Lava Abyss Interview

 

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

- Our project is dedicated to dark theatre, where the most dismal and grim reality comes through our "Plague Metal". We try to embody and revive all the darkness we feel from this world

2.So far you have released an ep and a full length, musically how do they both differ from each other?

-The first album was lyrically and musically conceptual, incorporating all the tracks into a single mood. While "Secret of the Black Soil" is a single EP-length track with a more pronounced story and development.

3.You refer to your music as being 'plague metal', can you tell us a little bit more abotu this term?

- In 1347–1351 plague pandemic was called as “Black Death”, it was tough times for civilization. Since we play blacked death metal we decided to call it “plague metal”, it’s shorter and adding new meanings.

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band has explored so far with the music?

- All lyrics except "Secret of the Black Soil" is based on natural unstoppable forces of creations and destructions, initiated by those, forever firing metals and rocks called "magma", which gave the life for all we have now,  it was the start and it will be the finish. (And soon will be a new song, exactly about the theme of creations by these processes.

And for example song "Supervolcanic Obscuration" is about what would be with the current life on Earth in case if supervolcano will erupt.

And it will be sooner or later... It's just a matter of time.

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

- I have been attracted to fire since childhood, and with age it has grown into something more... There is nothing hotter and more destructive than an abyss filled with boiling lava, it must be an incomparable sight!

6.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?

-Well, first cover was made by me, as all “decorations” for videos clip “Finishing the era” it’s real inverted cross size of human height, I put all my soul while I was making it haha. But if to be serious I caught big interest in doing that and soon will be some new releases , as in music so In videos

7.Currently there are only 2 members in the band, are you open to expanding your line up or do you prefer to remain a duo?

-We've started working on new material, and most likely on new album will appear new masters of metal

8.One member lives in the United States while another lives in Ukraine, what impact does this have on the musical style that you play?

-Very interesting question.

-Thanks to ethnic differentiations our performance mix becomes more unique, but still these are nuances as we have one "metal" nation, and as American and European culture is very close to me and it was the conception of everything that we will now do and play, although today many are confused and do not know what it truly means, and what truths and knowledge it should carry

9.Recently 'Archivist Records', re-issued your 2021 album, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

-These are people of steel temper, they have survived the "ruzz" occupation and under constant bombing they continue their work. We are very glad that they have published our album.

10.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of blackened death metal?

-Most of the reviews and feedbacks were surprised to hear such unusual mix of black and death metal, which is unsurprisingly for us as we don't have a goal to sounds or build compositions like standard (if I dare to say this word) blackned death metal, or deathned black metal haha.

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

-Well, Mike and I have worked on other death metal projects but we are more concentrated on Lava Abyss.

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

-Only work and progress, I have composed more than 80-100 tracks in my life, and only about 30 have been implemented and I continue to do so, everything will be implemented through the Lava Abyss prism.

13.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?

Deicide, Satyricon, Dark Funeral, Gorguts...

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

-We want to say thank you for inviting to the interview and for spreading metal onto masses!

https://www.facebook.com/LAVA.plague.metal

Shaarimoth/Devildom/W.T.C Productions/2024 Full Length Review

 

   Shaarimoth  are  a  band  from  Norway  that  goes  for  an  occult  and  blackened  style  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2024  album  "Devildom"  which  will  be  released  on  Halloween  by  W.T.C  Productions.

  A  very  dark  yet  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  album  while  synths  can  also  be  heard  briefly  along  with  some  ritualistic  chants  and  angry  shouts  also  being  utilized  at  times.  Melodies  are  also  added  into  some  of  the  guitar  riffing  as  well  as  the  vocals  also  in  mostly  death  metal  screams  and  the  music  also  adds  in  a  lot  of  black  metal  elements

  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  also  done  in  a  very  chaotic  style  while  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  add  in  a  great  amount  of  brutal  blast  beats.  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  also  hear  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  a  couple  song  also  adding  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  playing.

  A  couple  of  tracks  are  also  very  long  and  epic  in  length  along  with  one  song  also  adding  in  a  brief  use  of  clear  vocals,  tremolo  picking  can  also  be  heard  in  some  of  the  faster  riffing  and  one  track  also  introduces  spoken  word  parts  onto  the  album  and  they  also  bring  in  an  instrumental.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  occultism,  devil  worship,  darkness,  death,  rebellion  and  the  acosmic  forces  of  the  infernal. 

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Shaarimoth  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  occult  black  and  deat h metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Midnight  Sentinel"  "The  Voiceless  Call"  and  "For  HIs  Eyes  of  Judgement  Are  Forever  Upon  You".  8  out  of  10.

  www.facebook.com/shaarimoth     

Butcher/On Fowl Of Tyrant Wing/Osmose Productions/2024 Full Length Review

 

  Butcher  are  a  band  from  Belgium  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  on  this  recording  goes  for  a  mixture  of  black,  speed and heavy  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2024  album  "On  Fowl  Of  Tyrant  Wing"  which  will be  released  in  October  by  Osmose  Productions.

  Drums  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  bass  guitar  before  introducing  more  traditional  metal  style  riffing  onto  the  recording.  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  also  done  in  a  very  melodic  old  school  style  while  the  songs  also  add  in  a  great  amount  of  speed  metal  elements.

