Heretique/De Non Existentia Dei/Via Nocturna/2016 CD Review

  Heretique  are  a  band  from  Poland  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  blackened  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "De  Non  Existentia  Dei"  which  was  reelased by  Via  Nocturna.

  Dark  sounding  synths  and  ethnic  sounding  classical  guitars  start  off  the  album  as  well  as  introducing  melodic  guitar  leads  onto  the  recording  and  after  the  intro  heavy  guitars  make  their  presence  known  on  the  recording  along  with  a  good  mixture  of  death  metal  growls  and  black  metal  screams.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  riffs  also  use  a  small  amount  of  melody  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  spoken  word  parts  and  classical  guitars  also  make  a  return  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording.

  Heretique  creates  another  recording  that  remains  true  to  the  blackened  death  metal  style  found  on  their  last  album,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  darkness  and  anti  religion  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Heretique  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  blackened  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Sweet  Stench  Of  Rotting  Human  Flesh"  "Dimension"  "Unknown  Whispers"  and  "The  Raven".  8  out  of  10.

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Funeral Of God/Walking Amongst The Graves/Medumgiriz/2016 EP Review

  Funeral  Of  God  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  has  recently  been  featured  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  mixture  of  black,  death  metal  and  funeral  doom  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  ep  "Walking  Amongst  The  Graves"  which  was  released  by  Merdumgiriz.

  Spoken  word  samples  start  off  the  ep  before  going  into  a  heavier  musical  direction  which  is  more  close  to  funeral  doom  along  with  some  grim  black  metal  screams  and  deep  death  metal  growls  a  few  seconds  later  while  the  synths  give  the  music  an  atmospheric  sound  that  has  elements  of  ambient.

  Programmed  drum  beats  can  be  heard  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  while  the  songs  for  the  most  part  stick  to  a  very  slow  yet  heavy  and  dark  musical  direction  that  mixes  a  good  amount  of  influences  from  both  the  80's  and  90's  while  also  always  avoiding  any  use  of guitar  solos  and  leads.

  Funeral  Of  God  creates  another  recording  that  takes  black  and  death  metal  and  mixes  it  with  funeral  doom  to  create  some  very  dark  and  heavy  sounding  music,  the  production  sounds  very  raw  yet  heavy  at  the  same  time  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  ritualistic  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another great  sounding  recording  from  Funeral  Of  God  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  black,  death  metal  and  funeral  doom,  you  should  enjoy  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Walking  Amongst  The  Graves"  and  "Obscurity  And  Despair".  8  out  of  10.

Soundcloud: https://www.facebook.com/Funeral-of-God-261847313911387

   

Ragehammer Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
Hi there , yeah, sure. Ragehammer came into being for the first time around 2009 when I decided to gather a handful of good friends of mine and jam some aggressive Thrash mixed with Punk the old way. The plans were ambitious, there were 3 guitarists in the band at one point (I can boast that at the time I had people connected with bans such as Excidium, Medico Peste or Mgła back then, haha), but besides playing Korrozia Metalla and Razor covers all over and again there was not much we have done and soon enough the whole project dissolved, as I went down the path of self-destruction and substance abuse. Fast forward to late 2011, I got my ass up from the ground, got clean and re-organized, so to speak and by accident I met the drummer Mortar, with whom we played in early incarnation of Ragehammer, at my friend’s house party. Having not spoken for quite a long time we decided we need to meet up again and talk of the older days. Just a few days before the meeting I called upon Bestial Avenger, another guy and guitarist of the original line-up, with whom I maintained remote contact every now and then, so there were three of us sitting, blasting music on my stereo and talking about the good ol’ days, slowly getting to the idea of trying to play together again. Few weeks later we went on and jammed for the first time in almost 3 years. Man, it went like magic, the first track was done that very day. The only thing that was missing was the bassist. After thinking of many options the fate was lucky for us again, as on some gig I accidentally met…. Corpsebutcher who also played with us in the early days. Since then we work as a unit with tight vision and zealous goal to bring the raw and negative feeling back into the Blackened Thrash Metal, spoiled by tons of copycats and followers. Started out with a “War Hawks” demo from 2012, now we are about to unleash our first full-length material “The Hammer Doctrine” via Pagan Records on April 8.

2.How would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recordings?
It’s raw, it’s dirty, it’s aggressive and it wants to hurt you. It ain’t the high peak of originality, it does not “transcend” the Metal sound into Noise Rock or ‘70s psychedelia, it does not require hoods, incense, chalices and skulls, there is not a single sigillum used, we are not among the occult legions bastardizing the Hidden Art these days. What we do is Metal the way we envisioned it to be. Hateful, furious and raw. The main aim of the music in combination with lyrics is to tear down listener’s comfort zone and show him there is not a single thing to trust and take for granted these days. I will dwell into that more later.

