Incubus/Self Titled/Vic Records/2014 Demo Re-Issue Review

  Incubus  where  a  band  from  Florida  that  played  an  early  form  of  black/death  metal  along  with  former  members  of  Morbid  Angel  and  Nocturnus  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  titled  1987  demo  which  will  be  re-issued  in  2014  by  Vic  Records.

  A  very  dark  early  Florida  death  metal  sound  starts  off  the  demo  along  with  some  screams  that  have  a  mixture  of  black  metal  and  horror  to  them  and  then  the  music  speeds  up  a  bit  along  with  some  blast  beats  as  well  as  some  death/thrash  style  vocals  and  the  music  has  a  very  raw  feeling  to  it  along  with  early  growls.

  As  the  demo  progresses  the  band  starts  bringing  in  a  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  they  also  bring  in  very  powerful  sounding  bass  guitars  at  times  and  the  music  sticks  to  a  very  raw  and early  style  of  death  metal  from  beginning  to  end.

  Incubus  played  the  rawest  and  most  evil  black/death  metal  there  was  during  1987  and  this  band  was  a  huge  influence  on  the  Florida  death  metal  bands  that  popped  up  shortly  after  that,  the  production  sounds  very  raw  and  dirty  while  the lyrics  cover  Satanism  occultism  and  Anti  Christian  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Incubus  where  a  very  great  sounding  black/death  metal b and  and  if  you  are  looking  for  some  of  the  roots  of  the  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  demo.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "God  Died  On  His  Knees".  8/5  out  of  10.

https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Incubus/9553

Mefisto/The Megalomania Puzzle/Vic Records/2014 Compilation Album Review

  Mefisto  where  a  band  from  Sweden  that  played  a  first  wave  from  of  black  metal  with  elements  of  speed  and  early  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  demo  tracks  from  the  80's  which  will  be  re-issued  as  a  compilation  album by  Vic  Records  and  called  "The  Megalomania  Puzzle".

  Acoustic  guitars  start  off  the  album  along  with  people  backgrounds  noises  and  screams  and  a  few  seconds  later t he  music  goes  into  a  more  fast  and  raw  black/thrash  metal  direction  along  with  blast  beats  and  guitar  leads  before  adding  in  early  blackened  death  metal  growls  and  screams  and  the  leads  also  bring  in  melodic  solos  at  times.

  Most  of  the  music  on  the  album  is  very  closely  to  first  wave  black  metal  while  you  can  hear  elements  that  eventually  evolved  into  death  metal  and  second  wave  black  metal  and  there  are  a  lot  of  traditional  and  NWOBH  influences  in  the  bands  musical  sound  and  the  acoustic  guitars  also  make  their  return  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  as  well  as  bringing  a  small  amount  of  synths  with  them  at  times.

  There  is  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  throughout  the  album  along  with  a  great  amount  of  raw  and  evil  energy  being  utilized  throughout  the  tracks  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  melodic  vocals  being  used  for  a  few  seconds  on  one  of  the  songs  and  as  the  album  progresses  the  band  starts  using  some  fast  parts  that  bring  an  early  grindcore  feeling  to  their  music  while  the  main  focus  is  still  on  black  metal,  the  second  demo  on  the  compilation  shows  a  little  bit  of  progress  along  wit h a  few  of  the  songs  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Mefisto  where  very  heavy,  underrated  and  raw  for  the  time  they  where  around  taking  what  Venom  and  Bathory  where  doing  and  making  it  even  more  heavy  and  the band  was  a  huge  influence  on  both  Swedish  death  and  black  metal  bands,  the production  has  the  raw  sound  of  80's  underground  metal  demos  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark,  violent  and  occult  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Mefisto  where  a  very  great  sounding  black/thrash  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  compilation.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Frost  Of  Inferno"  "Act  Dead"  and  "Underground  Circus".  8/5  out  of  10.  

