Hulduefni/Among The Dead/Satanath Records/Dead Dog Skull/Heil Hell Productions/2013 CD Compilation Review

  Hulduefni  are  a  solo  project  from  Portugal  that  plays  a  mixture  of  dark  ambient,  drone,  experimental  and  psychedelia  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2013  compilation  album  "Among  The  Dead"  which  was  released as  a  joint  effort  between  Satanath  Records,  Dead  Dog  Skull  and  Hiel  Hell Productions.

  Ambient  sounds  start  off  the  album  and  guitars  can  also  be  heard  quite a  bit  throughout  the  recording  and  they  also  bring  in  a  lot  of  melodies  and  leads  and  nature  sounds  can  also  be  heard at  times  and  a  lot  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  as the  album  progresses  elements  of  noise  are  added   into  the  music.

  All  of  the  music  is  instrumental  and  the  music  can  also  be  very avant  garde  and  experimental  at  times  and  when  synths  are  added  onto  the  recording  they  give  the  music  more  of  a  haunting  feeling  along  with  some  programmed  beats  and  some  songs  also  bring  in  elements  of  electronic  music  and  the  music  also  brings  in  the  feeling  of  an  80's  Nintendo  or  Sega  game  at  times  while later  tracks  bring  in  more  drone  and  psychedelic  elements.

  On  this  recording   Hulduefni  plays  a  style  of  dark  ambient  that  is  very  diverse  with  some  songs  being  guitar  orientated  while  others  focus  more  on  electronic  sounds  and  you  can  also  hear  a  great  amount  of  drone  elements  throughout  the  recording  along  with  every  track  being  all  instrumental  and  the  production  sounds  very  dark.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Hulduefni  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  dark  ambient  and  drone,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Doom"  "The  Dracula's  Castle/Dracula's  Curse"  "Alien  Encounter"  and  "Losing  My  Mind".  8  out  of  10.

https://www.facebook.com/Hulduefni/

Satanath/Self Titled/Satanath Records/Dead Dog Skull/Heil Hell Productions/2013 CD Compilation Review

  Satanath  are  a  solo  project  from  Russia that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  dark  ambient  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  self  released  2013  compilation  album  which  was  released  as  a  joint  effort  between  Satanath  Records,  Dead  Dog  Skull  and  Heil  Hell  Productions.

  A  very  dark  ambient  sounding  intro  starts  off  the  album  and  after  the  intro  the  music  starts  adding  in programmed  beats  and  the  music  the  music  gets  more  experimental  as  well  as  adding  in  some  distorted  yet  melodic  guitar  riffing  which  also  adds  elements  of  metal  onto  the  recording  and  some  of  the  songs  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Most  of  the  music  is  instrumental  and the  music  gets  very  diverse  with  each  track  along  with  the  synths  get  very  organic  at  times  and  as  the  album  progresses  more  drones  are  added  onto  the  recording  while  some  songs  also  bring  in  loops  and  elements  of  noise  and  the  music  also  brings  in  a  very  ritualistic  and  occult  atmosphere  at  times.

  Satanath  plays  a  style  of  dark  ambient  on  this  recording  that  is  very  atmospheric  and  instrumental  while  still  being  very  diverse  and  synth  driven  at  the  same  time  and  the  production  has  a  very  dark  and  raw  sound.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  album  from  Satanath  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  dark  ambient,  you  should  check  out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Lethel  Exukution"  "Atlantis  Annihilation"  "Flesh  Burial"  and  "Anabolic  Religion".  8  out  of  10.

https://satanath.bandcamp.com/album/sat036-satanath-satanath-compilation-2013-2

i Am esper/Nox Obscurum/Satanath Records/Dead Dog Skull/Heil Hell/2013 CD Review

  This  is  a  review  of  another  recording  from  i  Am  esper  which  is  also  in  the  experimental,  drone,  post  rock  and  dark  ambient  musical direction  of  the  other  recordings  with  the  album  being  released  in  2013  and  called  "Nox  Obscurum"  which  was  released  as  a  joint  effort  between  Satanath  Records,  Dead  Dog  Skull,  and  Heil  Hell  Productions.

  A very  distorted  yet  clean  guitar  starts  off  the  album  giving  the  music  a  post  rock  feeling  bringing  in  repetitive  riffing  for  a  few  seconds  while  also  mixing  in  melodic  guitar  leads  a  few  seconds  later  and  just  like  with  all  of  the  other  recordings  that  music  is  all  instrumental  and  the  guitars  also  bring  in  a  lot  of  open  riffs.

  All  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  you  can  also  hear  some  distorted  drones being  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  every  song  sounds  different  from  each  other  while  also  keeping  a  very  calm  atmosphere  and  you  can  also  hear  a  touch  of  metal  in  the  distorted  sections  of  the  music.

  with  this  recording  i  Am  Esper  focused  more  on  an  instrumental  yet  guitar  driven  mixture  of  dark  ambient  and  post  rock  creating  a  very  calm  approach  of  the  genre  and  bringing  out  a  great  amount  of  of  emotion  and  the  production  sounds  very  raw  and  lo-fi.

 In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  i  Am  esper  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  instrumental  post  rock  and  dark  ambient,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Nox  Obscurum  2"  and  "Nox  Obscurum  4".  8  out  of  10. 

https://satanath.bandcamp.com/album/sat034-i-am-esper-nox-obscurum-2013

Nekrosadik/Death Chant Glorification/Satanath Records/Dead Dog Skull/Heil Hell Productions/2013 CD Review

  Nekrosadik  are  a  solo  project  from  Mexico  that  plays  a black  metal  influenced  form  of  dark  ambient  and  experimental  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2013  album  "Death  Chant  Glorification"  which  was  released  as  a  joint  effort  between  Satanath  Records,  Dead Dog  Skull  and  Heil  Hell  Productions.