3.In 2012 you had released a demo but waited 4 more years to release more music, can you tell us a little bit more about the gap?
The gap was caused by the very simple reason: after the pretty much well-received demo we decided to take our time and prepare a worthy successor not to spoil the good feedback with rushed material. For that time we were intensely working on new tracks and looking for the direction into which we could take a step forward with our music. Of course what I mean is rather evolution than revolution, no unexpected radical turns, rather a few aces up the sleeve in what I consider logical continuation of our demo.

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
I would say it is focused mainly on the militant viewpoint; everyday and overall war one needs to struggle, an “anatomy of the conflict”, so to speak. I try to write lyrics that offend and attack everything a potential listener would consider a “safe harbour”, be it home and family values, peace, feeling that today’s world insanity is happening somewhere far far away. The main goal is to make the listener reconsider the viewpoint on his own place in life, to move him away from benumbing certainty that evil is not something that would ever occur to him. Into this I would throw a handful of Nietzsche-inspired reflections, a few thoughts on survival of the fittest and the usual bitching about the decline of modern culture. A nice mix to make everyone hate me, hahah!

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Ragehammer'?
The combination of these two words would describe what we do best: raging fury combined with mortal pounding heaviness. I would like to give some eloquent philosophical background to it, but we’re still just a Metal band with a mean Metal name on our banner.

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
Well, playing live is something we collectively agree that is the best part of being in a band. We are presenting rather stripped down, no F/X approach to stage presence (although in the initial stage we used corpsepaint, but this idea was discarded after just two gigs), focusing rather on energy than the so-called “atmosphere”. There’s a lot of headbanging and decibels. I guess our main mark here is the authenticity. As for the best shows, we had an undeniable pleasure to share the stage with such Metal stalwarts, as Christ Agony, Stillborn, Arkona (the Polish one of course), Blaze of Perdition, Bestial Raids, Kat, Chilean Thornafire or Swedish Intestinal. We treat all the shows we play as a separate event, so there is no real possibility of distinguishing which one of these was the best; although the Warsaw mayhem along Arkona, Diabolicon and Porta Infrenum and obliteration of Rzeszów with Ulcer, Excidium, Deivos, Necrosadist and Striking Beast stand out as the most violent for sure.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released?
Yes, there are a few moves on that matter, but these are still in the working phase, so I am not sure I can discuss them any deeper. For the confirmed dates one can for sure see us at this year’s DarkFest Open Air in Byczyna, Poland in June and in July we will have an honour of opening for Toxic Holocaust in Wrocław, Poland.

8.Early this year you where a part of a split with 'Turbocharged', what are your thoughts on the other band that had participated on the recording?
It is without a doubt both a pleasure and an honour to share a split with Ronnie and the gang. I have been in touch with the guy for about 10 years now, initially as a devoted fan of his previous band, Gehennah, then somewhere along the way we became comrades sharing close viewpoints on Metal and the underground lifestyle in general. That is why when the initial plan of sharing this split with the Italian act Necromessiah failed, the first thing I thought was to get in touch with Turbocharged. I consider it the right decision, as the guys delivered a SMASHER of a track with “Bloodletting”, presenting a slightly different, yet still fitting, approach to Metal than Ragehammer to nicely balance the shot we came up with. Overall, the thing is out on March 31, done to celebrate the underground raw Metal we all live and breathe. Get it or get killed!

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of black and thrash metal?
It’s been mainly good. We got satisfying reviews in most cases both when it comes to the live performance as well as the record reviews. We feel that the worldwide underground paid attention to us, as our album leaked out on the Russian torrent sites a few weeks ago (note for the hipsters: that, my dears, was an irony). As we are still a fresh band we are rather careful with giving statements, but so far there was not much change in the attitude towards us once the album is out.

10.Are any of the band members also involved with any other bands or musical projects these days?
Yes, they are. Mainly myself, currently working simultaneously on a few projects ranging from blackened Death/Doom (Exmortum), through to Black Metal (Outre as a session live vocalist) up to… Death Country/Dark Folk (Them Pulp Criminals). All of these acts are currently working on releasing their respective materials this year. Apart from myself, Corpsebutcher used to help our friends Offence, taking the duties of a live bassist. He had also a shot-term stint with Black Metal ensemble Cień at the same position. The remaining two are so far inactive apart from Ragehammer, at least to my knowledge.

11.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
I guess we will keep on moving forward with the path taken on “The Hammer Doctrine” and I cannot see neither any foreseeable revolution in, nor compromising the attitude. Of course, I see the points of potential development for us, but no drastic turns ahead. We will simply try to be the best band we can be, making music that we ourselves would like to listen to, remaining first and foremost Metal FANS, only then a band.

