Cursus Bellum/Ex Nihilo Nihil Fit/Downfall Records/2018 CD Review

  Cursus  Bellum  are  a  band  from  Sweden  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  blackened  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2018  album  "Ex  Nihilo  Nihil  Fit"  which  will  be  released  in  October  by  Downfall  Records.

  Spoken  word  parts  start  off  the  album  before  going  into a  very  fast  and  brutal  musical  direction  which  also  uses  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  while  the  vocals  are  a  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  style  growls  and  screams  and  the  solos  and  leads  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  style.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  also  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  dark  sounding  melodies  can  also  be  heard  in  some  of  the  guitar  riffing  along with  some  clean  playing  also  being  used  briefly  as  well  as  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  as  as  the  album  progresses  a  couple  brief  classical  guitar  instrumentals  can  be  heard  before  returning  back  to  a  heavier  direction.

  Cursus  Bellum  creates  another  recording  that  remains  true  to  the  blackened  death  metal  style  of  their  previous  release,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  darkness  and  anti  religion  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Casus  Bellum  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  blackened  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Soil  Companion"  "Magma  Prophet"  "Life  Eater"  and  "The  Soil  Beneath  Us".  8  out  of  10.

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Piah Mater/The Wandering Daughter/Code666/2018 CD Review

  Piah  Mater  are  a  band  from  Brazil  that  plays  a  progressive  and  atmospheric  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2018 album  "The  Wandering  Daughter"  which  will  be  released  in  October  by  Code666.

  Classical  guitars  start  off  the  album  while  female  vocals  can  also  be  heard  briefly  before  going  into  a  heavier  direction  which  also  introduces  death  metal  growls  onto  the  recording  while  the  music  also  gets  very  progressive  at  times  along  with  the  solos  and  leads  being  done  in  a  very  melodic  style.

  Most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  while  clean  vocals  can  also  be  heard  at  times  along  with  the  riffs  also  bringing  in  a  great  amount  of  melody  as  well  as  the  vocals  also  utilizing  a  great  amount  of  black  metal  screams,  spoken  word  parts  can  also  be  heard  briefly.

   When  the  music  speeds  up  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  while  the  music  also  has  its  atmospheric  moments  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  as  well as  some  prog  rock  style  synths  also  being  utilized  at  times a and  as the  album  progresses  psychedelic  elements  are  added  onto  the  recording.

  Piah  Mater  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  atmospheric  black  metal  and  progressive  death  metal  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  the  relationship  between  man/woman  and  nature.

  In  my  opinion  Piah  Mater  are  a  very  great  sounding  atmospheric  and  progressive  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Solace  in  Oblivion"  and  "The  Meek's  Inheritance".  8  out  of  10.

https://ninecircles.co/2018/10/02/premiere-piah-mater-solace-in-oblivion/      

Wills Dissolve Interview

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

(Shaun Weller) We all have different approaches to writing and we wanted to mix all of that together to create something unique. I guess the best way to describe it would be post progressive metal. Mixing incredibly heavy and fast parts with ambient passages and beautiful clean parts to truly capture the full gamut of humanity.



2.In October you have your first full length coming out, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style you went for on this recording?

(Branson Heinz) I think the primary strength of our band is the same as the primary strength of our hometown: diversity.  Every member of the band has a different background and is inspired by a different style of metal.  Nick’s inspiration mainly comes from post metal and progressive metal, Andrew’s from progressive and black metal, Shaun’s from doom and punk, and mine from black and death metal.  I think it is nice to mirror our hometown in that way.  It not only gives us a sound we love, but allows us to relate to our surroundings.



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

(Nick Block) Misanthropy, faith, and cosmic horror.  Our debut album, The Heavens Are Not On Fire…, is a concept album about the Leonid meteor shower of November 1833 being mistaken for a sign from God in rural West Texas, and the destruction that follows.


(Andrew Caruana) If our album had a subtitle, it would be something along the lines of, “the grave consequences of misapplied dogmatic zeal.”



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

(NB) Andrew and I are big fans of the band Isis.  Wills Dissolve is a track off of their masterpiece, Panopticon.  It also means “ego death,” or the loss of self-identity.



5.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the album cover?

Cauê Piloto created the beautiful oil painting for our cover art.  We provided him with the general guidelines, and he captured the spirit of the album perfectly.  The painting best captures the events at the end of the track “on this cold November night”.



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

Our favorite shows have been with our friends in Golgothan and Grave Gnosis.  The best way to describe our show is a combination of blast beats, heavy torrential bursts of energy, and ambient passages that suck you into a trance.



7.Do you have any touring or show plans once the album is released?

We have plans to do a southeast tour, but nothing is currently scheduled.



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

(NB) Andrew and I are both acoustical engineers and we were able to record our debut album by ourselves.  A label is something we are interested in, but are not actively pursuing.