   A  very  dark  and  atmospheric  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  drones  and  nature  sounds  and  the  synths  bring  in  more  of  a  dark  ambient  feeling  to  the  recording  and  they  also use  a  variety  of  many  different  keys  and  black  metal  style  screams  can  be  heard  in  some  parts  off  the  songs  along  with  some elements  of  noise.

  At  times  the  music  can  be  very  avant  garde  and  experimental  while  a  great  portion  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  when  percussion's  are  utilized  they  give  the  songs  more  of  a  ritualistic  feeling  and  some  songs  also  bring in  a  small  amount  of  acoustic  guitars  and  the  vocals  also  get  more  depressive  as  the  album  progresses  and  there  are also  some  distorted  guitars  being  utilized  at times.

  Nekrosadik  plays  a  very  ritualistic  and  experimental/avant  garde  style  of  dark  ambient  and  brings  in  a  depressive  black  metal  vocal  approach  to  create  a  style  of  his  own,  the  production  sounds  for  dark  and  raw  while  the  lyrics  cover  death  and  depression  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Nekrosadik  are  a  very  great  sounding  black  metal  influenced  dark  ambient/experimental  solo  project  and  if you  are a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  artist.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Life's  Last  Breath"  "A  Planned  Last  Goodbye"  "A  Cold  Warm  Welcome"  and  "Death's  First  Scream".  8  out  of  10.   

https://satanath.bandcamp.com/album/sat032-necrosadik-death-chant-glorification-2013

Gust In Grief/Spiritual Contradiction/Satanath Records/2012 Review

  Gust  In  Grief  are  a   solo  project  from  Russia  that  plays  funeral  doom/death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2012  album  "Spiritual  Contradiction"  which  was  released  by  Satanath  Records.

  A  very  dark  and  militant  intro  starts  off  the  album along  with  some  epic  sounding  synths  before  going  into  a  heavier  direction  along  with  some  melodic  riffs  and  guitar  leads  that  go  into  an  early  90's  atmospheric  doom  metal  direction  and  when  growls  are  added  into  the  music  they  bring  in  elements  of  death  metal.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  synths  and  clean  singing  also  add  a  touch  of  goth  to  the  recording  and  a  couple  of the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  when  acoustic  guitars are  utilized  they  give  the  music  more  of  a  progressive  edge  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  few  seconds  of  spoken  word  parts  and  whispers.

  Gust  In Grief  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  a  80's  influenced  form  of  atmospheric  doom/death  metal  and  mixes  it  in  with  the  more  modern  funeral  style  to  create  some  doom/death  metal  that  really  stands  out,  the  production  sounds  very  old  school  yet  powerful  at  the  same  time  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Gust  In  Grief  are  a  very  great  sounding  funeral  doom/death  metal  solo  project  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Vital  Delusion"  and  "Frozen".  8  out  of  10.

https://satanath.bandcamp.com/album/sat029-gust-in-grief-spiritual-contradiction-2012

Bosque/Beyond/Dunkelheit Produktionen/2016 CD Review

  Bosque  are  a  band  from  Portugal  that  plays  funeral  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  album  "Beyond"  which  will  be  released  in  2016  by  Dunkelheit Produktionen.

  A  very  dark  and  atmospheric  sounding  drone  starts  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  heavier  funeral  doom  metal  direction  which  also  leads  up  to  some  clean  singing  vocals  making  their  presence  known  on  the  recording  and  they  also  give  the  music  more  of  an  epic  and  traditional  doom  metal  feeling.

  All  3  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  when  solos  and  leads  are  added  into  the  music  they  are  very  dark,  melodic  and  depressive  sounding  and  all  of  the  songs  also  remain  true  to  a  very  slow  musical  direction  and  the  whole  album  remains  heavy  from  beginning  to  ending  of  the  recording.

  Bisque  plays  a  style  of  funeral  doom  that  is  very  dark,  heavy  and  guitar driven  while  ignoring  the  growling  or  screaming  style  of  vocals  most  bands  of  this  genre  use  and  use  more  of a  traditional  way  of  singing  to  stand  out  a  stand  bit,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  nature,  solitude  and  nihilism.

  In  my  opinion  Bosque  are  a  very  great  sounding  funeral  doom  metal  band  and  if you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Paradox".  8  out  of  10.

BANDCAMP »

   

Day Before Us/Prelude a 'lame d'elegie/Opn.fr/2015 CD Review

  France's  Day Before  Us  have  returned  with  a  new  album  continuing  the  neo-classical, ethereal  and  dark  ambient  mixture  of  their  previous  recordings  and  this  is  a  review of  their  2015  album  "Prelude a 'lame d'elegie"  which  was  released  by  Opn.fr.


  Tragic  sounding  keyboards  start  off  the  album  and  after  a  couple  of  minutes  the  music  goes  into  more  of  a  dark  ambient  direction  and  most  of  the  songs  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  while  also  being  very  atmospheric throughout  most  of  the  recording  and  the  keyboards  also  bring  in  a  variety  of  many  different  sounding  keys.

  Spoken  word  samples  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  as  the  album  progresses  elements  of  drone  are  added  into  the  music  on  more  of  a  regular basis  and  some  songs  also  bring  in  operatic  female  vocals  and  a  later  track  brings  in  a  small  amount  of  guitars  along  with  some  traces  of  electronic  music  and  darkwave and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  clean  singing  male vocals  that  also  gives  the  music  more  of  a  goth  feeling.

