Tuesday, August 30, 2016

She Beast/III/2016 EP Review


  She  Beast  are  a  band  from  Australia  that  plays  a  mixture  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2016  ep "III".

  Horror  movie  samples  start off  the ep  along  with  some  bass  guitars  a  few  seconds  later  which  also  leads  up  to  more  of  a  heavier  doom  metal  direction  along  with  some  high  pitched  sludge  style  screams  and  there  is  also  a  small  amount  of  mid  paced  sections  and  blast  beats  along  with  elements  of  punk  rock  and  southern  etal.

   One  track  is  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  melody  being  utilized  on  a  couple  of  songs  and  when  guitar  leads  are  utilized  they  give  the  music  more  of  a  retro  and  stoner  metal  vibe  and  all  of  the  tracks  stick  to a  heavy  musical  style.

  She  Beast  plays  a  musical  style  that  focuses  more  of  the  heavier  side  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  while  also  having  some  southern,  stoner  and  punk  rock  elements,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  real  life  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Sea  Beast  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Fly"  and  "Saw  Pig".  8  out  of  10. 

Bethmoora Interview


1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
1. Copenhagen based sludge/doom 5 piece Bethmoora, has existed for about a year in its current form, all members with experience from previous bands. Huge riffs, bludgeoning rhythms and disturbing vocals are key elements of the slow descent.

2.How would you describe your musical sound?
2. Blackened Psychedelic Funeral Sludge Doom? It's hard to describe your own music, if you don't set out to play a specific genre from the start. We do think that we have a common base in doom metal, but try to pull in all the stuff we like, be it from psychedelic rock, sludge, funeral doom, black metal or noise. The sound is massive and we play slow and heavy music. We like the music to become physical so that we and our listeners can feel the frequencies.

3.Your lyrics cover a lot of occult topics, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this subject?
3. Fantasy has always been an intriguing topic and is that main genre that Anders reads. This of course will also influence what you write.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Bethmoora'?
4. It is a really cool name and it is a story of a doomed city by one of the early writers of the fantasy/horror genres Lord Dunsany. And we also like the band Bong.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
5. We enjoy every time we play: Opening the Nothern Discomfort festival was an awesome first gig. Opening for Remote with only 10 people and opening for Dopethrone with Dreich and a lot of people. All awesome shows.
The tempo is slow and thus the movement on stage is fairly scarce, but the sound is thick, immersive and blasts at you. There are no theatrics.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
6. We have four shows coming up in September and October. One of them opening for YOB. We are planning a winter European tour with Dorre (February).

7.You have a split coming out with 'Dorre', what are your thoughts on the other band that had participated on the recording?
7. We enjoy their tracks and it is awesome that on one record you can span wide and still stay within the same genre. Which we have also tried to depict on the album cover.

8.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
8. There has been some interest in releasing our demo, but we have not actively tried to contact any labels. We are working on material for a full length and will be more actively looking for labels.

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of sludge and doom metal?
9. Pretty damn well which came as a pleasant surprise.

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
10. Louder, deeper, and darker ;)

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?
11. All the members come from different musical backgrounds. To name a few that we have on heavy rotation: YOB, Kataklysm (the old stuff), Conan, Fister, Cult of Occult, Indian, Coltsblood and the list goes on ... and on. Basically if it slow and/or heavy we dig it.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?
12. We are five fat fathers so time not spent with the band is spent with family and friends. Being five people the interests are numerous, there are interests in beer brewing, effect pedal building, board games, and more.

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
13. Our band is an outlet for most of us all. We have to have a regular session to stay sane. We would still be playing even if it had never left the rehearsal space. We are just trilled that there are people out there who seem to enjoy the noises we make.

Sunday, August 28, 2016

Harri Kauppinen/Helvetin Laulat/Concorde Music Company/2016 CD Review


  Harri  Kauppinen  is  a  solo  project  from  Finland  that  plays  a  dark  form  of  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2016  album  "Helvetin  Laulat"  which  will  be  released  in  September  by  Concorde  Music  Company.

 Nature  sounds  and  spoken  word  parts  start  off  the  album  and  after  the  into  the  music  goes  into  more  of  a  heavier  and  melodic  direction  while  also  adding  in  keyboards  and  violins  while  acoustic  guitars can  also  be  heard  at  times  and  after  awhile  clean  singing  is  added  onto  the  recording  and  there  are  also  a  great  amount  of  goth/doom  metal  elements.

  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  dark  and  melodic  fashion  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  a  very  slow   musical  direction  and  spoken  word  parts  also  make  a  return  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  they  give  the  songs  more  of  a  poetic  feeling  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Harri  Kauppinen  plays  a  style  of  dark  metal  that  is  very  tragic  and  gloomy  sounding  while  also  mixing  in  elements  of  doom  and  goth  metal,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Finnish  and  cover  dark  and  depressive  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Harri  Kauppinen are a very  great  sounding  dark  metal  solo  project  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Linnut"  "Maa  Paala"  "Katumus"  and  "Non  Oli  Hyva".  8  out  of  10.

Saturday, August 27, 2016

The Lurking Corpses/Traffic Death/Split Personality/Give Praise Records/2016 Split EP Review


  This  is  a  review  of  a  split  ep  between  Indiana's  The  Lurking  Corpses  and  Iowa's  Traffic  Death  called  "Split  Personality"  which  was  released  by  Give  Praise  Records  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  The  Lurking  Corpses  a band  that  plays  a  mixture  of  horror  punk,  thrash  and  death  metal.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  spoken  word  samples  before  going  into  a  heavier  and  melodic  direction  along  with  some  punk  style  vocals  which  have a  Misfits  influence  to  them  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  use  a  decent  amount  of  melody  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  blast  beats  and  horror  movie  samples  can  be  heard  briefly  and  on  the  second  tracks  grim  screams  and  death  metal  growls  are  added  into  the  music  as well  as  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  horror  movie  themes.

  In  my  opinion  The  Lurking  Corpses  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  horror  punk, thrash  and death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres, you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Don't Need  It".

  Next  up  is  Traffic  Death  a  band  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays a  mixture  of punk,  grind,  thrash,  doom,  crust,  power  violence  and  hardcore.