12.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
Hah, Legion is their name! We take inspiration from literally every genre of Metal we listen to, without boxes and labels. Of course, the influence of Venom, early Bathory, Destroyer 666, Impaled Nazarene, Root, Nifelheim or Tormentor describe us loud and clear in what we do, but we take a whole lot from classic Heavy Metal, Speed/Power (bow before first Helloween and Trojan’s “Chasing the Storm” or die in torment!), Crust Punk, early Death Metal scene and of course Black Metal of the Second Wave. We are, as I said, first and foremost practicing Metal fanatics, trying to catch up with what is going on under the surface and in addition to making the music we are all collecting and discovering it. I am also running my own cut’n’paste zine, Dejekta Infinitus (issue #2 is in the works since forever though, hahah). As for the things spinning in my blaster recently, the latest Stillborn “Testimonio de Bautismo” is a fucking barbaric hammer, also Mgła’s latest opus, “Exercises in Futility”, StarGazer’s “A Merging to the Boundless”, Destoryer 666 “Wildfire”, Peste Noire “Le Chaise-Dyable”, Toxic Holocaust “Chemistry of Conscoiusness”, Gehennah “Too Loud to Live, Too Drunk to Die”, Mysticum “Planet Satan” and recently I came back to the entire Angelcorpse back catalogue and it still EXTERMINATES!

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Never take your life for granted, keep your guards up. The paradox is that we are at the top of the food chain and a cancer of this world.

https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Ragehammer/3540356536

Obscure Evil/Midnight Forces/Caligari Records/2016 Demo Review

  Obscure  Evil  are  a  band  from Peru  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black,  death  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  demo  "midnight  Forces"  which  was  released  by  Caligari  Records.

  Drum  beats  and  an  80's  first  wave  black  metal  style  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  screaming vocals  that  also  keep  that  tradition  alive  and  they  also  mix  in  some  influences  from  old  school  Brazilian  death  and  thrash  metal  and  the  solos  and  leads  the  band  uses  also  remain  true  to  an  old  school  extreme  metal  style.

 When  the  music  speeds  up  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  the  songs  also  bring  in a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  some  of  the  riffs  also  add  in  evil  sounding  melodies  along  with  a  touch  of  speed  metal  and  all of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  whole  demo also  remains  very  heavy  from  beginning  to  ending  of  the  recording.

  Obscure  Evil  plays  a  musical  style  that  goes  back  to  the  first  wave  style  of  black  metal  and  mixes  it with  the  heavy  and  primitive  death/thrash  sound  of  that  era  to  create  some  very  retro,  old  school  yet  heavy  music,  the  production  has  a vintage  80's  demo  sound  to  it  while  the  lyrics  cover  Satanism,  Abstractionism,  and  Nihilism  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Obscure  Evil  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  "Searing  Violent  Rain"  and  "Obscure  Prayings".  8/3  out  of  10.  

https://caligarirecords.bandcamp.com/album/midnight-forces

Obsidian Kingdom/A Year With No Summer/Season Of Mist/2016 CD Review

  Obsidian  Kingdom  are  a  band  from  Spain  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  that  started  out  as  an  experimental  mixture  of  black,  doom  and  death  metal  but  have  evolved  into  more  of  a  progressive  and  melodic  extreme  metal  band  on this  recording  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "A  Year  Of  No  Summer"  which  was  released  by Season  Of  Mist.

  Drum  beats  start  off  the album  along  with  some  atmospheric  sounds which  also leads  up  to  melodic  singing  and  clean  playing  being  added  onto  the  recording  before  going  into  a  heavier  musical  direction  which  still  also  utilizes a  great  amount  of  melody  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to them.

  Some  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length and  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  spoken  word  parts  while  the  synths  also  give  the  songs  more  of  an  experimental  feeling  when  they  are  used  and  they  also  bring  in  an  experimental  track  and  the  whole  album  also  sticks  mostly  to  a  very  slow  musical  direction  and  on  the  last  track  the  vocals  starting  getting  slightly  more  aggressive  while  also  adding  in  a  few  seconds  of  spoken  word  parts  while  also  speeding  up  for  a  few  seconds  and  also  adding  in  blast  beats.

  Obsidian  Kingdom  move  away  from  the  black  and  death  metal  roots  of  their  earlier  recordings  and  focus  more  on  a  melodic and  progressive  style  of  metal  which  is  also  very  different  from  anything  they  have  done  in  the  past,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Esoterism,  Psychology  and Fear  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Obsidian  Kingdom  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  progressive  and  melodic  metal,  you  should  enjoy  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "A  Year  With  No  Summer"  "Darkness"  and  "Away/Absent".  8  out  of  10.

https://obsidiankingdom.bandcamp.com/?utm_source=Obsidian%2BKingdom%2BMedia%2BMailing%2Blist&utm_campaign=f3e00832c0-20160311_ALBUM_RELEASE_MEDIA3_11_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9e38421a46-f3e00832c0-103972913  

Engraved Darkness Interview

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

         We are a versatile metal band that fits well into the blackened death and old school death styles. We always try to push the limits and boundaries of our music. We are all very passionate about our craft and we aim to project that through our music and even more so in live settings.

2.In December you had released your first album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?