  Day  Before  Us  creates  another  recording  that  mixes  ambient, drone  and  neo  classical  while  also  adding  in  more  variety  and  atmosphere  this  time  around,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  French  and  cover  dark  and  poetic  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording from  Day  before  us  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  dark  ambient  and  neo  classical,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Ecstasy  Of  the  Stigmatist"  "Talk Room"  and  "Rise  Of  Elegeia".  8  out  of  10.

https://www.facebook.com/Daybeforeus/

 

Hulduefini/i Am esper/Paleozic/Satanath/Aliens Vs. Dinosaurs/Symbol Of Domination/2015 Double Split CD Review

  This  is  a  review  of  a  double  4  way  split  between  Portugal's  Hulduefni,  U.S.A's  i  AM  esper,  Belarus's  Paleozoic  and  Russia's  Satanath  called  "Aliens  Vs.  Dinosaurs"  which  was  released  by Symbol  Of  Domination  Productions  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  Hulduefni  who  plays  a  mixture  of  dark  ambient,  drone,  experimental  and  psychedelia.

  His  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  ambient  sounds  and drones  along with some  distorted  parts  and melodic  guitar  leads  and  clean  playing  can  also  be  heard  at  times  and  after  awhile  a  small  amount  of  black  metal  screams  are  added  into  the  music  and  the  guitar  riffs  also  add  in  melodies  to  the  songs  when  they  are  utilized.

  Some of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  music  also  gets  very  experimental  and  avant  garde  at  times  and  some  of  the  tracks  are  also  instrumental  and  there  are also  some  psychedelic  elements  being  utilized  at  times  and  all  4  of  his  tracks  sound  very  different  from  each  other,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  while  the  song  themes  focus  on  aliens  and science fiction.

  In  my  opinion  Hulduefni  is  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  dark  ambient,  drone,  experimental  and  psychedelia  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical genres,  you  should  check  out  this  solo  project.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Alien.  the  Beginning"  and  "Grays  Walking  Through  the  Hangar".

  Next  up  is  i  AM  esper  a  solo  project  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  blog  and  plays  a  mixture  of  drone,  dark  ambient  and  experimental.

  His  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  dark  ambient  style  synths  which  also give  the  music  an  atmospheric  feeling  and  the  music  also  brings  in  a  lot  of  experimental sounds  and  the  music  also  brings  in  post  rock  style  melodies  and  lo-fi  elements  along  with  most  of  the  tracks  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  all  of  the  music  is  instrumental  and  all  of  the  songs  sound  very  different  from  each  other  with  guitars  being  used  briefly  and  field  recordings  being  added  into  the  last  song  along  with  some  harsh  noises,  while  the  production  has  a  very  dark  sound to  it.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great sounding recording  from  i  AM  esper  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  dark  ambient,  drone  and  experimental,  you  should  check  out  his  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED   TRACK  "Cosmic  Death  II'.

  Next  up  is  Paleozoic  a  solo  project  that  plays  a  mixture  of  dark  ambient  and  drone.

  His  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  atmospheric  sounding  drones  and  after  awhile  the  music  gets  more  distorted  along  with  some  guitar sounds  and  most  of  his songs  are  very long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  music  also  gets  more  diverse  with  each  track  along  with  all  of  the  music  being mostly  instrumental  while the  last  track  does  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  black  metal  screams  and  the  production  also  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy.

  In  my  opinion  Paleozoic  is  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  dark  ambient  and  drone  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  his  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Immobility,  Indifference  and  Toughness".

  Closing  the  split  is  Satanath  asolo  project  that  plays  dark  ambient.

  His  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  drones  and  dark  ambient  sounds  along  with some  field recordings  and  the  music  can  also  get  very  experimental  and  avant  garde  at  times  bringing  in  a  variety  of many  different  sounds  and  the  music  also  adds  in  some  loops  and  power  electronics  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  most  of  his  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  there  is  also  tribal  elements  being  added  into  the  music  briefly  while  each  track  also  sounds  very  different  from  each  other  and  there  is  also  a  small  use  of  acoustic  guitars  for a  few  seconds  while  later  songs  also  mix  in  electronic  music  and  the  production  has  a  very  dark  sound  to  it.

  In  my  opinion  I  think t hat  Satanath  are  a  very  great  sounding  experimental  dark  ambient  project  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  his  songs.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Satnogor"  and  "Sotekius".

  In  conclusion  I  feel  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  and  I  would  recommend  it  to  all  fans  of  dark  ambient  and  drone.  8  out  of  10.

https://symbolofdomination.bandcamp.com/album/sodp045-hulduefni-i-am-esper-paleozoic-satanath-aliens-vs-dinosaurs-split-2015

         

Krasseville/Nous Sommes Faux/Avantgarde Music/2016 Full length Review

  Krasseville  are  a  band  from  France  that  plays  an  apocalyptic  form  of  neo  folk  that  also  mixes  in  elements  of  western  rock  music  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  album  "Nous Sommes Faux"  which  will  be  released  in  2016  by  Avantgarde  Music.

  Horror  movie  style  synths  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  female vocal  a  few  seconds  later  and  after  the  intro  acoustic  guitars and electronic  music  elements  make  their  presence  on  the  recording  along  with  some  spoken  word  parts  that  also  utilize  whispers  at  times  and  the  music  brings  in  a  folk  rock  feeling.

  Psychedelic  elements  can  be  heard  at  times  and  they  give  the  songs  a  60's  feeling  while  the  music  still  sounds  very  modern  and  they  also  bring  in  a  good  amount  of  instrumental  tracks  and  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  distorted  yet  melodic  guitar  leads  and  solos  and  the  music  also gets  very  progressive  at  times.

  The  songs  also  mixes in  elements  of  country  and  western  music  while some  songs  also  bring  in  a  touch  of  ambient  and  as  the  album  progresses  a  brief  use of goth  rock  style  clean  singing  can  be  heard  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments have  a  very  powerful sound  to them  and  towards  the  end  saxophones  find their  way  into  the music .

  Krasseville  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  neo  folk  and  French  western  rock  and  mixes  them  together  along  with  some  influences  from  other  genres  to  create  a  sound  of t heir  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  French  and  cover  dark  and  depressive  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Krasseville  are  a  very  great  sounding mixture  of  neo  folk  and  French  western  rock  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Nihil  Time  Funeral  Process"   "In  Krasseville  Eveything's  Fine"  and  "Nous Sommes Faux".  8  out  of  10. 