9.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of underground metal?

(AC) We have thus far received a positive reaction to our demo.  Branson is a travel consultant, and has spread, ‘the gospel,” as it were, to people he met all over Asia and Europe. We would randomly get likes from people in Japan or Germany, and knew he was out there getting work done.  We are looking forward to hearing the response to our debut since it is being promoted a lot more aggressively.



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

(SW) The addition of synthesizers to our sound. Nick and I are very much into synths, but we wanted this first album to be more natural, considering the content of the album, so they didn't make an appearance. The next album's subject matter makes more sense to have synthesizers though, so that will be explored a whole lot more.


(AC) Given what we have already written, I’d say our blend of chaos intermixing with tranquility will only increase in severity. The trick will be to retain flow; great transitions can make or break a concept album.


(NB) Andrew and I are deep into the writing process for the next album.  It will also be a concept album, and will have an underwater theme.  The thematic writing takes a lot from H.P. Lovecraft, and deals with topics of wonder, isolation, madness, and continuing the general theme of cosmic horror.  The music will have more of a prog influence without straying too far from our death/black metal roots.



(BH) In the future, I see us taking our diversified approach to songwriting into a more extreme direction and really exploring the space of our music.  Making the ambient parts more ambient, the doomy parts more heavy, and fast parts faster and more technical.



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

(NB) Opeth, Pink Floyd, and Isis are my primary influences.  I have been listening to a ton of Leprous and Ulver lately, which has been getting me into the right mindset for our second album.  I am also constantly spinning Vol 2 from our friends in Father Rust, who should have their third album coming out soon.



(AC) Opeth, Devin Townsend, Dark Fortress, Nevermore, and Alcest are hands down my biggest metal influences. Current favorites for this year would be Yob’s “Our Raw Heart,” and Alkaloid’s, “Liquid Anatomy.”

(SW) A lot of new stuff, Beyond Creation and Behemoth's new album is on the horizon, Obscura's new album just dropped, as did Between the Buried and Me. Just a lot of cool stuff happening right now.



(BH) I’ve personally been branching out to more unique styles of slower metal.  I’m a huge fan of bands like Starset and Red Sun Rising and I enjoy listening to them even though I’d be bored playing for them.  I’ve also been listening to bands like Ellende, Elderwind, and Portland’s None.  Great doom metal mixed with nature exaltation.  Still number one will always be black metal for me.  I still listen to great amounts of bands like Mayhem, Dimmu Borgir, Emperor, Marduk, and Darkthrone.  That will always be my primary inspiration.



12.What are some of your non musical interests?

(NB) I am a big craft beer nerd.  I also play hockey recreationally.


(AC) Whiskey, Whisky, craft beer, video games, and working out. (running/lifting, etc.)



(SW) Drinking beer and whiskey, and watching anime is essentially how I spend my downtime. Most of my life revolves around music nowadays, so I'm usually engrossed in gear or practice.



(BH) I’m an avid long distance runner and I travel for work and pleasure several times a month both domestically and internationally.  I also collect Scotch and Japanese whiskey which I love to drink.



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

Thank you for this opportunity.  We hope everyone takes the time to listen to The Heavens Are Not On Fire… when it is released on October 26.

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Lucifericon/Al-Khem-Me/Invictus Productions/2018 CD Review

  Lucifericon  are  a  band  from t he  Netherlands  that  plays  a  blackened  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2018  album  "Al-Khem-Me"  which  will  be  released  in  October  by  Invictus  Productions.

  Grim  black  metal  screams  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  very  fast  musical  direction  which  also  uses  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  yet  chaotic  style  as  well  as  the  vocals  also  bringing  in  a  great  amount  of  death  metal  growls.

  Dark  sounding  melodies  can  also  be  heard  in  some  of  the  guitar  riffing  while  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  the  fast  riffs  also  bringing  in  a  decent  amount  of  tremolo  picking  as  well  as  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  music  also  has  a  lot  of  influences  from  90's  but  still  manages  to  capture  a  very  modern  atmosphere  and  the  music  always  remains  very  heavy,  ritualistic  spoken  word  parts  can  also  be  heard  on  the  closing  track.

  Lucifericon  plays  a  style  of  blackened  death  metal  that  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  90's  style,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Alchemy,  Thelema,  and  Left  Hand  Path  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Lucifericon  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  "Inside The  Serpents  "I"  "Flesh  Unto  Void,  Void  Unto  Flesh  (Thr  Twofold  Gate)"  and  "Sevenfold".  8/5  out  of  10. 

http://invictusproductions666.bandcamp.com/album/al-khem-me

Deathhammer/Chained To Helll/Hells Headbangers/2018 CD Review

  Deathhammer  are  a  duo  from  Norway  that  plays  a  blackened  form  of  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2018  album  "Chained  To  Hell"  which  will be  released  in  October  by  Hells  Headbangers.

