Whore of Bethlehem Interview

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

Since the album has been released we've been gigging around Texas to promote the album and have had a great response. Even though the album was only recently released, we haven't really slowed down on writing. We have half an album worth of new material already and we're completely stoked with how intense the new songs are.

2.In May you had self released your first full length, how would you describe the musical sound that is present on the recording and also how does it differ from demo you had released in 2012?

We are all very satisfied with the way the album came out. It has top notch production, everyone performed great, and it's aggressive from start to finish. I'd say the major difference from the album and the demo is the musicianship is a little tighter and the lyrics/vocals have changed due to a new vocalist and second guitarist.

3.Your lyrics cover some satanic, occult and anti christian topics, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in these topics?

I've covered many topics in the different projects I've been in over the years. I got the opportunity to front WoB and decided to completely change the lyrics to make them more evil and anti christian to match the theme of the band. None of the members of the band are vehemently satanic or anything. I'd say we lean more toward the atheist route in our personal lives and have a general distaste for organized religion. The majority of the band grew up listening to bands with evil themes/lyrics like Slayer, Deicide, Dark Funeral, etc... So evil death metal is inherently in our blood.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Whore Of Bethlehem'?
The name was brought about long before I was a member of the band. The guitarist (and original vocalist) Ryan had been trying to come up with a blasphemous in your face name that would stick in peoples minds. He happened to catch a set by the band Archgoat and was inspired by them so he decided to name them after one of their albums. Our sound differs from theirs quite a bit, however.


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

Some of the best shows we play are shows that have mixed metal genres when it comes to crowd response and exposure. We also recently played the Building Temples from Death fest and had some killer pit action. However, our most memorable thus far in my opinion is the show we played with Nile. They were touring by themselves and we were the only other band for that particular gig, it was a great time. My drummer thought it would be funny to try and get Karl Sanders to sign his autograph on a picture of himself with Gary Busey's face photoshopped on it. At first glance he was going to sign it and then he noticed those gigantic Gary Busey chicklet teeth. Needless to say, he declined to sign his autograph. We all had a good laugh on that one.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
In October we're a supporting act for the Carnival of Death tour in Austin TX with Suffocation, Kataklysm, Pyrexia, Internal Bleeding, and Jungle Rot as well as the Deicide tour with Septic Flesh, Inquisition, Absmal Dawn, and Carach Angren. We have some unannounced fest opportunities on the horizon in the U.S... Also, in November we are taking a mini tour hitting 5 different states in 6 days . We will be performing alongside some great acts including Cancer Whore, Unmerciful, Face of Oblivion, Disinter, and many others...

7.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
We are a hard working band and self released our album because we couldn't wait around for label offers. I feel that legitimate labels want to see the band put in the hard work and invest the money, skill, and effort on their own before the label decides to invest in them. And so hopefully this release can snag the attention of a promising label looking for our unique brand.

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

So far the response that we've gotten has been great... We are selling our album through our website via physical copy and digital download and also through our bandcamp. We haven't gotten worldwide distribution just yet, but that comes with a label. We've just begun to scratch the surface.

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

For the most part, everyone has put their other projects in a state of hibernation or quit entirely. Our drummer Rene and guitarist Ryan have a band called Scattered Remains that has been put on hold to make time for WoB. Phil King has a couple personal recording projects that he brings back to life from time to time to exploit his musical creativity but they aren't full bands. He also used to play 2nd guitar in Disfigured (also with Rene on drums) but the band has since retired. I (James) had a band called Perversum that released a demo and fell apart shortly after. I also replaced Shawn Whitaker in Uncleansed for a couple years before quitting and joining Whore of Bethlehem. Rene is still active in Flesh Hoarder and plays session live drums for Diminished.

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

I feel we've found our unique style and we plan on staying true to that formula to some extent. The material we've written for the second album so far has been faster and more crushing but definitely embodies the same sort of feel that we achieved in the first album.

11.What would you consider the top 5 albums for both death and black metal?
I'd say for me personally my top 5 for death metal would be...
Monstrosity- In Dark Purity
Deicide- Once Upon the Cross
God Dethroned- Ravenous
Suffocation- Pierced from Within
Nile- In their Darkened Shrines
and for black metal I'd say...
Dark Funeral-Diabolis Interium
Naglfar- Sheol
Negator-Panzer Metal
Dimmu Borgir- Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia
Infernal War-Redesekration: The Gospel of Hatred and Apotheosis of Genocide

12.What are some of your non musical interests?
I'm a big fan of traveling and hiking/camping. The guitarists and bassist are big gamers. Our drummer is into sports and also is an admin for a facebook page called "putting lars ulrich's face on things." Any ridiculous picture you can fathom seems to become even more absurd with ol' lars plastered on it.

