Schizoid/The Next Extreme/D-Trash Records/2012 CD Review

 Schizoid  are  a  1  man  band  from  Ontario,  Canada  that plays  black  metal  mixed  in  with  some  influences  from  grindcore,  industrial,  and  digital  hardcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their    2012  album  "The  New  Extreme"  which  was  released  by  D-Trash  Records.

  Drum  programming  ranges  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  beats  with  some  programmed  blast  beats  which  also  mix  in  the  industrial,   gabber  and  digital  hardcore  influences,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  strong  and  powerful  tone  with  heavy  riffing  that  dominates  throughout  the  recording,  as  for  the  sound  effects  they  bring  in  elements  of  techno, gabber,  and  digital  hardcore  to  the  music.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  black  metal  riffs  that  also  have  a  good  amount  of  grindcore  and  industrial  metal  influences  being  thrown  into  the  riffing  and  there  are  no  guitar  solos  or  leads  present  on  this  recording.

  Vocals  are  mostly  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  mixed  in  with  a  good  amount  of  industrial  style  vocals  and  spoken  word  samples,  while  the  lyrics  cover  violent  and  hateful  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong  and  powerful  sound  and  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording.

   In  my  opinion  Schizoid  are  a  very  great  sounding  hybrid  of  black  metal,  industrial,  grindcore,  and  digital  hardcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  style,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Next  Extreme"  "Real  Evil"  "Life  Is  Struggle"  and  "Final  Descent".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

STREAMING LINK: http://schizoid.bandcamp.com
VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nz_TFP4oSuU
SCHIZOID WEB: http://www.schizoid.ca

Hell United Interview

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

Nothing has changed -  I have a lot of free time, so I drink as much as I can and play on guitar of course. As a band we do our own like playing rehearsals, different promotional actions and first of all we’re preparing to the premiere of our latest album Aura Damage.

2. How would you describe the musical sound of the new album and how it differs from previous releases?

I hate to describe my own music. This is the task for people who listen and feel metal music, like you, for example…Besides your review of Aura Damage was accurate I think. However, I heard from few friends I trust that our new sound is very heavy, raw, cumulative and fleshy so probably that’s the way it is.

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

It’s nothing new for us. We walking this path for over ten years and we will do the same for a few next. We are formed totally and aware of what we really are. It is simple. We don’t change ourselves or combine, for what? Nothing ever stops, everything starts again…

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?

Hell United is what transmuted out of Eclypse. The name emphasizes the determination and new energy in making music, as well as the experience of the band members, who have not lost their identity. There’s no other inspiration except this one.

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

We shared the stage with Yattering, Supreme Lord and with Behemoth many years ago and that was the most inspiring experience for me. Of course we played with the other bands through these years, but those shows were fucking awesome.

About stage performances: here, in Poland people are twisted and furious, so just think how the shows look like... We are just like people we play for. We’re Poles and we don’t give a fuck!

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

Yes, we’re planning to play some gigs in early autumn and we work hard for another.

7. On a worldwide level how has your newer music been received by the fans of black and death metal that have heard it so far?

Fans and the press all over the world received our previous albums very well. I was surprised that people from such exotic places like Panama, Brazil, Singapore or Japan knows us. Moreover, all that happened before the era of internet. That was amazing.

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

Hell United is regular band. There are no other side projects. I also play in Stillborn (www.stillborn.pl) which is regular band too. That’s all for now in this case.

9. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?

Direction is bloody good. Death metal is death metal. As far as we live, we’ll try to become only better.

But for now we are focused on Aura Damage.

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

If you listen music for all your life you go back to its roots more and more often. So when we write music we hear old stuff - classic black, thrash, death, heavy albums.

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

Are you kidding me? Do you really think I could answer this question?

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

Job, job and once more fucking job. Besides of that: drinking, women, parties and other shit.

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

Remember: in article of pan-devouring death, ignorance is blessing.

Regards! Rzulty.

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Auroch/From Forgotten Worlds/2012 CD Review

  Auroch  are  a  band  from  Vancouver,  British  Columbia,  Canada  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  with  the  new  recording  they  go  more  for  a  blackened  death  metal  sound  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2012  album  "From  Forgotten  Worlds".