         A well produced onslaught of dark and heavy riffs accompanied by eerie melodies, brutal drums, and demented vocals. We are very pleased with the outcome and our over all sound is well captured on "Diabolical Scriptures". 

3.The band has been around since 2010 but waited until 2015 to release an album, can you tell us a little bit more about the 5 year wait?
 
         We recorded an album back in 2010 with a production company that ended up scamming us. The album was never released and we ended up battling a rigorous and drawn out lawsuit. This left the band crippled for some time as members had to exit the entity for personal reasons and we had to find the right members with ideal mindsets and elements to continue to move forward. We endured a lot as a band and even though Engraved Darkness persevered, we had to ultimately regroup and move on to the next chapter of our being. This leads us to the present day line up of Johnnie Wallace (guitar, vocals, founder), Jimmy Rose (guitar), Andy Hall (drums), and Colin Glover (bass, backing vocals).

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

          Life, hardships, relentless truths, dark stories, depression, anti theism, things marked as evil, history,... We cover a vast amount of different subjects and prefer not to stick to just one. However the bands image and over all themes can be related closely to say that of a horror fan. We like to paint dark and vivid imagery within the listeners mind and concepts that most can relate to.

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

     Darkness is just as relevant as light in this world and within every individual. We all have our shadows we cast and our personal demons that we keep there. For some more than others, it is a deeply rooted essence of our being. Whether or not each individual acknowledges it, or leaves it to their subconscious, the power it wields in our life is extraordinary. We choose to harness this energy and project it through our music.  Our flesh is ripped open and our souls are exposed for the whole world to see and hear. All the things that the we bring into the light are significant pieces to us that are embodied in our craft. This is our "Engraved Darkness" and we see it best that the listeners and fans relate to our existence on their terms.  

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

         It is a tough decision. We had a killer time performing with Nile on the second leg of "For Whom the Gods Detest tour". Also, Hate Eternal on Halloween '15 was another monumental experience for us. The night was packed with talented bands and some of our favorites Beyond Creation, Misery Index, and Rivers of Nihil! Our performance, being local, was short and sweet but nothing less than powerful.  We primed the crowd up well for the onslaught they were going to receive the rest of the night. Our set was packed full of intensity and the crowds energy mirrored ours well. Very rewarding night for our souls!

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

         Yes, we plan to perform as often and as far as we can. We have many shows booked currently, most of which are with well known touring bands. We are always looking for new opportunities and venues to perform at to gain a bigger audience. Right now we are booked all across Ohio and we are looking at setting up more in the surrounding states including; Kentucky, Illinois, Michigan and eventually over to the east coast. Touring is definitely on our radar. We have adopted a motto from our brother band Forces of Nature that we will perform anywhere, with anybody, and at anytime as long as we are available.

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

           We have received no interest yet, to our knowledge. Looking for a label has not been our main focus as much as other priorities. We have been focusing on the band with a DIY mentality. If a label crosses our path and has things to offer us that could benefit the bands interest and future we would definitely look into it. As far as right now though we are handling our endeavors independently.

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

           So far we have received many positive reviews and have gained many fans locally as well as across the globe. Our music seems to agree well with fans of both sub genres as well as metal fans in general. We have influence of Black and Death metal dominantly in our songs, along with various other styles or classifications. We are not predominantly one style or the other, but we harness the elements of each and i believe that is important to our sound and who we are as a band. Exclusive fans of both sub genres seem to enjoy our sound and accept it into their library.

10.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?

          Half of the band is in a thrash metal group called Forces of Nature. Vocalist, guitarist, and founder Johnnie Wallace plays bass and back up vocals and our guitarist Jimmy Rose is also the lead guitarist in Forces. We have very distinct styles between the two and they definitely speak for themselves. Both bands stay extremely busy and perform often especially when there are bigger caliber shows. Our drummer Andy Hall is also in a band called the Alfie Lucky project which features a local virtuoso guitarist Alfie. All members of Engraved Darkness are well seasoned musicians with a strong passion for more music and the creativity is endless!!

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

         We want to dive deeper into our sound while continuing to expand our horizons. We are working on some ambient interludes for the new music as well as an instrumental and more technical song structures. We are going to take our writing to the next level. All the songs off of Diabolical Scriptures were written in the past years. The next album will be constructed from the hearts of our current line up and it will definitely be a stronger composition. We will stay true to our path and continue this evolution.

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

        Death, Morbid Angel, Arch Enemy, Nevermore, Behemoth, Nile, Kalmah, Agathodaimon, Dissection, Arcturus.... It is really hard to just name a few and to not continue the list forever, haha. We have gained inspiration from many artists collectively and we are constantly hearing more. There is a great talent of music in this world and we are all ears. Between all of us, the range of music we listen to covers an enormous spectrum, for example Roy Orbison to Necrophagist, or Celtic/World music to Classical music. We have a very huge library of music we like as a band and individually. Obviously metal and most of the sub genres, classic rock, world cultural music, 50s doo whop and oldies in general, 80s metal has a lot to learn from and enjoy....as you can see this list can go on forever as well. Bottom line is, there is enough inspiring music in this world to be played for the rest of existence. We just have to find it by opening our eyes and ears so we can learn and enjoy.

