Zafakon/Release/2015 CD Review

  Zafakon are  a  band  from  Puerto  Rico  that  plays  a  mixture  of  blackened  death  and  progressive  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2015  album  "Release".

  A very  heavy  and  melodic  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  guitar  leads  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  vocals  also  use  death  metal  growls  and  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard.

  back  up  gang  shouts  can  be  heard  in  some  parts  of  the  songs  and  there  is  also  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  present  throughout  the  recording  along  with  some  of  the  tracks  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  they  also  bring in  a  modern  approach  to  the  genre  while  also  keeping  around   the  old  school  tradition  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  demonstrate  a  great  amount  of  talent  and  skill  while   also  adding  in  a lot  of  progressive  elements  and  some  of  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  playing  and  they  also  bring  in  an  instrumental  before  making  a  return  back  to  vocal  tracks.

  Zafakon  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  the  progressive  style  of  the  mid  80's  and  mixes  it  in  with  old  school  blackened  death  metal  to  create  a  style  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  politics,  society and  destruction  along  with  one  of  the  songs  being  written  in  Spanish.

  In  my  opinion  Zafakon  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  blackened  death  metal  and  progressive  thrash  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Conveyor  Of  Shame"  "Prevaricator"  "Phantom  Scream"  and  "Release".  8  out  of 10.

https://zafakon.bandcamp.com/album/release 

Ragehammer/The Hammer Doctrine/Pagan Records/2016 CD Review

  Ragehammer  are  a  band  from  Poland  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  mixture  of  black  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "The  hammer  Doctrine"  which  will  be  released  in  April  by  Pagan  Records.

  Distorted reverb's  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  bass  guitars  a  few  seconds  later  that  also  leads  to  more  of  a  blackened  thrash  metal  direction t hat  also  utilizes  a  great  amount  of  high  pitched  screams  and  the  music  also  goes  back  to the  first  wave  era  of  the  genre  while  also  being  modern  at  the  same  time.

  When  the  music  speeds  up  you  can  hear  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  solos  and  leads  also remain  true  to  an  80's  style  of  extreme  metal  and  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  death  metal  growls and   the  songs  also  use  the  bass  guitars  as  a  lead  instrument  at  times  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts  and  clean  singing  and  some  of  the  faster  riffs  also  use  a  great  amount  of  tremolo picking  and  the  whole  album  also  remains  very  heavy  from  beginning  to  ending  og  the  recording.

  Ragehammer  plays  a  musical  style  on  this  recording  that  is  very  heavily rooted  in  the  old  school  styles  of  black  and  thrash  metal  while  they  also  update  the  genre  for more  modern  days,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  death,  hate,  anti  religion,  violence.  death, and  black  metal  themes  and  the  last  track  is  written  in  Polish.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Ragehammer  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  black  and  thrash  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "First  Wave  Black  Metal"  "Warlord's  Fall"  "I  Am  the  Tyrant"  and  "From  Homo Sapiens  To Homo  Raptor".  8  out  of  10.

https://youtu.be/e5YKu85NKYo

Bloodthirst/Glorious Sinners/Pagan Records/2016 EP Review

  Bloodthirst  are  a  band  from  Poland  that  plays  a  blackened  form  of  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  ep  "Glorious  Sinners"  which  will  be  released  in April  by  Pagan  Records.

  A  very  heavy  guitar  sound  starts  off  the  ep  before  going  into  a  faster  direction  that  also  utilizes  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  you  can  also  hear  melodies  in  the  music  at  times  while  the  musical  instruments  all  have  a very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  after  awhile  grim  black  metal  screams  make  their  presence  known  on  the  recording.

  A  lot  of  80's  thrash  elements  can  be  heard  in  the  bands  musical  style  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  when  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized they  bring  in  even  more  of  a  melodic  style  to  the  bands  musical  style  and  while  the  riffing  is  old  school  the  music  still  manages  to sound   modern  and  the  whole  ep  also  remains  very  heavy  from  beginning  to ending  of  the  recording.

