?
I train twice a week Krav Maga(Israelian Close Combat fighting), I do serval times a week a workout, I read a lot of books(Stephen King, Frederick Forsyth, Tom Clancy etc) and I am a follower of the  Dutch politics. I am a total newsjunkie.

12. Any final words or thoughts?
I like to thank Von from Epitomite Production for giving us the chance tot release an album on USA soil. I am sure that the people of the USA like our music but as always our albums are hard to get there. People who like the White Crematorium 2.0 MUST check out TRIVMVIRATE. Check our website, facebook  and myspace for sounds and merchandise. We hope to see you soon in the USA.

http://www.myspace.com/themonolithdeathcult
http://nl-nl.facebook.com/monolithdeathcult
http://www.monolith-deathcult.com

The Monolith Deathcult/the White Crematorium/Twilight-Vertrieb Records/2010 CD Review


The  Monolith  Deathcult  are  a  band  from  the  Netherlands  that  plays  a  very  brutal form  of  death/doom  metal  with  atmospheric  and  symphonic  elements  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2010  album "the  White  Crematorium  2.0"  which  was  released  by  Twilight-Vertrieb  Records.

Drums  range from  slow, midpaced  to  fast  drumming  with  alot  of  brutal  blast  beats  mixed  in  with  some  synth  elements  that  bring  an  atmospheric/industrial  edge  to  the  music  mixed  in  with  alot  of  samples  while  the  bass  playing  sounds  very  very  powerful  and  heavy  with  riffs  that  range  from  slow  to  fast.

Rhythm  guitars  cover  alot  of  variety  in  the  brutal  death  metal  field  with  a  good  mixture  of  slow, midpaced  and  fast  riffing  that  contains  a  good  amount  of  melody  while  the  lead  guitars  are  atmospheric  and  melodic  sounding  death  metal  guitar  solos  with  a  great  ammount  of  brutality.

Vocals  are  mostly  deep  death  metal  growls  with  some  high  pitched  screams  that  have  a  slight  black  metal  edge  to  them,  while  the  lyrics cover  Nazi's, World  War  II,  Egyptian, Middle  Eastern  and  Summerian  Occultism  with  a  strong  hatred  for Catholism  and  Christianity,  as  for  the  production  it  sounds  very  professional  and  heavy  that  gives  all  of  the  musical  instruments  a  very  brutal  sound.

In  my  opinion  The  Monolith  Deathcult  are  a  very  original  sounding  brutal  death  metal  band  that  has  some very  good, heavy  and  powerful  songs  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  genre  and  looking  for  something  original  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Army  Of  The  Despised"  "Concrete  Sarcophagus"  "The Cruel  Hunters"  and  "The  White  Crematorium.  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Marienbad Interview


1. Can you tell us a little bit about the band for those that have never
heard of you before?
M. Roth: Marienbad was a little town in Czech which was flooded in the mid-60s, a storage lake occured where the village once was. There were always strange things that had happened within this town - and 12 of the villagers decided to stay in their hometown, theyŽve chosen death instead of beinig relocated to a new home. "Opus 1 - Nightfall" tells their story and some other weird and gloomy ones about what happened there over the years. The whole concept was written by myself, Yantit (my collegue in Eisregen for over one and a half decade) joined in and composed all the music, as guests we decided to ask Alan of THE VISION BLEAK and West of HÄMATOM to execute the drum- & bass parts, they were fascinated by the whole thing and played their parts very well.

2. how would you describe the musical sound of the new album?
M.: Because of the grim background we decided to choose very dark, slow and melodic metal to transfer my ideas into listenable music. You can find many different structures on Nightfall, but the whole concept is very depressive, dark and full of surprises.

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the new release
explores?
M.: The whole lyrical concept is about the strange people that lived in Marienbad and the final drowning of the whole town which is portraied end of the album in "Wallof Water / Wasserwall". "Under Dam Crest / Unter Dammkrone" deals with the weird feelings even nowadays, when you walk around the storage lake there are always some strange feelings you can not really discribe. It is a very unique situation - and know what IŽm talking about, cause Yantit & me visited it End of 2010...
4. What is the meaning and inspirationbehind the bands name?
M.: Please refer to my answer of question no. 1 for the backgrounds.

5. What are some of the best shows that the group has played so far and
how would you describe your stage performance?
6. Do you have any touring plans for the new release?
M.: IŽm sorry to tell you that Marienbad is planned as a studio act only. We are all very busy with our own acts to play shows (Yantit & I with Eisregen, Alan with The Vision Bleak and West with Hämatom) so that we simply donŽt find enough time to go touring with Marienbad. Perhaps in some future it will be possible, but only time will tell.

7. Your album is released in both German and English, what was the
decision behind putting out the album in 2 seperate langauges?
M.: With our main band Eisregen we always have the little problem that outside German-speaking territorites there is a big problem in understanding what all is about. The lyrical concept always is a very important part for me, and so we decided to include a English-vocalized version as part of a 2CD-set, and so everyone interested in has no longer the problem of understanding. It was nice to make this English version, but of course personally I prefer the German one because its my mother language and the whole concept was written in German before translation.

8. Are there any other projects besides this band or is this a full time
level?
M.: Like mentioned before we all have our main acts to handle and Marienbad is kind of a project we really wanted to do. It costed us over a year of hard work to create this album, and that is much more time many other bands spend on their projects.