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

        No. We love the dark imagery and evil concepts but we do not worship the Antichrist. Our music is more so anti religion and we address certain cultures within this realm of mythology.

14.What are some of your non musical interests?

         Nature and the wilderness are big interests among us. We enjoy camping in the great outdoors, bodies of water, and anything to really get the adrenaline pumping or cleanse our minds and souls. We all also have our own personal interests of riding motorcycles, shooting guns, and even learning about history and especially dinosaurs! Some of us enjoy cooking and surprisingly even more music.

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

         Music is the greatest thing I have ever encountered, and it has a power that can shake the world, sooth the soul, and unite complete strangers. I just want to thank you for reading this interview and taking time to learn what it means to us and our existence. I will leave you with a quote from one of my favorite musicians. Slainte.
"I think music in itself is healing.
It's an explosive expression of humanity.
It's something we are all touched by.
No matter what culture we're from,
everyone loves music."
~ Billy Joel ~

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Cendra/Metal Punk/Xtreem Music/2016 CD Review

  Cendra  are  a  band  from Spain  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  mixture  of  black  metal,  thrash  and  crust  punk  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Metal  Punk"  which  was  released  by  Xtreem  Music.

  Dark  synth  sounds  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  melodic  guitar  riffing  in  the  background  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavier  blackened  thrash  metal  direction  that  also  utilizes  a  great  amount  of  grim  black  metal  screams  while  the  guitars  also  make  a  great  use  of  tremolo  picking  while  also  mixing  in  elements  of  crust  punk.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  the  solos  and  leads  bring  in  an  early  80's  metal  punk  feeling  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  death  metal  growls  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  while  some  of  the  riffs  and  leads  also  add  in  a  small  amount  of  melody  and  some  of  the  songs  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and fast  parts  and  the  whole  album  also  remains  very  heavy  from  beginning  to  ending  of  the  recording.

  Cendra  creates  another  recording  that  remains  true  to  the  blackened  thrash  and  crust  punk  mixture  of  previous  recordings  and  creating  a  very  heavy,  and  aggressive  old  school  album,  the  production  sounds  very  raw  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  misanthropy,  nihilism  and  hatred themes  along  with  the  songs  also  being  written  in  a  mixture  of  English  and  Spanish.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Cendra  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  black  metal,  thrash  and  crust  punk,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Maniac  Homicida"  "Reserreccio"  "Metal  Punk"  and  "Sense  Objectius".  8  out  of  10.

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Funeral Of God/...Of Doom And Despair/Merdumgiriz/2016 CD Review

 Funeral  Of  God  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  a mixture  of  black,  death  metal,  funeral  doom  and  ambient  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "...Of  Doom  And  Despair"  which  was  released  by  Merdumgiriz.

  Ambient  sounds  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  distorted  effects  as  well  as  some  clean  playing  a  few  seconds  later  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  more  of  a  heavy  and  atmospheric funeral  doom  metal  direction  along  with  some  grim  black  metal  screams  and  after  death  metal  growls  are  also  added  into  some  parts  of t he  songs.

  When  the  music speeds  up  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats  along  with  tremolo  picking  can  be  heard  along  with  the  songs  also  adding  in  more  90's  influences  and  the  music  also  mixes  in  avant  garde  elements  at  times  and  some  of  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast parts  and  as  the  album  progresses  a  small amount  of  melody  can  be  heard  at  times  and  a  couple  of  the  tracks  are  long  and  epic  in  length  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  samples  and  the  last  track  also  introduces  melodic  guitar  leads  onto  the  recording.

  Funeral  Of  God  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  old  school  death  metal  and  black  metal  and  mixes  it  with  funeral  doom  and  dark  ambient  to  create  something  very  dark,  heavy  and  original, the  production  sounds  very  raw  yet  heavy  at  the  same  time  while  the  lyrics  cover  darkness  and  occultism  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Funeral  Of  God  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  black,  funeral  doom,  death  metal  and  dark  ambient  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Sliding  In  the  Mouth  Of  Hell" "Encrusted  Nails  Of  Obsession"  "Hail  to  Degenerator"  and  "Meditation  Into  Erebus".  8  out  of  10.

Soundcloud: https://www.facebook.com/Funeral-of-God-261847313911387

     

Necrocult 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?

Manu : " For thine" received good critics, each part of the labels and band did good job on promoting the album and we are still looking for gigs to spread the fury.
Loran : We are now focused on finding gigs to promote this new album. We already have great shows in South of France, next is with Necrowretch and Infernal Execrator in Toulouse. We expect mooving forward now.