  Bloodthirst  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  second  wave  black  metal  and  mixes  it  with  80's  thrash  while  also  having  more  of  a  modern  takes  on  both  genres,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  anti  christian  themes.

  In  my opinion  Bloodthirst  are  a  very  great  sounding  blackened  thrash  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Viper's  nest" and  "No  God  Before  The  Pope".  8  out  of  10.

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Hordes Of The Apocalypse Interview

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

Thomas: Since we started out in the end of december 2015 we have been doing one full length album called ”Now they are Everywhere - There is No Escape!” that was released by ourselves digitally but will get a CD press by Symbol of Domination (Russia) & Black Lion Productions (Sweden). It will come out in April/May somewhere. Shortly after that we have been doing two EP’s called ”By Sword, By Pick, By Axe, Bye Bye” and ”The Melting Body Horror Experience” and will soon release (which may have come out when this is published) called ”A.I.D.S.”, I think? Right Greigh? 

Greigh: Yes, A.I.D.S. will be our third EP before we go for our second full-lenght album in March month.
A.I.D.S. is a term which director Peter Jackson joked about in his debut splatter-classic "Bad Taste" and is an abbreviation for "Alien Investigation and Defence Service"
Exactly why we chose that abbreviation was mainly due to Dark Throne's masterpiece F.O.A.D. (Fuck Off And Die) and It's a kind of homage of that album in general (You will understand why when you see and hear it on friday when we release it digitally on our Bandcamp.)

2.Recently you have released 2 ep's, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on both of the recordings and also how do they differ from each other?

Thomas: ”By Sword…” had a strong old school thrash feeling while keeping punk/hardcore elements intact. I think it is very cool and has some very cool riff ideas. ”The Melting…” took a more rough punk-ish approach with some more bizarre moments and included more variations in the vocals than before. Every release is something new. You'll never be able to catch us before hand what we are doing. 

Greigh: There's also much of a Doomish Slam Death/Slow Down Metal act in some of the tracks; Almost progressive, jazzy and generally weird in a unique way that I love.

3.The band has only been around since December, but so far has released 1 full length and 2 ep's, do you put a great amount of time and effort into writing and creating music?

Thomas: The music is done very spontaneously to capture the essence of what is going on in the consciousness at that specific time… after discussing ideas with Greigh what kind of vibe we want on a song. However when I go into the actual writing and recording I have more or less no clue what is going to come out. That’s the magic of HOTA. We know in which realms we are working in but what gets out in the end is pure moments of being ”in the zone” at that specific time, feeling creative and enthusiastic. Lot of musicians want to put grandiose words to what they do to seem ”big”. I tried my best right now to answer but since music is what you hear, describing it with mere words seems to put a limit on it which I think is not necessary. People will project and make assumptions anyway so I don’t know if it really matters what I say.

Greigh: It's in this way we do our work together. We live considerably far apart, so the cellphone and our computers is our only way to communicate with each other. We work with the assets we have and when we are most effective, we write and produce a complete song in a matter of hours. We have almost a rule to complete one song each day, which has resulted in three EP's in a month.

4.The lyrics and the samples on the ep's come from horror movies, what are some of the horror movie's that you have covered with your newer music?

Greigh: We are cult- and indie-lunatics, so primarily we are inspired by the archives from the 60-90's century like Zombi 2, Ghost Town, Xtro, The Blob, Street Trash, Basket Case, Slime City etc. Sometimes it may happen that we differ ourselves, and that is something we're possibly going to work on because we don't want to be too repetitive and boring in the long run. We start at a point and continues downstream. We want to continually evolve.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Hordes Of The Apocalypse'?

Greigh: The band name was taken from our song title "Hordes of the Apocalypse" which is about a zombie invasion with inspirtation from director Umberto Lenzi's film "Nightmare City" (1980). We thought the name sounded great, so it was just purely spontaneous as it was named.