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Liber Necris Interview

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

(Chris Binns) well the band was started in 2010 by myself, our drummer Tom and our original vocalist Henry. From the beginning we knew we wanted to to lean towards doing death metal as we all love it, so we decided to head to Poland to record at hertz studio as they work with some of the biggest names in the business, Behemoth and Decapitated to name a few. We then found our other guitarist Chris who is a solid player. Henry left the band shortly after and i knew straight away that i wanted Si as i know he has the same love for death and black metal as i do plus his stage performance is for me, one of the best. From there we went on to find our bass player, James, who for someone so young, is amazing. really topped off our sound and brought his knowledge of his instrument with him. Finally we decided to put pressure on ourselves and book studio time for our second E.P without having any songs written. 3 weeks later, 'Negative Creator' was recorded and it has taken on a form and a sound of its own and we couldn't be happier.

2.So far the band has released 2 ep's, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical sound that is present on both recordings and also how do they differ from each other?

(Chris Binns) Well the first E.P, 'The Immutable Aversion' was written with the original vocalist, Henry, contributing to guitars, so there is a bit of him in there and i think if you compared the two, you could pick which were my riffs, haha. i think i brought more of the black metal vibe. I guess the main difference though, is the vocal style. Henry was pure gutteral, which he is amazing at, but what i prefer with Si, is that he has so much range, and you can feel the pain in his highs. It really helps towards bringing out the black metal element of the band, which has kind of happened accidentally. Nothing has been written with that in mind, it just seems to flow from us and also from our producer Rob, who has helped with crafting the sound of the band.

3.The lyrics on the new ep have a concept to them, can you tell us a little bit more about the concept?

(Simon Wright)The concept was made around the idea of the earth being created by a deity that wanted nothing more than the earth to be built upon pure filth and hatred, and for all its creatures living on that earth to cause nothing but pain and suffering amongst themselves, ultimately destroying themselves, the birth, the existence and then the end of a hate filled creation, much like the earth we exist on today 

4.I know that the band name came from Ancient Egyptian Mythology, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this subject?

(simon) i have an absolute love of egyptian mythology so was happy to have been asked to join the band on the name alone.......

(Chris Binns) Well to be honest, our friend Andy came to us with the name. We are all in to our mythology, who wouldn't be, there is so much inspiration with in that stuff. We thought it fit really well with the sound of the band and i still think it fits better than any of the generic sounding names that so many bands adopt these days.

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?

(Simon) To date we have had the honour to have shared the stage with so many of our friends and peers, bands like anaal nathrakh and other bands who are so on top of their game. its playing with bands like this, that have so much aggression, which is what has helped us mould how we perform, there is a pain and suffering in all of us and as a band we want to bring that out not only in each other, but in the people who listen and who want to connect with the music, so our performance on stage, shows our hate and fear, our anger and our hatred.

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

(Simon)The EP has only just been released and so right now we are in the process of booking a tour to fit along side that, next month we will be supporting Nile on their Sheffield date. (Chris Binns) We will be doing a full UK tour and then will be straight back into the studio to begin the making of our first full length album.

7.The new ep came out on Venn Records, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

(Simon)The situation with VENN could not have been any better, Venn was started by the members of the band Gallows after they decided to start putting out music themselves. It is a label that believes in the music it puts out and it also has an extremely varied roster, which means you never know what to expect their next release to sound like. They approached us and offered to distribute the EP after hearing it, things just went from there, but they have been so easy to work with and hopefully we will continue to have a relationship with them in the future.

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

(Simon) So far the feedback we get from the social networking sites and the like has been amazing! we are in the early stages of exporting ourselves a bit more, but the profile in the UK is just getting better and bigger and so that will help us to transport our sound overseas in good time, as the UK has always been well known for its exports of extreme music and hopefully we can be one of the next ones. (Chris) With regards to the people that have heard it and commented, its all positive. We seem to have found something that critics have struggled to define, we get "blackened death metal" a lot, but people seem to draw on a lot more genres too. Which is awesome, we don't want to sound like we are following a trend. We write with feeling and thats how it comes out.

9.Are any of the band members involved with any other musical projects these days?

(Simon) i am involved in a band called krokodil and another band called evisorax.

(Chris Binns) i am involved in another band called Xisforeyes and our bass player, James is an a band called Where Fires Are and chris plays bass in a band called Pteroglyph.