2.In April 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 stuff you have released in the past?

Manu : This new album is in its entirety darker , due to its composition, contains and process of creation.  It is more worked because we have taken the time to. We have recorded with better tools, so it sound very diferent the our first album. Personnaly i think that our first album is more angry and the new is more occult.

Loran : This new album sounds as the natural evolution of the first one, overall spirit is the same but music is darker and more personnal.  We worked hard

3.In the beginning the band played more of a thrash influenced death metal sound but have evolved into more of a black/death metal direction, what was the decision behind going into this musical direction?

Manu : This decision take form naturally since Loran make us discover black metal and get on singing the chorus : his voice fastly became as leading as mine. The black metal touch make us play a more dark and epic Death metal. The dark side of extreme music is what we wanted to play.


4.This is the first album to be released in 12 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time frame?

Manu : We played some gigs here and take the time to work new material. Loran have experienced studio recording and mixing. Each of us concentrate too in personal activities.

Loran : We experienced many different periods during this time, from concert to composition, recording session, reflexion and so on. But we already played our music together.

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

Manu : we have always explored the dark side of ourselves, and the new songs go deeper into this darkness. I used to talk about what Existence is or can be but  in a mystic way. It is just my vision and the way I interpret only concern me.

6.Originally the band was called 'Crucifix', what was the decision behind the name change and also the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Necrocult'?

Manu : As i said before, we wanted to play dark and extreme metal, this change mark the new direction we explore with the black death metal era. Necrocult is a contraction of death and occult, and it reflects our blackened minds.


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

Manu : every show is a real good time, but one the best for me was the date with our friends of Trashnasty and Oldskull : total fucking metalic friendship, the one with Nuit noire too because one of our first date outside our local scene, very good remembrance. We try to transcribe the more realistic the anger, the power and the darkness of our music, we don't use any artefacts or other hoax, we are ourselves, playing with honesty and true belief.

Loran : Best show are ones where i can feel the power and darkness of the music. Being here. I achieved this feeling many times since the beginning. I can remember first Snakebite Fest and gig with Malhkebre and Withdrawn @ Toulouse, with The Seven Gates @ Macon, Temple Of Baal & Ritualization for last gig organisation the Dead Church Guardian ... 10 years anniversary of Une Nuit En Enfer also and many more ! 

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

Manu : We are in contact with some organisators but nothing concrete, we are still looking for gigs outside, as possible, our hometown.

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

Manu :  Very good, we had great reviews from abroad (Turkey, Netherlands, Germany, Russia, Italy) , this is really enjoying and motivating.

Loran : Our firts album received very good feedback worldwide, and the new one go on the same way.



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

Manu : I play guitar with friends in a band called Oldskull, where we  play a death / trash metal in the traditional vein.

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

Manu : I don't know because I don't want to plan any musical compromise or something like that : we play what we want to play, naturally, with heart and guts.

Loran : We never plan or try to define musical guideline, only thing i'm sure is the music will evolve darker !

12.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?

Manu : I enjoy the writings of Jonas Renkse from Katatonia, because of his esthetic, tormented and simply style. But the most that influence me, today as well as yesterday, in music but in life too, is the 90's death and black metal.

Loran : Major influence are for me the norwegian black metal scene and floridian death metal scene of the early 90. This stuff is already today what i listen more.

13.How would you describe your views on Satanism and Occultism?

Manu : For mine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory.
Loran : For ever.

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

Manu : Thank you for the nice review of our new album and interview. You can get our stuffs from the band, from Satanath records or Ira militias. Keep in touch through the website or facebook page of the band for news or other.

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Engraved Darkness/Diabolical Scriptures/2016 CD Review

  Engraved  Darkness  are  a  band  from  Ohio  that  plays  a  blackened  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2016  album  "Diabolical  Scriptures"  which  will  be  released  during  the  end  of  April.

  A  dark  sounding  synth  starts  off  the  album  and  they  also  bring  in  a  ritualistic  feeling  to  the  recording  and  after  the  intro  a  powerful  sounding  bass  guitar  kicks  in  before  going  into  more  of  a  brutal  death  metal  direction that  also  uses  blast  beats  and  growls  along  with  some  screams  that  give  the  music  a  black  metal.

 Melodies  can  be  heard  in  the  music  at  times  while  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  some  of  the  fast  riffs  use  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  in  a  traditional  death  metal  style  while  also  having  a  melodic  edge  to  them  and  the  music  also  gets  very  technical  at  times  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound to  them  and  one  of  the  tracks  is  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Engraved  Darkness  plays  a  style  of  death  metal  on  this recording  that  is  very  brutal  while  also  mixing  in  the  darkness  and  evil  atmosphere  of  black  metal  to  create  some  very  heavy  and  dark  music,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark,  evil  and  occult  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Engraved  Darkness  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  "Darkened  Grave  "Ritualistic  Sins"  and  "The  Purity  Of  Evil".  8  out  of  10.