9. On a worldwide level how has you music been recieved by gothic/doom
metal fans?
M.: We got some very good reactions, both by press and fans. But itŽs a very special recording, defenitly not for all tastes and there are many people that will never find their way to Marienbad, and this is no problem for me. If you are not willing to put some time and effort in understanding what the whole album is all about you may never find the right path to this little sunken town. /div>

10. What diection do you seethe music heading into on future releases?
M.: I really hope that we can create "Opus 2" one day, there are many possibilities for sequelling the whole story. But nowadays I focus work on the forthcoming Eisregen-album entitled "Rostrot", and so maybe some time after finishing it we will concentrate on the next MB-release.

11. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your
music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
M.: Today IŽm to busy to really listen to ther bands, but the new Macabre and Autopsy-CDs are real great. Old School stuff like that is what I prefer personally, Yantit is very open-minded and listens to much more different styles.

12. Outside of music what are some of your interests?
M.: I am a real movie maniac! I have a very big collection of dvdŽs/blu-rays and IŽm always in search for some old italian cult films. Fulci, Argento, all that kind of sick stuff really fascinates me.I have a Cannibal Holocaust tattoo on my right arm, this should tell enough... ;-)

13. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?
M.: If youŽre into dark, slow metal give us a chance and listen to Nightfall - perhaps this one is exactly for you. Thanks for the interview and sorry for the delay in aswering your questions, IŽm very busy the last weeks. Regards Michael nbsp;

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Rue/Thorns/Shifty Records/2011 CD Review



  Rue  are  a  band  from  Akron,  Ohio  that  plays  sludge  metal  mixed  with  death  metal  growling  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2011  album  "Thorns"  which  was  released  by  Shifty  Records.

  Drums  are  mostly  slow  to  mid  paced  drumming  with  not  much  in  the  way  of  fast  playing  or  blast  beats ,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark,  strong  and  powerful  tone  to  it.

  Rhythm  guitars  are  slow  to  mid  paced  sludge  metal  riffs  that  mixes  in  some  death  metal  heaviness  to it,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  distorted  and  noisy  sounding  guitar  leads.

  Vocals  are  a  mixture  of  deep  death  metal  growls,  high  pitched  sluge  screams  with  some  clean  singing  being  thrown  in  at  times  and  on  the  last  song  there  is  a  brief  spoken  word  passafe,  while  the  lyrics  cover  people  and  drugs,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  dark,  strong,  heavy  and  professional  sound  to  it,  as  for  the  acoustic  guitars  when  they  are  utilized  briefly  they  use  full  chords  to  give  the  music  a  psychedelic  sound.

  In  my  opinion  RUe  are  a  very  good  sounding  sludge  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  style,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECEMMONDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Brown"  "Sadaver" "High  Iron  Blues"  and  "  AWord  Of  Flies"

Marienbad/Werk One-Nachtfall/Massacre Records/2011 CD Review


Marienbad  are  a  band  from  Germany  that  plays  gothic/doom  metal  with  a  black  metal  edge  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2011  album  "Werk  One-Nachtfall"  which  was  released  by  Massacre  Records.

Drums  are  mostly  slow  to  midpaced  playing  with  no  fast  parts  or  blast  beats,  while  the  keyboards  have  a  very  depressive  nd  tragic  feel  to  them,  as  for  the  bass  playing  it  has  a  very  dark  tone  that  is  kind  of  mixed  down  low  in  the  music  and  seems  to  follow  the  riffing  that  is  coming  out  of  the  guitars  and  at  times  you  can  hear  the  instrument.

Rhythm  guitars  are  mostly  slow  to  midpaced  doom/gothic  metal  riffs  that  also  utilize  a  good  amount  of  melody  and  there  are  little  to  no  guitar  solos  or  leads  present  on  this  recording.

Vocals  are  mostly  clean  singing  gothic  vocals  with  some  high  pitched  black  metal  growls  and  whispers  being  thrown  in  at  times  and  some  spoken  word  passages  being  use  on  one  song,  while  the  lyrics  cover  tradegies,  death  and  suicide  and  there  are  2  versions  of  this  album  one  in  English  and  the  other  one  in  German,  a  for  the  production  it  sounds  very  powerful  and  professional  sounding.

In  my  opinion  Marienbad  are  a  very  good  gothic  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  style,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECEMMONDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Roslins  Curse"  "The  Yellow  Mansion  Of  Suicide"  and  "Under  Dam  Crescent".  RECEMMONDED  BUY.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Heavenwood Interview


Interview by Ricardo Dias ( guitar and ,melodic vocals )







1. Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?



We have been promoting our 4th new album " Abyss Masterpiece

"released by LISTENABLE RECORDS and it is getting great reviews and

feedback from the press and fans. We have done two SHOWCASES at FNAC in

Portugal and more gigs are coming for the near future. It was a real

hardwork to compose and record this new album so it´s a wonderful

feeling to notice that everyone is really enjoying it from all different

countries and cultures.





2. how would you describe the musical sound of the new album and how

does it differ from previous releases?