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

(Simon) the full length is well underway in the writing process right now and i feel that it will very much be a follow on from 'Negative Creator', the sound we have established as a band has really formed itself well and i feel we can pick up where we left off, of course there is nothing to say that the songs may not take some other kind of path, we don't want any barriers put on how we write, we never want to have to say, we can't use that riff or that beat because it's not liber necris, we want it to flow in whatever direction it ends up taking. We hope to begin recording it in september/october this year

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?

(Simon) For me i grew up listening to iron maiden, slayer, suicidal tendencies and bands like minor threat and black flag as my brother played these all back when i was young and i would say that all of them most certainly had a major influence on me, everything from their musical capabilities, right down to their live performances.

right now though i'm really digging the Killer be Killed record and God Seed stuff!

(Chris Binns) You have to have Maiden and Slayer in there, but i also grew up loving old cradle of filth which is where my love of black metal came from in the beginning. But i was massively into misfits and danzig and his way of creating atmosphere within his songs, i could listen to those albums in bed to chill out, Tool as well in that respect. At the moment i am loving the new Behemoth album and Altar of Plagues. but i'm also listening to a lot of fusion stuff as i'm trying to push my lead playing further. guitarists like Rick Graham and Tom Quayle, hybrid picking kings.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?

(Simon) Any form of activity that pisses off organised religion, but of course brings no harm to others.

(Chris) I'm too busy trying to write to have any other activities haha. I love film, i'm a huge film geek, old and new.

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

(Simon) Buy the EP and look out for the album and if you are off to see nile, get down early enough to check us out!

(Chris) Stay Negative

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Nangilima Interview

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

Emilio: Hello, and thank you for the interview. 

Well, at this time we are getting ready to write our first full length album. It's been going great with these guys. I was a bit worried when my old bandmate left but now that 

we have made such an awesome new single, I know that this is, and will be, a strong lineup.

2.So far the band has released 2 singles, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical sound on both of the tracks?

On 'Thanathos' (which was written and recorded with my ex bandmate 'C.L.') the sound was a bit different to what the new single contains. The first was more of a ''funeral doomish'' sound with guitar chugs and lots of growls and such but still with the atmosphere that people now expect out of us (the ones that know us, anyway). Even though both songs have different members, that Nangilima sound is still there. When I say that, I mean very atmospheric music expressing the most extreme of emotions, whether it's delving into complete sorrow or fighting to get out of it. Nevertheless, it's there. 'Fractions of a Shattered Soul', now with new members, went more to the ''scream at the top of your lungs' melancholic side. A little more 'blackish' than what Thanathos had (with tremolo, piano in the background, the vocals in a higher register and not so much growling, etc). The doom aspects are still there and always will be. Mainly because we are atmospheric doom but with heavy influence of  atmospheric black. 

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

In the lyrics, I write about emotions most of all. Sorrow, melancholy, hate, but also happiness. It doesn't always have to be this pathetic miserable pouting. Normally it will root in sorrow, but because I feel that in that state, is when you know what you truly want. So I can have a song about feeling as if you're in a bottomless abyss but at the same time striving to get out and have peace of mind. Sometimes, this isn't possible though. In the concept of the upcoming album, which was created and written by me, you will see that that isn't the case. We also touch the subject of nature (or will) because it is a matter of deep importance to us. Humans are destroying the earth at an alarming rate and I write about it, or mention it, as an homage and also to bring across, in our music, that beauty that our planet has to offer if we just open our eyes to see it.

4.I know that the bands name comes from the fantasy novel 'The Brothers Lionheart' by Astrid  Lindgren, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this author?

The name was actually chosen by Nangilimas former member. Since our lyrics are about suffering but wanting to get out of it as well, we felt that the name fit. Nangilima is a paradise within the book that you reach after suffering and dying in the mortal realm and in Nangijala (the realm after life itself). After all the suffering you can endure, soon enough, your peace of mind will come.

5.The band members come from both Sweden and Spain, how do you get the songs organized considering the far distance between both countries?

Well basically, Amarok (guitars/bass) and Khalvst(keys/programming) take care of the instrumentation and send it back and forth to each other and to me in Sweden. We discuss what can be changed or what can stay, etc. Then when that is done, the main file will be sent to me which is when I record the vocals for it. We are in constant contact every step of the way so no one is left out nor do we move on without someone hearing it and having their say in it. The distance does not stop us. It's amazing what you can do with the internet nowadays!