6. So far the band has only been a studio project, are you planning on doing live shows in the future?

Thomas: HOTA’s music would kick major ass live, no doubt about it. I never say never, as it is pointless since things always change, but why not a day? Right now though we are heavy into producing a lot of material.

Greigh: I have an extreme stage fright, but because of our energy I could easily have given it a try in each case.

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

Thomas: Considering our variety in styles and wild attitude it has been better than I thought. It doesn’t really change anything as we keep on going anyway, but I think it is terrific that people seem to respond to it well! I think HOTA is fresh air in a sometimes very stale music climate.

Greigh: We have actually managed to open the eyes to a whole new audience, so it will be interesting to see how it looks like in about 1 year.

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

Thomas: I have been doing music for Damnation Army and have had some underground releases as well as 2 albums out on Mascot Records (2006 & 2009). Other than that I have done countless demo’s and stuff in the past and currently will have an album out on Black Plague Records (USA) with a black metal project called ”Isgärde”. At the same time I just joined a group called ”Havoc Existence” with members of Khaos-Dei (France) and War-Head (Croatia) and some other guys. I also work with doing music for entertainment in form of DVD’s or independent films. Currently I have produced music for a 6 part documentary called ”Plastic Movies Rewound” that’s been covered by Fangoria and is directed by Mike Malloy who did a successful documentary called ”Eurocrime the italian cop and gangster films that ruled the ’70s”.

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

Thomas: As for the music, it will be done as always. It will be what it will be depending on the vibe of that time. Entertaining for sure!

Greigh: We have a new full-length album coming up in March, but we don't want to reveal too much about the sound and its structure.
We can promise that there will be extraordinary and 70's generation will frown of surprise.

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Thomas: I’m not listening to a lot of music, believe it or not. Mostly a band called ”Dirty Loops” nowadays. But of course I have a big background in listening to metal.

Greigh: I can't go an hour without music. I listen to different genres depending on periods and seasons.
Music affects my feelings somewhat significantly, but it's definitely much metal, punk and hardcore into different subgenres,
and also rock, blues, jazz, classical, ambient and electronic music countered with different game and movie soundtracks.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

Thomas: Exercising… running and calisthenics. Drinking coffee. Spending time with my new labrador puppy. Watching movies. Effortless meditating. Contemplating in stillness.

Greigh: To avoid people? Haha, no. but it could be a hobby. I rarely socialize with friends, more than my family consisting of fiancee and a son in just 4 years.
Besides the music, I also work with a movie and music fanzine namned Goregasmic Magazine with my colleague Tim Nordstedt. We are just going to release our fourth issue.
I also like to watch movies and play video games, when time permits, so to speak.

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

Thomas: Thanks so much for doing this interview. It is much appreciated. Good luck  to you and your zine.

Greigh: We hope you will take the time to listen to our upcoming EP and continue to follow our progress.
There will be a lot of new things throughout the year - We will never stand still in our creation. Take care!

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Manzer/Beyond The Iron Portal/Armee De La Mort/Legion Of Death/2016CD Review

  Manzer  are  a  band  from  France  that  has  been  featured before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  mixture  of  black  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Beyond  The  Iron portal"  which  was  released  as  a  joint  effort  between  Armee  De  La  Mort  and Legion  Of  Death  Records.

  Melodic  guitar  leads  and  powerful  bass  guitars  start  off  the  album  giving  the  music  a  traditional  classic  metal  feeling  and  after  the  intro  they  add  in  more  thrash  and  first  wave  black  elements  elements  along  with  some  aggressive  screaming  vocals  and  the  fast  parts  also  utilize  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats.

  A  lot  of  the  music  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  80's  and  90's  while  also bringing  in  more  of  a  modern  take  on  the  genre  and  there is  also  a  brief  use  of  power  metal  screams  and  the  vocals  also  mix  in a  little  bit  of  melody  into  the  aggression  and  the  songs  also  bring  in a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  they  also  bring  in  an  instrumental  before  returning  back  to  vocals  on  the  following  tracks  and  they  also  use  the  bass  guitar  as  a  lead  instrument  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording.