  Blast  beats  and  tremolo  picking  are  also  added  into  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  while  the  vocals  bring  in   more  of  a  first  wave  black  metal  style  along  with  some  touches  of  power  metal.  Melodies  are  also  added  into  some  of  the  guitar  riffing  as  well as  the  music  also  being  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  80's  era .

 Throughout  the  recording  you  can  also  hear  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  one  song  also  introducing  back  up  shouts  onto  the  album  as  well  as  some  of  the  tracks  also  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length,  ethnic  style  folk  instruments  can  also  be  heard  briefly  and  one  track  also  adds  in  a  brief  use  of  death  metal  growls.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Satanism,  Occultism,  Violence,  Fighting  and  Metal  themes.      

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Butcher  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  black,  speed  and  heavy  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Speed  Metal  Samurai"  "Keep  the  Steele  (Flamin  Hot)"  and  "An  Ending  In  Fyre".  8  out  of  10.

  Bandcamp: https://osmoseproductions.bandcamp.com/album/on-fowl-of-tyrant-wing

All Digital Links: https://bfan.link/BUTCHER-on-fowl-of-tyrant-wing    

Bewitcher/Spell Shock/Century Media Records/2024 Full Length Review

 

  Portland,  Oregon's  Bewitcher  have  returned  with  a  new  recording  which  shows  the  music  going  for  a  mixture  of  black,  thrash  and  speed  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2024  album  "Spell  Shock"  which  will  be  released  on  September  27th  by  Century  Media  Records.

  Dark  soundscapes  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  heavier  speed  metal  direction  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  also  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  also  done  in  a  very  melodic  classic  metal  style  and t he  vocals  are mostly  first  wave  black  metal  screams.

  Melodies  are  also  added  into  some  of  the  guitar  riffing  while  the  album  also  mixes  in a   lot  of  thrash  metal  elements.  A  lot  of  the  music  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  80's  era  as  will  as  being  very  modern  at  the  same  times  along  with  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  add  in  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  also  hear  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  some  of  the  tracks  also  adding  in  a  small  amount  of  back  up  shouts  and  one  of  the  songs  also  adds  in  a  brief  use  of  clean  playing,  synths  can  also  be  heard  briefly.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Occultism,  Paganism  and  Hedonism  themes

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Bewitcher  and  if  you  are  a f an  of  blackened  thrash  and  speed  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Starfire  Maelstrom"  "Out  Against  The  Law"  "We  Die  in Dust"  and  "Ride  of  The  Iron  Fox".  8 out  of  10.

  www.bewitcher.us

www.facebook.com/BewitcherOfficial
www.instagram.com/bewitcherofficial

Unreedemer Interview

 

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

Sure! We formed officially in early 2019, when I moved to Finland from Croatia, and we started rehearsing in a full lineup.

Pretty soon we had a couple of local gigs, and went to record the first EP. More gigs and another EP followed, and we were preparing for our first show abroad when our drummer and friend Jani passed away suddenly.

We did that show in his honour, and took some time after to consider our options.

In the end, we decided to go on, onboarded new drummer and a bassist, and are working on new material.

Initially we were considering ourselves to be a death-thrash, or groove metal, but someone suggested after a recent gig that we sound like "blackened thrash", and we liked the sound of that, so we decided to stick with it.

2.So far you have released 2 ep's, musically how do they both differ from each other?

They were recorded and produced in different studios, and featured different drummer and bassist.

Additionally, 4-19-23 was recorded live, with very little track editing, so it's more raw and "dirty", and Word Become Flesh is a bit more polished, and dare I say, mature.

Also, we experimented with some electronic sounds for the intro, and ended up sticking it to the first track on 4-19-23.

That's why we re recorded it on Word Become Flesh - so you don't have to listen to a 2 minute intro track to get to Defiance :) 

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band has explored so far with the music?

The topics vary wildly, but what all have in common is that it must be a personal experience. So, either something directly from my life, or something that touched me enough to leave some kind of mark.

For example, "Shewolf and an Oak" talks about my wartime memories, and my parents' experience of raising kids during wartime in Croatia, where 4-19-23 is about some gruesome murders that happened in Croatia, and made me wonder about human capability for cruelty. 

"Lutrizio" is full of personal memories about the friends that are no longer with us, and "Underdog" is inspired by being looked down upon as an immigrant.

So yeah, all over the place, but with a common theme of being my personal therapy vessel 😂

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

It represents a reversal of the religious concept of redemption, where all humans are by default relieved of sin, and therefore responsibility for their actions.

Remove that certainty, and you put the human fate back into their hands, set them free, for better or worse. 

5.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the last ep cover?

"Word become flesh" was inspired by an inscription on an old german executioner sword, but we interpreted it more like "put words into action", so the cover is actually a photo of my arm while I was having the band's logo carved into it.

6.The band members also come from different parts of the world, what impact does this have on the musical style that you play?

There is a bit of that, how different geographic regions prefer different types of metal on average, but I think it's more about individual preference in such a small group. 