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Ignominia/Falsa Divinidad/2015 EP Review

  Ignominia  are  a  band  from  Chile  that  plays  blackened  form  of  death  metal  with  a  touch  of  thrash  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2015  ep  "Falsa  Divinidad".

  A  very  harsh  sounding  noise  intro  starts  off  the  ep  along  with  some  high  pitched  screams  and  growls  a  few  seconds  later  which  also  takes  the  music  more  into  an  old  school  death  metal  direction  while  the  vocals  bring  in  more  of  a  first  wave  black  metal  screaming  style  style  and  the  music  also  uses  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats.

  Throughout  the  recording  there  is  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  riffs  also  mix  in  80's  thrash  and  90's  death  metal  and  when  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  bring  in  even  more  of an  old  school  extreme  metal  style  to  the  songs  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  while  some  of  the  riffs  also  use  a  small  amount  of  morbid  sounding  melodies  and  the  whole  ep  also  remains  very  heavy and  brutal form  beginning  to  ending  of  the  recording.

  Ignominia  plays  a  style  of  death/thrash  that  is  very  heavy,  old  school  and  brutal  sounding  while  using  black  metal  vocals  which  makes  the  music  stand  out  a  bit  more,  the  production  sounds  very  powerful  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Spanish  and  cover  blasphemy,  anti  religion  and  death  themes.

  In  my opinion  Ignominia  are  a  very  great  sounding  blackened  death/thrash  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Vision  Blasfema"  and  "Formula  de  Muerte".  8/5  out  of  10.

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

www.ignominia.bandcamp.com

http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Ignominia/3540379498

   

Goholor/In Saeculis Obscuris/Symbol Of Domination Productions/Schattenkult Produktionen/2016 EP Review

  Goholor  are  a  band  from  Slovakia  that  plays  a  blackened  form of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  ep  "In  Saeculis  Obscuris"  which  was  released  as  a  joint  effort  between  Symbol  Of  Domination  Productions  and  Schattenkult  Produktionen.

  A very  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  ep  along  with  some  death  metal  growls  a  few  seconds later  and  you  can  also  hear  some  melodies  in  the  music  at  times  and  the  fast  parts  also  use  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats and  tremolo  picking  while  the  vocals  also  mix  in  black  metal  screams  at  times.

  Throughout  the  recording  you can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and fast  parts  and  when  guitar  leads  are  utilized  they  bring  even  more  of  a  melodic  style  to  the  bands  musical  sound  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sound  very  powerful  and  the  whole  ep  rmeains  heavy  from  beginning  to  ending  of  the  recording.

  Goholor  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  black  and  death  metal  and  mixes  it  together  to  create  a  style  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark,  blasphemous  and  occult  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Goholor  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  "Act Of  Infernal  Prayer"  and  "Symbols  Of  Blasphemy".  8  out  of  10.

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Mithridatic Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
Mithridatic is a Blackened Death Metal music band created in 2007, St-Etienne, France. The goal is to make a dark, heavy and aggressive music, inspired by old school and blackened Death metal. We want to give hate, power and loose of control to our audience.

2.In March you have a new album coming out, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?
Before Miserable Miracle, which is our first album, we have released 3 demos, available only at shows. Our music was more Death Metal inspired, mixed with Thrash Metal and Hard-core music. Now it is more a mix between Death Metal and Black Metal, as we use Black Metal atmosphere. The music has definitely darker atmospheres and is also more aggressive with faster tempo. In fact we have songs with riffing, but also with atmospheres.
On “Hunting Fever”, the last demo before the album, and on Miserable Miracle, we also have a new drummer, Kevin Paradis, and who have brings his ability to play fast. Hence our music is even more brutal.
Miserable Miracle was record at the DLM studio, near to our hometown St-Etienne, by Ludovic Dupont, and mixed/mastered at Sainte-Marthe Studio, in Paris, by Francis Caste (Arkhon Infaustus, Kickback, Cowards…). We have work on an organic but precise sound. Our goal was to avoid the modern Death Metal sound, with a full triggered drum, guitars mixed with a lot of high frequencies and no medium etc… But as the music is sometime very fast, it was also necessary to have something precise, but Ludovic and Francis did a perfect job.

3.From 2011 to 2015 there was no new music being released, can you tell us a little bit more about the 4 year gap?
In fact the band splitted in 2011. After a show, everyone decided to take a break. At this moment, everybody in the band needed a break. An overdose of negativity that was leading nowhere... We decided to reform the band, and Kevin joins us at the drums.