  With  this  recording  Manzer  takes  the  black  and  thrash  metal  mixture  of  previous  recordings  and  mix  in  more  speed  and  traditional  metal  elements  to  take  their  musical  style  to  another  level,  thee  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Satan,  Alcohol,  Sex,  Blasphemy  and  Pictavian  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Manzer  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  black  and  thrash  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Torment  Of  the  Strix"  "Nuclear  Necropolis"  and  "Hard  Metal  Jackhammer".  8  out  of  10.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rI66oyu83C0

   

Hordes Of The Apocalypse/The Melting Body Horror Experience/Black Lion Productions/2016 EP Review

  This  is  a  review  of  another  recording  from  Hordes  Of  The  Apocalypse  continuing  the  mixture  of  black  metal,  thrash  and  crust  from  previous  recordings  with  the  ep  being  released  by  Black  Lion  productions  and  called  "The Melting Body Horror Experience".

 Classic  rock  music  samples  start  off  the  ep  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavy  and  melodic  musical  direction  as  well  as  adding  in  black  metal  screams  and  death  metal  growls  and  the  riffs  mix  in  a  first  wave  style  and  after  awhile  melodic  guitar  leads  make  their  presence  known  on  the  recording.

  Throughout  the  recording  there  is  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  you  can  also  hear  a  lot  of  crust  punk  elements  in  the  bands  musical  style  and  some  of  the  guitar  leads  mix  in  70's  influences  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  and  some  of  the  songs  mix  in  shouting  style  vocals  as  well  as  a  brief  use  of  clean  singing  that  also  gives  the  music  a  touch  of  power  metal  and  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  horror  movie  samples.

  With this  recording  Hordes  Of  The  Apocalypse  continue  the  black  metal,  thrash,  and  crust  mixture of  previous  recordings  while  also  getting  more  melodic  and  adding  in  a  touch  of  power  metal  and  psychedelia,  the  production  sounds  very  powerful  while  the  lyrics  cover  cult  and  horror  movies.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Hordes  Of  the  Apocalypse  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  black  metal,  thrash  and  crust,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Tenafly  Viper  Meltdown"  and  "Crazy  Melting  Man".  8  out  of  10. 

https://blacklionproduction666.bandcamp.com/album/the-melting-body-horror-experience-by-hordes-of-the-apocalypse

Hordes Of The Apocalypse/By Sword, By Pick, By Axe/Black Lion Productions/2016 EP Review

  Hordes  Of  The  Apocalypse  are  a  duo  from  Sweden  that  plays  a   mixture  of  black  metal,  thrash  and crust  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  ep  "By  Sword,  By  Pick,  By  Axe"  which  was  released  by  Black  Lion  Productions.

  Saxophones  start  off  the  ep  before  going  into  a  black/thrash direction  along  with  some  grim  black  metal  screams  and  the  music  has  a  lot  of  roots  in  the  80's  and  also  mixes  in  a  lot  of  first  wave  elements  while  some  of  the  riffs  also  mix  in  goth  rock  style  melodies  and  the  solos  and  leads  are  also  very  dark  and  melodic.

  You  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  and  some  of  the  songs  also  mix  in  70's  metal  influences  and  you  can  also  hear  a  lot  of  crust  punk  elements  in  the  guitar  riffing  and  there  are  also  some  horror  movie  samples being  added  into  the  music  at  times  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  melodic  chants  and  death  metal  growls  and  the  last  track  brings  in  a  brief use  of  clean  playing.

  Hordes Of  The Apacalypse  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  first  and  second  wave  black  metal,  thrash  and  crust  punk  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  an  original  style  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  powerful  while  the  lyrics  cover  cult  and  horror  movies.