  Their  side  of  the split  starts  out  with  melodic  riffing  and  horror  movie  samples which  also  leads  up  to  more  of  a  doom  metal  direction  and  a  few  seconds  later  high pitched  screams  and  death  metal  growls  are  added  into  the  music  and  all of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  incorporate  a  great  amount  of  grind,  and  crust  punk  elements, t he  production  sounds very  old  school  while  the  lyrics  cover  violence  and  horror  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Traffic  Death  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  punk,  grind,  thrash,  doom,  crust,  power  violence  and  hardcore,  you  should  check  out  their  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Human  Scar".

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

        

Thursday, August 25, 2016

Rutsa/Hakissa/2016 EP Review


  Rutsa  are  a  band  from  Finland  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  mixture  of  sludge  metal,  crust  and  grindcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2016  ep  "Hakissa".

  Distorted  noises  start  off  the  ep  along  with  some  heavy  guitars  and  high  pitched  screams  a  few  seconds  later  and  the  slower  sections  of  the  songs  bring  in  elements  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  it  goes  fro  a  more  brutal  grindcore  direction  that  also  uses  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats.

  A  small  amount  of  stoner  style  melodies  can  be  heard  in  the  music  at  times  and  the  songs  also  bring  in a   great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast parts  while  the  vocals  also  mix  in  elements  of  death  metal  and  crust  while  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  short  in  length  and  you  can  also h ear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts.

  On  this  recording  Rutsa  takes  the  heaviness  of  sludge  and doom  metal  and  mixes  it  with  the  speed  and  brutality  of  crust  and  grindcore  and  also  mix  in  a  touch  of  harsh  noise  to  create  a  very  dark  yet  heavy  recording,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  raw  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Finnish  and  cover  dark  and  violent  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Rutsa  and  if  you a re  a  fan  of  sludge,  crust,  and  grindcore,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Hakissa" "Egoismi"  and  "Laihua  Lothu".  8  out  of  10. 

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Aeternitas/House Of Usher/Massacre Records/2016 CD Review


  Aeternitas  are  a  band  from  Germany  that  plays  a  very symphonic  form  of  goth  metal  with  some  doom,  death and  black  metal  elements  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "House  Of  Usher"  which  will  be  released  in  October  by  Massacre  Records.

  Dark sounding  keyboards  start  off the  album  along  with  some  symphonic  elements  that  also  gives  the  songs  more  of  an  epic  feeling  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  a  heavier  direction  while  also  retaining  the  symphonic  elements  along  with  some  female vocals  making t heir  presence  known  on  the  recording  and  they  also  take  the  music  into  more  of  a  goth  metal  direction  and t here  are also some clean  male  vocals.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on the  recording  have  a  very powerful  sound  to  them and  the  sower  sections  of  the songs  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  doom  metal  elements  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  remain  true  to  a  very  melodic  style  of  metal  and  as  the  album  progresses  a  couple  of  power  ballads  can  be  heard  and  there is  also  a  brief  use  of acoustic  guitars  and  electronic  music  sounds  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  either  a  slow  or  mid  paced  musical  direction.

  Aeternitas  creates  an  album  that  moves  away  from  the  black  and death  metal  influences  of  previous  recordings  and  focuses  more  on  a  straight  forward  and  modern  style  of  goth  metal,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  based  upon  the  Edgar  Allan  Poe  story  "House  Of  Usher".

  In  my  opinion  Aeternitas  are  a very  great  sounding  goth  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "House  Of  Usher"  "The  Prophecy"  "The  Haunted  Palace"  and  "Can  You  Hear  The  Demons".  8  out  of  10.


Dreich interview


1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
We're four guys from very diverse, multicultural backgrounds, all living in Copenhagen, Denmark. We formed last year but in true Dreich style we've kept very busy at it.
We have Turkish, Egyptian, Portugeuse, Israeli and Scottish heritage to name a few.
We practice in an underground bunker that predates WW2.
We play loud.
We play nasty.

2.How would you describe your musical sound?
We live in a dark world, in darker days and play music that reflects that.
Given our difference in cultural backgrounds, influences and other projects we've worked on we're not exactly your average doom band. We expect to continue and expand in that style.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
Our lyrics are bleak like our music, but also an honest portrait of one's experiences in life. They revolve around loss, depression, hopelessness and other human emotions that we all know too well and struggle with. All of them contain real life narratives and they recount the past and the present in life. In a sense they also strive to mould the future.
"Into the abyss" is a song that lyrically based on a recurring nightmare, it's about the feelings of restlessness and dismay concerning personal life. The use of different vocal styles (Death metal growls/High pitch screams) makes it easier to create a lyrical universe that is dynamic and profound.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Dreich'?
Dreich is an old Scottish word and means bleak, miserable, gloomy, depressing etc. It's most commonly used as an adjective for a particular type of grey, wet, bleak, miserable weather.
As one of us has a Scottish heritage and that concept had been in mind waiting for the appropriate project to come along, this was definitely that project.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
We've played a range of shows from gigs in places reminiscent of the Catacombs, bigger live music venues, small fucked up and totally awesome bars and everything in between. We've had the privilege of sharing that with some truly great people/musicians. This year we've played with heavy hitters Dopethrone (CAN) Mantar (DE) and just completed a mini-tour of the Netherlands and Germany, which was even better than we could have hoped for and were some of the first shows we've played outside of Denmark.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
We've recently been announced for Blast Beast's 'The New Shit 2016' which is a showcase of Denmark's most promising new bands and features a show @Pumpehuset (Copenhagen 7/1) and @ Atlas (Aarhus 21/1). We're playing Ungdomshuset's Birthday with our friend's from SLAEGT (Copenhagen 3/9).
We have some other things in the works for other countries and always into invitations, but mostly our focus is going into writing and recording our first full length.

