Toxic Holocaust Interview

1. Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?
Right now I'm taking a break from packing for our upcoming European tour. We have a lot of shows coming up in Scandinavia, Europe and the UK, not to mention a U.S. tour with the English Dogs.

2. How would you describe the musical sound of the new album and how it differs from previous releases?
A lot of people have mentioned that its a lot more aggressive and in your face. I think it is varied a bit more than previous records, I tried to incorporate a few different tempos and song structure ideas on this one.

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the new release?
Lyrical topics range from ancient and historical occult topics such as Necromancy, Witchcraft etc. I wanted the lyrics to be a lot darker on this one.

4. Out off all of the shows and tours that the band has done so far which one did you enjoy the most?
Actually the last show we played in L.A. was the biggest and the craziest of the whole tour. It was a great way to end the tour.

5. What are the touring plans for the new release?
We have a lot of touring plans actually, some I can mention some are still in the works. First up though is our Scandinavia/Euro/UK tour. We'll be over there for 6 weeks, take a couple weeks off then do something cool in January that I can't mention yet and then a U.S. tour with the English Dogs.

6. On a worldwide level how has the new album been received by underground metal fans?
It seems to be doing really well, getting good reviews and good press. There's always the shit talkers, but that's the nature of the beast. Can't please everyone, nor do I want to.

7. Have you received any backlash for being a younger person going for this music style, since your music is rooted in the 80's and a lot of metal heads from that era look down upon the younger generation?
Not so much anymore. I think that all died down because those people realized I was doing it from the heart. I mean I've been doing the same thing since I've been in high school. haha

8. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?
Hard to say, it won't be the same as Conjure because I don't like to make the same record twice, but I will still sound like us. I never like to give the fans a curve ball too much where they feel cheated.

9. You have been on Relapse for a few years, how would you describe the support that they have given you so far?
Relapse has been truly amazing so far. I couldn't have asked for a better label.

10. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced the sound of the new album and also what are you listening to nowadays?
Venom, Sodom, Slayer and Bathory come to mind for shaping the sound of the band. New records and bands are anything from bands like Nocturnal, Midnight, Vomitor etc.

11. Outside of music what are some of your interests?
I like reading, building electronics like guitar amps and pedals...ya know nerdy shit. I don't usually have much time for anything outside of the band though.

12. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?
Thanks for the support. Keep metal nuclear.

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Infest Interview

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

Regards!
Well, we just came back from a tour (Serbia, Macedonia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Czech Republic), and now we need to book more dates for winter tour. New members joined the band, so even our album has been released few months ago, new songs and ideas are growing every day, so we are practicing and making some new stuff…

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

New album sounds a little bit different from our past two albums, but it’s not some changing of style, it’s just that we all made a progress in musical way, so riffs are maybe complicated than on the past two. I think that spirit of Infest sound still strikes with the same energy, and maybe a little bit stronger.
Production also made a big progress here, regarded by Honza Kapak (Hellsound studio) , who produced this album.

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

Lyrics on new album are influenced by everything that surrounds me, and what make me so pissed off, and it’s so obviously that lot of things are not as they supposed to be here. Faith manipulation, politics, terror across the land, corruption on every corner…and many many more….

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

Meaning of a word Infest is when something is devastated, choked… We are playing aggressive music, and I think that this name really fits well in a whole thing. There is couple of band named Infest also, but we are here since 2002-03, so I don’t have in mind changing a name or stuff.

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

One of the best shows ever was in Macedonia last year, but after this tour that we had, it’s really hard to choose the best show, because all of them have some message and some good atmosphere that give us straight to strike with new albums, shows and stuff…People accepted new album very well, so this tour we did was amazing for the same reason, because people knew the lyrics and it give really special effect to gigs .Our stage performance comes from itself, it’s just what we are, we show it on the stage. No fakeness, no compromises…only real death/thrash metal madness.