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Yes, thanks for your interest in Whore of Bethlehem! If there's any fans out there be sure to check out our website for merchandise and up to date info on the band. Also anyone interested in hearing the album streaming can do so at our bandcamp page. Keep it evil and keep supporting extreme metal!
www.whoreofbethlehem.com
http://whoreofbethlehem.bandcamp.com

Emrevoid/Riverso/Drown Within Records/2014 EP Review

  Emrevoid  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  a  blackened  from  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  ep  "Riverso"  which  was  released  by  Drown  Within  Records.

  A  very  distorted  and  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  ep  along  with  some  powerful  sounding  bass  guitars  and  a  mixture  of  growls  and  screams  and  after  a  couple  of  minutes  melodic  clean  singing  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  the  band  takes  some  elements  of  Norwegian  style  black  metal  and  mix's  it  with  some  brutal  death  metal  as  well  as  adding  in  a  progressive  touch.

  Blast  beats  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  in  some  of  the  slower  parts  you  can  hear  a  small  amount  of  spoken  word  parts,  as  the  ep  moves  on  into  other  songs  you  can  start  hearing  a  bit  of  the  90's  death  metal  style  along  with  a  a  touch  of grindcore  being  mixed  in  with  their  blackened  approach  to  metal  and  the  later  tracks  also  shows  the  band  incorporating  more  melody  into  the  guitar  riffing.

  Emrevoid  takes  a  brutal  and  old  school  style  of  death  metal  and  combines  it  wit h a  goof  amount  of  black  metal  elements  to  create  some  very  sounding  music  that  stands  out  on  its  own,  the  production  sounds  very  heavy  and  powerful  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Italian  and  cover  human  violence,  environment,  society,  and  politics.

  In  my  opinion  Emrevoid  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  "Mostro"  and  "Riverso".  8  out  of  10.

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/emrevoid/info?tab=page_info
BUY: http://emrevoid.bandcamp.com/



   

Sonus Mortis Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the musical project?
1. Was previously the bassist in a melodic death metal band called Valediction but once we disbanded in 2012, a year later I setup Sonus Mortis, which is a one man band/studio project from Ireland focusing on a mix of death-doom metal with some symphonic/black leanings. Some just call it dark metal which is a good encompassing term for the music presented.
The project really came about because I had a lot of material that didn't really suit Valediction and the material was building up after the band finished up. So I decided to go into Trackmix Studios in 2013 where we recorded the Valediction debut album and I recorded a 3 song demo there. I was pretty happy with the results so I decided I would continue with it.

2.In March you had released a new album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the demo you had released in 2013?
2. The album 'Propaganda Dream Sequence' is a concept album and with that, I wanted a certain sound to go along with it, a common theme associated with the riffing/vocal lines/synths etc. The sound is more focused on the album. The demo is a bit darker, a bit more raw on the production end of things.  I’ve set out what I wanted to achieve on the album but I will be returning to that demo sound again in the future.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects you explore with your music?
 3. The concept album explores a futuristic dystopia where government controls every aspect of peoples lives.  Apathy is strife; there is no enjoyment/emotion in the process of life anymore. Governments have installed machines where they inject propaganda into peoples dreams. The narrator from the start of the album realises this, struggling with coming to terms with it all but starts to recode the machines to bring other people to this realisation. Topics like religion, apathy, privacy, government, censorship, death are all linked into this story.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Sonus Mortis'?
4. It’s basically the Latin for ‘Sound of death’. Sonus can also mean noise/style. I find it quite hard to think up decent band names nowadays that haven’t been used but I really think this links up well with the music.

5.With this project you record everything by yourself but you also have experience working with a whole band, how would you compare being solo to working with a full line-up?
 5. It is tough in the recording phase doing everything yourself but I absolutely love having full control over the creative process. I would have been uneasy at times when someone would change a riff or structure of a song I wrote, obviously sometimes this can work out for the best so I do lose that scope but overall I prefer working on my own. I can’t blame anyone anymore now haha. With a full line-up you are gigging, connecting with more bands/people and getting the word of your band out there. Now I solely rely on the internet, be it social media like blogs/youtube/bandcamp/facebook and word of mouth. I was never mad into gigging and it became a complete drain for me, overtime it was zapping my interest so I’m happy where I am at now with music.

6.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
6. Haven’t looked and no interest. A lot of labels will be interested in bands that will tour, go out onto the road, and have a good history of previous shows, supporting good bands, a lot of determination and pure effort needed. It’s not something I envision for Sonus Mortis, right now anyway. If there was a label interested in distribution/promotion for the albums then I would love to see where that would lead. DIY is working out for me anyway for the moment; there is something nice about sending people your album directly.

7.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of black, doom and death metal?
7. It has been good so far. I have been sending albums to so many places I never thought I would be. Places like Japan, Singapore, Austria, Germany, US, Russia, Italy, Poland to name a few. It is nice to hear feedback from those people also, or being asked to go play in Greece, even sign the album haha.

