Gods Tower/The Eerie/MetalAgen/1997 CD Review

  Gods Tower are a band from Belarus that plays a mixture of black, doom and pagan metal and this is a review of their 1997 album "The Eerie" which was released by MetalAgen Records.

Drums range from slow to mid paced drumming with not much in the way of fast playing or blast beats with some percussion being thrown in at times, while the bass playing has a very dark tone with riffs that follow the riffing that is coming out of the guitars and at times they sound very powerful, as for the keyboards they bring a very dark and atmospheric feeling to the music, in addition there is a brief use of violins that bring a very dark and poetic feeling to the music.

Rhythm guitars are slow to mid paced riffs that combine doom, black, and pagan metal together and they utilize a lot of melodic riffing, while the lead guitars are very dark and melodic sounding guitar solos and leads, as for the acoustic and classical guitars when they are utilized they use finger picking and full chords to bring a folk music feeling to the music.


Vocals range from clean singing, raspy vocals, deep death metal growls and high pitched black metal screams and there are some spoken word passages being utilized briefly , while the lyrics cover paganism and Battlefields, as for the production it has a very dark, raw, heavy and powerful sound.


In my opinion this was a great album from Gods Tower that mixed black, doom, pagan and melodic metal together and if you are a fan of this style, you should check out this band and album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Reign Of Silence" and "Till Death Do Us Part". RECOMMENDED BUY.

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Deathwitch/Momumetal Mutilations/Necropolis Records/1999 CD Review

 Deathwitch where a band from Sweden that played a mixture of black, death and thrash metal and this is a review of their 1999 album "Monumental Mutilations" which was released by Necropolis Records.

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

Rhythm guitars range from slow, mid paced to fast riffs that are very raw and primitive sounding and combine black, death, and thrash metal together, while the lead guitars are very raw and primitive sounding black/death metal guitar solos and present that have a mid 80's to early 90's feeling to them.

Vocals are a mixture of black/thrash growls mixed in with some deep death metal growls, while the lyrics cover Satanism, Occultism, Witchcraft, Necromancy and Anti Christianity with a more primitive approach to the topics, as for the production it has a very raw and primitive sound to it.

In my opinion Deathwitch where a very great sounding raw and primitive black/death/thrash metal band and if you are a fan of this style, you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Demonic Witch" "Jehova Shall Bleed" "The Rite Of Darkness" and "Necromancer". RECOMMENDED BUY.

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Infest/Everlasting Genocide/Grom Records/2011 CD Review

  Infest are a band from Serbia that plays a very blackened form of death/thrash metal and this is a review of their 2011 album "Everlasting Genocide" which was released by Grom Records.

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

Rhythm guitars range from slow, mid paced to fast riffs that combine death and thrash metal with black metal with the intro having some weird sounding clean playing in addition there are some dark melodies being utilized, while the lead guitars are very chaotic sounding death metal guitar solos and leads that utilizes some melodies.

Vocals are mostly deep death metal growls mixed in with some angry shouts and some high pitched screams being used on the last song, while the lyrics cover hateful and conspiracy themes, as for the production it has a very strong, powerful, heavy and professional sound.

In my opinion Infest are a very good sounding blackened death/thrash hybrid and if you are a fan of this style, you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Upon The Suffering" "Deaththrash Sodomy" "Everlasting Genocide" and "Screaming In Butchery". RECOMMENDED BUY.

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oVo Interview

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

We started a bit more than 10 years ago, as a total improv-chaos band. We’re a duo since 2002, and since then our music started to be more and more organized. We’re a touring machine, we played about 700 shows since the end of 2000, mostly in North America and Europe, but also in Israel and Mexico . We released 6 albums (3 on my label Bar La Muerte , 2 on Load, 1 on Supernatural Cat), and a lot of split, collaboration and remix albums too. Stefania Pedretti sings and plays guitar and bass, I’m Bruno Dorella and I play half a drum set (floor tom, snare, ride).