6.The band is signed to Senseless Life Records, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

The label is a british label but Khalvst is co-owner of it as well. The label, when it comes to being very small, is one of the most hardworking I have seen. They strive to press quality products, get partners for promotion and in general to do everything in a professional manner. I have seen many labels that are big fucking jokes but SLR really tries to do things the way they are supposed to be done.

7.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of black, death and doom metal?

I wouldn't say worldwide because we are not that known haha! But we have had some people, as far as we know, from Spain, UK, Canada, USA, Mexico, Italy, Sweden and a few other countries that have heard about us, and really like what they hear. We have yet to hear anything bad about our music. We make it for ourselves first and foremost since we love music and making it as well but it's awesome as well to hear others say they enjoy it too! I guess you could say we are doing something right! 

8.What is going on with the other musical projects these days that some of the band members are involved with?

Amarok has another project named 'Alor' which is a neofolk/dark metal project signed to Northern Silence Productions. A truly amazing project and he is a great musician and I'm glad to be in a band with him.

Khalvst has a black metal project called 'Marahkain' with the other owner of SLR. Their music is like being on a very eery but awesome ride, I'll tell you that! 

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

A full length album can be expected sometime this year. It's hard to say since you can't really rush music. But we do intend for it to be this year. That is our goal. We just won't be one of those bands that shit out 4 mediocre albums every year just for the sake of releasing music. When we release, we will make sure it's quality music that has been crafted carefully.

As for the musical direction of the band, we will never stray from what IS Nangilima. That's really all I can say about that.

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?

I won't name bands because I could be here all fucking day! But for all 3 of us it's pretty much doom, black, folk/black, neofolk, and pretty much anything atmospheric and beautiful really.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

I enjoy reading books, going to places that are full of nature and take it all in and a few other things. There isn't much really because music is involved in almost everything I do! Whether it's listening to albums and updating my collection, or making music, or whatever! It's present all the time and I can't go without it.

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

Yes! Thanks again for the great questions, and thanks to everyone who is reading this because that means that you are interested in what I have to say and also interested in the band. I hope you all like the new single and stay updated because soon enough we will bring you our debut full length. This is just the beginning!

Support the bands and labels and keep this boat afloat! Cheers!

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Liber Necris/Negative Creator/Venn Records/2014 EP Review

  Liber  Necris  are  a  band  from  the  United  Kingdom  that  plays  a  blackened  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  ep  "Negative  Creator"  which  was  released  by  Venn  Records.

  A  very  dark  and  blackened  sound  starts  off  the  ep  before  going  into  a  fast  direction  that  mixes  black  metal  and  grind  together  along  with  a  mixture  of  growls  and  screams  along  with  some  blast  beats  and  brutal  death  metal  elements  and  the  band  also  bring s in a  mixture  of  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  as  well  as  adding  melody  into  their  musical  sound.

  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  bring  a  technical  death  metal  sound  into  the  music  and  they  also  add  in  spoken  word  parts  and  shouts  at  times  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to them,  as  the  ep  progresses  you  can  also  start  hearing  traces  of  the  more   modern  metal  sound  in  their  music  and  on  the  last  track  you  can  hear  a  few  seconds  of  classical  guitars  in  the  background.

  Liber  Necris  takes  the  more  modern  brutal  death  metal  sound  and  adds  in  a  great  amount  of  black  metal  influences  along  with  some  melodic  and  technical  elements  to  create  their  sound,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  and  the  lyrics  cover  a  concept  based  on  a  negative  creator.

  In  my  opinion  Liber  Necris  are  a  very  great  sounding  blackened  death metal   band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Bonded  By  Pure  Hate"  and  "The  Eulogy  For  Our  Earth".  8  out  of  10.

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Dracaris/Self Titled/Senseless Life Records/2014 EP Review

  Dracaris  are  a  band  from  New  York  that  plays  a  blackened  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  titled  2014  ep  which  was  released  by  Senseless  Life  Records.