7.Recently you where a part of a split with 'Mares Of Diomedes', what are you thoughts on the other band that had participated on the recording?
Mares are both stand up fellas and great musicians. As a whole the band thinks they're moving from strength to strength and their new material really demonstrates that. We're very humbled to have been approached by them. Musically, it's a great fit and we're hoping to set up some shows with them in 2017. It's certain to be colossal.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of sludge and doom metal?
We're pretty fresh out, but so far we've had some really great reception. We do what we do, but it's been great to see that received well and we're getting a slew of great international reviews (even in French and Spanish!). We've had some offers to play in some pretty great places like Turkey, Ireland, The U.K., USA and Australia to name a few. We're looking forwards to making those shows happen.

9.Currently the band is signed to 'Heavy Earth Records', are you happy with the support that they have given you so far?
For a smaller label they've been super great to collaborate with. They've got it together and we think they're doing some awesome shit.

10.Are any of the band members currently involved with any other bands or musical projects these days?
Most of us have slimmed down to just focus on Dreich, life is hectic, however, we put a lot into this project. Malik (bass) plays live with Decaying Purity and Tiago (vocals) is often approached for guest appearances.

11.When can we expect a full length album and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
We're in the thick of the writing process. We feel as though we're really beginning to take form and solidify our own approach to music. We'll continue to evolve as we don't have appreciation for stagnation.

12.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?
Outside of life experience we're musicallly influenced by many genres and musicians. It's a tough question and individually we all answer differently.
We have different musical paths from with some roots in classical, punk, death metal etc. There of course are bands who have shaped us seperately in regards to our world views, musical taste and musical styles.
Isak (drums): Bölzer, Necros Christos, Black Sabbath
Malik (bass): Diabolizer, Hellsodomy, Engulfed, Humbaba.
Tiago (vocals): Early Bathory and Scandinavian Black metal. Florida Death metal/ early Chris Barnes stuff, Bolt thrower, and Uk crust punk, and bands like Iron Monkey.
Lewy (guitar): Bolt Thrower, Yob, La Ligne Maginot.
Recently on our mini tour we had a collection of mix cds. Judas Preist and CCR definately were on high rotation as was the Mares side of our split. Answering goes far more in depth than most care to know so we've picked a few local bands we think are worth checking out : Slaegt, Solbrud, Demonhead, Taphos, Bethmoora and Undergang.

13.What are some of your non musical interests?
Nothing//Nothingness. Music consumes us.

14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
We'd like to express our gratitude to everyone who's helped us on our journey with the band thus far. Mares Of Diomodes, Heavy Earth Records, Ballade Studios, Twoheadeddogart and of course Doomed To Darkness Zine for the interest and taking the time to interview us.
Cheers // skål // Sláinte

Mares Of Diomedes Interview


1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

The band consists of my brother Shea and I and we grew up together in Ireland. We got into playing music in our early teenage years and although we jammed together a lot, we had only ever played in separate bands until we decided to put something together in 2014. We are both influenced by a wide variety of music and have quite different tastes, but the area that we tend to converge the most is in doom and sludge. We both bring together different influences but in the end we both worship at the altar of the heavy riff!

2.So far you have released an ep and also have been a part of a split, how would you describe the
musical sound that is presented on both of the recordings and also how do they differ from each other?

There is a progression in terms of our sound between our first EP and the songs on the split. The main elements of our sound are there on the EP but we definitely managed to bring a lot more of our heavy live sound into recording the split. Thats mostly due to me experimenting a lot with my guitar setup and working out what equipment works for me to achieve the extreme heaviness on one guitar and also keep it dynamic. I use the same amount of guitar and bass amps as a full band and it took a while to work out the ideal setup!  We had a much better idea of what we wanted going into the studio the second time. Niall Doran at Start Together is a master of recording heavy music and he was a great help in getting the sound we were after.

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

We don't follow any particular template for writing songs. We work very collaboratively on the music together and once a song starts to form we usually use that as inspiration to write the lyrics, based on the feel of where the music is taking us. We tend not to follow any particular structure for anything and the songs usually grow organically from the riffs that we write. We write about personal experiences using dark and epic imagery, certain myths with themes that relate to our own lives and a variety of other things. We print all our lyrics on the record sleeves for anyone who is interested in reading them. Primarily we set out to write music for ourselves and the whole process of expressing the darker aspects of life through heavy music is very cathartic.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Mares Of Dimedes'?

We grew up in the countryside working with horses when we were younger and when we were thinking of a band name we wanted something that we felt some connection to, or that represented something about growing up as brothers and our identity as a family. I had heard of the Mares of Diomedes from Greek mythology which relates to a group of savage,  uncontrollable, man-eating horses. We use a lot of epic heavy imagery in our songs and we just thought it fitted really well with the general feel that we were going for. There isnt a much heavier image than a group of mythical flesh eating horses.

5.Currently there is only 2 members in the band, are you planning on expanding the line up in the future or do you chose to remain a duo?

No we choose to remain a duo. As brothers we have a strong connection and understanding playing together, which we don't feel would be improved in any way by adding someone else. One of the things that we really enjoy about the band is the uncomplicated nature of there being just two of us, locking ourselves away in the studio without any hassle, writing the heaviest riffs and being able to deliver them with no complications or need to compromise with anyone. As I mentioned, I did a good bit of experimenting with gear to make sure that I could create a really full and heavy sound from my guitar, but I think at the end of the day, its the tone and energy of the delivery that comes across, and not the number of people making the sound.

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

We toured Europe for the first time at the start of this year and we played loads of really cool shows, in a variety of different places. We played a mixture of clubs, DIY spaces, festivals, squats and all of them were brilliant for different reasons. Some nights its the the performance itself, other times its the experience of playing in the middle of some forest, sometimes its the people that you meet before and after. One of the highlights of this year though was playing two gigs in Scotland with Samothrace. Shea and I are both huge fans of their music so it was great to share a stage with them and hear them play. They are an incredible band live and also really sound people.  In terms of our live show, one our reviews recently described us as 'fuzzed out heaviosity'. I think thats a pretty good description of what to expect when you come to see us!

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

At the moment we have some shows planned in Ireland/UK at the end of year which we will be confirming soon, but our main aim at the moment is to finish writing our debut album. We plan to use any time that we have to work on that. Shea will also be on tour in Europe with his other band Absolutist during September. We plan to tour more next year and hope to get on the road with Dreich at some point then.

