Secrets Of The Sky/Pathway/Metal Blade Records/2015 CD Review

  Secrets  Of  The  Sky  are  a  band  from  Oakland,  California  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  and  atmospheric  form  of  blackened  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "Pathway"  which  will  be  released  in  May  by  Metal  Blade  Records.

  Water  sounds  start  off  the  album  and  after  the  intro  clean  playing  is  added  into  the  music  along  with  some  ambient  elements  and  clean  singing  vocals  along  with  a  small  amount  of  whispers  before  adding  in  heavy  doom  metal  influenced  guitars  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  A  great  portion  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  also  mixes  in  black  metal  screams,  death  metal  growls  along  with  the  atmospheric  heavy  parts  being  mixed  together  and  the  songs  also  alternate  between  clean  and  heavy  parts  and  each  song  also  has  an  intro  in  between  and  there  is  also  a  great  amount  of  melody  in  the  riffs  and  when  acoustic  guitars  are  utilized  they  give  the  music  more  of  a  progressive  and  psychedelic  feeling.

  Secrets  Of  The  Sky  creates  another  album  that  combines  the  atmospheric  sides  of  black  and  doom/death  metal  together  and  also  bring  in  a  touch  of  psychedelic  and  progressive  rock  to  make  the  songs  have  more  originality,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  have  a  concept  to  them  and  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Secrets  Of  The  Sky  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Angel  In  Vines"  "Garden  Of  Prayers"  and  "Eternal  Wolves".  8  out  of  10.  

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Biotoxic Warfare Interview

1. Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording and release of the new album?
Hey guys and thanks for the interview. Things are doing great for Biotoxic since we’ve released our debut album which has gained enormous feedback from the audience. We’ve played some really killer gigs both in Crete and Athens and in the meantime, we are arranging a few more live shows along with working on some new stuff for our 2nd album.

2. Recently you have released a new album. How would you describe themusical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the ep that was released a couple of year backs?
Lobotomized can be described as a mix of old school, mostly, German-style, thrash metal with some old school American death metal. A listener can also identify dark melodies, shredding guitar solos, punishing drum beats and advanced technic guitar riffing which will, surely, attract them. Although, there is a deep musically connection among our first EP and our debut album, we can say that our latest accomplishment has nothing to do with our very early steps. The song arrangements are more mature and well elaborated, as we, as musicians, are evolving and maturing every day and we emphasized more in the overall production and the sound quality along with Vaggelis Theodorakis from Revolted Masses who took up the mixing/mastering process. We try to overwhelm our powers with every new project we are involved into, and we think that Lobotomized is a very representative example.    

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
The main lyrical theme of the band is the strictly opposition with any organized religious cult or spiritual movement which uses tools of fear and propaganda to control the masses and restrain the free thinking. We, also, lyrically oppose to every political party which is doing the same. Through our lyrics, we call the people to rise up, stand for their beliefs and be masters of their own existence. However, we also drain themes from everyday life, society issues and generally, everything that draws our attention and worth being expanded in our songs.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Biotoxic Warfare'?
Actually, it’s kind of a funny story. In our early days, we were gathered up, trying to come up with a name for the band. After endless hours of searching, we were totally fed up and just wanted a name to end this story. So one of us said “Biotoxic” and the others added up “Warfare” as a tribute to the Slayer masterpiece “Chemical Warfare”.  It was sounding cool and thrashy, so we decided to keep it.

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
One of the most memorable shows was, definitely, our very first stage appearance, on January 2013, in Athens. The crowd went nuts from the first note and that gave us “thirst” for wanting more. Another remarkable performance was took place in our debut album release live show, where the audience moshed so hard that the venue owners had to cut up our show before we managed to complete it, to prevent injuries and further damages. Also, we had some unforgettable live moments sharing the stage with well-known acts as Enforcer and Suicidal Angels.

6. Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
There are plans for some shows to be held outside of Greece in the nearby future, but we cannot provide further details, as nothing is 100% organized yet. However, stay tuned for more!  