BANDCAMP »
    

  

 

Dolven Interview

1.Can you tell us a little bit about the band?



Dolven came about as a solo project of mine. I am lucky to have some great friends in the metal scene, so I asked for some help when it came to having the songs complete and finished, in a “band” format.





2.You have an album coming out this month, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?



I wrote all of this music on the acoustic guitar, as I was living in Germany at the time and had only brought one guitar with me. The intention was to write the music and use electric guitars to fill out the sound on the recording. But I really liked the nuances and feel of the acoustic guitar, I found that the richness and the power of the acoustic guitar was missing when I recorded the riffs with electric guitars. So I kind of stumbled upon this “Acoustic Doom” tagline for the music, which I liked the sound of. I think it’s a cool idea. So I went with it. There are 3 songs with vocals and a full band, and 4 songs that are more simple, melancholy guitar pieces. Those are more in the new-folk vein…but the 3 “vocal” songs are more traditional doom. But with all acoustic guitars.





3.All of the band members are a part of other bands, what are you able to bring into this musical project that you are not able to do with your other bands?



This is a very loose, fun collaboration for all of us. No pressure, and the freedom to add anything they think would fit within the space of the music. Jason, Tim and Henry are all professionals, they have a very firm grasp of what doom music is ,what it means, and they “talk” with their instruments in a way that I admire very much. I am lucky to know them.





4.You refer to your musical style as 'acoustic doom metal', can you tell us a little bit more about this term?



Doom metal done acoustically. The power and emotion of doom metal, but performed in a more gentle way.





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



Musically, the idea with this album was to express all the thoughts and manic emotions that emerge within one breath. Hence, the “Inhale” of the first song and the “exhale” of the last track. During that breath, my mind is going a million miles an hour…I am thinking about how difficult it is being an adult, how did I end up the way I am, what it means to be a man, all the obstacles in our way as we try to be the best people we can be, and all the questions that arise as we forge through this maze of life. It’s a fucking beautiful and sad world we live in, I am conflicted by the serenity and joy I feel in some moments,  with the chaos that seems to be pushing me into the corners, into depression. My life has been hard in many ways, but the challenge with that is to realize that those things are actually blessings, that we can learn from hardships of life and create better experiences for everyone around us. All we have to do is change our perspective. Suffering truly leads to grace.



I really love the tale of Theseus vs the Minotaur, and that’s where the cover artwork comes from. For me, the minotaur symbolizes our mind and the constant battle throughout the maze (life) that we struggle with this conflict. This resonated with Terry (Goatprayer Records) who helped me refine my vision and dial in a more medieval approach to presenting the music. For this I am eternally grateful, it took a direction I did not expect. Yet another life lesson on how to “go with the flow”.





6.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Dolven'?



It derives from the word “delve”, or to “dig deep”, which is what I am trying to do on an emotional and personal level with myself. Many years ago I saw that word while reading Lord of the Rings as the fellowship entered the mines of Moria.. The exact quote is this: “..and they were oppressed by the loneliness and vastness of the dolven halls and endlessly branching stairs and passages.”





7.Has the band done any live shows or is this strictly a studio project?



Strictly studio. Between families and bands, it is going to be difficult to find the time. We are all in our late 30’s….an interesting time in life to be a metalhead musician haha.





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



Terry (head of Goatprayer) and I are co-releasing 500 CD’s, and Terry himself is putting out 100 cassettes. Packaging and inlays for both are beautiful, as designed by Terry and I. He is very good at what he does, and I am happy to have met him. And I am stoked how they turned out. I imagine we will work together in the future.





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



Feedback has been fantastic…I feel like these types of emotions that emit from the music resonate well with both neo-folk and doom metal fans. It’s a very strange feeling putting out music that is so personal, it exposes my vulnerabilities, but I am happy with the reactions I have heard. It’s not music for everyone, but those that get it, they get it.





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



Jason is constantly busy with Agalloch, and his other projects …Self Spiller, Especially Likely Sloth, and numerous mixing and mastering projects. He lives and breathes music. As does Tim Call…easily Portland’s most prolific and amazing drummer. He is in too many bands to list, but Nightfell, Sempertinal Dusk and Weregoat are my favorites. He alsowas touring drummer for Mourneful Congregation…one of my favorite doom bands. He is a legend! I am lucky to know him. Henry has one of the most unique voices in metal…I am thankful for his contributions to this project. He has his own acoustic solo project called Weather Veins and is in a proggy black metal band called Ironwood. He shreds on guitar and bass, he is an amazing talent.





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



I feel like we will become more of a “unit” in the future, rather than a solo project. I hope to contribute more with the other guys and it excites me to think about where that could lead. I think we are hitting on some cool ideas and originality, and would like to expand that further. Happy/melancholy metal music…is that possible? I want to explore that.





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?



I can only speak for myself, but the idea for the band came from a desire to blend Ulver “Kveldssanger” and Warning “Watching From a Distance”. Those albums sound very similar to me for some reason. It was natural for me to write music that sounded like both of those bands. My love for heavy metal intro songs was also a huge influence, stuff like the intro to Unleashed “Where No Life Dwells” or Morbid Angel “Desolate Ways”. Currently, I have been loving the new My Dying Bride, Mgla, Crimson Swan, and Lacrimas Profundere’s marvellous album “Memorandum”.





13.What are some of your non musical interests?



I have many hobbies and passions…art, home building, raising my 10 year old daughter, movies, and riding bikes. Enjoying Oregon wilderness and hiking, out in nature as much as possible. We live in a special place. Eating good food and quality beers are also hugely important to me!