  In  my  opinion  Hordes  Of  The  Apocalypse  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  black  metal,  thrash  and  crust  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Source  Of  Purgatorian  Evil"  and  "Hordes  Of  The  Living  Dead".  8  out  of  10.  

https://blacklionproduction666.bandcamp.com/album/by-sword-by-pick-by-axe-bye-bye-hordes-of-apocalypse

Haiduk/Demonicon/2015 Full Length Review

  Haiduk  are  a  solo project  from  Calgary,  Alberta,  Canada  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  blackened  form  of  death  metal  with  a  touch  of  thrash  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  self  released  2015  album  "Demonicon".

  A  very  dark,  heavy  and  melodic  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  drum  beats  a  few  seconds  later  which  also  evolve  into  blast  beats  that  also dominate  throughout  the  recording  along  with  some  death  metal  growls  making  their  presence  known  in  the  songs  and  the  music  also  gets  very  brutal at  times.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  when  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  dark  and  melodic  musical  fashion  and  some  of  the  riffs  also  mix  in  elements  of  thrash  and  the  whole  album  also remains  very  heavy  and  brutal  from  beginning  to  ending  of  the  recording.

  Haiduk  creates  another  recording  that  is  in  the  blackened  death  metal  direction  while  also  getting  a  lot  more  brutal  this  time  around,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics cover  supernatural,  fantasy,  black  magick,  darkness  and  nature  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Haiduk  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  blackened  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Nazon"  "Sarxas"  'Nergion"  and  "Xhadex".  8  out  of  10.   

http://www.youtube.com/haidukplague

  

Mithridatic/Miserable Miracle/Kaotoxin Records/2016 Full Length Review

  Mithridatic  are  a  band  from  France  that  plays  a  blackened  form  of death  metal  and  this  is  a  review of  their  2016  album  "Miserable  Miracle"  which  will  be  released  in  March by  Kaotoxin  Records.

  Dark  soundscapes  start  off  the  album  along  with  a  demonic  and  ritualistic  atmosphere  starts  off  the  album  and  you  can  also  hear  some  melodic  chants  in  the  background  before  adding  in  a  heavy  guitar  sound  which  also  uses  a  great  amount  of  melodies  as  well  as  some  grim  yet  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  making  their  presence  known  on  the recording.

  Once  the  music  speeds  up a   great  amount  of  brutal  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  they  also  mix  in  a  great  amount  of  death  metal  growls  that  are  very  easy  to  understand  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  bring  in  a  very  chaotic  blackened  death  metal  style.

  Some  of  the  riffing  also  mixes  in  morbid  sounding  melodies  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sound  very  powerful  while  some songs  also bring  in  a  small  amount  of  spoken  word  parts  and  as  the  album progresses some of  the  leads  also  start  getting  more  technical  and  they  also  bring  in  a  brief  use  of  melodic  vocals  on  a  later  song  while  another  track  displays  more  of  a  grim  style  black  metal  vocals.

  Mithridatic  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  brutal  death  metal  while  also  mixing  in  a  great  amount  of  black  metal  elements  which  also  makes  the  music  sound  a  lot  more  dark,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  philosophical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Mithridatic  are  a  very  great  sounding  blackened  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "For  Terror  And  The  Crowd"  "Hell  Compasses  Points"  and  "Vitrified  Desert".  8  out  of  10.

 https://youtu.be/1d_pCKRxSUs

Cemetery Whore/Nuclear Holocaust/Hell United/Necrosodomistical Slaughter/Infected By Old School/Defense Records/2016 4 Way Split Album Review