8.Are you currently involved with any other musical projects these days?
8. No unfortunately I would not be able to commit to anything else.  My creative thoughts lie solely with Sonus Mortis music.

9.Where do you see yourself heading into musically during the future?
9. I actually have a path set out for the project. I have over 40 songs written and I’m still writing, wrote 2 songs this week. I’m starting to bunch them together, be it doom/death/black type of songs. I have another 3 albums ready to go if I wanted. But I want to get it right and not rush, these songs can and probably will change over time. For the second album I want it to be more symphonic death akin to Septicflesh, Shade Empire. I have the songs ready to record just need to set the dates but first I really need to practice as they are much faster than the debut songs. Then for the third album I want it to hark back to the demo material. So there is plenty to look forward to. I feel there is a time limit on this kind of thing, Sonus Mortis won’t be around forever and I will make do with this time now while I still have the passion for it.

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?
10. If you asked me 10 years ago I would have said NIN, Marilyn Manson, Fear Factory haha. Anathema, Septicflesh, Katatonia, My Dying Bride, Funeral, Paradise Lost, Nevermore, Hypocrisy, Dimmu Borgir are the mainstream bands I would listen to on occasion. Also love film scores/classical music. But as time has gone on I find myself going more towards the underground for music to inspire me. The Howling Void is a brilliant one man symphonic funeral death metal project for example and right now I’m listening to the album ‘Earthless’ by Doom:vs, quality death-doom check it out. There is also some quality Irish underground bands that are releasing material on par with international standards, bands like Dichotomy, Malthusian, Slidhr, Darkest Era, Vile Regression, Dead Label, Ilenkus, I’m sure I’m missing a good few, I mean, the list is expanding and that is only a good thing for the growth of underground music here in Ireland.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?
11. PC Gaming. Nothing beats it.

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
12. Please check out www.sonusmortis.com or www.facebook.com/sonusmortisband for news and updates on the upcoming second album ‘War Prophecy’. You can stream music for free from http://sonusmortis.bandcamp.com/

Thanks for the interview and supporting underground Irish metal

Arroganz/Tod & Teufel/FDA Rekotz/2014 CD Review

  Arroganz  are  a  band  from  Germany  that has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  very  brutal  form  of  blackened  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Tod  &  Teufel"  which  will  be  released  in  November  by  FDA  Rekotz.

  A  very  distorted  and  melodic  sound  starts  off  the  album  and  a  few  seconds  later  spoken  word  parts  are  added  into  the  music  and  after  the  intro  the  music  starts  to  get  a  lot  more  heavy  along  with  some  grim  black  metal  screams  and  deep  death  metal  growls  and  after  awhile  blast  beats  are  added  into  the  music.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  with  the  faster  parts  being  very  brutal  and  the  slower  sections  having  some  elements  of  doom  metal  to  them  and  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  along  with  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

  When  solos  and  leads  are  added  into  the  music  they  add  more  melody  into  the  bands  musical  style  and  they  also  have  some  distortion  pedal  effects  being  utilized  at  times  and  they  are  only  utilized  rarely  with  the  music  focusing  more  on  a  brutal  style  of  blackened  death  metal  and  there  is  never  a  soft  moment  present  anywhere  on  this  recording.

  Arroganz  creates  some  very  brutal  blackened  death  metal  on  this  recording  while  also  having  a  decent  amount  of  melody  and  slow  doom  metal  riffs  which  makes  their  style  have  more  of  an  original  feeling,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Satanism  and  Occultism  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  album  from  Arroganz  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  enjoy  this  recording,  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "One  Death"  "Demon's  Heart"  "All  Light  Is  A  Lie"  and  "Alles".  8  out  of  10.

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Whore Of Bethlehem/Under Judas Throne/2014 CD Review

  Whore  Of  Bethlehem  are  a  band  from  Texas  that  plays  a  very  brutal  and  blackened  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2014  album  "Under  Judas  Throne".

  A  very  dark  and  heavy  old  school  death  metal  sound  starts  off  the  album  which  leads  up  to  a  faster  direction  along  with  some  brutal  blast  beats  and  growling  vocals  and  a  few  seconds  later  black  metal  screams  are  added  into  the  music  and  after  awhile  the  band  starts  to  bring  in  a  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

  You  can  hear  some  elements  of  some  of  the  more  modern  satanic  and  occult  black  metal  bands in  their  musical  sound  while  their  music  is  more  rooted  in  a  brutal  death  metal  direction  and  when  solos  and  leads  are  added  into  the  album  it  gives  the  band  more  of  a  melodic  edge  and  some  of  the  melodies  end  up  in  the  riffing  at  times  and  also  gives  the  slower  parts  a  slight  doom  metal  feeling  at  times  and  on  some  of  the  later  tracks  you  can  hear  a  slight  thrash  influence.