  A  very  heavy  80's  influenced  sound  starts  off  the  album  while  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  along  with  the  vocals  being  done  in  a  first  wave  black  metal  style  as  well as  the  music  also  bringing  in  a  great  amount  of  thrash  elements  and  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody.

  While  the  music  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  80's  it  still  sounds  very  modern  with  the  way  the  music  was  produced  along  with  the  solos  and  leads  also  remaining  true  to  an  old  school  extreme  metal  style  as  well  as  some  songs  also  bringing  in  a  small  amount  of  back  up  gang  shouts,  at  times  the  vocals  get  semi  melodic  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  as  the  album  progresses  a  brief  use  of  clean  playing  can  also  be  heard  and  one  of  the tracks  is  also  an  instrumental.

  Deathhammer  plays  a  musical  style  that  goes  back  to  the  early  80's  era  of  black  and  thrash  metal,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Satanism,  Blasphemy,  Death  And   Zombie  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Deathhammer  are  a  very  great  sounding  blackened  thrash  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Satan's  Hell"  "Into  The  Burning  Pentagram"  and "Evil".  8  out  of  10.

http://deathhammer.bandcamp.com/album/chained-to-hell
    

Wills Dissolve/The Heavens Are Not On Fire/2018 Full Length Review

  Wills  Dissolve  are  a  band  from  Texas  that  plays  a  progressive  mixture  of  black,  doom, death  and  post  metal  with  some  elements  of  ambient  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2018  album  "The  Heavens  Are Not  On  Fire"which will  be  released  in  October.

  Ambient  soundscapes  start  off  the  album  while  slide  guitars  can  also  be  heard  briefly  along  with  the  solos  and  leads  being  done  in  a  very  melodic  style  as  well  as  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  A  great  amount  of  melody  can  also  be  heard  in  the  guitar  riffing  while  the  vocals  bring  in  a mixture  of  death  metal  growls  and  black  metal  screams  along  with  the  acoustic  guitars  also  giving  the  songs  more  of  a  progressive  feeling  when  they  are  utilized  as  well  as  some  clean  vocals  also  being  added  into  some  parts  of  the  music.

  Whispers  can  also  be  heard  briefly  while  blast  beats  can  also  be  heard  when  the  music  speeds  up  along  with  the  music  also  bringing  in  a  great  amount  of  post  metal  elements  as  well  as  the  slower  sections  of  the  songs  being  very  heavily  influenced  by  doom  metal  and  most  of  the  music  sticks  to  either  a  slow  or  mid  tempo  direction  and  they  close  the  album  with  an  instrumental.

  Wills  Dissolve  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  black,  doom,  death,  post  and  progressive  metal  and  mixes  them  with  elements  of  ambient  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  religion,  violence  and  cosmic  chaos  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Wills  Dissolve  are  a  very  great  progressive  mixture  of  black,  doom,  death,  ambient,  and  post  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Heavens  Are  Not  On  Fire"  and  "On  This  Cold  November  Night".  8  out  of  10.   

https://toiletovhell.com/premiere-wills-dissolve-summon-a-prog-death-firestorm/

Bonehunter/Children Of the Atom/Hells Headbangers/2018 CD Review

  Bonehunter  are  a  band  from  Finland  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black,  death,  thrash  metal  and  punk  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2018  album  "Children  Of  The  Atom"  which  will  be  released  in  September  by  Hells  Headbangers.

  A  very  dark  sounding  intro  starts  off  the  album before  going  into  more  of  a  heavier  thrash  metal  influenced  direction  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  along  with  the  vocals  being  mostly  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  as  well  as  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  bringing  in  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats.

  Elements  of  punk  can  also  be  heard  at  times  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  heavily  rooted  in  the  early  80's  style  along  with  the  riffs  also  bringing  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody  as  well  as  one  track  also  introducing  clean  playing  onto  the  recording  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  death  metal  growls  can  also  be  heard  briefly  and  one  track  also  adds  in a  brief  use  of  science  fiction  movie  samples  before  returning  back  to  a  heavier  direction  and  some  of  the  fast  riffs  also  bring  in  a decent  amount  of  tremolo  picking. 

  Bonehunter  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  black,  death,  thrash  metal  and  punk  and  mixes  them together  to  create  a  style  that  is  very  retro  and  old  school,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  bitches,  destruction,  war  and  horror  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Bonehunter  are    a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  black,  death,  thrash  metal  and  punk  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Demonic  Nuclear  Armament"  "The  Reek  of  The  Reaper's  Scythe"  "Cybernetic  Vampirism"  and  "Devil  Signal  Burst".  8  out  of  10.

http://bonehunter-finland.bandcamp.com/album/children-of-the-atom