This new " Abyss Masterpiece " comparing our previous " Redemption "

is much more darker, we deal on this album with the darkest side of

love, everyone knows love have to faces just like a coin..we decided

to focus on the hardest part, the sad emotions, some kinf of

frustraion, drama and also a very portuguese way of feeling and living

on this world wich is the term " saudade ", it means yearn but in a

very peculiar way. We got inspiration also from the very first

portuguese female poet D.Leonor / Marquesa de Alorna that for many

portuguese is still nowdays a kind of a myth. We did have a lot of

difficulties in exploring or even studying is work from the XVIII

century. It´s funny because i did findo original works scanned and

archived on an american cultural archive on the net rather than

finding it on paper or websites in Portugal..she was a " persona non

grata " for the system in portugal back in the XVIII century. A

revolutionary, a visionaire, a women rights defender once portuguese

women on those days werent aloud to share or express with man her

feelings, poetry, etc. D. Leonor also was the very first to translate

the best poetry and philosophic texts from german, grench and english

to portuguese so i think she deserved this recognition instead of just

work a " clichet " poet and that would be rather easy..but we love

challenges!





3. What are some of the lyrical topics and concepts the new releases explores?



We adapated two poems from D.Leonor for the songs " Leonor " in th

eoriginal title " I´ll Sing a day of sadness " and " Goddess Presiding

Over Solitude ". The rest of the songs are inspired in her capacity of

expressing feelings such as love, anger, hope and criticism regarding

the injustice she passed when she was jailed when she was still a

young child till her mature age for a crime her parents didn´t commit

againt the portuguese state ( a murderer ). D. Leonor developed alone,

by herself, while she was jailed on the CHELAS MONASTARY ( near lisbon

) an amazing capacity for writting feelings she didn´t experienced

such as parental affect, love or passion..most of the times Nature was

her only friend or confident ( as she discribes on the song / poem "

Leonor " ). Even sometimes there is a mistraphoic feeling on he rwords

and thats why we titled the album " Abyss Masterpiece "...she was

capable of going real down her soul/ mind and made the best possible,

fought for her and other rights and made her own justice. We identify

a lot with that and all this aspects works as a metaphor also for the

band personality and history since we started. The " Abyss Masterpiece

" is a huge metaphor.



4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?





HEAVENWOOD is related to our very own world, it´s aconnected with the

legend of the lady ghost Judith Heavenwood, a forest and a special

place where evryone that would pass by would become different after

this travell around.



5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and

how would you describe your stage performance?



We had fantastic experiences just like beeing the first portuguese

band to play on WACKEN OPEN AIR, also touring with ATROCITY, IN

FLAMES, SOLITUDE AETURNUS, LAKE OF TEARS and THEATRE OF TRAGEDY was

great. It´s  a wonderfull when we share also the stage with our old

time friends MOONSPELL as it was last September on the best Club in

Portugal that is know for all bands when touring and comming to

Portugal that is HARD CLUB, it re-open again afert some years cloose

and both bands played on the official re-opening week for a great

night fulll of fans from both bands. Rememberi we had supported CRADLE

OF FILTH on a mini tour in Portugal too many years ago and that was

cool also!





6. What are the touring plans for the new release, any plans to hit

North or South America?



We do hope to play!! We had very good feedback from the press and a

lot of fans have mailing us regarding our new album, moost disvoer the

band with th eprevious album " Redemption " but now with LISTENABLE

RECORDS working perfectly and with passion we have been noticing a lot

of new people very interested and amazed with our music, many said

that we have som e kind of musical charisma, a lot of portuguese

living on the states send their compliments and congrats and are

waiting for the album to be on the american stores, its a kind of

proud too for them, its a question of feeling clooser to their country

in a cultural form..that is a real deep and wonderfull feeling..it´s "

saudade " :)





7. On a worldwide level how has your new release been recieved by

gothic metal fans?



Great, i dont remeber to have for example a negative review, a really

like even when it´s nnot so positive at least be constructive and

rational..it´s hard for a Emo or Thrash 18 year old guy to understand

our music now so perhaps sometimes those kind of feedback i do

understand but i do understand also that this same guy will pick up

our album when he does have 22 or 25 and then he will say to it self "

oohhh now i do understand this stuff, this metaphors, this feelings "

We have fans from all ages but most of HEAVENWOOD fans are ecletic and

they do enjoy metal and good music, most of them are between 25 - 45

and our goal is to get more young metal fans in our music and

words..although " Abyss Masterpiee " is a dark ride into love it have

a message of hope...just listen to our final instrumental track " Her

Lament" it´s a metaphor and it does transmit hope regarding the

feeling you got when listening to it...





8. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?



hmmm.. nice question! We don´t want to predict but hmm..i think we

love to explore the soul so the mysticism, alchemic processes and

metaphors will be again a inspiration...it will depend on the mood of

the band but i´m shure grind core or black metal we will not playu,

that´s not our musical personality.







9. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your

music, and also what are you listening to nowadays?





The classic one from The Cult, Sisters or Fields to the classic Death

Metal stuff..the term gothic i think it´s a rotule to define our dark,

emotiv, dramatism..COnsider us a kind TIM BURTON for the metal music,

or at least we try or would like to be :)



10. Does paganism or Occultism play any role in your music?



on a metpahoric way yes, we do embrace a lot of differente religious

concepts,we´re not extremists defending the road you´re watching in

front of you is one way only and that you will not see any crossroads

some km´s after 1 hour walink on it...no..we are spiritual and i

believe humanity balance and harmony will have to deal with the

balance for Consciouness / spirit and Flesh / Materialism..man is on

the midlle..now the quest is..does man want to be an instrument/ tool

or does he want to be the worker ? Why can´t he be the both ?