2. How would you describe your musical sound?

We notice that our music is still described as very hard to file and “not for everybody”, which is surprising for us. We think it’s pretty simple and structured. It’s heavy, with a touch of weirdness. Definitely not like anything else you can find around though. It’s somewhere between sludge, noiserock and noise. We sound “minimal” cause we’re just two, and I only play this little drum set. But we found a way to still sound pretty powerful.



3. What are some of the lyrical themes that you try to ring out with your music?

Stefania’s lyrics have no meanings in any language. Which doesn’t mean they have no meaning to her. The themes often regards our political and esthetical ideas, but we prefer to keep them a bit secret, or at least not too obvious. Some of the titles regard very personal matters. It’s because our music really comes out from our guts and hidden body parts, more than from our brains… After many years this non-language that Stefania uses almost became a language. It’s how it worked in the early days. Stefania developed a way of communication.



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

It’s palindrome, and, when you write it, it can look like a lot of different things: a face, two bodies hand in hand, an owl… this is very much our kind of approach to the words “meaning “ and “message” behind OvO. There are lots of potential meanings. But people have to take their time to make them up. Which is not obvious at all in this beginning of the century, when nothing is considered but superficially.



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

We’re definitely a live band, when you see HOW we play our music, you understand a lot more about the records, too. I remember the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco as one of the most incredible venues we played at, and Supersonic in Birmingham (UK), as one of the coolest and best organized festivals. But we love to play in exotic countries, and we’ll never forget Turkey , Mexico , Israel . We like to play in Russia , too, everything is really different there. A totally different mentality, very fascinating.



6. Do you have any touring plans for the new releases?

Oh, yeah! We’re touring Europe in April, then the UK and Ireland (and a festival in Romania !) in May, and hopefully the US in October.



7. On a worldwide level how has your music been received by extreme/underground music fans?

We are quite respected in the noise scene and in the most enlightened squatters scene. Now, being on Supernatural Cat and dealing with the metal scene as well, we have a quite interesting challenge. Heavy metal is one of the genres that had more evolution in the last years, but at the same the metal audience goes to very open minded to very narrow minded attitudes. We’re already noticing many more metal kids and metal t-shirts at our shows, but we know we won’t have the whole scene on our side.



8. Are there any other projects besides this band or is this a full time line-up?

Stefania has a solo act called ?Alos , from what I know it’s the first anarcho pagan queer doom project ever, She’s also a graphic artist and a performer. I play with the instrumental band Ronin, and with a duo called Bachi Da Pietra (in Italian). I run a small record label called Bar La Muerte , too.



9. What direction do you see the music heading into in the future?

You mean music in general? Wow, this is hard to tell. The digital revolution brought a big change, which kind of killed the business, which is not necessarily a bad thing… But it’s definitely hard to keep on being a musician or a label owner nowadays. The solutions will probably be unexpected. But there’s still a lot of great music around. This won’t change. It will be different than in the past, but it won’t change.



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

I think that electronic music is the most interesting evolution at the moment. Breakcore, dubstep, extreme electronics, you can find very inspiring stuff, and lots of ex-rockers are now playing these kinds of music, bringing a sort of “touch” that other rockers can get and appreciate. Lately, I was shocked by the live performance of King Midas Sound. You don’t get that wall of sound with rock instruments, no matter how loud you play. I listen to a lot of early music, you know, Gregorian chants and so on. African music, too. We both like Earth, Neurosis, Wolves in the Throne Room, Dark Castle …



11. Does Occultism play any role in the music?

We’re fascinated by it, especially Stefania. But we’re too anarchists too belong to any branch of it. And we’re skeptical when it regards heavy metal bands, as for a lot of them it’s just a necessary complement for their music. But we’re definitely interested in Occultism and I’m personally interested in the history of religions, from a non-religious point of view.