7. You have participated on a Death tribute album, what was the decision behind doing your own version of one of one of their songs?
The whole idea about participating in a Death Tribute Album came to us from a friendly band who was also participating and they were looking for some more bands. We instantly took the offer, as Death is one of the bands that has inspired our musical identity and we figured out that it was a good way to pay our respects. We choose Evil Dead, because not only it’s one of our personal favorites, but also, it is one of their most fast and thrashy songs, so it fits well with our style. The result was more than pleasing, so we thought that it will be great idea to include it as a bonus track in our EP “Baptized In Blood And Greed”.    

8. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of extreme metal?
The feedback so far is more than outstanding, both in Greece and abroad. We have attracted not only fans of thrash metal but from the whole extreme metal spectrum such as death metal fans, blacksters and even lovers of smoother music genres and that is a huge accomplishment for us. Every day, we receive very positive comments for fans (especially outside of Greece); the reviews are more than rewarding (we are being described as one of the greatest upcoming hopes for thrash metal from many people!) and a lot of fans ask us arranging a show in their country. This acts as a reward for all our efforts and gives us more strength and dedication to carry on and to achieve bigger goals.

9. Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
As the songwriting process for our next album has already begun, we can say that the new stuff will be more violent, raw and aggressive that our previous one. Some more death metal elements will be added, the tempo will be raised, our technical level will be one step ahead, and one thing we can say for sure. If you’ve liked Lobotomized, you gonna totally love the new one!

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 pay our great respects to the thrash scene of the 80s (mostly European but American as well) and in the American death metal scene. However, we don’t stick inside those genres walls and we are influenced from the whole extreme metal universe. Some representative bands can be the following: Kreator, Sodom, Slayer, early Sepultura, Sacred Reich, Dark Angel, Testament, Death, Obituary, Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse, Cancer, Bolt Thrower, Legion Of The Damned, Pestilence, Asphyx etc.


11. What are some of your non musical interests?
Although, our whole world is spinning around music and it consumes most of our time, we have other interests as well. We love hanging out drinking beers, traveling, the majority of the band’s members are into sports or martial arts, and my personal non musical hobbies are reading, fishing and reptile keeping/breeding.    

12. Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
We would like to thank everyone who is reading this interview and supported us for the very beginning. Our debut full length album is out, so anyone interested can stop by and place their order via our official Facebook page. Till next time…THRASH!!!


All questions answered by George “Dimator” Dimitrakakis (Lead guitars)

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Broken Cross/Through Light To Night/Apocalyptic Visions/2015 CD Review

  Broken  Cross  are  a  band  from  Sweden  that  plays  a  mixture  of  blackened  hardcore,  lo-fi  punk,  and  d  beat  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "Through  Light  To  Night"  which  will  be  released  in  may  by  Apocalyptic  Visions.

  Nature  sounds,  spoken  word  samples  and  synths  start  off  the  album  and  after  the  intro  sounds  of  war  are  added  into  the  music  along  with  some  drums,  powerful  bass  lines  and  melodic  guitar  leads  as  well  as  a  great  mixture  of  hardcore  style  growls  and  black  metal  screams  which  also  leads  to  the  music  speeding  up  and  also  adding  in  a  touch  of  crustcore.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  the  raw  energy  of  hardcore  punk  and  at  the  times  the  music  can  be  very  atmospheric  in  more  of  a  lo-fi  style  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  bring  in  a  touch  of  classic  metal  at  times  while  the  faster  sections  are  very  heavily  influenced  by  d  beat  and  a  couple  of  the  tracks  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  acoustic  guitars  and  clean  singing  and  there  is  also  a  song  that  is  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Broken  Cross  plays  a  style  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  crust,  hardcore  punk  and  d  beat  but  also  mixes  it  with  experimental  music  and  black  metal  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  dark,  raw  and  lo-fi  while  the  lyrics  cover  horror  and  science  fiction  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Broken  Cross  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  blackened  hardcore,  lo-fi  punk  and  d  beat  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Forsaken  Existence"  "Into  The  Fire"  and  "Poison  Of  Insanity".  8  out  of  10.  

https://brokencross.bandcamp.com/


  

Biotoxic Warfare/Lobotomized/Static Tension Recordings/2015 CD Review

  Biotoxic  Warfare  are  a  band  from  Greece  that  plays  a  blackened  form  of  death/thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  'Lobotomozed"  which  will  be  released  in  June  by  Static  Tension  Recordings.