  Whore  of  Bethlehem  takes  a  very  brutal  style  of  death  metal  and  mixes it  in  with  the  more  evil  side  of  black  metal  to  create  some  very  heavy  and  blasphemous  music,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  be  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  Satanism,  Occultism,  and  Anti  Christian  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Whore  Of  Bethlehem  are  a  very  great  sounding  brutal  blackened  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Upon  Judas  Throne"  "Christ  Crusher"  "Leviathan's  Crown"  and  "Conjuring  Your  Death".  8  out  of  10.

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Obsessor/Assassins Of The Pentagram/Deathstrike Records/2014 CD Review

  Obsessor  are  a  band  from  Germany  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black,  thrash  and  speed  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Assassins  Of  The  Pentagram"  which  was  released  by  Deathstrike  Records.

  Dark  sounding  synths  start  off  the  album  giving  the  recording  more  of  a  horror  movie  atmosphere  and  a  few  seconds  later  the  music  starts  getting  more  heavier  and  brings  in  an  80's  style  black  metal  sound  that  also  incorporates  powerful  sounding  bass  guitars  and  melodic  guitar  leads  which  also  leads  up  to  more  elements  of  thrash  and  speed  metal  being  added  into  the  music.

  When  vocals  are  added  into  the  music  they  are  very  aggressive  using  growls  that  are  close  to  early  death  metal  and  the  melodic  screams  of  early  Destruction  and  Sarcofago  and  when  solos  are  added  into  the  music  they  continue  the  old  school  black/thrash  metal  tradition  of  the  bands  musical  style.

   After  awhile  the  vocals  start  bringing  in  some  high  pitched  screams  that  are  close  to  early  90's  black  metal  along  with  some  back  up  thrash  gang  vocals  and  after  a  few  songs  that  are  in  a  raw  retro  black/thrash  direction  the  band  adds  in  a  brief  use  of  clean  playing  which  leads  up  to  some  blast  beats  into  their  heavy  musical  style.

  Obsessor  plays  a  very  raw  and  aggressive  mixture  of  first  wave  black  metal,  thrash  and  speed  metal  with  their  music  bringing  back  a  style  of  black  metal  that  has  not  been  done  that  musical  over  the  years  as  well  as  being  aggressive  than  most  of  today's  retro  bands,  the  production  sounds very  raw,  heavy  and  old  school  while  the  lyrics  cover  Satanism,  and  Occultism  along  with  a  good  amount  of  Blasphemy.

  In  my  opinion  Obsessor  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  black,  thrash  and  speed  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Sacrificial  Lust"  "Necromancer"  "Possession  Of  Witchery"  and  "Assassins  Of  The  Pentagram".  8/5  out  of  10.

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Witching Hour/Where Pale Winds Take Them High../Undercover Records/2014 EP Review

  Witching  Hour  are  a  band  from  Germany  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  ep  "Where  Pale  Winds  Take  Them   High..."  which  was  released  by  Undercover  Records.

  Drum  beats  and  a  melodic  NWOBHM  sound  starts  off  the  ep  along  with  soem  powerful  sounding  bass  lines  and  after  a  couple  of  minutes  the  music  starts  going  more  into  a  mid  80's  style  of  black/thrash  metal  along  with  some  grim  vocals  which  also  have  the  melodic  edge  of  the  first  wave  bands.

  Blast  beats  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  the  solos  and  leads  the  band  uses  have  more  of  a  melodic  and  traditional  metal  sound  to  them  and  all  of  the  tracks  sound  like  they  could  of  been  recorded  doing  the  80's  wit h the  music  being  mostly  in  the  first  wave  black  metal  style  but  with  a  more  melodic  vocal  approach  and  at  time s you  can  hear  elements  of  speed  metal  in  the  bands  musical  sound  and  the  last  track  is  all  instrumental.

    Witching  Hour  plays  a  style  of  black  metal  that  goes  back  to  the  80's  style  with  no  traces  of  the  second  wave  style  while  they  also  bring  in  vocals  that  are  rough  and  melodic  but  more  close  to  the  thrash/speed  metal  bands  of  that  era  and  the  melodies  bring  in  a  tinge  of  NWOBHM  and  if  this  was  recorded  30  years  ago  it  would  of  been  considered  a  legendary  recording,  the production  sound s very  old  school  yet  professional  at  the  same  time  while  the  lyrics  cover  Satanism  and  Occultism  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Witching  Hour  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  first  wave  black  metal  and  thrash  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "So  I've  Chosen  Death"  and  "Long  Way  Off...  In  Silent  Nights".  8  out  of  10.

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Black Jesus/Everything Black, Everything Dead/Grindhead Records/2014 CD Review

  Black  Jesus  are  a  band  from  Australia  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black,  death  and  thrash  metal  with  a  touch  of  grind  and  hardcore  punk  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Everything  Black,  Everything  Dead"  which  was  released  by  Grindhead  Records.