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

Touring is very important to me, so I book concerts everywhere I can, and play a lot.
We have finished our GENOCIDE OVER EUROPE TOUR, and now booking has already began for some new shows.
We have in plan to tour with our brothers from The Stone in February, and in March we have some plans for Sweden shows, but It takes a lot of things to make before, so I will wait until we finish all the stuff, and then I will announce it …

7.Currently you are singed to Grom Records, how did you get in contact with this label and how would you compare it to your old label?
Milan is my very good friend, and we know each other for years. We don’t have such a label-band relation, it’s more like brotherhood. He understands all band problem with promotion, touring and stuff, so we have all the help we need by his side, and also from other 3 labels. (Butchered records, Zero Budget, Terror blast). Organization of some shows across the Balkan, printing flayers, picks and stuff...It’s just a small part of what he did for us.
We are in good relation with the old label, and that’s the main reason why we united 4 labels to release this album. As I said, brotherhood, not label-band relation.

8. On a worldwide level how has your new album been recieved by fans of black, death and thrash metal?

I received a lot of e mails from almost every part of the world, so i think that we still need some more time to let the people hear this album , and also to find our band. Distribution of new album is very very big, so I think that 8/10 is the right relation.

9. I know that in the past the band members participated in many other band is that still going on these days?
Zombi has a big portfolio behind.He played in The Stone, May Result, and still plays in Simargal & Vehementer, but Infest is his main occupation.Khil plays in his origin band Svargren, and Tyrrant is playing in Soul in Cage.I had to left all the other bands I’ve been involed in, because i have a lot of work to do with Infest.

10. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
Music that I mostly listen to is death metal from early days, and also black/thrash metal from early period.I am not a big fan of new kinds of metal that is „popular“ these days.Very old school, agressive and quality stuff from bay area, Swedish death metal and that kind of stuff is my favorite, and its the same with the other guys from a band.We are all influenced by that kind of stuff, but mostly from a bands Iron Maiden, Dismember, Unleashed, Slayer, old Sepultura, Sadus, Sodom...

11.Outside of music what are some of your interests?
Oh , its hard to say for everyone, but I practise wing chun kung fu, and I am football fan, so I visit games and stuff.For the rest of the guys, you’ll have to ask them J

12. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?
Thanks a lot for your interview, it was a pleasure to answer your questions!
Best regards to your zine, and regards to all our fans and supporters world wide!
You guys rule!
666
Vandal & Infest

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Gods Tower/The Eerie/MetalAgen/1997 CD Review

  Gods Tower are a band from Belarus that plays a mixture of black, doom and pagan metal and this is a review of their 1997 album "The Eerie" which was released by MetalAgen Records.

Drums range from slow to mid paced drumming with not much in the way of fast playing or blast beats with some percussion being thrown in at times, 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 sound very powerful, as for the keyboards they bring a very dark and atmospheric feeling to the music, in addition there is a brief use of violins that bring a very dark and poetic feeling to the music.

Rhythm guitars are slow to mid paced riffs that combine doom, black, and pagan metal together and they utilize a lot of melodic riffing, while the lead guitars are very dark and melodic sounding guitar solos and leads, as for the acoustic and classical guitars when they are utilized they use finger picking and full chords to bring a folk music feeling to the music.


Vocals range from clean singing, raspy vocals, deep death metal growls and high pitched black metal screams and there are some spoken word passages being utilized briefly , while the lyrics cover paganism and Battlefields, as for the production it has a very dark, raw, heavy and powerful sound.


In my opinion this was a great album from Gods Tower that mixed black, doom, pagan and melodic metal together and if you are a fan of this style, you should check out this band and album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Reign Of Silence" and "Till Death Do Us Part". RECOMMENDED BUY.

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Deathwitch/Momumetal Mutilations/Necropolis Records/1999 CD Review

 Deathwitch where a band from Sweden that played a mixture of black, death and thrash metal and this is a review of their 1999 album "Monumental Mutilations" which was released by Necropolis Records.