  Drum  beats  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavy  and  melodic  musical  direction  as  well  as  adding  in  solos  and  leads  that  also  use  a  decent  amount  of  melody  as  well  as  being  a  very  dominant  part  of  the  recording  and  after  a  minute   the music  starts  going  into  more  of  a  thrash  metal  direction.

  Spoken  word  parts  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  vocals  the  band  uses  are  very  aggressive  80's  style  thrash  vocals  that  also  bring  in  a  touch  of  first  wave  black  metal  and  some  of  the  songs  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  playing.

  Throughout  the  recording  there  is  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  as  the  album  progresses  more  element s of  early  death  metal  are  added  into  the  recording  and  while  the  music  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  an  80's  style  of  extreme  metal  the  production  and  the  way  the  band  approaches  the  songs  gives  the  music  more  of  a  modern  day  feeling  and  the  last  track  brings  in  a  small  amount  of  growls.

  Biotoxic  Warfare  plays  a  style  of  old  school  thrash  metal  that  they  mix  in  with  elements  of  black  and  death  metal  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the lyrics  cover  Religious  Strife,  War,  Violence,  Society  and  Death.

  In  my  opinion  Biotoxic  Warfare  are  a  very  great  sounding  blackened   death/thrash  metal  band  an d if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Proclaim  The  Gospel  Of  Lies"  "Lust  For  Hate"  and  "As  We  Rot  (Promises  of  heaven)".  8  out  of  10.

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Barus Interview

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

Quite a lot of things are happening at the moment. We have been working on Barús for about a year now, but only officially unveiled the band when we released our debut EP in March. Currently we’re pretty busy between promoting the EP, finding a label for a physical release and writing new material.

2.In March you had released an ep, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?

Our sound aims to be oppressing, heavy and unsettling, with a mostly old school death metal approach mixed with some more modern or progressive structures and frequent references to other genres of extreme metal. I usually just say that we play death metal, since I find that technical/progressive/modern death metal can mean pretty much anything these days, and they’re scenes that we don’t feel particularly attached to.

3.The band formed out of the ashes of Project Jim, what was the cause of splitting up that band and starting a new one?

The evolution was natural to us. We took some time to reflect on the essence of the music we wanted to make, what it meant to us, and what we wanted to convey as a whole. This led us to step back from some of the experimental elements of Project JIM and focus on something more raw, heavy and atmospheric, something more personal. It seemed fitting to start fresh, because Barús is not just a change of name; it’s an entirely new entity.

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

Musically, Barús expresses the burdens of the human spirit such as grief, self-doubt and melancholy. We express the sensation of powerlessness and insignificance that these burdens impose onto us, and how they condition the very essence of our beings. This leads to an introspective and sometime fatalistic vision of life and death. The lyrical topics in Barús address this in both a visceral and metaphorical way, exploring the sensation of death and of a misbalance between the spirit and the body.

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

The word ‘Barús’ comes from ancient Greek. It translates weight in both a literal sense, something that is heavy, monolithic and imposing, and in a metaphorical sense, such as a mental burden, grief. It is at the basis of the subjects developed in our music.

6.Has the band done any live shows or has this been strictly a studio project so far?

We haven’t done any live shows under the name Barús yet, as we have only existed officially for a month now. We are a live band though and a significant part of our activity will be playing live.

7.Are there any plans for any live shows or tours?

All being well, we should have a few concerts lined up in France during the summer and fall. Tours aren’t easy to set up since we each play in several bands and work or study on the side but we’ll try to make it happen, at least on a local level.

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

The feedback we have gathered so far has been very positive, from people in and outside of the death metal scene. This makes us eager to play the songs live.

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

Maïeutiste, a black metal band that two of us play in, will be releasing a first full-length album this September, with a series of concerts to promote the release. Our vocalist also sings in Deinmas, a grunge band that has a new demo out and is working on an EP. One of our guitarists has just embarked on a European tour with The Walking Dead Orchestra, his brutal death metal band, and they are working on a new album.

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

We’re currently working on our full length. We have already written and recorded demo versions of a lot of the songs on the album; hopefully we’ll be ready to start the studio recordings during this coming winter. Musically it follows on from the EP and will continue to elaborate on the same subject.