  A  very  distorted  sound  along  with  radio  samples  start  off  the  album  before  adding  in  some  heavy  guitars  and  after  the  intro  the  music  starts  adding  in  more  of  an  early  90's  style  of  death  grind  along  with  a  mixture  of  growls  and  screams  and  a  good  amount  of  blast  beats  and  when  solos  and  leads  are  added  into  the  music  they  bring  in  some  d  beat  elements  and  Swedish  influences.

  On  some  of  the  tracks  the  vocals  start  utilizing  more  high  pitched  blackened  metal  screams  and  all  of  the  tracks  sound  like  they  could  of  easily  been  released  in  1991  and  the  band  ignores  all  modern  trends  to  focus  more  on  a  very  dark,  raw  and  heavy  sound  and  the  riffing  also  uses  a  decent  amount  of  morbid  sounding  melodies  and  as  the  album  progresses  the  band  starts  bringing  in  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  on  th e last  track  spoken  word  parts  are  added  into  the  music.  

  Black  Jesus  goes  back  to  the  mid  80's  and  early  90's  style  of  death  metal  and  grindcore  and  add  in  a  good  amount  of  black  and  thrash  metal  influences  to  create  an  album  that  is  very  heavy,  raw  and  old  school  sounding,  the  production  sound s very  retro  yet  professional  at  the  same  time  while  the  lyrics  cover  horror,  gore,  violent  and  anti  christian  themes.

   In  my  opinion  Black  Jesus  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  black,  death,  thrash  metal  and  grindcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Everything  Black,  Everything  Dead"  "Legacy  Of  Hate"  "We're  All  Zombies"  and  "Born  In  A  Tomb".  8/5  out  of  10.

https://grindheadrecords.bandcamp.com/album/everything-black-everything-dead    

Orbseven Interview

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

Orbseven is a solo project out of South Texas. It’s a very experimental project that grounds itself in extreme metal. There are different approaches that make up the sounds of Orbseven such asambient and trance-like segments but the foundation will always be metal.

2. Recently you have released a new album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the new recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

Each album is quite different from the other and they each have their own character. With the new album ".ismos." I went further into the ambient side of Orbseven than the metal side to the point where it could actually be a precise split of a 50/50 metal/ambient album. With the first album "The Linear Divide", it was really my first attempt at doing something alone and not in a competitive band setting. And 90% of the material was already written by the time I started recording.
So it has this very primitive and dirty sound to it. The music itself is a sound combination of death and black metal in that it’s pretty raw and gritty but it has its progressive elements here and there.
There's also a sort of mechanical feel to it I think with the integration of subtle electronics. With "Fall Below the Earth" I basically made everything "The Linear Divide" is times 10. It’s faster, and slower. It's more avant-garde but more "extreme" at the same time. I experimented a bit more with ambient soundscapes and a spacier vibe. It’s quite an exhausting album I think, for better or worse. Lots of listeners didn’t get it. At times I'm not sure if I even got it. Feedback on the first album was more positive than the second album by a long shot. It's just a lot to take in. But I’m really proud of that album and surprisingly I listen to that one more
than the others. After the grit of "The Linear Divide" and the chaos that is "Fall Below the Earth" I started feeling like I wanted to create material that breathed a little more. And when I listen to those albums, I always look forward to those open and ambient segments. So the idea to possibly do an album that was reflective of those areas of exploration for Orbseven started coming to mind. And luckily for me, it flowed out of me naturally. ".ismos." was the easiest to record. It's the easiest to take in and listen to.

3.The project has been around for almost 10 years but so far has only put out 3 albums, can you tell us a little bit more about the delays between releases?

Well Orbseven is my main creative outlet in life so I have to be in the mood to do it. My profession takes up most of my time so doing anything creative like Orbseven has to be done with care and the right timing. The first two albums each took 3-4 years to complete for various reasons. And I tend to take breaks throughout production which then becomes problematic because I tend to second guess myself when it comes to how something should sound. The actual songwriting is the easiest part while the lyrics are my biggest hurdle which then takes up quite a good amount of time…weeks and months actually. ".ismos."
was released almost exactly 2 years after "Fall Below the Earth" and that’s because I took about a year and a half away from Orbseven, and literally started writing new material one day and 6 months later the album was done. It happened very quickly by Orbseven standards.
Hopefully that trend will continue.

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

That all depends on the album. "The Linear Divide" was focused on my internal struggles...an album about me basically. "Fall Below the Earth" had a core idea and that was our inability to see outside of our own existence. And I mean that in a general sense. Lifestyles, beliefs, attitudes...all things absolute and mundane. With ".ismos." it’s a bit of that but with more about clarity, awakening, and the awareness of being connected to each other.

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

7 has always been my favorite number. In my opinion, it’s an irregularnumber. There's something that’s very kinetic about it. It encompasses a sort of strange and unexplainable energy to it. I wanted it incorporated into the name.