  A  very  heavy  and  brutal  death  metal  sound  starts  off  the  ep  along  with  some  growling  vocals  and  after  awhile  the  music  starts  getting  more  fast  and  incorporating  blast  beats  along  with  some  of  the  guitars  and  vocals  utilizing  more  black  metal  influences  and  the  band  also  brings  in  a  mixture  of  slow.  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

  The guitar  solos  and  leads  seem  to  be  heavily  influenced  by  classic  metal  an d the  music  also  starts  to  get  melodic  on  some  of  the  other  tracks  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sounding  very  powerful  along  with  the  music  really  starting  to  become  a  mixture  of  black  and  brutal  death  metal.

  As  the  ep  progresses  the  music  gets  more  diverse  along  with  some  modern  black  metal  elements  being  mixed  in  with  death  metal  and  some  of  the guitar  riffing  starts  incorporating  more  death/thrash  influences  while  also  remaining  true  to  a  blackened  death  metal  sound  and  they  also  add  in  a  small  amount  of  doom   on  a  couple  of  the  tracks  as  well  as  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  ritualistic  parts.

  Dracaris  bring  a  very  dark  sound  to  blackened  death  metal  with  their  music  as  well  as  showing  you  can  be  very  diverse,  dark,  heavy  and  brutal  all  at  the  same  time,  the production  has  a  very  dark  and  powerful  sound  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark,  occult  and  philosophical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Dracaris  are  a  very  great  sounding  blackened  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Calling"  and  "Dodecahedron".  8  out  of  10.

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Nangilima/Thanathos/Senseless Life Records/2013 Single Review

 

  Nangilima  are  a  band  from  Sweden  that  plays  a  very  atmospheric  and  blackened  form  of  doom/death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  single  "Thanathos"  which  was  released  by  Senseless  Life  Records.

  The  song  starts  out  with  melodic  guitar leads  before  going  into  a  more  funeral  doom  metal  direction  as  well  as  sticking  to  a  slow  direction  and  they  also  add  in  clean  parts  which  have  a  post  metal  feeling  to  them  which  also  leads  up  to  some  deep  death  metal  vocals  and  after  awhile  the  music  starts  to  get  more  atmospheric  in  sound  as  well  as  adding  in  a  small  amount  of  synths,  halfway  through  the  song  acoustic  guitars  and  spoken  word  parts  become  a  part  of  the  music  while  also  retaining  a  heavy  and  dark  atmosphere  which  also  leads  to  a  more  fast  black  metal  direction  along  with  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats  and  back  to  a  doom  metal  direction.

  Nangilima  show  a  good  amount  of  diversity  with  their  song  with  the  music  being  mostly  based  in  funeral  doom  metal  while  also  having  a  decent  amount  of  death  and  black  metal  elements  along  with  a  good  amount  of  melody,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  the  lyrics  cover  mythology  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Nangilima  are  a  very  great  sounding  atmospheric,  blackened  funeral  doom/death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  single.  8  out  of  10.

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Sektor/Alpha/Rebirth The Metal Productions/2014 CD Review

  Sektor  are  a  band  from  Germany  that  plays  a  blackened  form  of  death/thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Alpha"  which  was  released  by  Rebirth  The  Metal  productions.

  Dark  sounds  start  off  the  album  before  the  music  goes  into  a  more  heavy  blackened  death  metal  direction  along  with  blast  beats,  a  mixture  of  growls  and  screams  and  some  technical  elements  and  when  solos  and  leads  are  added  into  the  music  the  album  has  a  more  melodic  feeling  and  the  band  also  has  a  very  modern  sound  to  them.

  On  the other  tracks  the  band  adds  more  melodies  into  the  guitar  riffing  while  also  keeping  a  very  heavy  sound  around  and  at  times  they  bring  in  more  brutal  sounds  into  their  blackened  death  metal  approach  as  well  as  having  some  traces  of  groove  and  thrash  metal  which  is  also  mixed  in  with  the  vocals  at  times  but  in  a  way  more  aggressive  manner.

  As  the album  progresses  the  black  metal  influence  starts  to  have  a  more  dominant  manner  in  the  music  while  death  and  thrash  are  still  a  huge  part  of  the  music  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  almost  all  of  the  songs  have  a  different  sound  to t hem  while  you  can  still tell  it  is  the  same  band  playing  them  all.