11. Outside of music, what are some of your interests?



Reading, watching a lot of seminairs and congress regading Humanity

all kind of expressions for example like Michael Tsarion, i do love to

read Paupus or Alan Kardec and i do feel interest in understanding and

working on my inner capacityes..studying myself wich is very important

for a development. I do beleive we must care of our inner garden first

then we can look at the others garden too afterwards. To many people

live is life without discovering themselfs, without speaking to their

own beeing. I love musical instruments also and work with them so

music is hal of me in life, family is the other half.







12. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?



Thanks for the great interview and i want everyone to check our new

album " Abyss Masterpiece", i know a lot´s will download it but if you

enjoy it you have to buy it, it´s a album to be discovered with time,

to be studied..if you wann be a kind of INDIANA JONES on metal

music...yes this is the one album you have to buy and to listen, read

and understand step by step!

A portuguese musical hug to all and check our official site at

www.heavenwoodclan.co.pt or www.myspace.com/heavenwood

Friday, October 21, 2011

Heavenwood/Abyss Masterpiece/Listenable Records/2011 CD Review

Heavenwood  are  a  band  from  Portugal  that  plays  a  very  atmospheric,  symphonic  form  of  melodic  gothic/doom/death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2011  album  "Abyss  Masterpiece'  which  was  released  by  Listenable  Records.

Drums  range  from  slow  to  midpaced  drumming  and  there  is  not  much  in  the  way  of  fast  playing  or  blast  beats  on  the  recording,  while  the  synths  are  very  tmospheric,  symphonic  and  gothic  sounding,  as  for  the  ass  playing  it  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  is  coming  out  of  the  guitars.

Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow  to  midpaced  riffs  that  combine  gothic,  doom  and  melodic  death  metal  together  with  some  soft  playing  being  used  at  times,  while  the  lead  guitars are very  melodic  and  sorrowful  sounding  gothic  metal  guitar  solos.

Vocals  are  mostly  deep  death  metal  growls  with  some  high  pitched  screams  that  have  a  black  metal  edge  to  them  as  well  as  some  clean  inging  male  and  female  vocals,  while  the  lyrics  cover  sorrow,  darkness  and  love,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  powerful  and  professional  sound  to  it.

In  my  opinion  Heavenwood  are  a  very  good  gothic/melodic  doom/death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  style,  you  shuld  check  out  his  band.  RECEMMONDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Goddess  Presiding  Over  Solitude"  "Poem  For  Matilde"  "September  blood'  and  "like  Yesterday".  RECEMMONDED  BUY.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Darkseed Interview


1. Can you update us with what is going on with the band these days?


Right now we?re going to have a few weeks off and most of the band members are preparing for vacation. The last days were packed with lots of different stuff to work on, promotion activities, interviews, evaluation of the album reviews and press-feedback, contacts with new and long-term fans from all over the world and so on. The next step in autumn is to focus again on live shows and touring, mostly preparing shows for the next year and of course, always gathering new ideas for the next songs...


2. How would you describe the music of the newer album?

Well, from the formal musical aspect our new album shows a greater variety and more facettes than the predecessors. With Ultimate Darkness we had given our absolute statement of brutal and direct mournfulness, in a manner of speaking "the kick in the face". "Poison Awaits" shows considerably more shades of our darkness and has dramatically more musical detail which is well placed and often hidden to the first time listener. While recording we focussed on the individual talents of the band members and the songs feature more technical and instrumental expertise than before. Matured, more eclectic, more confident, sovereign.


3. How would you describe the lyrical content of the newer material?

Our intense pictoral lyrics have always made Darkseed so special and distinguishes us from the gothic "love and roses" stereotype. Back in 2003 we named our album "Astral Adventures" to emphasize the inner meaning, spirituality. With this background it?s much easier to have a look at the big picture in which "Poison Awaits" has to be seen. Individual progress. Evolvement. Not the rejection of the world we?re facing with its economically ruled selfish microstructure of society but the awareness of our own responsibility to turn things to good account. Therefore "Poison Awaits" is far more uplifting than e.g. Ultimate Darkness and shows this progress in music and metaphorical meaning. And there?s a lot of meaning in there for the one?s who can see it...
Let?s take the song "Incinerate" for example, with the clear structure of the lyrics, few syllables, short words it?s quite a clear statement upfront. Is it? In particular it describes a spirit driven by hatred, striving for revenge, in bloodlust on the battlefields of the medieval time. And the same spirit centuries later acting destructive, "reborn" as disease or plague altering cells and organisms but still feeling there has to be more, looking for an escape. Musically the song converts after the struggle of the opposites, culmination in chaos to a very harmonic ending where this insight, spoken by the narrator, is gained. We?re here to sort it out. Each of us. Surely most of the people don?t get it when being confronted with our stuff first but our fans are special.



4. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and
how would you describe your stage performance?