8.Recently you where a part of a split with 'Dreich', what are your thoughts on the other band that had participated on the recording?

Shea came across a video of theirs on youtube and had some awareness of who they were through his DIY scene contacts. It was a live recording but just from listening to it we thought that they had potential to be really good. At the time we were looking for band that we thought would fit well on a split with us, in terms of their music but also their ethos as a band. Splits can be extremely difficult to organize as so many things need to align at once to be able to get the record out in the same decade! Luckily Dreich were sitting on some nearly fully recorded tracks, and when they sent them to us we loved them straight away. They are really cool guys and their music crushes so we couldn't be happier with the outcome of the split with them. I have been listening to their tracks a lot and I can't wait to hear their new material that they are currently working on. I expect it will be more disgustingly bleak heaviness!

9.Currently you are signed to 'Heavy Earth Records', can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

The label is relatively new, starting in 2015 but there are already a couple of releases on it. The first release was the Mares EP followed by a band from the south of Ireland called Venus Sleeps, who we will be playing with in Ireland later this year. The Mares/Dreich split will be the third release. The aim of the label is to support the release of the kind of skull crushing heaviness in the vein of bands like Mares of Diomedes/ Dreich/Venus Sleeps. There will be a lot more to come from the label as it develops over the next year or so.

10.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of sludge and doom metal?

We fit pretty comfortably into the sludge and doom metal genre so we have had positive feedback from those kinds fans. That's where most of our following would come from. It really helps that there are guys like yourselves that do so much to help bands share their music with a wider audience. We have had a lot of good reviews coming in from different parts of the world, UK, America, South America and beyond!

11.When can we expect a full length and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

We are currently working on our first full length and have a few songs already down for it. The plan is to get the rest of it finished before the end of this year and hopefully get into the studio to get it all down in one go. The are going to to focus any time we have on that before booking too many more shows. In terms of the future, our plan is to continue our quest to write the heaviest riff ever written.

12.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?

I think that is always a difficult question to answer as we both have quite varied taste in music and it's hard to pin point any particular band. There are four years difference between us so as we were growing up our influences tended to weave between different genres of heavy music but never really coincide too much at the same time. It wasn't until we were sort of older that our tastes started to converge a bit. I think we tend to draw a lot of influence from bands that we have some connection to and see live or play with. Then through that we become influenced by bands that came before them that we might not even be aware of. Its interesting when people review our music and find similarities with stuff that we haven't heard. We then go and listen to it and you can really hear it and it ends up being something we do start listening to! Through playing gigs we have discovered a lot of cool stuff, like a band from France called Lost Pagan. We had never heard of them until we played a number of shows with them in Europe, and their live show blew us away! Also other bands like Link and Geranium who we know from touring. There are loads of awesome bands in Ireland at the moment as well, like Venus Sleeps, Subordinate, Slomatics, Nomadic Rituals, Tome, Graveyard Dirt, Harvester and Tusks. There are also a few really good labels in Ireland, like Chainbreaker, Distroy and Freak Flag Recordings. There is an abundance of great stuff going on at the moment.

13.What are some of your non musical interests?

Mainly Nihilist memes.  Aside from that Shea is a master cocktail maker. If you ever see him, challenge him on it. Outside of music I still work a lot with horses. Of the non flesh eating variety.

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

I would like to thank everyone that has made the release possible, our good friends at Dreich, Niall Doran at Start Together Studios, Franca Vecchio who did the artwork, Emmet Connell who did the layouts and Doomed to Darkness for taking an interest in our music! Thanks!

Monday, August 22, 2016

Vorvan Interview


Interview with Eli Mavrychev (vocal, guitar) and Igor Butz (bass) of Vorvaň

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

Eli: After recording we spent a lot of time on the artwork, production and preparing everything for the release, we finished the work on the official music video. Meanwhile we were writing the new stuff, trying to merge our ideas and compose the tunes we think should become our next step after OLWL, there are tons of things to be added, revised, changed.

2.You have a new album coming out in October, 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?

Igor: We were always recording our music by ourselves at our studio which by the beginning of work on OLWL made us gather enough experience, get rid of the past mistakes and do our best to have this album sound as powerful as possible. This time we had more tech tools, more mic channels, more advanced recording interface and of course more studio background. And certainly the mastership of Kurt Ballou and Brad Boatright has brought the final sound up to the international standard, we are very grateful for their help.

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

Eli: I’d like to say that the topics and lyrics it selves became much more mature on OLWL. All songs’ ideas are different but united under the atmosphere of the whole work, most of them are sad and sometimes even depressive I believe. There were no bounds for me during the lyrics creation process, I tried to mix the things we worry about, our own experience and our visions merging it all in both fiction stories and plots based on the real events. The subjects are touching different aspects of life - spiritual conditions, internal struggles, inevitable treason of system, world’s incompleteness and diseases. But the most important thing is that we tried to express the whole picture from a beautiful perspective. Our friend and a great artist Hal Rotter has created the finest visual art guided by us and our music through each theme. This became not just an artwork but a strong collaboration we are very happy about. All OLWL physical copies will be containing huge booklets with the full art.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name ‘Vorvaň’?

Igor: Herman Melville’s ‘Moby-Dick’ became an inspiration to name the band Vorvaň.

Eli: In old Slavic it stands for the whale oil which used to be so desirable for the whalers in the past. We’re passionate about any animal being’s safeness, Vorvaň seemed for us to be a cool name for the band.

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?

Eli: Every show is special for us, even not quite successful ones give us some new experience, new ideas on the things to improve. All of us love to freely express ourselves on a stage trying to make our performance forceful and energetic. We care a lot about the live sound and always try to respect the audience, appreciating everyone who’s showing up. We have played many shows in Europe, Russia and CIS-area over the past years, met a lot of rad people that supported us, helped us and behaved so kindly and hospitably. We’ll never forget the shows where we shared stage with the bands that years ago had encouraged us to start our music journey. We had great time talking to guys from Napalm Death, Converge and Extreme Noise Terror, they’re very open and always eager to give an advice or a hint, tell their own opinion.

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

Eli: The small tour is planned for October and the shows schedule will be announced soon.