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

We don’t have much free time out of our music and the other activities described before. When we’re not working on OvO we’re working on our other bands, or Stefania is doing workshops, drawing, or taking part to queer or political activities. I work a lot on my label too. I can’t even remember when we took our last vacations…



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

We recommend to go to www.supernaturalcat.com and listen to the album streaming, and get the deluxe edition of the album, an incredible piece of art with silkscreened cover and poster by Malleus, red or black vinyl, cd, live dvd, postcards with original drawings by Stefania, only 300 copies. And thanx for not having asked about Percy Shelley…

oVo/Cor Codium/Supernatural Cat Records/2011 CD Review

  oVo are a band that mixes noise, experimental music, black and doom metal together and this is a review of their 2011 album "Cor Codium" which will be released by Supenatural Cat Records.

Drums are mostly slow playing with only the occasional fast drumming and there are no blast beats present on the recording, while the noise effects are very avant garde and experimental sounding, as for the bass playing it has a very strong, distorted and powerful sound with some slow and noisy playing.

Rhythm guitars are very slow and primitive doomy/drone/noise riffs that speed up to a punk level at times mixed in with a lot of weird distorted sounds and there are little to no guitar solos or leads present on the recording.

Vocals are a mixture of high pitched noisecore and black metal screams with some occasional clean signing vocals, while the lyrics pay homage to Percy Shelly a poet from the 19th century with a touch of Gothic horror and the songs are written in a mixture of English and another language which I cant tell what it is, as for the production it has a very dark and raw feel to it.

In my opinion oVo are a very good experimental band that mixes noise, avant garde, punk, doom and black metal together, and if you are looking for something original, you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Nosferatu" "Orcus" "Smelling Death Around" and "la Bestia". RECOMMENDED  BUY.

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The Way Of Purity Interview

1. Can you tell us a little bit about the band for those that have never heard you before?
-We hate standard presentation, biography and introduction and we are not a band...We are a project, where around 15 people can express their selves with their own art and ideas. Some people play instruments and write the songs (me,Deathwish, WADecc), other people like Steve J. Drakos, Susi Medusa Gottardi, Rhett P., Antisocial studio take care of the visual message,Christian Donaldson and Jeffrey handle the technical part ecc...As long as you support us we will consider you part of the project. We are not that kind of band that goes to rehearsal room on Sunday evening making sure that piercing and haircut are perfect ...Fuck that. We all live in different places around Europe and we don't fucking care to be called "Band". This is a very bad word nowadays because most of the "bands" cannot really play instruments or don't really produce albums.
We have done a 50 gigs tour and people asked us, "where is this" , "where is that"...What? Where is What? We have no faces,we have no names, we swap instruments, we don't fucking care to label ourselves as "Bassist", "Drummer" ecc ecc...But we play music before thinking of other crappy things. We are here for a message, for a mission...Fuck the band. It is about de-personalizing the people, suppressing individuality and egos in order to push the message forward.

2. How would you describe your musical sound?
-Well, i wrote the album so maybe I am the right one to describe it. I was in a black metal band in 91, I have hardcore attitude and I am big fan of New Wave...Maybe our album is a combination of these things. Black Metal riffs, played with hardcore attitude heavily influenced by new wave. We try to transfer to people our visions and our music could be described like that...A mix of visionary creativity and convulse ideas.

3. What is the meaning behind the band's name?
-The meaning behind The Way Of Purity is painful. The Way Of Purity is the sacrifice that every man should do to keep his own integrity alive. Life is a way, a quite long way when it comes to integrity, honesty, friendship, beliefs, marriage because everyday we have to give proof of our integrity in front of temptations. For most of the people is really hard not to betray their friends or partner, it is really hard to only eat vegetables, it is hard being 100% honest in front of interests...Well, I guess you understand what I mean. The Way Of Purity is the way that ONLY FEW can understand and only few can "walk on". For all the people that betray, say lies, only think about sex or surface we are the fucking painful mirror. That's why we take 100% of our inspiration (in life and music) from animals...They never fail when it comes to integrity.

4. How would you describe the lyrical content of the music?

-Our lyrics are about this above described concept. The whole message is about this. our Lyrics reflect the reality we live in and can be described as a true and concrete message. we’re here to bring the animals’ message to liars, weak individuals, prostitutes, drug addicts, nymphomaniacs and many more.