  This  is  a  review  of  a  4  way  split  album  between  Poland's  Cemetery  Whore,  Nuclear  Holocaust,  Hell  United,  and  Necrosodomistical  Slaughter  called  "Infected  By  Old  School"  which  was  released  by  Defense  Records  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  Cemetery  Whore  a  band  that  plays  a very  old  school  form  of  death  metal.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  a  very  heavy  yet  old  school  sound  along  with  some  chaotic  guitar  leads  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sounding  very  powerful  and  the  vocals  are  done  in  a  death  metal  growling  fashion  and  after  awhile  the  music  speeds  up a   bit  and  also  adds  in  blast  beats  and  the  music  is  rooted  mostly  in  the  mid  80's  to  early  90's  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  also  always  remaining  heavy  and  they  close  their  side  of  the  split  with  a  cover  of  Celtic  Frost's  "Procreation  of  the  Wicked",  the  production  sounds  very  old  school  while  the  lyrics  cover  Occultism,  Death  and  Anti  Christian  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Cemetery  Whore  are  a  very  great  sounding  old  school  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  their  side  of   the  split.   RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "The  Walking  Dead  of  Nazareth".

  Next  up  is  Nuclear  Holocaust  a  band  that  plays  a  very  old  school  mixture  of  death  metal  and  grindcore.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  a  very  fast  grindcore  style  that  also  utilizes  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  they  also  add  in  death  metal  growls  and  high  pitched  screams  a  few  seconds  later  and  you  can  also  hear  a  touch  of  crust  in  the  bands  musical  style  and  some  riffs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  melody  while  most  of  the  songs  are  very  short  in  length  and  after  awhile  guitar  leads  are  added  onto  some  of  the  tracks and  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  brief  use  of  slow  riffs  while  the  main  focus  remains  on  a  very  fast  and  aggressive  sound,  the  production  sounds  very  powerful  while  the  lyrics  cover nuclear  war,  death,  Armageddon  and  Satanism  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Nuclear  Holocaust  are  a  very  great  sounding  old  school  mixture  of  death  metal  and  grindcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Church  Of  Nuclear  Satan".

  Next  up  is  Hell  united  a  band  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  an  old  school  style  of  blackened  death  metal.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  a  very  fast  and  chaotic  blackened  death  metal  sound  that  utilizes  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  grim  screams  and  the  music  is  mostly  rooted in  the  mid  90's  and  you  can  also  hear  a  great  amount  of  morbid  sounding  melodies  in the  bands  musical  style  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow, mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  vocals  also  use  a  decent  amount  of  growls,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  yet  powerful  at  the  same time  while  the  lyrics  cover  nihilism,  self  destruction  and  anti  religion  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Hell  United  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  blackened  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  their  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK" Rejection  From  Unity  With  Death".

  Closing  the  compilation  is  Necrosodomistical  Slaughter  a  band  that  plays  an  old  school  form  of  grindcore.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  horror  movie  samples  before  going  into  a  very  fast  and  brutal  grindcore  direction  that  also  utilizes  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  as  well  as  a  mixture  of  death  metal  growls  and  high  pitched  screams  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sound  very  powerful  and  they  also  add  a  small  amount  of  melody  into  some  of  the  riffs  and  leads  and  the  music  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  early 90's  and  some  of  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  short in  length, the  production  sounds  very  old  school  while  the  lyrics  cover  gore  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Necrosodomistical  Slaughter  are  a  very  great  sounding  old  school  grindcore  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  their  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Modern  Violence".

  In  conclusion  I  feel  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  and  and  I  would  recommend  it  to  all  fans  of  old  school  death,  black  metal  and grindcore.  8  out  of  10.

https://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Hell_United_-_Nuclear_Holocaust_-_Cemetery_Whore_-_Necrosodomistical_Slaughter/Infected_by_Old_School/557374    

Scumripper/Self Titled/Caligari Records/2016 Demo Review

  Scumripper  are  a  band  from  Finland  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black,  death  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their self titled 2016  demo  which was  released by  Caligari  Records.

  A  very  heavy  old  school thrash  metal  sound  starts  off  the  demo  along  with  some  black  metal  screams  which  also  leads  up  to  blast  beats  and  morbid  sounding  melodies  being  added  onto t he  recording  and  the  vocals  also  bring  in  growls  that  have  more  of  an  80's  style  of  death  metal  to  them  and  the  music  also  brings  in  a  touch  of  grind  and  crust.