7.You have a few quests on the new album, can you tell us a little bit more about who they are and there contributions to the recording?

Eli: To make the vocals more varicoloured I offered two of our great buddies to take part in our recording. Meghan O’Neil Pennie, who is known as a vocalist for California based bands Punch and Super Unison, made a performance on “Sirens” and Armin Schweiger, the frontman for Afgrund, Distaste and GodHateCode, made a contribution to the vocals on “The Black Kaleidoscope”. We’re glad and proud that guys were absolutely into the idea and happy about results that even surpassed all expectations. They both became a really great fit! Also we’d like to thank Jack Shirley and Lukas Haidinger for the additional recording.

8.You have also done a 'Machine Head' cover before in the past, what was the decision behind doing your own version of one of their songs?

Igor: I used to be a huge Machine Head fan and “Struck a Nerve” is one of their maddest songs. I’ve been carrying a thought of doing this cover for a long time.

Eli: This song is a blast and we surely had fun recording the cover. The OLWL double LP holders will have it as a bonus.

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

Eli: We’re not well known worldwide. Some fans do order our records and merch from different places all over the world following us mostly in Facebook or finding articles/reviews in the underground music zines, we’re very grateful for this. The feedback has been positive so far though we would like to present OLWL as a brand new level the band has achieved and not look back. Hopefully people will enjoy the work we put so much efforts and time on.

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

Eli: We never know in advance how our music is going to be changed. We just keep on playing what we want, experimenting and mixing different genres. Every band member takes part in composing the new stuff, we love seeing how our style is being naturally developed. OLWL illuminates our art from different sides, from some new sides. For us it is important to create something we haven’t done before, the further we go writing our music together the more inspiration we get.

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?

Igor: In my opinion such bands as Converge, Disfear and Mastodon made the most significant influence on our music.

Eli: Actually the list of influences is very huge and not only hardcore, metal or punk collectives appear there. Despite the fact we’re committed to the heavy music we love listening to variety of stuff. Every member has his own taste, we love expanding our knowledge and sharing discovered music between each other.

Igor: For example generally I can listen to anything that carries some fresh and non trivial ideas.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?

Eli: Each of us spends the vast majority of time on music and music related duties. For example Igor works and grows as a sound engineer, Eugene and Zakk are involved in some various heavy and none-heavy music projects. We don’t think that other interests should be mentioned. No matter what life prepares and where it brings us so far, we are dedicated to the art.

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

Eli: Thanks to every person who keeps supporting underground bands and independent labels, this is very important.

Saturday, August 20, 2016

Ewigheim/Schlafielder/Massacre Records/2016 CD Review


  Ewigheim  are  a  band  from  Germany  that has  been  featured  before in  this  zine  and plays goth  metal  with  a  touch of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Schlafielder"  which  was  released  by  Massacre  Records.

  Dark  sounding  keyboards  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  clean  vocals a  few  seconds later and  after  awhile  the  music  starts  going  into  a  heavier  direction  which  is  also  very  heavily  influenced  by  doom  metal  and  after  awhile  more  goth  elements  are  added  into  the  tracks  along  with  some  melodic  guitar  leads.

  You  can  hear  a  decent  amount  of  melody  in  the  riffing  at  times  and  the  songs  also  stick  either  to  a  slow  or  mid  paced musical  direction  and  clean  playing  can  also  be  heard in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  the  music  also  incorporates  a  great  amount of  traditional  goth  rock  influences  and  the  music  also  can  be  catchy  at times.

  With  this  recording  Ewigheim  goes  for  more  of  a  straightforward gothic  metal  sound  this  time  around,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics are  written  in  German  and  cover  Suicide,  Murder  and  Death  themes.

  In  my opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Ewigheim  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  goth  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Himmelsleiter"  "Einmal  Noch"  "...."  and  "Negativ".  8  out of 10.

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Sulfur Ensemble Interview


1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

we spent years playing in HC, GC and DM bands... yeah so many years.. then, we decided to get slower, dirtier, heavier and more "evil-lish" ,so to speak...  we started the band, quickly...and here we are...

2.So far you have released one ep, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?

first of all, it is raw and real. a real fuzzy, muddy, heavy sound combined with hell-ish screams.

a down tempo sabbath worship, if so to name it..

3.Can you tell us a little bit more about the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

talking about ghouls, satan, dystopia and even marliyn monroe...we let you in to create your own imaginery. but we can explain a little bit more. daily hate is based on the story of george orwell, 1984. it's really strange that he saw the world of today 70 years ago. plea is about the idea of satan and promteheus are the same characters. karaçor is in turkish, it's about a geenie who's controlling a person and marilyn is about a marilyn monroe stalker.


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

SULFUR is a very mystical element, it is mainly used in occult terminology, also. it is a part of nature but also a destructive element against nature, too... it is like opposites are ensembled! so ensemble is symbolising that kind of a unity...

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

we perfomed with our previous bands so many times, but with SulfurEnsemble, we only had 1 gig...i must say; it was quite an experience for us because we played the slowest tunes & beats we were ever played.... compare to our previous bands, it was totally opposite!..we felt it is heaviest sound we ever had on stage , because when you get slower it is becoming heavier..this was fantastic!

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

 more gigs to promote EP I, then we'll be focusing on 2nd one....

7.The ep was released on 'Morbid Syndicate', can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

 we get a deal and they released our EP, nothing more to say...and i know the owner lives in Österreich.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of sludge, stoner, and doom metal?

 people are interested in us, which gives us a great feeling. when we released the EP on bandcamp, we weren't expecting anyone would pay money and download our music, but there are people from usa, germany, russia, england, greece and japan who downloaded the album, it's very surprising for us. we also received lots of good email from everywhere.

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

 we are willing to stay in fuzzed down tempo level...maybe more slower or darker...

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?

as a sabbath worshipper; 2 words: Black SABBATH (same words go for 2nd Q)

11.How would you describe your views on Satanism?

nothing special, imaginery is sexy, that's it! it also looks cooler than any other religion on earth.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?

our guitar play is focusing on raising his son in spare time, no time left  for an "additional interest". also, bass player has the same interest, but more, he has a daughter and a son! the other two are focused on living single and travelling.