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and how would you describe your stage performance?
-The best show we played is for sure in Timisoara (Romania). This was is Daos club, the club of Negura Bunget's Ageru Pamantului. People were really into our show and I loved it. It was a really important moment because I am really friend with Ageru and this was the first day of his club...I felt it in my heart.
Our show is like scary...This is what people say...we are really into what we do and every note we play is like the universe...The totality. We alternate moments or real violence to deep and emotional patterns. We try to push our performance at the real physical limits. It's quite hard.

6. I have read somewhere that one of the older members committed suicide, what was it that motivated you to keep the band going after such a tragic loss?
-When a person commits suicide, everyone is affected. Family members, friends, band mates, neighbors, and sometimes people might experience feelings of grief, confusion, guilt and the sense that if only they had done something differently, the suicide could have been prevented. With Betty was different.
The reasons behind Betty's suicide are really complex. It can't be hard to remember how it felt to be sick, caught in a gray area between Christ and Satan, good and Evil. For Betty it was a period of great confusion and anxiety. She was fighting to choose between EVIL and GOOD. "If Betty had an adequate religious affiliation may have an outlet to deal with everyday frustrations..."Bullshit, Betty committed Suicide in the name of her religion.People say, to justify: "Betty had a psychological disorder, especially depression, bipolar disorder, and alcohol and drug use (in fact, we all think that heroine played a role at the time of death)."
Bullshit, Betty only used heroine to meet her lord (don't know if Christ, Satan, Cross or whatever)...
She was serious in finding her way. "The reaction was possible in having found the band and having recorded the album...She didn't had the power to wait the album release and see people reaction on her communication commitment and she thought she failed." Bullshit, she committed suicide to show people that you can die for something and that you can be so strong to face the death as the other side of the same coin. We are still here to bring you all her message of desperation and hi level inspiration. The film is her story, please watch it, please listen to her songs and read her lyrics...This is the only way to give Betty the vengeance she asked for. Betty is alive, Betty will be alive forever.A Passage through the purity of pain.

7. You are still kind of a new band, but how has the reception been to your music from metal fans worldwide?
-We don't care...We are not here for fans. We don't really care of what people think about our music. We are here for a message, so we care about people that write us and tell us that they are with us and they will fight with us keeping away from politics, religions and shit like that. Of course we read all the messages we receive and we answer to everybody. Most of the people try to support and encourage us. There are some some people who talk shit about us of course and we have fun out of this. We don't really like the people that try to label us...People don't care anymore about labels. People MUST HAVE concrete examples to choose their true way.

8. Do you have any plans to tour the U.S?
-we only work with people we like so if someone true that is really into our project we'll offer us an american tour we will do it. Everyone that supports our message can offer us something, otherwise...Nothing...We don't tour to play concerts and have fun. Our live set is something deeper to us.

9. What direction do you see the music heading into on future releases?
-I am trying to write some new songs now and some ideas are really interesting. I like the slow stuff that is coming out and evolving in me. I think that the new album will be much more oriented in a doomcore direction but I want to be really sure that I love what I am writing, so at the moment this is the only thing I can say. We will change ... will always change so don't expect a copy of "Crosscore"...This is for sure.

10. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and what are you listening to nowadays?
-Christian Death (first 2 albums) is our main influence. We like Sister Of Mercy, The Cure, Neurosis, Converge, The Pixies, Scarlet, Botch, Morning Again, Unholy, Marduk, Darkthrone, Immortal, Sonic Youth... I think they influenced us a lot.Nowadays I am listening to Ragnarok from Norway, Negura Bunget, Absu from USA, Opera IX old albums...I got these cds from them. They are really good friends and I listen to their music.

11. What are some of your interests outside of music?
-I love animals and specially dogs. My biggest hobby is to go out with my dog and play with him.
I help animals during my spare time with donations, direct action ecc.
I like fast cars so I really try to talk to people that have the same passion. I go out with my car and I try to find places where I can go really fast. Maybe one day this hobby will kill me. For sure, at the moment, I am losing my driving licence. I love horror movies so I watch a lot of them at home with my wife. Last interest is cooking, but I am not good in that and every time I try some shitty food comes out...unfortunately.