  Sektor  create  a  truly  diverse  and  heavy  sound  with  their  music  while  the  main  factor  in  their  sound  is  blackened  death  metal  they  also  bring  in  modern  thrash  and  groove  metal  elements  along  with  a  good  amount  of  melody  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  is  very  professional  sounding  and  the  lyrics  cover  dark,  hateful  and  violent  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Sektor  are  a  very  great  sounding  blackened  death/thrash  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Question"  "Takeover"  "Social  Predator"  and  "Ritual".  8  out  of  10.

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My Doppelganger Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band
“V”(guitar):This group is first and foremost a meeting. People who want to make music together.
Life makes you sometimes meet people with whom you would like more than trade, which have a convergent vision of what could give a collaboration. This is true in all areas.
My Doppelgänger is the result of what might be called the ‘universal alchemy’. Five persons meets together and find that some part of their soul shines on the same wavelength, here the music. Despite different sensitivities, this vibration comes from the same source and they decide to share it.
My Doppelgänger is this common source and this vibration on the same mode.

2.You have a musical sound on the album that is very hard to classify, can you tell us a little bit more about your musical sound
It’s normal, you listen to the music created by five musicians with radically different inspirations!
If we were a panel, the panel would sweep the whole of what may be called the Rock. Since, blues to black metal, to punk, hardcore, heavy!
We refused censorship during the creation of this album. So each piece bears a panel after all, we tried to mix for each of us found inside.
This is also the concept of this album. As the complexities of the human brain, you travel the great American western to the steppes of Russia, through a rainy day in Tuscany, in the tent of an abandoned circus... in short, a world in a cranial box.
It’s socially correct to want to categorize each person. Music, our music wants to escape.


3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music
Who are you? How to live in a society whose codes you are strangers whom you naturally can not join.
So you're dissolved in the mass, but your own nature reappeared whatever you do.


4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'My Doppelganger'
We all have our doubles.
We are animals who try to live together. We have a face for community life and an individualistic face that causes us to act individually, as the predator that we have in ourselves


5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance
Doppelgänger is a brand new project! We have not made any show with this project. But we’re working on it …

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future
We are a self production. We do not have any manager or team working to organize tour. We are working alone.
If you have some plan for a tour in the States, you're welcome!
Seriously this is one of the problems of the music today. There has never been so many opportunities to share your music. But to produce you on stage, without a label, it's very complicated.

7.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest
Not at the moment, the album was released there soon.
Its harder to do it yourself, but then you’re proud of any little result you can get from it !
If we have an interesting opportunity, why not, we are open and aware that it would open another door to this project.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of metal and rock
Well you see, today, the only feedback we come from the world, as you. Beeing a french band makes it harder only in France !
Most of the French webzines are more interested foreign groups, it’s the complete oposite in Germany : they support their bands more than the others !

9.What is going on with the other musical projects these days that some of the band members are involved with
Alex(guitar) and Antoine(drums) are recording a new Lonewolf album, Will (vocals) has a lot of bands (Dusty Pain, Syr daria, Heavynessiah) and is busy with all of them !


10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future
We had a lot of fun to produce this album. Why not continue, the pleasure is the essence of music. Right?
We still have stories to tell, music to write and fun moments to expect !

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
Guns n’ Roses (and Slash’s carrier) , Metallica, Iron Maiden, but also Lynyrd Skynyrd Blackfoot, Rolling Stones, CCR, Dire Straits , Uriah Heep… As you may have heard, we love a lot of musical styles !

12.What are some of your non musical interests
Good drinks and good food (we’re French !!)
Engineering and Saab cars collecting !

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

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Infest/Cold Blood War/Xtreem Music/2014 CD Review

  Infest  are  a  band  from  Serbia  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  blackened  form  of  death/thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Cold  Blood  War"  which  was  released  by  Xtreem  Music.

  Sounds  of  war  start  off  the  album  along  with  spoken  word  parts  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  a  very  fast,  heavy  and  brutal  death/thrash  sound  along  with  blast  beats  and  early  death  metal  style  growls  that  are  also  very  close  to  thrash  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  added  into  the  music,  the  album  really  starts  to  have  a  more  dark  and  old  school  sound  to  it  as  well  as  the  band  adding more  melody  in  their  song  structures  and  you  can  hear  the  black/death  metal  elements  in  the  more  brutal  sounding  sections  of  their  music.