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?

I think in terms of metal in general we could mention bands like Converge, Deathspell Omega, Meshuggah (specifically the Catch 33 era), Ataraxie, Bethlehem. Our music doesn’t necessarily draw directly from the styles of these bands but they each have something unique and personal, a strong identity.
At the moment I listen to a lot of Ulver, mostly the electronic era and film score work. Concerning metal the latest Dead Congregation is great.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?

We each have pretty diverse interests, but most of us spend the majority of our free time writing and producing music.

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

Thanks for the interview! For anyone interested in our music head over to our bandcamp page: barus.bandcamp.com (free download / name your price), and for any labels who would like to work with us for a physical release, contact us at barusband[at]gmail.com.

Woebegone Obscured/Deathscape MMXIV/Solitude Productions/2014 CD Review

  Woebegone  Obscured  are  a  band  from  Denmark  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and plays  a  blackened  form  of  funeral  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Deathscape  MMXIV"  which  was  released  by  Solitude  Productions.

  Dark  and  melodic  riffs  start  off  the  album  and  start  to  mix  in  with  a  very  heavy  style  of  funeral  doom  metal  and  most  of  the  songs  are  long  and  epic  in  length  and  also  bring  in  clean  sections  at  times  that  bring  an  ambient  feeling  to  the  recording  and  when  vocals  are  added  into  the  music  they  are  deep  death  metal  growls.

  Throughout  the  recording  there  is  a  great  mixture  of  both  clean  and  heavy  parts  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  grim  black  metal  screams  and  when  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  very  dark  and  melodic  sounding  and  clean  singing  can  also b e  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  also  gives  the  musical  more  of  an  operatic  feeling.

  Acoustic  guitars  can  be  heard  in  some  part s of  the  songs  and  some  of  the  tracks  also  bring  in  elements  of  ethereal  goth  music  and  they  also  bring  an  acoustic  track  before  returning  back  to  a  heavier  direction  when  they  go  into  their  cover  of  Bathory's  "Call  From  The  Grave"  which  they  also  give  more  of  a  doom /death  metal  vibe  and  they  close  the  album  with  a  cover  of  Dead  Can  Dance's  "Xavier".

  Woebegome  Obscured  creates  another  album  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  funeral  doom  but  also  mix  in  a  great  amount  of  black  metal  influences,  atmospheric  and  ambient  elements  to  create  their  own  musical  style,  the  production  sounds  very  powerful  while  the  lyrics  cover  Dark  Nature,  Occultism,  Melancholy  and  Suicide  themes.  

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Woebone  Obscured  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  black  metal  and  funeral  doom,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Catharsis  of  the  Vessel"  and  "Xavier".  8  out  of  10.

https://woebegoneobscured.bandcamp.com/album/deathscape-mmxiv

Throes/Disassoctation/Rain Without End Records/2015 CD Review

  Throes  are  a  duo  from  the  United  Kingdom  that  plays  a  blackened  form  of  death  metal  with  a  touch  of  industrial  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "Disassoctation"  which  will  be  released  on  April  26th  by  Rain  Without  End  Records.

  Avant  garde  sounds  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  clean  playing  and  spoken  word  samples  a  few  seconds  later  and  you  can  also  hear  some  distorted  drones  at  times  and  a  minute  later  the  music  starts  going  into  more  of  a  brutal  blackened  death  metal  direction  along  with  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats,  growls  and  screams.

  Melodies  can  be  heard  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  and  the  band  also  mixes  in  industrial  sounds  with  the  heavy  riffs  at  times  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  when  solos  and  leads  are utilized  they  are  very  dark  and  distorted  sounding  and  there  are  also  a  couple  of  tracks  that  are  long  and  epic  in  length  and  clean  playing  also  returns  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording.

  Throes  plays  a  musical  style  that  mixes  black  metal  with  brutal  death  metal  and  a  touch  of  industrial  ans  noise  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  philosophical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Throes  are  a  very  great  sounding  blackened  death  metal  band  with  a  touch  of  industrial  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Exponent"  and  "Caveat".  8  out  of  10.

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