12. Any final words or thoughts?
-We remove vanity and unnecessary self-importance. We remove labels for the One who cannot be named. Nobility, self-sacrifice, denial of ego.

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The Way Of Purity/Crosscore/WormHoleDeathRecords/2010 CD Review

  The Way Of Purity are a band from Sweden that mixes black metal, doom metal, death metal, grindcore and metalcore together to create their own style and this is a review of their 2010 album "Crosscore" which was released by WormHoleDeath Records.

Drums alternate between slow drumming with some fast playing and brutal blast beats, while the bass playing has a dark tone that follows the riffs coming out of the guitars, as for the synths when they are utilized they are only there to give the music a more darker or distorted sound.

Rhythm guitars take alot of influences from many different style's of metal, with the slower riffs mixing doom metal and metalcore together, while the faster riffing mixes black metal and death metal together, and there are little to no lead guitars on the album.

Vocals are mostly high pitched screams mixed in with some deep growls as well as clean female vocals, while the lyrics cover some nature and religous themes with alot of anger and cussing throughout the album, as for the production on this recording it has a very heavy yet professional sound that captures all of the instruments.

In my opinion The Way Of Purity are very original sounding and while there music has some influences from some music styles that I dont really follow meaning the metalcore influences I still feel there music is very good when they concentrate on their darker style. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Anchored To Suffocation" "Sinner" "Deathwish" which is a Christian Death cover and "Burst". RECOMMENDED BAND.

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The Year of No Light/Asserwelt/Conspiracy Records/2010 CD Review

  The Year Of No Light are a band from France that mixes shoegaze, sludge, drone, doom metal and black metal together together and this is a review of their 2010 album "Asserwelt" which was released by Conspiracy Records.

Drums are mostly slow drumming with some mid paced parts that do not use any fast playing or brutal blast beats except for maybe the last song with a lot of ambient sounding effects being used, while the bass playing has a dark sound to it with some slower riffs.

Rhythm guitars are mostly slow doom metal riffs that have a slight ambient black metal feel to them mixed in with some shoegaze elements, while the lead guitars are very droned out slow sounding guitar solos that have a depressive feel to them.

There are no vocals or lyrics on this album it is all instrumental and the production has a very dark, raw but still professional sound.

In my opinion The Year Of No Light are a very good band that would appeal to the more open minded fans of black metal, and doom metal, if you are a fan of drone, you should enjoy this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Peresphone I" and "Abbesse". RECOMMENDED BUY.

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Fester interview

1. Can you give us an update on what happened to the band members after the break up?

The period after the break up was quit difficult for all members..Having played together for some many years, it becomes a vacuum in life when it all suddenly ends.. Jørgen was getting real sick at the time. It was much drugs and alcohol, and in the end he could'nt cope with it, and finally died. Jan Helge and I founded families, and because of that music was put on hold for a couple of years.. Rolf TOmmy was also getting sick at the time of the split , and he has sadly enough, never recovered from his illnesses.. I started up a band called Sincera 9 years ago, in the good old vain, and we will also see an album later this year ..That's like a long story short, eh ?


2. I have read recently that you have reformed, what was the cause of the split up and what made you decide to reform the band?

The split up was mainly caused by a couple of the members illnesses, and a bit due to Rolf Tommy wanting to go a different direction music wise. I have , personally, always said that I will make music ONLY when it comes naturally. When the creativity pounds in my veins, and it just flows, if you know what I mean ? I have never made music just to make music, or making music to sound like this or that because of a hype or anything. When all the shit happened with the band some of the spirit just died. When all this was back ( creativity and spirit..), it was time to call for a resurrection.. A festering resurrection so to speak.. Thomas Andresen ( Algol/Sincera/ Deathseeker) has joined as a permanent member on vox. I am the only guitarist at the moment, Jontho ( Ragnarok) will session the drums on the new album, and Jon (Kampfar) will session bass.