  The  music  on  the  album  has  a  very  old  school  sound  from  beginning  to  end  and  goes  back  to  the  days  when  thrash  was  evolving  into  death  metal  as  well  as  the  band  bringing  in  some  of  the  early  90's  Polish  death  metal  sound  to  make  their  music  sound  a  lot  more  heavier  and  in certain  sections  of  the  recording  the  vocals  also  start  having  a  blackened  tinge  in t he  high  pitched  screams.

  Infest  continue  their  blackened  old  school  death/thrash  metal  sound  with  this  album  taking  the  best  elements  of  mid  80's  to  early  90's  underground  metal  and  updating  it  for  the  modern  day,  the  production  sound s very  powerful  and  the  lyrics  cover  darkness,  occult,  violent,  anti  religion  and  war  themes.
  
  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Infest  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  blackened  death/thrash  metal,  you  should c heck  out t his  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Destroyer  Of  Their  Throne"  "Among  the  Fallen  ones"  "Demonic  Wrath"  and  "Terror  Lord".  8  out  of  10.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0Bk7-l1Jt8 

The Lustmord Interview

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

Anthony Lustmord: We've had a lot to do recently. We just wrapped up a mini tour with Green Jello. We're members of Green Jello for when Bill comes to Arizona. So that was fun and very hectic and chaotic but everytime we work with Bill it is a huge learning experience for us. We're also working on new material for a new album.


2.Recently you have released a new ep, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical sound of the new recording?

Anthony Lustmord: The music is a mix from older songs and a couple of new songs. We had 4 different guitarists on this album, so each one brought their own style onto the album. We have elements of Raw black metal, old school death metal, east coast thrash, and melodic death metal. All of the different guitar styles
are brought together with our signature drum, bass and vocal style. Daniel Beck and Rock Rollain play so tight and have a distinct sound it doesn't matter what the guitarist is playing we're going to make it sound like us. I'd say we managed to come up with a solid album within the old school blackened death metal genre.


3.There has not been much new material released in the last few years, can you tell us a little bit more about it?

Anthony Lustmord: Honestly we've had a hard time keeping guitarists. They either quit or we have to fire them. That's one of the reasons why we called the album Trapped In Purgatory, as the band has literally been trapped in purgatory in a sense. I was also very ill for a little over a year, where I was nearly dead and bedridden. So that took up a big chunk of time.


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

Anthony Lustmord: Mostly grief, loss, death, murder, love, occult/horror topics.


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

Anthony Lustmord: As of this time I cannot comment on the band name, we are currently involved in a legal dispute over the name right now. I do apologize for the situation.


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

Anthony Lustmord: After every show we discuss our show and give it a little rating. We all have different ideas of what makes a successful show. We've played shows infront of 10,000 people and others infront of 5 people. Some of my favorite shows have been ones where I've surprised myself. Such an example is last year we played with Nile, we went on right before them, we were having member issues at that time and we were about to fire our guitarist and he knew he was on his way out, so we didn't get a lot of practice in and he was playing things incorrectly. We sort of figured we would have an issue at the show, but when it was all said and done we played our set perfectly and the crowd was louder for us than they were for Nile and had a bunch of the crowd yelling at Nile between songs to bring us back up (which I don't endorse doing that, especially to a band as great as Nile) but it's one of those cool moments that happen every now and again. In terms of our stage show, we're a straight forward band, we don't wear matching outfits, or do any back to back synchronized headbanging or any of that. We get up and we perform. Each member does something specific to them that brings their own flare, but honestly we're a no gimmick band, we get up and put our intensity out there, and people seem to like it.


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

Anthony Lustmord: We're working on touring plans for this summer/fall. With our current legal situation it has caused a little delay but we have some things booked. We're playing May 3rd at the Wild Wild Fest and then later that night at a VIP show. We're co-headlining the fest on the "metal stage" with Murder Death Kill.


8.The new ep was released on the bands own label, are you open to working with other labels again in the future?