6.With this project you record everything solo, do you feel this givesyou more room to be creative with your musical style?

Absolutely. I've been in bands before and there is that sense of having to be compatible with your fellow band mates. Lots of compromising and lots of reliance. I was done with that and I had the interest of seeing exactly what my mind could come up with. I'm a highly imaginative person, and so I needed to have my own musical outlet and creative release.

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

It’s not a huge importance of mine, but it would be nice. I'm horrible at self-promotion. Orbseven has been around 10 years and yet I still have yet to do much promotion. Most people who know me don’t even know
Orbseven exists because it’s sort of my best kept secret. I like it that way. So to really have Orbseven reach out to more people someone else would have to do that because I’m certainly not in the mindset to
broadcast Orbseven very well.

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

Inconsistent. Some people really dig it, and then some don’t get it.
I'll admit, Orbseven isn’t exactly a consistent project. Every song sounds different from the previous, and every album is different than its predecessor. Quite honestly, each album could have been released with a different band name...so you're never going to know what you're going to get with Orbseven. Again, "The Linear Divide" was received with mostly favorable reviews, "Fall Below the Earth" people either
loved it or disliked it. It’s too early to tell with ".ismos." but so far I've had nothing but positive things said about it, both by word of mouth and by reviews.

9.Are you also involved with any other musical projects?

A couple on the horizon, but nothing has begun just yet.

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

I wish I could answer that. In all honesty, I do think Orbseven will head back to the aggressive style for the next album because to do two albums of the same style back-to-back doesn’t seem very Orbseven-ish.
But who knows?

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?

Morbid Angel and Immolation are my biggest extreme metal influences.
There is something just very organic about their songwriting. Then of course I draw inspiration from other types of music and artists from ambient, darkwave, world music etc…

Lately I've been listening to Elder, Bolzer, Dodsengel, Rainbow, and the latest releases from Anathema "Distant Satellites" which is phenomenal, and Judas Priest "Redeemer of Souls" which is better than
I anticipated. And I'm the biggest Priest fan so...

12.What are some of your non musical interests?

lots of art

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

Look for a video in the coming weeks. Possibly 2 videos.

And of course thank you for the interview and support. Orbseven can be found on Facebook, Soundcloud, and Bandcamp.

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Recreant/Still Burn/Halo Of Flies/2014 CD Review

  Recreant  are  a  band  from  Florida  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  mixture  of  black  metal,  crust,  screamo  and  punk  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Still  Burn"  which  was  released  by  Halo  Of  Flies.

  Clean  playing  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  heavier  parts  a  few  seconds  later  which  leads  up  to  more  of  a  black  metal  influenced  screamo  direction  along  with  a  mixture  of  screams  and  growls  and  you  can  also  hear  a  decent  amount  of  melody  in  the  bands  musical  style  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  the  crust  elements  really  start  to  kick  in.

  In  certain  sections  of  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats  being  utilized  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  along  with  some  solos  and  leads  that  bring  a  post  rock  influence  into  the  bands  sound  and  as  the  album  progresses  violins  start  to  make  their  way  onto  the  recording.

  There  is  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  throughout  the  recording  and  at  times  you  can  hear  a  classical  music  feeling  being  mixed  in  with  the  heavier  side  of  the  bands  musical  style  which  also  sees  hardcore  style  yells  being  added  onto  some  of  the  later  tracks  while  the  screams  still  dominate  most  of  the  recording.

  Recreant  continue  the  black  metal  and  crust  punk  influenced  screamo  sound  of  previous  recordings  as  well  as  keeping  the  violins  and  they  manage  to  create  a  very  heavy,  raw  and  aggressive  musical  sound  with  this  recording,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  while  the  lyrics  cover  rape  culture  and  the  personal  struggles  of  mental  health.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Recreant  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  black  metal  influenced  screamo,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Spectacle"  "Silent  Plague,  Silent  Trauma"  "Skin"  and  "All  the  Remains".  8  out  of  10.

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Godhunter/Secrets Of The Sky/Gh/ost/The Compound/Battleground/2014 Split Album Review

  This  is  a  review  of  a  split  album  between  Arizona's  Godhunter  and  California's  Secrets  Of  the  Sky  called  "Gh/ost"  which  was  released  as  a  joint  effort  between  the  Compound  and  Battleground  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  Godhunter  a  band  that  plays  a  very  heavy  form  of  sludge  metal.