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

play slow, die old! and thanx for the nice interview....

Sunday, August 14, 2016

Dorre/Bethmoora/2016 Split Album Review





  This  is  a  review  of  a  split album  between Belgium's  Dorre  and  Denamrk's  Bethmoora  which  will  be  self  released  in  November  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  Dorre  a  band  that  plays  an  instrumental  form  of  psychedelic  doom  metal.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  clean  guitar  playing  and  it  also  mixes  in  with  the  heavy  doom  metal  sound  a  few  seconds  later  and  the riffs also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  melody  at  times  and  both  of  their  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  guitar  solos  and  leads  gives  the  songs  more  of  a  stoner or  psychedelic  rock feeling  and  both  of  the  tracks  are  instrumental  and  also  stick  to  a  either  a  slow  or  mid  paced  musical  direction  while  the  production sounds  very  professional  for  being a  self  released  recording.

 In  my  opinion  Dorre  are  a  very  great  sounding  instrumental psychedelic  doom  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out t heir  side  of  the split. RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Three  Feel From  the  Sky".

  Next  up is  Bethmoora  a  band  that  plays  a  mixture  of  sludge  and  doom  metal.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  drum  beats  and  a  few  seconds  later  clean  yet  distorted  guitars  are  added  into  the  song  and  after  a  couple of  minutes  the  music  goes  into  a  heavier  sludge  and  doom  metal  direction  along  with  a  mixture  of  death  metal  growls  and  screams  and  there  is  also a  brief  use  of  psychedelic  sounds  and  their  track  is  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the music  also  sticks  to  a  very  slow  musical  direction  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sound  very  powerful,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  yet  heavy  at  the  same time  while  the  lyrics  cover  Occultism  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Bethmoora  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres, you  should  check  out  this  band.

  In conclusion  I  feel  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  and  I  would  recommend  it  to  all  fans  of  psychedelia,  doom  and  sludge  metal.  8  out  of  10. 

Mares Of Diomedes/Dreich/Heavy Earth Records/2016 Split CD Review

 
  This  is  a  review  of  a  split  album  between  United  Kingdom's  Mares  Of  Diomedes  and  Denmark's  Dreich  which  will  be  released  in  September  by  Heavy  Earth  Records  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  Mares  Of  Diomedes  a  band  that  plays  a  mixture of  sludge  and  doom  metal.

  Their  side  of  the split  starts out  with  a  distorted  drone  before  adding  in  heavy  sludge  and  doom  metal  riffs  and  after  awhile growling  vocals  are  added  into  the  music  and  there also  shouting  style  vocals  also  being  utilized  at  times  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  some  of  the  riffing  also  brings  in  a  small  amount  of  melody  and  their  first  track  is  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  on  the  second  track  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  clean  playing  and  both  songs  stick  to  a  very  slow  musical  direction,  the production  sounds  very  professional  while the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  mythological  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Mares  of  Diomedes  are a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Earth  Destroyer".

  Next  up  is  Dreich  a  band  that  plays  a  mixture  of  sludge  and  doom  metal.

  Their  side  of the  split  starts  out  with  a  very  dark  and  melodic  sound  which  also  leads  up  to  a  heavier  sludge  and  doom metal  style  as  well  as  introducing  death  metal  growls  onto  their  side  of  the  recording  and  high  pitched screams  can  also  be  heard  at  times  and  a  couple  of  their  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic in  length  and  one song  also  has  a  brief  use  of  melodic  singing  in  the  background  and  all  3  of  the  songs  stick  to  a  very  slow  yet  heavy  musical  direction  while  clean  guitars  are  introduced  on  the  last  track  along  with  a  few  seconds  of  spoken  words,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In my  opinion  Dreich  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED TRACK  "Into  the  Abyss".

  In my  opinion  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  and  I  would  recommend  it  to  all  fans  of  sludge  and  doom  metal.  8  out  of  10. 

Friday, August 12, 2016

Kurokuma Interview


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

Things are really heating up for us. All the effort we've invested for the last two and a half years feels like it's finally coming to fruition. We have our EP coming out on Medusa Crush in September, our first UK tour in October and we're getting booked for a few different shows and festivals - Doomlines and Red Sun this summer were a lot of fun. After Advorsus is out we've already got a concept EP in the works - it's based around one of our favourite comic strips, Dope Rider. And we have a cover of "Radioactivity" by Kraftwerk already recorded that we need to do something with...

2. You have an ep coming out in September, 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?

The only thing we'd put out previous to this was a demo on Bandcamp. We've been living off that until now so we felt it was time to put out a more fully realised release. I think the song-writing on Advorsus is more measured and accomplished rather than the all out assault of the demo. There's just three songs on this EP but they're all fairly long, dark and heavy. I think they all contain that doom/sludge sound mixed in with a more exotic, sometimes Latin feel and that combination is the sound of Kurokuma so far. We're still exploring what kinda noise suits us best though.

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects you explore with your newer music?
4. One of your tracks is name 'Kali, does the band have any interest in the mysticism, mythology of philosophy of the east?

On the EP the first track is called "Lust" and it was written by our guitarist, Jake. It's about the seedier, psychological side of sex and relationships. "Dark Triad" was also written by Jake and it's about the three powerful aspects of personality that are said to give you anything you desire if you're willing to use them - machiavellianism, psychopathy and narcissism.

I wrote "Kali". Yeah, I have a deep interest in mysticism, mythology and philosophy. My whole life is focused on that stuff and I get a lot more out of the Eastern ideas than the Western ones. I feel Kurokuma somehow channels a mystical feeling and we want our shows to be a truly psychedelic experience - something that opens people's minds and transports them to another plane. I think that all goes hand in hand with a lot of the stoner and doom culture. When I was reading about Kali I realised she has a very striking and dark image and I felt that would go well with the kind of music we make.

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

Kurokuma means black bear in Japanese. I used to live in Aomori in Japan and I first came across the word when I was visiting a waterfall called Kurokuma Falls. I'd always felt some kind of affinity with bears and the name just stuck with me. When Jake and I were searching for a name that represented what we wanted to create I suggested it one day and we both knew it fit perfectly. It's foreign and exotic but has a visceral power in the way you say it and its meaning. Most people can't say it or spell it right which just adds to the mystery...