Darkseed?s shows are quite rare, we played only a few dozen gigs in the last years but all of these were individually very energetic. The constellation of the core members is contant for nearly a decade now which gives us a very relaxed basis in terms of musical communication on stage. To bring out a special show is subjective, but for me the show in Komen, Slovenia back in 2003 was one of the best experiences ever.



5. Do you have any plans to tour the U.S?


As mentioned we?re not touring extensively. To play in the US would be very appealing to us but having only a handfull of shows is not the most lucrative business for our company. Our management is currently checking possibilites and support slot candidates and the whole stage concept is to be updated in fall this year.


6. The new album came out on Massacre Records how would you describe the
support that the label has giving you so far compared to the other
labels that you have been on?


Massacre left us complete artistic freedom which is a basic requirement. Darkseed?s members are experienced musicians working with different sideprojects for many years in the music business. We need no external producer and have as described above enough vision and hyperopia for future output.


7. How has the new album been recieved so far by newer and older fans
worldwide?

Extremely well which was quite a surprise to us. After our longtime vocalist and founding member Stephan left the band in 2006 most of the media proclaimed the end of Darkseed as band. It had an amusing effect when we read about the split up of the group (which never happend in case) on different websites. People interpret, word of mouth and twittering is the modern "whisper down the lane". A comes in Z comes out. Sadly most of the information spread in our culture isn?t profound. With gifts like the web it would be easy to contact anyone directly and to get first hand information, strange enough nobody uses these possibillities. Especially in Germany it is quite common to decry something, this makes you feel superior. In short, we didn?t know what to expect and we?re extremely pleased to see all those positive reactions.



8. Out off all the albums that the band has put out so far which one are
you the most satisfied with?


Every artist proclaims his newest work to be the most honest and best work to date. Artistically we wouldn?t have done "Poison Awaits" if we had been fully satisfied with "Ultimate Darkness".


9. How would you describe the musical progress over the years and what
direction do you see the music heading into on future releases?

That?s a very interesting point. Surely there?s the development of the own instrumental skills over the years which gives each member a growing repertoire and mastership of the musical language, therefore increasing the ways of expressiveness. The craftsmanship of songwriting is the combination of putting the essence of the music, the feeling or meaning someone wants to transport, together in form. In the beginning of 2000 we added more and more electronic FX, samples and loops to our sound. On "Poison Awaits" the synths had are more dominant position than before and we had a wider variety between the songs to show up different paths for the things to come. As far as I can see now, our music will become more complex in structure but also more diverse.


10. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your
music and what are you listening to nowadays?

I?m listening to a broad variety of music, from classical und contemporary composers to noise, ambient and experimental stuff.


11. Does Occultism play any role in the music?

For sure. <pause>

Occultism is another stereotype. The broad mass packs it together with satanic rituals and hooded fanatics, sacrificing animals in some abandoned cellars. But the root word means "hidden", and there are a lot of things hidden in our music and lyrics. A sentence doesn?t need to be very complex to deliver the thruth and therefore our lyrics are giddy easy to understand. But you have to qualify to find the inner meaning.



12. What are some of your interests outside of music?


Besides keeping the material vessel healthy and in shape mostly philosophy, reading and historical studies. Shaping the personal awareness would hit the mark but is maybe too abstract. Being spontanious, creative in any possible way, to live for the moment.



13. Any final words or thoughts?

Not now.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Darkseed/Poison Awaits/Massacre Records/2010 CD Review


Darkseed  are  a  band  from  Germany  that  has  a  history  that  dates  back  to  the  90's  and  they  play  a  style  known  as  gotic  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2010  album  "Poison  Awaits"  which  was  released  by  Massacre  Records.

Drums  are  mostly  slow  to  midpaced  with  no  fast  playing  or  blast  beats,  while  the  keyboards  have  a  gothic  sound  to  them  with  an industrial  edge,  as  for  the  bass  playing  it  has  a  very  powerful  with  influences  from  gothic  and  death  rock.

Rhythm  guitars  are  mostly  slow  to  midpaced  metal/gothic  rock  riffs  that  contain  a  good  amount  of  melody,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  melodic  sounding  guitar  solos  that  have  a  tragic  sound  to  them.

Vocals  are  mostly  clean  singing  gothic  vocals  with  some  more  aggressive  and  whispered  vocals  being used  on  ocassion,  while  the  lyrics  touch  on  dark  and  depressing  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  is  very  professional  sounding  and  you  can  hear  all  of  the  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  album.

In  my  opinion  this  is  another  good  album  from  Darkseed  and  fans  of  this  band  as  well  as  other  gothic  metal  bands  should  enjoy  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Incinerate"  "Seeds  Of  Sorrow"  "A  Dual  Pact"  and  "No  Promise  In  The  Heavens".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Meltgsnow/Black Penance/Pulverised Records/2010 CD Review


Meltgsnow  are  a  band  from  Singapore  that  plays  a  style  that  I  would  describe  as  being  dark  gothic  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2010  album  "Black  Penance"  which  was  released  by  Pulverised  Records.

Drums  are  mostly  slow  to  midpaced   drumming  with  a  little  bit  of  fast  playing  and  no  blast beats,  while  the  bass  playing  is  all  rhythm  bass  that  follows  the  riffs  that  are  coming  out  of  the  guitars  and  there  are  some  powerful  bass  leads  that  are  very  easy  to  hear  at  times.