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  a  great  amount  of  brutal  sounding  blast  beats  being  thrown  into  the  music,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  is  coming  out  of  the  guitars,  as  for  the  sound  effects  when  they  are  utilized  they  bring  a  very  dark  and  occult  sound  to  the  music.

  Rhythm  guitars  range from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  death  metal  riffs  that  utilize  a  good  amount  of black  metal  influences  as  well  as  some  technical  parts  and  dark  sounding  melodies  being  thrown  into  the  riffing,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  chaotic,  melodic  and  technical  sounding  death  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads.

  Vocals  are  mostly  deep  death  metal  growls  mixed  in  with  some  high  pitched  black  metal  screams,  while  the  lyrics  cover  Lovecraft  and  Occult  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  for  being  a  self  released  recording.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  recording  from  Auroch  which  shows  them  going  into  a  more  heavy  and  brutal  direction  and  if  you  where  a  fan  of  their  previous  efforts,  you  should  enjoy  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "From  Forgotten  Worlds"  "Talisman  For  Total  Temporal  Collapse"  and  "Bloodborne  Conspiracy".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

http://auroch1.bandcamp.com/album/from-forgotten-worlds

Swallow The Sun Interview

Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?
>
--- Well the album came out in Europe on February and we been touring a
lot ever since. We got few summer festivals still to go and then we are of
to North America´n tour. Cant wait for that because our American fans have
always been totally supportive and every time theres loads of more of
them.
>
> How would you describe the musical sound of the new album and how it
> differs from previous recordings?
>
--- First time we used lots of acoustic guitar parts on our music, and
that might be the biggest difference when you compare this one to our
older albums. With every album we have been taking small steps towards all
the directions and making music even slower, faster, darker and having
more light also.

> What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with
> the
> new release?
>
--- I guess this album has a concept about letting some ghosts go from
your life, and also trying to forgive yourself before its too late.
>
> What is the meaning and inspiration behind the band's name?
>
--- Its about our winter time. When winter comes here it almost feel like
something would swallow the sun from the sky. You barely see sun in months
and up north it doesent even come up from horizon. Theres also Nordic
myths about something swallowing the sun from the sky when world is coming
to its end.

>
> What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and how
> would you describe your stage performance?
>
>
--- I have great memories from the shows in New York, playing sold out gig
in legendary Astoria venue in London with Apocalyptica, also one of the
best gigs were in Tel Aviv and Tokyo while ago. Our band is not about
cheering people up on the gigs and sucking the audience, its all about
music and atmosphere what we stand for.

> On a worldwide level how the feedback been to your newer music by the
> metal
> fans that have heard it so far?
>
---- Its been great. Im happy that our fans are such a music lovers and
they understand that music doesent always have to be fast and have lots of
solos and lyrics about Vikings or dragons, haha. Our fans also understand
that we are not just doing our first album over again and they been
supporting the small changes with the time. It takes quite a lot to get
into this kind of music and I totally understand people who hate our band
too, its not for everyone for sure.
>
>
> What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?
>
--- I see it going where it has been during the years, getting even deeper
into the darkenss and light. Its not so much about the style of music, its
much more about the feeling and atmopshere that counts.
>
> Outside of music what are some of your interests?
>
--- Dr. Pepper, tits and Formula 1, haha, how deep is that!!??

>
> Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?
>
--- Its been cold, short and rainy summer here.. and soon we are heading
towards the winter again, in other words we are fucked! Well maybe in 9
months there will be some hope for a real summer.

Juha Raivio / gtr / Swallow the Sun

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Blackhammer Interview

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

We are a band based in Italy. Our project has started at the beginning of this year and we play under the pseudonyms of Xulur and Terror. We have already released an EP entitled 'daemon' and nowadays we are working together with Dob Incarnate Records to release our first full album.

2. How would you describe your musical sound?

Our musical sound, precisely the one we are going to introduce in our coming soon album 'Damned World', is inspired by bands such as Marduk and we would describe it as doom death metal, extreme and chaotic.

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

Well, with our songs we explore the world of death, pain and sufference. One day man is going to meet his personal final judgement, he wont have secrets in front of it and will pay for all his sins. 'Agony', 'XIII', 'Fire Above Us' and 'Buried Under The Desert Sun' together with all the other songs of our upcoming album introduce this topics.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?