  Throughout  the  recording  you can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced and  fast  parts  and  the  music  is  more  rooted  in  the  80's  styles  of  black,  death  and  thrash  metal  as  well  as  bringing  back  the  more  darker  side  of  that  era  and  there is  only  a  brief  use  of  guitar  solos  or  leads  and  the  whole  demo  also  sticks  to a  very  heavy  musical  direction  from  beginning  to  ending of  the  recording  and  there  is  a  few  seconds   of  spoken  word  parts  and  samples.

  Scumripper  plays  a  music  style that  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  80's  styles  of  black,  death  and  thrash  metal  and also  brings  back  a  lot  of  the  rawness  and  heaviness  of  that  era,  the  production  sounds  very  old  school  while  the lyrics  cover  violent  and  angry  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Sumripper  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  black,  death  and  thrash  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Shit  Needle  Crown"  and  "Run  To  the  Pills".  8  out  of  10.  

https://caligarirecords.bandcamp.com/album/scumripper

Grosad/Confession For The Devil/Satanath Records/2012 EP Review

  Grosad  are  a  band  from  Belarus  that  plays  a  blackened  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2012  ep "Confession  For  The  Devil"  which  was  released  by  Satanath  Records.

  A  dark  and  ritualistic  sounding  intro  starts  off  the  ep  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavy  and  old  school  death  metal  direction  along  with  some  blast  beats  and  growling  vocals  as  well  as  some  technical  guitar  leads  and  after  awhile  atmospheric  synths,  black  metal  screams,  back  up  shouts  and  spoken  word  parts  are  added  in.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  most  of  the  songs  are  short  in  length  while  one  does  go  pass  the  5  minute  mark  and  some  riffs  also  bring  in  a  touch  of  thrash  while  the  music is  also perfectly  blanced  between  mid  80's  to  mid  80's  extreme  metal  influences  and  they  close  the  ep  with  a  cover  of  Death's  "Misanthrope".

  Grosad  plays  a  musical  style  that takes  the  keyboard  orientated  style  of  black  metal  from  the  90's  and  mixes  it  with  both  old  school  death  and  thrash  metal  to  create  a  style  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark,  violent  and  blasphemous  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Grosad  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  "Confession  For  The  Devil"  and  "Red  Laughter  Of  the  War".  8  out of  10.

Cursus Bellum Interview

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


Cursus Bellum, spawned in the vast black soil of Lundaslätten, Sweden, is consisting of Jocke - drums / vocals and Anders Nyander - guitars / bass. After decade long co-operation in constellations such as Sgt.Carnage, along with the mutual metal-vinyl & beer consumption of biblical proportions, the musical and creative direction of Cursus Bellum first took its perverted form in 2013. Originally as a three piece, the blackened death metal that represents Cursus Bellum is now the result of the creative work and madness of the featured duo. The first official unveiling of the band will be in form of the recording "Accusing The Dead", to be unleashed upon mankind early 2016 on Downfall Records.


2.How would you describe your musical sound?


As pretty fast-paced death metal with some wierd/dark harmonics. We have been listening to this genre since we were kids so there probably can be found a lot of different influences, from the thrash-, death- and black metal bands from the 80´s all the way up to the current scene. Reflected in our music is probably that we both have a passion for the brutality of grind-based American DM, preferably combined with Canadian dissonance and Scandinavian chaos and darkness. Let's say Immolation meets 1349 and Dead Congregation to mention something. Or what do you think?



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


The title-track for the EP is linked to the cover concept, which is taken from an old painting by Jean-Paul Laurens that illustrastes the "Synodus Horrenda", where the rotting corpse of the pope Formosos was exhumed and put on trial in 897 a.d. by his successors for various accusations. A fantastic and true story from the fascinating lunacy of religious history. Hence the "Accusing the Dead" theme and lyrics. But put into a broader perspective one may say that coming generations in the same way, figuratively speaking, will judge us for our deeds and the ongoing madness we surround us with.