4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?
The common theme of this album is to overcome a multitude of intoxications and hostile situations we're surrounded by... I tried to breath and explore the social anxiety that's in the air for tracks like "Oxydized Trigger Sabotage" "The Supply...". within this anxiety I've been inspired by a lot of french authors writings, José "Zé do caxiao" Mojica Marins and Lucio Fulci movies...to go deeper in the symbolism of terror "...for terror and the crowd" is a good example. I also worked on nocebo effects(in the opposition of placebo effects) I mean this situation where you prefer to harm yourself in an harmful environment...I found voodoo and spirituality very important to speak about nocebo effects. At the end of this process you can approach to another face of this album that's a kind surrealism and contemplation of beings collapse...I tried to recreate a "Bardo" state to listen and to read. Helped by Henri Michaux's works on mescaline and Antonin Artaud writings. "Miserable Miracle" "hell compasses points" are some keys to crush your inner boundaries...this work still obsesses me but by this album I had to use my struggles in an useful way

5.Originally the band was called 'Mariscorn', what was the cause of the new change?

Haha ! I don’t know where you get this information, as we have never recorded something with Mariscorn ! Mariscorn was a Progressive Death Metal band, but thanks god we have stop soon enough our shitty music ! We can consider Mariscorn as the embryo of Mithridatic, but Mithridatic borned when Mariscorn meet Guitou, our vocalist, and Remolo, our bass guitar player.

6.I know that the band name came from an ancient deity "Mithras', does the band have any interest in occultism or mythology?
oh yes 'mithras' is the root of 'mithridate' and the Cult of Mithras is very interesting thing...very deep... but 'Mithridatic' comes more from 'Mithridate' which was a king in a Greek region. This guy developed an immunity against poison by taking daily gradually non-lethal doses of poison... to be your own antidote is a fascinating thing to my eyes... it's more the symbolic that's important and that you can use nowadays in all that shit surrounding us... I am not really an expert in mythology neither in occultism but I can use some references for the strength of their symbolic. Through drugs, misery, precarious existence "mithridatic" is more to define the way to overcome this world and accomplish ourselves

7.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
We like when it is war in the audience ! We are trying a make brutal music, which express anger and madness, so it awesome when we see that people use the show to release their madness. For us, it is very important to play great live : hence we spend a lot of time in rehearsal to work on the show, to be sure than nobody will be disappointed by the performance. Well, people can don’t like our music, but it would be a shame for us if someone that like our music is disappointed by our live performance.
Our best souvenirs are in our hometown, St-Etienne, because the audience is always very brutal and mad.

8.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released?
At the moment there is no tour booked, but as soon as possible, we will go on tour. Things are a bit complicated as the band is pretty new… this is only our first album. Nevertheless, we have a few gigs booked, and we will play at the Sylak Open Air this year, with bands such as Immolation, The Black Dahlia Murder, Ensiferum etc…

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of black and death metal?
Kevin is involved in several other bands, he is filling in for Melechesh, he is playing for Svart Crown, Agressor, Death Lab, and The Arisen.

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

Well the album is very new, and even if there is a full streaming on the internet, the album is not out yet, so it hard to anticipate the global feedback. We do have some great feedback yet, but I guess we have to wait to really know what people think about our work. And the road is long before the name of Mithridatic is known ! But well we are ready for this !

11.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
The future of Mithridatic will probably be even darker, and we will follow the same road than the one we have followed from The Hunt Is On to Miserable Miracle, but then who knows ? We are not going to make the same stuff forever, so we will see what kind of new influences will show up !


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

Romain : my main influences are Arkhon Infaustus, Dead Congregation, Morbid Angel, Mayhem, Angel Corpse, Immolation etc… I also listen to sludge, doom, and punk music.  Answering to this interview, I’ve just listen to Dawn Of The Possession from Immolation, and I guess I’m going to listen to Take As Needed For Pain of Eyehategod now !

Guitou : 12/ I think we are more interested in bands than in a particular style...we have many influences by the fact that Mithridatic members are from different generations. Remi (bass) Romain (guitar) and I were listening to extreme bands like mayhem Angelcorpse, Morbid Angel, Sadistik Exekution, Pantera, or french punk or U.S punk like GG ALLIN, Antiseen, Nashville Pussy at school... even Alex (guitar) was at school with us but he was more focused on progressive stuff, he's a huge fan of Steven Wilson, Dream Theater, you can hear it on our structures and many soli... but he's also interested in extreme things...and Kevin joined us with an ulcerate feeling on drums we recently talked a lot about Tsjuder, the bulemics, hooded menace, Svart Crown, Nervosa, Department of Correction, Dropdead,...in rehearsal... Main influences for my works on "Miserable Miracle" album are bands that create a strong emotion by sound and lyrics, Eyehategod are very important for me Portal, Mayhem Angelcorpse righteous pigs also, mixed with a kind of punk violence to dynamize my vocals... so I talked about our different generations and sights cause Mithridatic is a melting pot of all these influences...in the end this is just our generation and our feelings


13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thank you for your interest and for the interview ! People, if you want to discover our album, Search for Miserable Miracle on Kaotoxin (our record label) soundcloud ! You can listen to the entire album there ! And then, if you want to support us, you can buy the album on the kaotoxin shop ! See you soon on stage !

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