We had a number of bandmates come and go, and I like to think each of them left a bit of themselves in the music.

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

Most notable ones were the Pannonian Rock festival in 2023 in Croatia, which we did in Jani's memory, and the one on a Shadow Room event in 2022 when we had a person doing hooked suspension during the show.

And about the performance - well, personally I don't like to see a band just climb the stage and play the music, there's got to be some energy in it. In lieu of that, I alway give my best to explode with energy and transfer it to the audience, even if the audience is just 4 drunken guys (and we played shows like that :) )

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

Only confirmed gig we have for now is next year's Tyyne Rock festival in Finland, but we're actively looking for gigs to stay in shape, so here's an open invitation to any producers and venue owners to book us!

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

Haven't really thought about it, so far the indie thing has worked for us, but who knows, if something comes along..

 

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

Hard to talk about global - the online comment we got were positive :D 

We heard only good stuff wherever we played live though, so working on spreading the word.

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

Actually, our plan was to just release a series of singles as we make them, and then make a "singles compilation" at one point. Considering the digital distribution landscape and today's audiences' attention span, that looks like a good strategy. 

A year or so it takes to record a full album just looks like a long time to be silent, especially considering we already had a year long hiatus.

It could be a subconscious reaction, but since Jani's passing, the music we're making is a bit darker. We shifted the tuning, and introduced more of "blackish" influences, so prepare for something more sinister in the future.

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?

When we all came together it was all about the thrash and groove classics: Slayer, Patera, Sepultura, and a bit of newer stuff like Lamb of God, Meshuggah, Gojira, but we picked up some new favourites lately, and like I said previously it's generally a bit more dark and extreme.

Personally, I'm into more extreme genres, especially if the vocals are doing weird stuff, like Cattle Decapitation, Anaal Nathrak, Lorna Shore, or Archspire.

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

We end all our shows with the same message, so why not the interviews too:

We are Unredeemer, and you have all just been unredeemed.

https://www.facebook.com/unredeemer.band

https://www.instagram.com/unredeemer_band/

https://unredeemer.bandcamp.com/

https://open.spotify.com/artist/4ocpHtIVIQ9xrmZOL88ZxG

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCp6DrCNmbKhPSBmznpzIHcw

https://music.youtube.com/channel/UCFtjKtzY7ROeQp9_GbnbQlg

Deathrite/Flames Licking Fever/Into Endless Chaos/2024 Full Length Review

 

  Deathrite  are  a  band  from  Germany  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black,  death  metal  and  noise  punk  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2024  album  "Flames  Licking  Fever"  which  will  be  released  in  October  by  Into  Endless  Chaos.

  A  very  distorted  and  melodic  sound  starts  off  the  album  while  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  add  in  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  tremolo  picking.  Vocals  also  add  in  a  lot  of  black  metal  screams  mixed  in  with  some  death  metal  growls  and  hardcore  style  shouts  and  the  music  also  adds  in  a  lot  of  noise  and  punk  elements.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  also  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  the  songs  also  add  in  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  old  school  metal  punk  style  along  with  the  music  also  mixing  in  a  lot  of  80's  and  90's  influences  as  well  as  being  modern  at  the  same  time,  a  couple  of  tracks  are  also  long  and  epic  in  length  and  as  the  album  progresses  a  brief  apocalyptic  interlude  can  also  be  heard  before  returning  back  to  a  heavier  direction.

  Deathrite  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  black,  death  metal  and  noise  punk  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  ecstasy  and  psychosis.

  In  my  opinion  Deathrite  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  black,  death  metal  and  noise  punk  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Crippled  Ego"  "Misanthropic  Rush"  "Deadbeat"  and  "All  Consuming  Fire".  8  out  of  10.

  www.facebook.com/deathrite666       

Obsoletion/Self Titled/Sentient Ruin Laboratories/2024 Full Length Review

 

  Obsoletion  are  a  band  from  Brazil  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black,  death,  thrash  metal  and  hardcore  punk  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  titled  2024  album  which  will  be  released  in  october  by  Sentient  Ruin  Laboratories.

  Apocalyptic  soundscapes  and  spoken  word  samples  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavier  and  melodic  direction.  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  also  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  the  solos  and  leads  also  utilize  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  the  vocals  also  add  in  a  lot  of  black  metal  screams.

  Death  metal  growls  are  also  utilized  at times  while  the  riffing  also  shows  a  good  amount  of  thrash  metal  elements.  Elements  of  hardcore  are  also  added  into  the  mid  tempo  sections  of  the  songs  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  also  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  at  times  the  music  also  captures  the  raw  energy  of  punk  rock.,  when  the  music  finally  speeds  up  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats  can  also  be  heard  and  one  song  is  an  instrumental  which  also  adds  in  a  brief  use  of  clean  playing.

  Obsoletion  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  black, death,  thrash  metal  and  hardcore  punk  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  magick,  occultism,  anti  capitalism  and  dystopian  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Obsoletion  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  black, death,  thrash  metal  and  hardcore  punk  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "SSA"  "Abominable  New  World"  "Ruin's  Lament"  and  "Inorganic  Eregore".  8  out  of  10.

BANDCAMP RELEASE