Drums range from slow, mid paced to fast drumming with a good amount of blast beats being thrown in, 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 riffs that are very raw and primitive sounding and combine black, death, and thrash metal together, while the lead guitars are very raw and primitive sounding black/death metal guitar solos and present that have a mid 80's to early 90's feeling to them.

Vocals are a mixture of black/thrash growls mixed in with some deep death metal growls, while the lyrics cover Satanism, Occultism, Witchcraft, Necromancy and Anti Christianity with a more primitive approach to the topics, as for the production it has a very raw and primitive sound to it.

In my opinion Deathwitch where a very great sounding raw and primitive black/death/thrash metal band and if you are a fan of this style, you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Demonic Witch" "Jehova Shall Bleed" "The Rite Of Darkness" and "Necromancer". RECOMMENDED BUY.

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Infest/Everlasting Genocide/Grom Records/2011 CD Review

  Infest are a band from Serbia that plays a very blackened form of death/thrash metal and this is a review of their 2011 album "Everlasting Genocide" which was released by Grom Records.

Drums range from slow, mid paced to fast drumming with a good amount of blast beats being thrown in, 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 riffs that combine death and thrash metal with black metal with the intro having some weird sounding clean playing in addition there are some dark melodies being utilized, while the lead guitars are very chaotic sounding death metal guitar solos and leads that utilizes some melodies.

Vocals are mostly deep death metal growls mixed in with some angry shouts and some high pitched screams being used on the last song, while the lyrics cover hateful and conspiracy themes, as for the production it has a very strong, powerful, heavy and professional sound.

In my opinion Infest are a very good sounding blackened death/thrash hybrid and if you are a fan of this style, you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Upon The Suffering" "Deaththrash Sodomy" "Everlasting Genocide" and "Screaming In Butchery". RECOMMENDED BUY.

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oVo Interview

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

We started a bit more than 10 years ago, as a total improv-chaos band. We’re a duo since 2002, and since then our music started to be more and more organized. We’re a touring machine, we played about 700 shows since the end of 2000, mostly in North America and Europe, but also in Israel and Mexico . We released 6 albums (3 on my label Bar La Muerte , 2 on Load, 1 on Supernatural Cat), and a lot of split, collaboration and remix albums too. Stefania Pedretti sings and plays guitar and bass, I’m Bruno Dorella and I play half a drum set (floor tom, snare, ride).



2. How would you describe your musical sound?

We notice that our music is still described as very hard to file and “not for everybody”, which is surprising for us. We think it’s pretty simple and structured. It’s heavy, with a touch of weirdness. Definitely not like anything else you can find around though. It’s somewhere between sludge, noiserock and noise. We sound “minimal” cause we’re just two, and I only play this little drum set. But we found a way to still sound pretty powerful.



3. What are some of the lyrical themes that you try to ring out with your music?

Stefania’s lyrics have no meanings in any language. Which doesn’t mean they have no meaning to her. The themes often regards our political and esthetical ideas, but we prefer to keep them a bit secret, or at least not too obvious. Some of the titles regard very personal matters. It’s because our music really comes out from our guts and hidden body parts, more than from our brains… After many years this non-language that Stefania uses almost became a language. It’s how it worked in the early days. Stefania developed a way of communication.



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

It’s palindrome, and, when you write it, it can look like a lot of different things: a face, two bodies hand in hand, an owl… this is very much our kind of approach to the words “meaning “ and “message” behind OvO. There are lots of potential meanings. But people have to take their time to make them up. Which is not obvious at all in this beginning of the century, when nothing is considered but superficially.



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

We’re definitely a live band, when you see HOW we play our music, you understand a lot more about the records, too. I remember the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco as one of the most incredible venues we played at, and Supersonic in Birmingham (UK), as one of the coolest and best organized festivals. But we love to play in exotic countries, and we’ll never forget Turkey , Mexico , Israel . We like to play in Russia , too, everything is really different there. A totally different mentality, very fascinating.