You could actually say that the lyrics on the other tracks are based on similar, semi-misantropic if you like - thoughts, but projected onto different contexts. You can find some dark humour and some litterary/other cultural connections in some of the lyrics.



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


Other than it sounds bad ass??? We had some different ideas for a band name, and it revolved somewhat around our interest in history as well as professionel skills in engineering. And the thought of manmade armageddon is a good theme for creating this kind of music. The name, which loosley translated from latin would mean ” Direction to war”, is maybe a pretty pessimistic view on how mankind (or rather nations/states/groups) is somehow leaning to hostility towards one another during frequent periods of time. You can get pretty depressed thinking or reading about that.

5.Currently there are only 2 members in the band, are you planning on expanding the line up in the future or do you prefer to remain a duo?


Yeah, we would like to play live so we are certainly thinking about having more musicians. I am no Chris Reifert, so we would need a singer, bassplayer and a second guitarist. We started as a three-piece though. We have already new material and are working on a new recording, as a duo this time as well.

6.Can you tell us a little bit more about the deal you have signed with 'Downfall Records'?


It´s a one off deal, and they will print CD:s, cassetes and have digital distribution. Real easy to work with, good cooperation!

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


As a new outfit, and the record not fully being released, there have not been super much feed back yet, but every feed back so far has been super positive. Keep´em coming!

8.Are any of the band members also involved with any other bands or musical projects these days?


Yeah, Jocke is drumming with Totenwelt, Ratad and Järnbörd. Anders is playing with some dudes in Malmö, more old school DM, but they have not named themselfves yet. Pretty prominent players from some different bands in that constellation.



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


As stated above we already are in process of recording new material. It´s fast material, sticking to some of the formulas we have, a lot of blasts, and there are some really ”out there” riffs.


10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?


We mentioned some of that above, but in my current rotation there is a lot of British DM like Lucifyre, Sarpantium as well as Rotting Christ – I have sort of re-discovered them and their later material. As always there is some oldies ranging from Judas Priest to Nuclear Assault, and some newer discoveries like Dim Mak. Anders listens to the same genres, but we somewhat different record collections, I know he is pretty content with the latest Hate eternal. I would guess he also listened to the first Deathrow and Vendetta records this week... He loves everything that NOISE put out in the 80`s.


11.Does Satanism or Occultism play any role in your music?


Not really, but religon is an interesting theme from different angles.


12.What are some of your non musical interests?


If you ask me it would be reading, travel, work -out, fishing and what not. If you asked Anders it would be cars (some racing and a lot of tinkering), craft beer and keep our rehearsal place safe from beeing flooded... He lives in the same building so you can say he´s pretty keen on keeping the water outside his property.

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


Thanx for the interview, be sure to play it loud MUTHAS!!!

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Throneum/CACOMethamorphosen/Witching Hour Productions/2015 EP Review

  Throneum  are  a  band  from  Poland  that  plays  an  old  school  form  of  blackened death  metal  with  a  touch  of    thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  ep  "CACOMethamorphosen"  which  was  released  by  Witching  Hour  Productions.

 A  very  dark,  raw  and  melodic  sound  starts  off  the  ep  along  with  some  high  pitched  screams  that  give  the  music  a  touch  of  black  metal  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  while  the  guitar  riffing  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  an  early  90's  style  of  death  metal.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  bring  in  more  of  an  old  school  extreme  metal  style  and you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  and some  of  the  riffs  also  add  in  a  touch  of  thrash  and  first  wave  black  metal.

  Throneum  plays  a  style  of  old  school  death  metal  that  uses  more  of  a  black  metal  style  of  vocals  which  also  makes  the  music  stand  out a  bit  more,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  while  the  lyrics  have  a  concept  involving  metamorphosis.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from Throneum  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  blackened  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Metamorpshe  II"  and  "Metamorpshe  II".  8  out  of  10.

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