Rhythm  guitars  mix  a  variety  of  different  different  metal  styles  from  gothic, thrash, power  and  doom  metal  together  with  a  little  bit  of  fast  playing  and  a  good  amount  of  melody,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  melodic  sounding  guitars  that  have  a  classic  metal  feel  to  them  mixed  in  with  some  modern  metal  influences  with  some  softer  playing  being  used  on  some  times.

Vocals  are  mostly  clean  singing  vocals  with  some  high  pitched  power  metal  screams  and  some  ocassional  black/death growls  and  screams  and  on  the  last  song  there  are  some  female  vocals  being  utilized,  while  the  lyrics  touch  on  depressing  and  anti  religous  topics,  as  for  the  production  it  sounds  very  professional  and  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  on  this  album.

In  my  opinion  Meltgsnow  are  a  very  talented  gothic  metal  band  that  should  appeal  to  fans  of  this  genre  and  they  are  very  original  for  this  style  of  music  with  the  thrash  influences  and  power  metal  vocals.
RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Devil's Mind Ride"  "Crown Of  Serpents"  and  "Another  Lie". RECOMMENDED  BUY.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Voices Of Destiny Interview


1. Can you tell us a little bit about the band for those that have never
heard of you before?
Voices of Destiny consists of five members. Chris, the guitarist and Jens, the bass player started the band in spring 2004. After a short while they invited Erik, the drummer and Lukas, the Keyboarder to join their project. In October 2005 after playing a few smaller shows in the area the decision was made to separate from their singer at that time. Already in November of the same year Maike joined the band to complete the perfect line-up of Voices of Destiny.

2. What is the meaning behind the band's name?
Actually it was a spontaneous idea to name our band "Voices of Destiny". Our drummer Erik came up with it and we liked the sound and the meaning. It just fits the style of our music perfectly. Anyway we do not attach too much importance to the name. It's all about the music.

3. How would you describe your musical sound?
In three words: heavy, athmospheric, multifaceted

4. How would you describe the lyrical content of the music?
Very personal. Every single song has it's own special background and refers to a personal experience. Most of the lyrics might seem a bit dark and maybe pessimistic but for a good reason. For Lukas, who wrote all of the lyrics on 'From the Ashes', it is more interesting and useful to write about negative stuff. The negative experiences in life are the ones which are harder to deal with and writing about them can help.

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and
how would you describe your stage performance?
The shows and especially the final round of the Youngsterball Contest in the year 2008 are very special to us. Not only that we won the contest but it was also a pleasure and honor to perform in the LKA Longhorn, Stuttgart where many famous bands have played live shows before us.
We just have fun on stage. A lot of headbanging and posing is going on. It's just so much fun to express your songs not only with the your voice and instruments but with gestures and mimic too.

6. Are there any plans for a U.S tour?
Unfortunately, not yet. But of course we would love to tour the U.S. just like the rest of the world. And we will one day.

7. I noticed when I listened to your music you use some heavy growls are
you planning on keeping them on future releases or are you going to drop
them like some bands that play your style usually do, even though there
are bands that keep that style or go back to it after experimenting with
other styles?
We will defiently keep the growls and shouts. According to some new songs we are working on at the moment they might even appear little more often. In our opinion they are a important contrast to Maikes clean soprano voice.

8. The new album came out on Massacre Records, how have they supported
the band so far?
Massacre Records is a great label and is supporting and promoting our band by offering a lot of opportunities to present ourselves in interviews and reviews. On friday, the 11th of June 2010 we had the chance to do a live interview with the biggest online Metal radio in Germany 'Metal-Only'.

9. How would you describe your musical progress over the years and what
direction do you see the music heading into on future releases?
Since we started in the year 2004 we definetly became more heavy and agressive. Not only by adding shouts and growls to our songs but also by decreasing the usage of keyboardsounds and attaching more value to the guitars.

10. Are there any other side projects going on besides this band if so
who are they and what kind of music do they play?
No, none of our members are in any side projects. We all spend 100% of our musical creativity on the songs of Voices of Destiny.

11. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your
music and what are you listening to nowadays?
There is no need to hide that we have been influenced by other female fronted metal bands. But somehow most of us are listening to a lot of melodic Deathmetal bands such as Soilwork or In Flames, progressive and technical formations like Dream Theater or Opeth right up to Metalcore and Hardcore stuff like for example Hatebreed and Heaven Shall Burn. This difference between the music we make and the music we listen to is actually kind of comfortable.

12. What are some of your interests outside of music?
It varies. Maike for example is into  dancing very much, Chris and Lukas like to do workout, Jens is into computers and cares about our homepage and Erik knows a lot about sound egineering and even works as audio engineer when he is not with the band.

13. Any final words or thoughts?
Hi out there, we are Voices of Destiny from Germany and this year we came up with our debut album 'From the Ashes'. We gave our best to create a good metal album and hope you will enjoy listening to our music as we enjoyed producing it. Keep rocking!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Voices Of Destiny/From The ashes/Massacre Records/2010 CD Review


Voices Of Destiny are a symphonic/gothic metal band from Germany and this is a review of their 2010 album "From The Ashes" which was released by Massacre Records.