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

Oh, yeah! We’re touring Europe in April, then the UK and Ireland (and a festival in Romania !) in May, and hopefully the US in October.



7. On a worldwide level how has your music been received by extreme/underground music fans?

We are quite respected in the noise scene and in the most enlightened squatters scene. Now, being on Supernatural Cat and dealing with the metal scene as well, we have a quite interesting challenge. Heavy metal is one of the genres that had more evolution in the last years, but at the same the metal audience goes to very open minded to very narrow minded attitudes. We’re already noticing many more metal kids and metal t-shirts at our shows, but we know we won’t have the whole scene on our side.



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

Stefania has a solo act called ?Alos , from what I know it’s the first anarcho pagan queer doom project ever, She’s also a graphic artist and a performer. I play with the instrumental band Ronin, and with a duo called Bachi Da Pietra (in Italian). I run a small record label called Bar La Muerte , too.



9. What direction do you see the music heading into in the future?

You mean music in general? Wow, this is hard to tell. The digital revolution brought a big change, which kind of killed the business, which is not necessarily a bad thing… But it’s definitely hard to keep on being a musician or a label owner nowadays. The solutions will probably be unexpected. But there’s still a lot of great music around. This won’t change. It will be different than in the past, but it won’t change.



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

I think that electronic music is the most interesting evolution at the moment. Breakcore, dubstep, extreme electronics, you can find very inspiring stuff, and lots of ex-rockers are now playing these kinds of music, bringing a sort of “touch” that other rockers can get and appreciate. Lately, I was shocked by the live performance of King Midas Sound. You don’t get that wall of sound with rock instruments, no matter how loud you play. I listen to a lot of early music, you know, Gregorian chants and so on. African music, too. We both like Earth, Neurosis, Wolves in the Throne Room, Dark Castle …



11. Does Occultism play any role in the music?

We’re fascinated by it, especially Stefania. But we’re too anarchists too belong to any branch of it. And we’re skeptical when it regards heavy metal bands, as for a lot of them it’s just a necessary complement for their music. But we’re definitely interested in Occultism and I’m personally interested in the history of religions, from a non-religious point of view.



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

We don’t have much free time out of our music and the other activities described before. When we’re not working on OvO we’re working on our other bands, or Stefania is doing workshops, drawing, or taking part to queer or political activities. I work a lot on my label too. I can’t even remember when we took our last vacations…



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

We recommend to go to www.supernaturalcat.com and listen to the album streaming, and get the deluxe edition of the album, an incredible piece of art with silkscreened cover and poster by Malleus, red or black vinyl, cd, live dvd, postcards with original drawings by Stefania, only 300 copies. And thanx for not having asked about Percy Shelley…

oVo/Cor Codium/Supernatural Cat Records/2011 CD Review

  oVo are a band that mixes noise, experimental music, black and doom metal together and this is a review of their 2011 album "Cor Codium" which will be released by Supenatural Cat Records.

Drums are mostly slow playing with only the occasional fast drumming and there are no blast beats present on the recording, while the noise effects are very avant garde and experimental sounding, as for the bass playing it has a very strong, distorted and powerful sound with some slow and noisy playing.

Rhythm guitars are very slow and primitive doomy/drone/noise riffs that speed up to a punk level at times mixed in with a lot of weird distorted sounds and there are little to no guitar solos or leads present on the recording.

Vocals are a mixture of high pitched noisecore and black metal screams with some occasional clean signing vocals, while the lyrics pay homage to Percy Shelly a poet from the 19th century with a touch of Gothic horror and the songs are written in a mixture of English and another language which I cant tell what it is, as for the production it has a very dark and raw feel to it.

In my opinion oVo are a very good experimental band that mixes noise, avant garde, punk, doom and black metal together, and if you are looking for something original, you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Nosferatu" "Orcus" "Smelling Death Around" and "la Bestia". RECOMMENDED  BUY.

http://www.myspace.com/ovobarlamuerte