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



Thanks a lot for the questions, it has been fun…. and a huge thanks to Terry from Goatprayer, without him this album may have been destined to obscurity.

https://www.facebook.com/Dolven-103398923059813/

Howls Of Ebb/The Marrow Veil/The Lament Configuration/2015 EP Review

  Howls  Of  Ebb  are  a  band  from  San, Francisco,  California  that  plays  an  avant  garde and  progressive  form  of  death  metal  that  also  brings  in  a  touch  of  black  metal  and   this  is   a  review  of  their  2015  ep  "The Marrow  Veil"  which  was  released  by  The  Lament  Configuration.

  Spoken  word  samples  start  off  the  ep  and  they  also  give the  songs  a  ritualistic  feeling  before  adding  in  a  heavier  musical  sound  while  also  mixing  in  avant  garde  elements  and  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  bring  in  more  of  a  chaotic  sound  to  the  songs.

  Whispers  can  be  heard  at  times  and they  also  add  in  death  metal  growls  at  times  and  the  music  also  adds  in  distorted  drones  at  times  and  there  are  also  grim  black  metal screams  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  the  guitar  riffs  also  mix  in  a  good amount  of  morbid  sounding  melodies  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  blast  beats  are  also  added  into  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs.

  Howls  Of  Ebb  takes  a  very  dark  and  progressive  style  of  death  metal    and  adds  in  a  touch  of  black  metal  along  with  a  great  amount  of  avant  garde,  drone  and  experimental  elements  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  while  the  lyrics  cover  voyeurism,  the  dark  void  and  beyond.

  In  my  opinion  Howls  of  Ebb  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  experimental,  avant  garde  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Standing  On  Bedlam,  Burning  In  Bliss".  8  out  of  10.

http://thelamentcongregation.bandcamp.com/album/thelament006-howls-of-ebb-the-marrow-veil-cassette

Sol/The Storm Bells Chime/Avantgarde Music 2016 Full Length Review

  Sol  are  a  band  from  Denmark  that  plays  funeral  doom  metal  with  elements  of  drone  and  occult  neo-folk  music  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  album  "The Storm Bells Chime"  which  will  be  released  in  2016  by  Avantgarde  Music.

  Dark  sounding  keyboards  start  off  the  album  and  after  awhile  atmospheric drones  are  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  some  ritualistic  chants  and  after  the  intro  the  music  starts  adding  in  aggressive  shouting  vocals  along  with  some  distorted  yet  melodic  guitar  leads  while  the  organs  give  the  music  more  of  a  psychedelic  edge.

  At  times  the  music  can  be  very  avant  garde and   experimental  and  some  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  when  clean  singing  is  utilized  they  give  the  songs  more  of  a  neo  folk  feeling  and  all  of  the  songs  sound  different  from  each  other  and  you  can  also0  hear  distorted  reverbs  at  times  and  when  the  heavy  guitar  riffs  kick  in  they  bring  elements  of  funeral  doom  metal  onto  the  recording  and  the spoken  words  are  very  grim  and  almost  have  a  black  metla  feeling  to  them  when  they  are  used  briefly. 

  Sol  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  most  experimental  with  a  lot  of  drone  and  neo  folk  elements  while  some  of  their  early  funeral  doom  metal  sound  can  be  heard  briefly,  the  production  sounds  very  powerful  while  the  lyrics  cover  human  decay,  fear,  esotericism  and  destruction.

  In  my  opinion  Sol  are  a  very  great  mixture  of  neo-folk,  experimental,  and  drone  with  a  touch  of  funeral  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Ascending  To  the  Embrace  Of  Clouds"  and  "Black  belly  Of  the  Beast".  8  out  of  10. 

BANDCAMP »
 

 

Enoch Interview

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

I am writing a lot of new stuff. Silvio and Leo left the band nearly 1 year ago and it’s very difficult to find someone that can join in. We’ve been playing together since the mid 90s so, in some way, it’s like trying to start from the very beginning. You know: I’ve always been the main composer but some great stuff came from Leo and Daniele and even Silvio used to give his contribution to the main structure of our songs. So…it’s a very strange moment: a lot of new stuff but Enoch, today, is just two guitar players (me and Daniele). Anyway I’m sure that we’ll work it out somehow...

>
> 2.How would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recordings?

All three albums have different sound. Enuma has a closed and “packed in” sound, typical of 90s recordings and this is what we were looking. Tommy of Nefas was the producer back in those days and if you can feel some death metal sound, well…it’s been his contribution (I mean it in a positive way). Tetragrammaton sounds really left us very disappointed. The producer was a fucking retard who spend all the time telling us all the commercial shitty band he worked with. I guess he wanted our album to sound like fucking in flames or whatever. We managed to get the masters from this asshole, since we wanted to remaster and remix everything, but part of the voice and nearly all the bass lines were lost. A real pity. Sumerian Chants has a very cold and thin sound; we wanted the disc to sound somehow different from a normal recording and this is the reason why we made all the post production on our own; it took us some time and maybe the result could have been better, but I’m quite satisfied about it. It’s very near to what I wanted.

> 3.Your lyrics cover a lot of Sumerian History and Religion, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this topic?

Well…I wrote most of the lyrics of Enoch and I like Sumerian myths; moreover I find that they suits perfectly the doom mood. I mean: if you play power metal you can pick from Lord Of The Rings or some other fantasy books, if you play brutal you could maybe focus on killing and splatter, black metal has occultism and norse myth and, when it comes to doom, usually bands focus on the sadness of life or on Lovecraft myths. We never wanted to play sad or depressive music; there are -for sure- all these feelings but we kinda reject the statement slow music = sadness. Sumerian mythology is very dark and the sumerian history is so far that you can just mix myths, history and some personal “revisionsm” or interpretation. It’s a dead and lost society, this means that their history is full of drama, lost battles, slain people and so on and I really like this stuff.

>
> 4.The band name comes from the prophet 'Enoch' who was also made more famous by John Dee's form of Enochian Magick, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in Occultism?

Actually we meant the city of Enoch, built by Cain and named after his son (that’s not the prophet). Personally I’m very interested in occultism but this has not very much to share with Enoch’s lyrics. I hate christianity and I would have never named a band after a prophet. I think that I can speak for the rest of the band, also.