Drums are a mixture of slow to midpaced playing with no fast parts or brutal blasts, while the keyboards have an atmospheric/symphonic as well as gothic edge with some industrial style synths being used at times, as for the bass playing it has a very powerful tone that is very easy to hear on this recording that is rhythm bass.

Rhythm guitars are mostly slow heavy riffs that mix doom metal, thrash on the faster riffs and gothic metal together, while the lead guitars when they are used have a very melodic tone to them and there are some acoustic guitars that use alot of open chords and some fingerpicling solos that gives the music a depressing feel.

Vocals are mostly clean singing female vocals that mix power and gothic metal together with the male vocals being a mixture of high pitched black metal screams and deep death metal vocals, while the lyrics touch on hateful and depressing themes, as for the production on this album it sounds very professional and you can hear all of the instruments on this album.

In my opinion Voices Of Destiny are a very talented symphonic/gothic metal band and if you are a fan of this genre you should check this band out.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Twisting The Knife" "Icecold" "Apathy" and "Better Vision". RECOMMENDED BUY

Monday, October 10, 2011

Darkseed/Spellcraft/Nuclear Blast Records/1997 CD Review


Darkseed are a band from Germany that plays a form of music that I would describe as a mixture of gothic rock and atmospheric/doom metal and this is a review of their 1997 album "Spellcraft" which was released by Nuclear Blast Records.

Drums are mostly slow to midpaced drumming with some fast parts with no blast beats while the violins give the music a dark edge and ther are some keyboars being used on ocassion that bring a gothic element to the music, as for the bass playing it is all rhythm bass that follows the riffs that are coming out of the guitars and they have a very powerful feel.

Rhythm guitars mix slow and fast riffs together with alot of thrash as well as power metal influencess that utilize alot of melody that has some influences from gothic and alternative rock, while the lead guitars use alot of harmonys and melodic guitar solos that sound very depressing and have alot of influences from classic metal, as for the classical guitar when it is utilized it gives the music a very dark and melodic edge.

Vocals are mostly clean singing vocals with the ocassional high pitched black metal screams with alot of female vocals that are very gothic/alternative sounding, while the lyrics touch on some depressing and anti christain themes, as for the production on this recording which was recorded at IMPULUS Studios in Hamburg, Germany during October and November of the year 1996msounds very professional and you can hear all of the musical instruments that are present in this album.

In my opinion Darkseed are a very talented gothic metal band and if you are a fan of gothic metal you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Self Pity Sick" "You Will Come" "Walk In Me" and "Nevermight". RECOMMENDED BUY.

Sin7Sins Interview


1. Can you tell us a little bit about the band for those that have never
heard of you before?

Sin7sinS started out as a project in 2006. Back then it was just me (Gen) and Lotus. We released a demo and with that we found the other three band members. We became a �real� band at the end of 2007. From that point on we have always been searching for our own sound, which has now led to the release of our debut-album Perversion Ltd.


2. How would you describe your musical sound?

Female fronted metal. In every sense of the term. Definitely not Gothic.


3. What are some of the lyrical concepts and subjects that the new album
explores?

As the title of our album implies it is mainly about perversion. In every way it comes. We have a lot of focus on sexual aspects and hedonistic themes. We also like to rattle some religious chains.


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

The meaning of Sin7sinS is to do whatever the hell you want. Get the most out of life as you can and live in the now. Do not be hold back by decadency or fear. Celebrate life, call it hedonism.


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

We have a very active stage performance. We try to project what we stand for on stage. We spend a lot of time bettering our performance every time. We already did a few awesome shows as a support for different bands and we also toured as part of the Dutch �Jágermeister Tour�. However we hope for bigger things to come.


6. How has your music been received so far by gothic and metal fans
worldwide?

We are being received very well. A lot of fans praise us for bringing something different to the female fronted metal scene. Also the press is generally very pleased about our first album. We tend to appeal to a lot of metal fans that are normally not so interested in female fronted metal.


7.What direction do you see the music heading into on future releases?

I believe we will continue in the line we have set out with Perversion Ltd. But we will be searching to better ourselves as musicians and improve our music. Now that we have determined our sound, we can only exploit that on future albums and look for ways to improve it.


8. Are there any side projects besides this band or is this a full time
group?

Sin7sinS is a full time band to which we are fully dedicated.


9. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music,
and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Personally I must say that I am a heavy metal omnivore. I listen to a lot of different bands. But most influential bands are probably Rammstein and Marilyn Manson.

10. Outside of music what are some of your interests?

Music takes up most of my time but besides that I am very much interested in art. I also play videogames often and I watch a lot of movies.


11. Any final words or thoughts before we close this interview?

I would like to imply that anyone who is interested in our music can find us at www.Sin7sinS.com

Harpoon Interview


1. Can you tell us a little bit about the band for those that have never heard of you before?
 
We are a three-piece (guitar, bass, & vocals) with a drum machine.
 

2. How would you describe the musical sound of the new album?
 
That is in the ear of the beholder, I guess.  We did try to not make another typical grind record, which is how most people tended to describe our first release.  We tried to bring in some melodies this time around, as well as some drone aspects.  Check it out and tell us how you would describe it.  Everyone comes from their own set of experiences, so what might sound one way to one person, could be totally different for another.   
 

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores?
 