  A  very  distorted  sound  along  with  some  spoken  word  samples  start  off  the  side  of  the  split  before  adding  in  some  heavy  bass  and  guitar  riffs  which  also  have  some  melodies  at  times  and  a  few  seconds  a  mixture  of  growls  and  rough  clean  singing  are  added  into  the  music  and  the  leads  bring  in  an  old  school  doom  metal  feeling  to  the  bands  style  of  sludge

  After  awhile  a  brief  use  of  acoustic  guitars  can  be  heard  for  a short  while  along  with  some  violins  and  the  first  song  is  6  minutes  length  on  the  second  track  clean  playing  and  female  vocals  are  added  into  the  music  along  with  some  leads  that  are  in  a  very  melodic  musical  direction  and  the  song  also  brings  in  a  great  amount  of  heaviness  and  is  over  10  minutes  long  and  after  awhile  you  can  also  hear  some  spoken  word  parts.

  Godhunter  plays  a  very  heavy  style  of  sludge  metal  on  the  first  track  that  they  are  known  for  while  the  second  song  shows  a  different  side  to  their  musical  style,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark,  haunting  and  supernatural  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Godhunter  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  sludge  metal,  you  should  check  out  their  side  of  the split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "GH/OST:S".

  Next  up  is  Secrets  Of  The  Sky  a  band  that  plays a  mixture  of  black  and  doom  metal  and  have  been  featured  before  in  this  zine.

  Clean  playing  starts  off  their  side  of  the  split  bringing  in  a  progressive  feeling  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sound  very  powerful  and  after  a  couple  of  minutes  the  music  goes  into  more  of  a  heavy  and  melodic  doom  metal  sound  along  with  a  mixture  of  black  metal  screams  and  death  metal  growls.

  The  solos  and  leads  the  band  uses  are  very  melodic  and  the  band  also  brings  in  a  good  mixture  of  both  clean  and  heavy  parts  along  with  some  synths  and  as  their  side  of  the  split  progresses  clean  singing  finds  their  way  into  the  bands  musical  style  and  the  second  tracks  shows  the  band  getting  a  lot  more  experimental  and  progressive  while  still  having  a  heavy  edge  to  them  and  halfway  through  the  track  spoken  word  parts  are  added  in.  

  Secrets  of  the  Sky  continue  their  progressive  mixture  of  black  and  doom  metal  while  also  adding  more  melody  in  their  sound  and  they  have  also  gotten  a  lot  more  experimental  this  time  around, the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  haunting  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Secrets  of  the  Sky  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  enjoy  their  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "GH/OST"S  II".

  In  conclusion  I  feel  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  sludge,  doom,  black  and  progressive  metal,  you  should  add  this  album  to  your  collection.  8  out  of  10.  

http://dirtweedmetal.com
http://godhunter.bandcamp.com
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Ahvawe Interview

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

We are a Blackened Speed / Thrash Metal band from Mexico City very influenced mainly by bands like Gehennah, early Onslaught, Celtic Frost / Hellhammer, Bathory, Motörhead, Abigail and Venom.
We are not trying in any way to innovate Heavy Metal or Rock n’ Roll as a whole, we are Heavy Metal fans playing their favorite music the way our favorite bands did before us.

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

We were looking for a raw & crude sound for the Drink till You Fucking Puke Your Liver Out demo, we didn’t wanted it to sound like something too overproduced. I really think we captured the feel and the atmosphere we wanted to.
Musically, we tried to go back to the First Wave of Black Metal with speed-ish riffs and a very raw sound. To be honest, we are very happy with the result. Being fans of this kind of music, if some other band would had released it, it is something we would listen to.

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

Mainly alcohol & sluts. In general, these topics were local jokes by the members, we just “made them songs”.

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

Ahvawe in Spanish means something like a very sarcastic way to say “Ah, alright man”. Why such a stupid name for a band? Because it started out as a joke. The lyrical themes were (at first) local jokes by some of the members, stuff happening to us at parties, etc. When we decided we had to make a band and write about stupid shit happening to us, the less we cared was for the name of the band and to this day, it’s still the same.

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

When we released the Precious Selfdestruction song, we got contacted by a guy in Oaxaca, Mexico and he wanted us to play there. It was the 28th of June 2014 and at the show we played with Survival (which we think is the best metal band in Mexico right now), Cöuntess, Dishelldethterrör (On their last show) and some other bands. I think that has been the best show for us because it was full of friends and very cool people, and the vibe of the whole show was very real, only real Heavy Metal maniacs were there, it was great though we had only rehearsed 4 songs for our show.


When we play live we try not to be the “I only come to play” band, we like to say stupid shit between songs as much as we can without boring the public, I think this have worked out for us pretty good until now.

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

Not really touring right now. At the moment we just play at some random shows in Mexico.
We are planning a mini-tour called “The Petit-Tour” on USA next year, mainly on California. We really hope we are able to do it.

7. Recently you have re-issued your demo on a split with Mexico's Countess, what are your thoughts on the other band that had participated on the split?

We knew very little the guys from Cöuntess before we played with them at Oaxaca, but we saw them live on December from last year (Which I think it was their first show) and we really liked their Midnight-like style.
A few days after we were announced to play in Oaxaca, the bass player of Survival contacted us and told us that he wanted to re-release our demo on tape with his label “Mosh or Die Prods.”, but told us that he was going to release it as a split with Cöuntess because of the length. We are really proud to share a split with them as they are really great guys and we are fans of them.

8. Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
We haven’t received much interest from labels but honestly we are not really looking right now for one, our main focus right now is to keep playing shows and have fun at them. Things will come at their own moment.

9. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of black, speed and thrash metal?
We have had very good acceptance until now, more than we expected. We hurried to record our demo this year because we wanted to give away some copies at Maryland Deathfest, which we did. After MDF we got contacted on our band facebook by a lot of people we met there, we had much more “likes” on FB and to the moment, we haven’t heard any bad opinions on the demo, that’s pretty great.

10. When can we expect a full length album and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
We are not planning a full length on short or medium term, but on short term we are planning to record our first ep. I hope it gets ready before next year.
The band will continue with a raw sound and a raw production, playing riffs influenced by early Speed and 80’s Black Metal.

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?
As we said before, our main influences are the First Wave of Black Metal and early Speed Metal. Nowadays we like bands like Omega, Baphomet’s Blood and Midnight.

12. How would you describe your views on Satanism?

Each member has a very different view on Satanism so, as band we can’t give you our opinion.
On Ahvawe when we refer to Satan, Lucifer, etc. We are not taking seriously any of it. We pretty much use Satanism on our songs, the way Venom uses it.

13. What are some of your non musical interests?
Drink beer and bang bitches.

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

Drink till you fucking puke your liver out!!

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Orbseven/.ismos/2014 Full Length Review

  Orbseven  are  a  1  man  band  from  Texas  that  plays  a  mixture  of  ambient,  experimental,  black  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  self  released  2014  album  ".ismos".

  Melodic  chanting  starts  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  heavier  musical  direction  as  well  as  having  some  distorted  spoken  word  parts  and  vocals  being  added  into  the  music  and  after  while  ambient  sounds  start  becoming  more  a  part  of  the  recording  as  well  as  having  acoustic  guitars  being  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording.


  On  some  of  the  other  songs  you  can  hear  some  psychedelia  being  added  into  the  guitar  work  and  the  vocals  also  start  using  more  of  a  clean  singing  style  while  the  music  also  starts  adding  more  influences  from  post  rock  and  industrial  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  When  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  in  more  of  a  melodic  direction   and  halfway  through  the  album  there  is  are  a  couple  of   instrumental  tracks  which  is  more  in  an  ambient  direction  along with  the  guitars  being  in  a  more  calm  and  soft  manner  and  the  music  reverts  back  to  a  heavier  sound  on  the  following  track  while  also  retaining  the  progressive  feeling  that  is  presented  throughout  the  recording  and  every  song  sounds  very  different  from  each  other.

  Orbseven  creates  a  very  original  sound  with  the  music  being  heavily  rooted  in  experimental  and  ambient  while  adding  some  black  and  death  metal  into  the  heavier  parts  of  the  music  which  also  gives  the  album  a  style  that  has  rarely  been  attempted,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  while  the  lyrics  seem  to  be  more  philosophical  and  science  orientated  in  nature.

  In  my  opinion  Orbseven  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  experimental,  ambient,  black  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should c heck  out  this  project.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Gravity  Room"  "Staircases"  and  "Omniversal".  8  out  of  10.

https://www.facebook.com/orbsevenmusic

http://orbseven.bandcamp.com

https://soundcloud.com/orbseven

           
    

Emblazoned/Eucharistiae Sacramentum/Deepsend Records/2014 CD Review

  Emblazoned  are  a  band  from  Wisconsin  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  blackened  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Eucharistiae  Sacrementum"  which  was  released  by  Deepsend  Records.

  A  very  fast,  heavy  and  brutal  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  blast  beats  and  a  mixture  of  black  metal  screams  and  deep  death  metal  growls  and  the  band  also  uses  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  the  slower  sections  bringing  a  doom  metal  feeling  to  the  recording  at  times.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  at  times  you  can  hear  a  small  amount  of  melody  in  the  bands  musical  sound  and  the  band  avoids  any  use  of  guitar  solos  and  leads  to  focus  more  on  a  heavy  and  brutal  sound  and  there  is  never  a  soft  moment  present  anywhere  on  this  recording  and  you  can  hear  a  great  amount  of  90's  black  and  death  metal  influences  in  the  bands  musical  style.

  Emblazoned  remain  true  to  their  blackened  death  metal  sound  from  previous  recordings  creating  an  album  that  is  very  heavy  from  beginning  to  end  of  the  recording,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  death,  afterlife,  hell  and  suffering.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Emblazoned  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  enjoy  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Heathenist  Structure"  "Perception"  and  "Divine  Delusion".  8  out  of  10.

Youtube sample song - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsSbaFhFEoA

Second sample song - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR0PN13rhG4