> 5.According to the Metal Archives page the band is on hold, are there any plans to get back together and record a new album?

I’ve seen the page because you wrote this question. We’re not on hold and I can’t tell you who and why wrote such thing. Really annoying.

>
> 6.Can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in Ancient History and Mythology?

I guess I already answered to this. From a more generic perspective I’ve been always fascinated by ancient civilisation and from the way myths always influenced society and mankind. One cannot think how our society would have been without christianity and islam… I firmly believe that monotheism is the worse thing ever happened to mankind, I don’t wanna stuck in today’s political shit but,well… I like to think to a scene from Conan The Barbarian, where everybody sit around the campfire arguing which god is the coolest one; obviously it’s just fiction but, you know, if you live with a mythology with many gods, you will never think of killing other people in the name of the "only one true god”. Another great thing of ancient cultures is the way knowledge was perceived; I guess that hermetics and occult stuff had a dominant role in the growing of science and this still existed in alchemic studies or with studies of people like Aleister Crowley...

>
> 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?

We don’t play live. Never had and, most likely, will never.

>
> 8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of funeral doom metal?

We’ve been surprised that so many people from really around the whole world got in touch with us. I really can’t remember a single negative feedback, maybe just one guy on last.fm saying that our music was boring but I guess he wasn’t very much into doom metal. I’m not saying that we’re Iron Maiden; we’re a small underground band playing possibly the most extreme metal style so any single person listening to our music is something cool. It’s funny, anyway, that -as romans used to say- “nemo propheta in patria” so we got a lot of positive feedbacks from press and ‘zines but we sold very few cds in our counrty. Got lots of feedback from Russia, Germany and USA but also Romania, Finland, Netherlands, Mexico… It’s cool.

>
> 9.The band has been around since 1998 and so far has only released 3 albums, can you tell us a little bit more about the gaps in between releases?

Many, many reasons. First reason is that we all have an everyday job and we’re ok like that (we don’t want to live with music, we really prefer to be free to do the fuck we like and this is not possible if you have labels or managers); on the other side, this makes difficult for us to have time to rehearse and write songs. Another reason is that Silvio moved to another country, then back in Italy, then again to another country, and this, somehow, slow down things. Finally, we play only if we feel like playing and we record an album only if we have good songs, In these years we discarded something like 20 or 30 songs because we didn’t think they were the best thing we could have done at that moment (maybe if you ask the other guys in the band, they would answer that the reason is that I’m a psycho and I make and trash songs randomly).

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

Celtic Frost and Bathory in first place. Then, for sure, My Dying Bride, Candlemass, early Katatonia, Black Sabbath, Saint Vitus and definitively Skepticism, Esoteric, Unholy the real prime movers in the genre… I’m a lot into 90s black metal, especially raw bands, like Darkthrone, Ildjarn, early Carpathian Forest, Burzum… This year I liked a lot My Dying Bride (again), Shape Of Despair, Tyranny, Mgla, Soijl, Bell Witch, Missa Mortvm and Funerary. Being on more commercial stuff I also like Behemoth a lot.

>
> 11.What are some of your non musical interests?

Reading, writing, making any kind of thing that keep my mind busy. I don’t always want (or have the force of) fight my demons and I prefer to let my mind free… Definitively my passion, beside music, is my motorbike.

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

Thanks for the interview. I want to say to all that read this: go on our website or on our Facebook page and get in touch if you’re somehow interested in our music. We made CDs because we wanted that people that can understand our mood could listen to it; we believe that there are people with affinity and this is the reason why we recorded our music. So...just drop us a line (find all the contacts here: http://www.enoch.it/cont.html#cont) and always support true underground music.

Veraopop/Nouvea Shamanic/An Out Recordings/2015 LP Review

  Veraopop  are  a  duo  from  Portugal  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  mixture  of  ambient,  drone,  noise  and  krautrock  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "Nouveau  Shamanic"  which  was  released  by  An  Out  Recordings.

  A  very  dark  field  recording  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some ambient  style  synths  and  drums  that  also bring  in  a  touch  of  free  form  jazz  and  the  music  also  adds  in  a  touch of  70's  psychedelia  along  with  most  of  the  tracks  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  music  also  gets  very experimental  and  avant  garde  at  times.

  All  3  of  the  tracks  are  mostly  instrumental  while  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  voices  and  drones  can  also  be  heard  in  some  parts  of  the  songs  and  after  awhile  the  music  starts  adding  in  elements  of  kratrock  and  all  of  the  songs  sound  very  different  from  each  other  and  the  noises  give  the  music  more  of  an  underground  feeling.

  Veraopop  creates  another  recording  that  keeps  the  ambient,  drone  and  noise  elements  of  previous  recordings  while  also  mixing  in  more  psychedelic,  krautrock,  free  form  jazz,  experimental  and  avant  garde  elements  to  create  a  very  original  sounding  recording  that  is  also  all  instrumental  and  the  production  sounds  very  dark.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Veraopop  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  ambient,  noise  and  drone,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Nouveau  Shamanic".  8  out  of  10.

https://anout.bandcamp.com/album/aor025-ver-opop-nouveau-shamanic-lp 

   

Costin Chioreanu/The Quest For A Morning Star/Avantgarde Music/2015 CD Review

  Costin Chioreanu  is  a  solo  artist  from Romania  that  plays  an  experimental  form  of  avant  garde  music  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2015  album  "The  Quest  For  A  Morning  Star"  which  was released  by  Avantgarde  Music.

  Dark  sounding  synths  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  experimental  elements  and  the  music also  gets  very  atmospheric  at  times  and  also  mixes  in  a  great  dose  of  dark  ambient  and  there  are  also  some  melodic  guitar  leads  being  added  into  some  parts  of  the  songs  while  the  rhythm  guitars  enhance  the  avant  garde  feeling  of  the  tracks.