Being a part of 7000 Dying Rats for about a decade and a half made me grow very accustomed to writing some really silly lyrics, when there were lyrics at all (the first two records have almost no lyrics whatsoever…just guttural noise).  With Harpoon, I suppose I wanted to try some new things, but I didn’t want to lose that humorous component.  I still think some of the lyrics are funny, but perhaps they are not so “wink wink” funny now.  Maybe they are actually only funny to me.  Dunno.  A lot of the time I choose words for sound rather than meaning.  As far as the subject matter on the new record, much of it has to do with the lies we tell ourselves to get through the day. Sometimes it can be difficult to truly be honest with oneself. 
 

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the band’s name?
 
Originally Harpoon was a two-piece band I had with a friend of mine, Dave Melkonian.  I played bass, and he played drums.  No lyrics or vocals.  It was kind of like a cross between Godheadsilo and Ruins.  We only wrote a couple of songs, but when that ended I still wanted to use the name.  Dean was cool with it.  I just think it is a funny word. 
 

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and how would you describe your stage performance?
 
You would have to ask someone that has seen us.  I think it is really hard to be objective about something like that. I know that I am tired when we are done so apparently I am doing quite a bit of moving around and yelling.  As for Dean and DJ, I can usually hear their instruments OK, unless the sound guy sucks ass.  Other than that I am clueless.
 

6. Do you have any touring plans for the new release?
 
For sure.  We are planning to hit the West Coast (and all points in between) this summer.  We’ve done the east coast a few times now, so we kind of feel compelled to go west.   
 

7. Currently you are singed to Seventh Rule Recordings, how did you get in contact with this label and how would you describe the support that they have given you so far?
 
I’ve known Scott (owner of Seventh Rule) for a while.  We both lived in Chicago for a number of years and would always run  in to each other at a lot of shows.  He’s a great guy; very supportive.  This record is definitely a departure from our first record (Double Gnarly/Triple Suicide), but he is someone who puts little stock into prevailing trends and what most Metal magazines think are cool at the moment.  He likes to take chances and that’s why we wanted to work with him.    
 
8. On a worldwide level, how has your music been received by underground music fans?
 
It’s hard to tell.  There are a heck of a lot of people out there who can’t get past the drum machine thing.  It doesn’t sound metal enough to them…whatever the hell that means.  Personally, I could give a crap.  We chose to use a drum machine for a reason.  We like the way it sounds.  I think there has been an incredible amount of quality heavy music made without an actual drummer: Big Black, Godflesh, the first Jesus Lizard record.  Look at Kraftwerk.  They made a shitload of really interesting music without some guy pounding on drums.  I suppose there will always be orthodox metal fans unwilling to listen to anything remotely different than what they are totally comfortable with and that’s fine, I guess.  I suppose those are not the kind of people we are writing records for anyway.
 
On the other hand there have been quite few people who have responded very positively.  We have received messages from quite a few places hither and thither which is really quite amazing considering the limited amount of touring we have done.
 

9. Are there any side projects besides this band or is this a full-time lineup?
 
Dean does an ambient solo thing called Wastelanders.  DJ was doing a rock thing called Needle Age with some of the guys from Sweet Cobra and Pelican, but that is in kind of a semi-permanent holding pattern.  I play in a band called Eunuchs with a bunch of the guys from Hewhocorrupts. 
 

10. What direction do you see the music heading into on future releases?
 
I suppose we want to continue to explore new ideas.  We made a very conscious decision this time to not make another standard grind record.  In fact, I think one would be hard-pressed to find many “grind” parts on the new record at all.  I feel like a lot metal bands get really focused on sounding like one specific genre and then they are totally trapped.  They become unable to make interesting choices for fear of alienating their “fans.”  Most of the stuff I hear nowadays sounds like the same record being made over and over.  I love a lot of metal, but I still really respect the whole “fuck what everyone else thinks is cool” attitude.  “To thine own self be true” and all that.     
 

11. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
 
How does the saying go?  There are only two kinds of music…good and bad.  I like a wide variety of stuff.  I grew up a serious metal head.  Love all the classic stuff: Iron Maiden, Dio, Motorhead.  Then I discovered hardcore.  I must have owned about five different copies of the Cro Mags - Age of Quarrel because I played it so much.  Then I really fell in love with all the Amphetamine Reptile bands in the 90s like Hammerhead, Cows, & the God Bullies. About the same time, King Coffey from the Butthole Surfers had a really great label called Trance Syndicate that put out some really awesome bands like Cherubs & Bedhead.  I love pretty much everything that Nick Cave has done.  For the past 6 months or so, I’ve been listening to a lot of early 90s shoegaze stuff: Cocteau Twins, Lush, My Bloody Valentine.  Andy Nelson (who engineered our record) turned me on to Scott Walker who I think is pretty interesting.  The last Walker Brothers record is cool (at least the stuff that Scott Walker wrote).  I really like the new Atlas Moth.  I think Stavros wrote some great vocal melodies for it.  Rob Crow rules.  I could go on and on.
 

12. Outside of music, what are some of your interests?
 
I like reading, mostly history.  I am an insane Detroit Tigers fan (I grew up in Detroit).  I'm also a big time Scrabble nut.  I am basically a nerd. 
 

13. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?
 
Naw.  Just, thanks for listening.