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

I think we'd probably all agree the best show we've played so far was in our mate's cellar in April. He's in another local doom band called Lunar Maria but they're on hiatus because he left Sheffield to travel round the world. For his leaving party Kurokuma and Lunar Maria played at his house and the crowd was not the usual metal audience but totally got into what we were doing. There was so much energy that night, it was unreal. It was all captured for an upcoming documentary called The Doom Doc we're going to be a part of...

Our stage performance is wild, heavy and psychedelic. We often get people coming up after and saying we blew their mind or we're the heaviest band they've ever seen, which is exactly what we like to hear.

7. Do you have any touring or show plans once the ep is released?

We're just finalising the planning for our first small tour. It'll run from October 12th-16th and will hit five cities in the north of the UK and the Midlands (Liverpool, Birmingham, Leicester, Rotherham and Manchester). Our mates in Under (https://www.facebook.com/unde rstockport) will be supporting us. They're another doomy trio who don't do things by the book and we get on well with 'em.

8. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of sludge and doom metal?

We've got people from all over asking us to play shows in their country. We wanna take them up on their offers soon, especially in France, and Europe in general cos it's so close and easy to get to for us. We've also had a good reaction in the US with some positive reviews of our music on the doom and sludge blogs. We'll be premiering our EP on the Doomed & Stoned blog in September.

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

We just wanna keep getting more extreme - heavier and trippier. We also wanna continue to incorporate exotic rhythms and instruments into what we do. Jake wants to start using analogue synths.

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?

For me I've been listening to a lot of Primitive Man, Indian, Grief etc. lately - just really heavy sludge. But then we all like a lot of electronic Latin music which is completely different in terms of feel. Artists like Dengue Dengue Dengue and the ZZK Records catalogue - that definitely finds its way into what we do. Jake listens to a lot of funk, George listens to a lot of techno and bassline. In fact, he makes that kind of music under the name Glitchtrip.

11. What are some of your non musical interests?

For me personally, a huge part of my life is mysticism like I mentioned earlier. I spend a lot of time reading up on it and exploring it. I recently spent a week at a dergah in Cyprus and that was a pretty transformative experience for me. I'm into psychedelics and exploring different realities as well - Carlos Castaneda books and things like that. It's all linked for me. Aside from that and music there's not time for much else haha.

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

Thanks for the interview. Everybody stay tuned to Kurokuma cos we're only just getting going. Shout out to Mathieu from Medusa Crush and everyone in the Sheffield doom scene. Peace.

Monday, August 8, 2016

Vorvan/Once Love Was Lost/WOOAAARGH/Darkened Days/2016 Full Length Review


  Vorvan  are  a  band  from  Russia  that  plays  a mixture  of  hardcore  and  extreme  metal  with  some  elements  of  crust  and  sludge  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Once  Love  Was  Lost"  which  will  be  released  in  October  as  a  joint  effort  between  WOOAAARGH  and  Darkened  Days.

  A  very  dark  yet  melodic sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  melodies  being  utilized  at  times  and  after  awhile  drums  are  added  into  the  music  along  with  some  touches  of  post  hardcore  and  after  awhile  angry  shouting  vocals  and  d  beats  are  added  onto  the  recording  along  with  some blast  beats  also  being  used.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the recording h ave  a  very  powerful  sound  to them  and  death  metal  growls  can  also  be  heard  at  times  as  well  as  some  high  pitched screams  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  some  songs  also  bring  in  female  hardcore/crust  vocals.

  Some  tracks  also  bring  in  more  of  a  technical side  while  other  songs  also  use  a  small  amount  of  clean  playing  and  you  can  also  hear  a  lot  of  sludge  elements  in  the  slower  sections  of  the songs  and  when  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  style  and  some  of  the  tracks  are  also  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Vorvan  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  hardcore  and  post  metal  and  mixes  them  together  with  elements  of  crust  and  sludge  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover dark  and  real  life  themes.

  In  my  opinion Vorvan  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  punk,  hardcore,  post  metal,  crust  and  sludge  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Sirens"  "The  Black  Kaleidoscope"  and  "The  End  (Hemicrania)".  8  out  of  10.  

Deprive/Temple Of The Lost Wisdom/Memento Mori/2016 CD Review


  Deprive  are  a  solo  project  from  Spain  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  an  old  school  mixture  of  doom  and  death  metal  and  this  is  s  review  of  his  2016  album  "Temple  Of  The Lost  Wisdom"  which  was released  by  memento  Mori.

  A  very  dark  yet  melodic  sound  starts  off  the  album  before  speeding  up  and  adding  in  blast  beats  along  with  some  death  metal  growls  which  also  gives  the  music  a  very  old  school  feeling  while  the  slower  sections  of  the  music  are  very  heavily  influenced  by  doom  metal  and  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  melody.

  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  bring  in  even  more  of  a  dark  and  melodic  style and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  in  some  songs  the  vocals  start  utilizing  more  of  a  grim  feeling  while  other  tracks  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  atmospheric  synths  and  there  is  also a  brief  use  of  clean  singing  and  a  couple  of  the  songs  are  long  and  epic  in  length  and  violins  are  also  used  for  a  few  seconds  of the  last  song.

  Deprive  creates  another  recording  that  takes  the  doom  and  death  metal  styles  of  the  90's  to  create  some  very  dark  yet  heavy  music,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  death,  Satanism,  Occultism  and  Ancient  Myths.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Deprive  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  doom  and  death  metal,  you  should  check  out t his  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Other  Earth"  "Hyperborean  Serenades  -  The  Elder  Race  Mystery"  "Fall  Of  Atlantis"  and  "Incarnation  Of  The  Macabre".  8  out  of  10.   

Thursday, August 4, 2016

Kurokuma/Advorsus/Medusa Crush Recordings/2016 EP Review


  Kurokuma  are  a  band  from  the United  Kingdom  that  plays  a mixture  of  psychedelic  drone,  sludge,  and  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  ep  "Advorsus"  which  will  be  released  in  September  by  Medusa  Crush  Recordings.