  Most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  there  is  also  a  good  amount  of  violins  in  some  of  the  songs  and  they  have  an  early  90's  gothic/doom  metal  feeling  to them  while  some  of  the  leads  also add  in  a  touch  of  post  rock  and  as  the  album  progresses  spoken  word  parts  can  be  heard  for  a  few  seconds.

   Some  of  the  guitars  also  adding  in  a  touch  of  black  metal  as  well  as  a  brief  use  of  grim  screams and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  every  song  sounds  different  from  each  other  and  they  there  are  also  quests  such  as  David  Tibet  and  members  of  Mayhem,  Sigh  and  Aura  Noir  and  one  track  also  brings  in  a  brief  use  of  clean  singing.

  Costin Chioreanu  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  mostly  avant  garde  and  experimental  while  the  metal  influence  is  present  in  some  of  the  tracks  and  most  of  the  songs  are  instrumental  and  the  production  has  a  very  dark  and  powerful  sound.

  In  my  opinion  Costin Chioreanu  plays  a  great  mixture  of  experimental  and  avant  garde  music  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  solo  artist.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "An  Empire  Beneath  Oblivion"  and  "Outside  The  great  Circle".  8  out  of 10. 

BANDCAMP »

i AM Esper Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the musical project these days? The project has taken a break for a good year due to being busy with work and overall just needed a break. Starting to work on new stuff this month and will be releasing music again just not in the same high volume as i used to.

2.You have released plenty of material over the years, how would you describe the musical sound of the current music? The sound of my current music i would describe as mellow post rock influenced drone ambient music.

3.Your music is all instrumental, are you open to working with any vocals or song writing in the future? I did a collab in the past with a metal vocalist and put out some of it on tape. It was cool would i do it again prob not. I like the project to be as inhuman as possible and vocals remind us all that there is a human present making the music.

4.What are some of the themes and images that you bring out with your music? Animal rights , nature , solitude , and whatever personal mood or emotion im feeling at the time of the recording be it happy or sad or angry and so forth.

5.On the albums you record mostly everything by yourself, do you feel this adds to the creativity of the music? Yes i get to do it my way and don't have to answer to anyone's opinions or thoughts...which was the problem of many of the bands i used to play in years ago.

6.What are some of the best shows that you have played with this musical project and also how would you describe your stage performance? I've only played 2 shows with this project as a collab with a other musician who's style did not mesh with mine....i regret the performances and recordings of it. I can't look back but i can look forward and i feel my project is better as a studio only project.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future? Most likely not unless i found a full band to play with for some kind of special performances with a full band....that's the only time it would happen.

8.Can you tell us a little bit more about the record labels you have worked with over the years on getting your music out there released? There's so many and i appreciate all of them for getting my music out there. As someone who ran his own label i know how hard it is and how much work goes into it you all know who you are and I can't think you all enough.

9.On a worldwide how has the feedback been to your recordings by fans of underground music? Overall very very well and I'm thankful for all the positive words...and the negative ones doesn't bother me everyone has an opinion and their right to it i make music for me not for people anyway.

10.What is going on with 'Salamander Lane Productions' these days? Nothing at all its be inactive for some time i may reopen it as a way to self release my own material again at some point but no longer other bands. As of now I just don't have the time to devote to a label right now it's so much work and when you work 2 jobs you just don't have barely anytime for things like this. Maybe in the future i will do it again.

11.You are also involved with 'Black Antlers', can you tell us a little bit more about this project? Black antlers is a avant garde raw black metal project between myself and Rob bekic. It started as me just messing around with really bad recording equipment to see how lofi i could get it. For fun i asked rob( who i have done splits with in the last for his other various bands) if he would provide vocals. We liked the results and decided to continue on. So far we have 3 really rough lofi demos. In time we plan on putting out something more professional. But the raw recording style fits our genre anyway.

12.Where do you see yourself heading into as a musician in the future? I honestly have no idea..hopefully learning new things maybe picking up new instruments expanding my sound. Maybe starting other projects who knows really.

13.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? For my newer music a lot of post rock ...such as mono (huge influence ) and godspeed and explosions in the sky (another big influence and my biggest influence stars of the lid.

14.What are some of your non musical interests? Animals , watching tv boring shit hahaha i work 2 jobs so don't have much time for much i guess aside from art my interests are just trying to keep myself from having  a panic attack and trying to find as much joy in the little things as possible.

15.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thanks for your interest and your time it's much appreciate cheers. - jp

https://iamesper.bandcamp.com/

Oldd Wvrms Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?
1 : We’ve just welcomed Fred form Absolutus. We’re working on our current set with him for the   upcoming concerts, then we’ll start writing new material for the upcoming album

2.So far you have released 2 ep's, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on both of the recordings and also how do they differ from each other?
2 : Our focus is on the athmosphere and the ambiance of the songs.
     "NØT" is more agressive and dark, we'll keep going with this evolution for the album.

3.Your lyrics cover a lot of Occult topics, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this topic?
3 : We come from a region of Belgium filled with legends and obscure old stories.
The recurring concept behind the lyrics tackles the theme of burnt and prosecuted witches in our area through the ages.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Oldd Wvrms'?
4 : It means « old worm » in old germanic. The snake is an omnipresent occult domain. It’s malign, switf, lethal and can wait for the right time, crawling in obscurity.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage perfromance?
5 : We’ve only played a few gigs, all went well. We try to stick to what we sound on record, no stageplay, straight to the point.


6.Do you have anytouring or show plans for the future?
6 : We’re working on a few weekend tours for 2016, in France and Germany. There are already a few gigs on schedule in Belgium as of February.
We're still looking for shows to promote the last EP.

7.Currently you are unsigned are you looking for a albel or have received any interest?
7 :  
Autoproduction is beneficient for a band that starts out, it allows us to see how devoted and motivated each member in the band is.  Yet, We’re going to work, in the near future, with small labels to re-release both EPs and promote the album. We’ll start the endeavor of finding a bigger label wanting to work with us.