We decided to call our band Blackhammer because the two words together have a strong and strange meaning. As we said before man is going to be punished one day and the black hammer will be the instrument used by the judge to decide the man's fate.

5. Has the band been able to play out live or is this strictly a studio project?

Nowadays Blackhammer is a studio project but of course future live performance wont be declined.

6. On a worldwide level how has your music been recieved by fans of dark and extreme metal?

Until now we have built a modest group of fans around us. They support us and we create our music for them and of course for all the metal fans around the world. We hope the release of 'Damned World' will help other fans of extreme metal discover us. This new album is our first big project and we think that fans of dark and extreme metal will like it and enjoy it. We'll see...

7. Are there any other musical projects besides this band or is this a view time line up?

This is the only one project or band we are concentrated at and now we are not thinking about other projects. We see only Blackhammer in our future, but you can never say because the future is always a mystery.

8. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?

It is always difficult to speak and think about the future. Our future releases could be more technical but always concentrated on doom and dark scenarios. With our coming soon album we discovered a micsture of growl and sceam that is perfect to express our subjects and topics, and we are going to use it in our future releases to. So, our music wont slow down, it can only become more extreme and brutal.

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

Behemoth is the band we admire, the source of our inspiration when we were working on our EP. But now we are more concentrated on a brutal and extreme kind of metal, so we added to Behemoth the sound of Marduk. Of course each band has his personal sound and also we, as Blackhammer, have been working from the beginning to find out our style. We think that with 'Damned World' we are on the good way.
Nowadays we are listening to, of course, our favorite bands Behemoth and Marduk and their whole past albums, but also to bands such as Slayer, Vader and Burzum.

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

Satanism or Occultism has not played a role in our releases until know. We do not include this two aspects in the topics we introduce in our songs.

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

Of course music is our interest number one because it give us the chance to express what we think and what we have inside. Other interests... Travelling and discovering other cultures, other ways of life, ancient and present traditions of other Countries.

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

This is our first interview... We want to thank you for the opportunity you gave us and for the fantastic review you did. A big thank you goes to all our fans and to all the metal fans that will discover our music in the next weeks.

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Hell United/Aura Damage/Hellthrasher Productions/2012 CD Review

  Hell  United  are  a  band  from  Poland  that  plays  a  very  blackened  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2012  album  "Aura  Damage"  which  was  released  by  Hellthrasher  Productions.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  a  good  amount  of  brutal  sounding  blast  beats,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  is  coming  out  of  the  guitars  and  at  times  they  have  a  very  strong  and  powerful  sound  to  them.

  $Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  death  metal  riffs  that  utilize  a  good  amount  of  black  metal  influences  in  the  riffing,   while  the  lead  guitars  when  they  are  utilized  have  a  very  heavy  black  metal  feeling  to  the  leads  while  retaining  death  metal  elements  in  the  solos.

  Vocals  are  mostly  deep  death  metal  growls  mixed  in  with  some  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  as  well  as  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts,  while  the  lyrics  cover  Satanism  and  Nihilism,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  to  it.

  In  my  opinion  Hell  United  are  a  very  great  sounding  blackened  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  style,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Apostle  Of  Plague"  "Aura  Damage"  "Maelstrom's  Gravity"  and  "Totality  Of  I".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

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Blackhammer/Damned World/Dod Incarnate Records/2012 CD Review

   Blackhammer  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  with  a  musical  style  that  I  would  describe  as  being  blackened  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2012  album  "Damned World"  which  was  released  by  Dod  Incarnate  Records.

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

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  blackened  death  metal  riffs  that  use  a  more  raw  and  primitive  approach  than  most  of  the  bands  from  this  genre  and  there  are  no  guitar  solos  or  leads  present  on  this  recording.

  Vocals  range  from  grim  sounding  blackened  death  metal  screams,  guttural  growls  and  spoken  word  elements,  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  death  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  dark,  raw  and  primitive  sound  to  it.

  In  my  opinion  Blackhammer  are  a  very  great  sounding  hybrid  of  black  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  style  of  music,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "XII"  "The  Beginning  Of  Agony"  and  "Fire  Above  Us".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.  

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