Anthony Lustmord: We're open to the idea depending on the situation. We had a couple labels that wanted to release the EP, but none of them could do anything for us. Lustmord Entertainment has distribution through Universal Music Group, so when you have the largest label in the world pushing your music you really don't have any reason to work with any other label especially when they can't offer us anywhere near the distribution we have on our own. Then you have to think about finances, why would we give a label 70% or more to do less than we can do on our own. Even larger labels can't compete with our distribution.
This album has proven that we have the ability to sell a lot of copies and we have pushed it and we're working with a great PR company so we have everything available to us that any of the top labels have. So there would have to be a large financial deal in place from any other label we would work with and they would have to be able to match or allow us to retain our distribution rights. Now that being said, it is a goal to work with METAL BLADE RECORDS. They have our favorite bands, and have been the best in metal since the 80's so if they ever offer anything we would probably take it.


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

Anthony Lustmord: So far we haven't heard any negative feedback really. There was one review that listed our album 5 out of 10, but for the most part we took that as constructive criticism. We can't please everyone, and we're really not trying to. But we listen to all reviews and fans and like to hear everyones opinion on our music, this way we can see what we need to work on, and what we can keep and perfect. But so far, people have reacted in a positive way and been nothing but supportive.


10.What is going on with the other musical projects these days that some of the band members are involved with?

Anthony Lustmord: Our guitarist Ivan and fill in bass player Katt are in a band called Element A440, they won the Project Independent contest for 2013 so they were put on tour and won a ton of endorsements. They play fairly often in Arizona and neighboring areas. They have an album out now you can get more info at http://www.facebook.com/elementa440.music

Rock Rollain is waiting around for Allen West so they can do more work on Southwicked. He is also doing two cover bands called Never 2 Strong, and Sneaky Pete.

Daniel Beck is also drumming in a traditional heavy metal outfit called Crimson Reign they're currently working on a new album as well. Daniel and myself also run Lustmord Entertainment so we are looking for some quality bands and would like to invite any bands reading this interview to submit material to us.


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

Anthony Lustmord: There isn't any doubt in our minds that we're going to be making the billboard charts soon, if not with this album then with our next one. Our music will only get tighter with time. Our line-up is the best that it's ever been, we have people in the band that actually want to be in the band and they work hard to do what needs to get done. We're going to keep getting better and evolving. We're working on coming up with some video ideas as we plan on pushing 1-2 videos for Trapped In Purgatory.


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?

Anthony Lustmord: Old School bands like Acheron, Deicide, Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse, Obituary, Dismember bands like Laaz Rocket, The Loudness, Wasp, Kalmah, Catamenia, Six Feet Under, Danzig,
Motorhead. All of those bands and hundreds more has some form of influence on the band.

I don't like to listen to metal when i'm working on a new album, so stuff I listen to are bands like Nine Inch Nails, Bootsy Collins, Slyfox (I'm a big Mudbone fan) Taco, Daniel is an all metal all the time kind of guy, he is into Chris Holmes, Morbid Angel, Suffocation, Ratt, Motley Crue, Kiss, Cannibal Corpse. Rollain, well he's just the bass player so no one cares about what he listens to... and Ivan listens to a little bit of everything, he is kept pretty busy between us and Element, but I know he just saw Kataklysam, and Carcass over the last couple weeks.


13.What are some of your non musical interests?

Anthony Lustmord: All the usual stuff I suppose. We all go to concerts, go out to movies, fine dining. I'm trying to teach these guys the value of wearing fine clothes. Ric Flair taught me how to dress pretty much, I contacted him one day and asked him to teach me how to style and profile. So ever since then I've started a nice suit collection. I'm also very into gaming so that is something I spend a lot of time on. Day z, GTA 5, Fallout series, Elder Scrolls, I'm into all of those types of games and it keeps me fairly busy.


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

Anthony Lustmord: I'd like to thank you for taking the time to interview us. We would like to thank your readers for taking time to read this interview, and for hopefully purchasing our album Trapped In Purgatory.  If you want to add us on facebook you can add ANTHONY LUSTMORD or facebook.com/alustmord you can visit our official site at www.thelustmord.com the label site is www.lustmordentertainment.com you can find our album on Sony Music Unlimited, iTunes, Amazon, and hundreds of other online retail stores you can find a list of direct links at www.lustmord.us/store.html
Thank you again for the interview, anytime you have any follow up questions we're happy to answer! If anyone reading this wants to gig swap or book us or would like to set up a split album get in touch and we are happy to make it happen.

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