Kudos to Seb from "Fear of Gun" and  Fred from "Abstruse.Eerie.Radiance"

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your  recordings by fans of underground music?
8 :
Until now, we’ve got pretty good feedback and reviews are rather positive.

9.When can we expect a full length album and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
9 : We’ve already started writing new material, we’ll start preproduction in February-March and we’ll hit the studio sometime around June for the proper record. Musically speaking, we’ll continue what we started, emphasising our dark, heavy and macabre side.

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
10 : They reach from Doom to Sludge for the heavy side, we implement a decent dose of black and post-black metal. It’s pretty eclectic, as far as there’s ambience, we have no musical boundary.
To name just a few : Amenra, Urfaust, Minsk, Mortifera, Slomatics, etc...

11.What are some of your non musical interests?
11 : I think I can speak in the name of the whole band we have interest in nothing but music. Among the band there’s sound engineer, fx pedal builder and label manager and gigfreaks.

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

12 : If you appreciate our music, share it as widely as possible. Both EP’s are available for free.

Thank you for the interview.

ØW

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i AM esper/Garnet/Symbol Of Domination Productions/2015 CD Review

  i  Am  esper  are  a  solo  project  from  New  Jersey  that  plays  a  mixture  of  drone,  ambient,  lo-fi,  experimental  and  post  rock  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2013  album  "Garnet"  which  was  released  by  Symbol  of  Domination.

  Nature  sounds  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  ambient  elements  and  heavy  guitars  and  the  music  also  gets  very  experimental  at  times  and  when  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  very  melodic  and  add  a  post  of  post  rock  to  the  recording  and  a  great  portion  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Most of  the  songs  are  instrumental  and  drones  can  be  heard  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  and  some  of  the  distortion  also  adds  in  a  touch  of   lo-fi black  metal  as  well  as  a  brief  use  of  high  pitched  screams  while the  rest  of  the  album  goes  into  more  of  an  ambient  and  post  rock  direction  after  that  as  well  as  getting more experimental.

  i  AM  vesper  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  post  rock,  lo'fi,  drone,  ambient  and  experimental  and  mix  them  together  to  create  a  style  of  his  own  while  also  being  mostly  instrumental  and  the  production  sounds  very  powerful.

  In  my opinion  i  AM  esper  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  drone,  ambient,  lo-fi,  experimental  and  post  rock  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out t his  solo  project.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Rebirth''  and  "Fast  Forward  to  Summer".  8  out  of  10. 

https://satanath.bandcamp.com/album/sat032-necrosadik-death-chant-glorification-2013

Enoch/Sumerian Chants/Satanath Records/Niberu Records/2013 CD Review

 Enoch  are  a  band  from Italy  that  plays  funeral  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  album  "Sumerian  Chants"  which  was  released  as  a  joint  effort  between  Satanath  Records  and  Niberu  Records.

  A  very  dark  and  atmospheric  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  ritualistic  beats  and melodic chants  as  well  as  some  spoken  word  samples  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  a  very  heavy  doom  metal  direction  along  with some  synths  and  grim  screams  that  add  an  influence  of  black  metal  onto  the  recording.

  Death  metal  growls  can  be  heard  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  while  the  riffs  also  bring  in  morbid  sounding  melodies  at  times  and  violins  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and some  songs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  spoken  word  parts  while  a  great  portion  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  music  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the 90's  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  a  very slow  musical  direction  while  one  song  speeds  up  briefly

  Enoch  plays  a   style  of  funeral  doom  metal  that  also  mixes   in  some   90's  doom/death  metal  elements  which  also  makes  the  songs  stand  out   a   bit  more,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Sumerian  and  Enochian  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Enoch  are  a  very  great  sounding  funeral  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Black  Night Over  Unfigured  Distances"  "The  Sleepless  King,  A  Curse  On  Uruk"  and  "Pazuzu  (Son  Of  King  Of  The  Evil  Spirits)".  8  out  of  10.

https://satanath.bandcamp.com/album/sat029-gust-in-grief-spiritual-contradiction-2012

Dolven/Navigating The Labyrinth/Goatprayer Records/2015 CD Review

  Dolven  are  a  band  from  Portland,  Oregon  that  plays  an  acoustic  form  of  neo-folk  doom  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "Navigating  the  Labyrinth"  which  will  be  released in  December  by  Goatprayer  Records.

  Acoustic  guitar  playing  starts  off  the  album  with  some  open  note  finger  picking  which  also  gives  the  music  a  neo  folk  music  feeling  and  after  awhile  the  guitars  start  utilizing  more  full  chords  and  there  are  also  some  electric  guitars  being  brought  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  some  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Drums  are  brought  into  the  music  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  and  the  vocals  are  all  clean  singing  neo  folk  vocals  which also bring  in  the  sorrow  of  epic  doom  metal  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  they  also  bring  in  a  couple  of  instrumentals  while  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  pagan  medieval  atmosphere  and  spoken  word  parts  can  also  be  heard  briefly  as  well  as  a  small  amount  of  black  metal  screams  and  when  synths  are  utilized  they  give  the  music  more  of  an  atmospheric  edge and  one  track  actually  brings  power  chords  onto  an  acoustic  guitar.

  Dolven  plays  an  acoustic  style of  neo  folk  music  that  also  mixes  in  a  lot  of  doom  metal  elements  and  a  touch  of  black  metal  to  create  a  style  of t heir  own,  the  production  sound s very  powerful  while  the  lyrics  cover  a  journey  from  life  to  death.

  In  my  opinion  Dolven  are  a  very  great  sounding neo  folk,  acoustic  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "To  Fly  Free"  "Labyrinth"  and  "My  Prophecy".  8  out  of  10.

https://goatprayerrecords.bandcamp.com/album/navigating-the-labyrinth