3. How would you describe the musical sound of the current material and how it differs from the previous recordings?

It's a bit different to describe.. As said, I just make out what comes into my mind and hands, but some people says it's darker and colder.., Just a few has heard some out takes, but all claims that you can truly hear that it's FESTER, just almost 20 years later! Still mid paced or slow...Still melancholic and mystic.. Still a harsh and mean vocal.. Mayby some riffs are even more inspired by the old school, that being heavy metal or early Bm.. I don't know..





4. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects that you have explored with your music?

I can tell you a bit from the new tunes ? Old rituals, war, revenge, norse mythology, depression ... The lyrics, I would say, has'nt changed all that much. The themes evolves the same issues as before.. Mayby a bit harsher than on "Silence" though.. , and we have felt that the lyrics really has to fit the feel of each tune, and I think we have done this good for these new tracks.





5. What was the meaning and inspiration behind the band name?

It was Anders Oddin "Cadaver" who came up with the name, and drew the first logo.. Sounding more old school than most Norwegian bands at the time ( rise of the second wave of BM ), and sounding more Dm, I think it was a suitable name. We liked the feel, and the meaning, of men shit FESTEing our minds... Just to have said it; It has nothing to do with a certain uncle..





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

Our stage performances were never anything special.. He he.. We just stood there banging and playing hard music.. We did some blood spilling in some shows, but all in all never something special. I thing our best show was in Bergen in 93 with amo Taake. That was a bad ass show actually ! It was some big candles and stuff on stage, and I was more in movement so to speak, than in most shows, and the candlestakes , some amps and stuff got wrecked..





7. I noticed that when you came out in the 90s you had a sound that was a lot more different than most bands in Norway, how did the scene out there react to your musical sound?

As you might understand, it was'nt all that easy.. As you say, we sounded a lot more different than most uprising bands at the moment, and the scene was all about Bm.. I feel that we never got the recognition that we deserved, because of the mentioned reasons, but we never got hassled either , because I was a part of the scene evolving Helvete and Euronymous . AND we never gave a fuck what people meant or said ! We made music mainly to fulfill our dark thoughts and feelings.. not others. If people like it, tha'ts of course cool, but rather 2 people loving it, than 1000 people thinking it sounds OK..






8. Currently Abyss Records has re-issued some of your older albums, are you happy with the way the re-issues came out?\

Yeah ! Both the label and the artists has done a great job ! On " Winter of sin " we just made some small adjustments on the front cover and back, but all art inside is new. On the " Silence " re-issue, we did the whole thing new . I think they are really wordy re-releases, and the fact that "Wos" has been out of print for over 15 years, and I thought it was about time people can get their hands on these releases without either downloading them on Rapidshit , or paying their asses off on E bay. The demo compilation that was releases last summer was smashing too .. Real old school cut and paste, out it sounds like freaking 92 !! Kyrck did a real good job with that one





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

Growing up with Heavy Metal and Thrash, one may hear lots of elements from these styles in our music, but of course darker stuff as well.. If I were to pick out some bands I would say : Early Sepultura, 1. Darkthrone, Celic Frost, Hellhammer, 1. Mötley Crüe(..), Kreator, King Diamond/Merciful Fate, early Metallica, Pestilence... Today I listen mainly to melancholic and dark music. Nostalgic as I am, I prefer old school Black and Death, but I can also put on Led Zeppelin , Black Sabbath or a symphony for that matter.


10. What role did Occultism play in the music and how would you describe your views on this topic?

I read, and still read. It has never been FESTER's most important inspiration though. That has been, and will always be the dark inner self. As for the topic I can qoute Crowley : Do as thou willt.......





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

Being a responsible adult with family... Ha ha, There are not much time besides work and them, but I enjoy reading, history, music, drawing, painting and being with friends and familly.


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

Thanx a lot for the interview, and your questions. Do buy our new re-releases, and check out the new album that will be out late this year on Abyss.... Meanwhile you might also check out the side project Sincera. Play loud and stay proud !!!!