  A  very  dark  yet  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  ep  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are present  on  this  recording  and  the  riffs  also  use  a  decent  amount  of  melody  and  the  vocals  are  done  in  mostly  a  growling  fashion  and  psychedelic  drone  elements  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording.

  Some  of  the  vocals  bring  in  a  touch  of  hardcore  while  high  pitched  sludge  screams  can  also  be  heard  at  times  and  when  guitar  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  dark  yet  melodic fashion  and  all  3  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  while  one  song  brings  in  clean  guitars  and  a  small  amount  of  tribal  style  percussion  which  also  gives  the  music  more  of  a ritualistic  feeling  and  all  of  the  tracks  remain  true  to  a  slow  musical  direction.

  Kurokuma  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  the  heaviest  elements  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  mixes  it  in  with  psychedelic  drone  to  create  a  musical  style  of their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics cover  darkness  and  Occultism themes.

  In  my  opinion  Kurokuma  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  psychedelic  drone,  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Kali".  8  out  of  10.

     

Grizzlyman Interview


1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?
Right now we're actually taking it pretty slow, because there's a lot happening in our personal lives. But we've not walked off the face of the earth and we will continue to make music.

2.So far you have released a demo, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?
We would like to think that the songs on this EP is a mix of everything we like to listen to outside of this band. We tried to incorporate some of our different influences as well as our musical backgrounds and connect it all into these three songs. We basically wanted to mix the heavy melodies of sludge with the droning parts of the post metal scene. We're really a bass and drum band, with the bass taking a leading role and the guitar steps back and supports the drums in keeping the rhythm down.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
We base the idea of Grizzlyman on personal struggles and the rift between the animal and human side in everyone. All this is personified with the bear god Shardik, a creation originally from the minds of Stephen King and Richard Adams. On future releases we will expand on those themes and go deeper with the imagery of split personality and the natural elements.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Grizzlyman'?
We wanted a name that explained the heaviness and low tune we were going for and something that represented the struggle and split personality we talked about earlier. The name is also loosely based on Timothy Treadwell who in 2003 was killed and eaten by bears but it was not our intent to take on his name and legacy. We named the band before we heard about him, but when we did it all kind of fell into place.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
We only have about ten shows behind us, but the best show must have been the release of our EP, the atmosphere was really amazing. Or the first show we ever played, we opened up for the swedish doom giants Switchblade which was pretty intense. It feels like every show we've done so far has just been like a rehearsal, as relaxed. But with more friends.
On stage we want to enhance the dark and heavy atmosphere by having the lights at our backs, creating a special kind of mood with only our silhouettes on stage. This combined with excerpts from movies and atmospheric sounds in between the songs, we hope that we can give the audience an extra dimension of our music seeing us live.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
Not at the moment, but it's definitely something we want to do more.

7.Third I Rex are re-issuing your 2014 demo, what are your thoughts on the final product?
Roberto (Third I Rex) has released some great albums in the past and it's an honor be up amongst the other bands.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of sludge and doom metal?
Thanks to Ljudkassett and Tartarus who helped release the demo back in 2014 we reached out through Europe and the response has been great. It feels like people from all over the globe have been ordering shirts and tapes in the past year. And we hope that this release will help us reach out to even more people.

9.When can we expect a full length and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
That's at least another year away. But we want to keep mixing heavy melodies with slow pace riffs. That's what we are here for.

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?
We listen to a lot of different bands and it feels like it changes on a daily basis. But when we wrote these songs we listened a lot to bands like ISIS, Cult of Luna, Kylesa, Kongh, Neurosis and Switchblade. We also get alot of inspiration from other genres in how you can create certain vibes or atmosphere.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?
Our guitar player paints a lot, mostly designs for shirts and record covers for other bands. For the rest of the band there’s also, of course, a lot of gaming, movies and series watching. The bass player has a kid, that’s a full time (awesome) job right there!

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Huge thanks for taking interest in our music and our band, it really means a lot to us. We think it's important to support the artists’ that you like in anyway you can, so they can continue to make music. Download, buy records, buy shirts, go to shows, spread music, anything to keep the scene alive. With that said, please check out the other releases of Third I Rex, there are some really amazing bands in that catalogue.

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

The Great Sabatini/Godstopper/No List Records/2016 Split EP Review


  This  is  a  review  of  a  split  ep  between  Montreal,  Canada's  The  Great  Sabatini  and  Godstopper  which  was  released  by  No  List  Records  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  The  Great  Sabbatini  a  band  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  mixture  of  sludge,  doom  metal  and  noise  rock.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  spoken  word  samples  that  are  also  used  on  other  tracks  before  going  into  a  heavier  musical  direction  which  also  brings  in  elements  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  into  the  music  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sound  very  powerful  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard.

  Some  of  the  riffs  also  use  melodies  and  the  vocals  have  a  very  melodic  yet  rough  edge  to  them  and  you  can  also hear  elements of  noise  rock  and  female  vocals  are used  on  the  last  track  along  with  some folk  instruments,  the  production  sounds  very  powerful  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  raw  life  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  the  Great  Sabbatinni  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  sludge,  doom  metal  and  noise  rock,  you  should  check  out their  side  of t he  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "I'm  Not  The  Man  Of  The  Hour"  and  "The  Ear  Collector".

  Next  up  is  Godstopper  a  band that  plays  a  mixture  of  sludge  and  noise  rock.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  a  very  hard  and  heavy  noise  rock  sound  that  also  brings  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody  while  also  mixing  in  the  heaviness  of  sludge  metal  and  the  vocals  are  done  in  a  clean  singing  fashion  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to them  and  the  solos  and  leads  are  also  very melodic  and  both  of   the  songs  stick  to  either  a  sow or  mid  paced  musical  direction  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of g rowls,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while t he  lyrics  cover  real  life  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Godstopper  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  noise  rock  and  sludge  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "A  Prayer".

  In  conclusion  I  feel  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  and  I  would  recommend  it  to  all  fans  of  noise  rock,  sludge  and  doom  metal.  8  out  of  10.