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Fester/Silence/Abyss Records/2011 CD Re-Issue Review

  Fester where a band from Norway that played a mixture of black, doom, and death metal that recently had their other album reviewed in this zine and this is a review of their 1995 album which was recently re-issued by Abyss Records in 2011.

Drums range from slow to mid paced drumming with not much in the ways of fast playing or blast beats, while the keyboards when they are utilized bring a dark sound to the music with over dominating, as for the bass playing it has a very strong and powerful tone with some progressive sounding metal riffing.

Rhythm guitars range from slow to mid paced riffs that combine death, black and doom metal together with a great amount of traditional metal influences with some thrash style riffing being used on one song and melody, while the lead guitars are very melodic and progressive sounding metal guitar solos, as for the acoustic guitars when they are utilized they use finger picking and full chords to add a more dark, tragic and progressive sound to the music.

Vocals are all high pitched black metal screams mixed in with some grim sounding whispered vocals and on a couple of songs there are some spoken word passages, while the lyrics cover dark and depressive themes that have somewhat a feel of a classic gothic novel with some nature orientated lyrics being added in, as for the production it sounds very dark and somewhat raw but still professional enough to the point where you can hear all of the musical instruments.

In my opinion this was a great album from Fester and while it is more melodic and experimental than the previous release, I still thought this was a good well put together album, if you are looking for something that was very different sounding even for the 90's, you should check out this recording. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Silent Is The Raven" "Voices From The Wood" "My World Of Thoughts" and "Precaution". RECOMMENDED BUY.

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Toxic Holocaust/Conjure And Command/Relapse Records/2011 CD Review

  Toxic Holocaust are a band from Oregon that plays a mixture of black, thrash and speed metal together with some punk influences thrown in and this is a review of their 2011 album "Conjure And Command" which was released by Relapse Records.

Drums range from slow, mid paced to fast drumming with a good amount of blast beats being thrown in at times, while the bass playing has a very strong and powerful tone with some heavy riffing being thrown in.

Rhythm guitars range from slow, mid paced to fast riffing that combines black, thrash, speed metal and punk together bringing back the 80's sound but adding a more modern touch to it, while the lead guitars are very chaotic and melodic sounding guitar solos and leads.

Vocals are mostly black/thrash sounding growls and screams, while the lyrics cover dark, satanic and hateful themes, as for the production it has a very 80's style of production to it while still being professional at the same time.

In my opinion Toxic Holocaust are a good black/thrash band and if you are a fan of this band, you should enjoy this recording. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Judgement Awaits You" "I Am Disease" "The Liars Are Burning" and "Revelations". RECOMMENDED BUY.

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Fester/Winter Of Sin/Abyss Records/2010 CD Re-Issue Review

  Fester where a band from Norway that mixed black,death, and doom metal together and this is a review of their 2010 Re-Issue Of "Winter Of Sin" which was originally released in 1992.

Drums are mostly slow to mid paced with some fast playing and the occasional blast beats, while the bass playing has a very dark sound with some morbid sounding bass rhythms, as for the synths which are only utilized briefly on one song, they are only there to add another dimension of dark atmosphere.

Rhythm guitars are mostly slow to mid paced riffs that combine doom and death metal together that speed up at times with occasional thrashy riffing and at times there are some touches of soft playing but that on a constant basis, while the lead guitars are very depressing sounding doom/death guitar solos that have a lot of skill and talent to them.

Vocals are mostly high pitched black metal screams and some deep death metal growls with some occasional spoken word passages, while the lyrics cover winter, anti-Christianity and occultism, as for the production it has a very raw,dark feel to it but still giving all of the musical instruments a great sound.

In my opinion this was a classic album from an underrated band, I remember buying this album years ago and it is good that Abyss Records decided this re-issue this classic recording, if you are a fan of the early 90's classic black/doom/death sound, you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Winter Of Sin" "The Ancient Gods Wore Black" "Liberation" and "The Commitments That Shattered". RECOMMENDED BUY.

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