Seven Sisters Of Sleep/Ezekiel's Hags/Relapse Records/2016 CD Review

  Seven  Sisters  Of  Sleep  are  a  band  from  Southern  California  that  plays  a  mixture  of  doom  and  sludge  with  elements  of  death,  black  metal,  grindcore  and  d  beat  hardcore  and  this  is a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Ezekiel's Hags"  which  was  released  by  Relapse  Records.

  A  very  dark  and  ritualistic  sound  starts  off  the  album  before  adding  in  blast  beats  and  black  metal  screams  and  the  music  also  mixes  in  a  lot  of  grind,  crust  and  d  beats  eleemnts  while  the  vocals  also  mix  in  death  metal  growls  at  times  and  when  the  music  slows  down  it  goes  for  more  of  a  sludge  and  doom  metal  direction.

  Throughout  the  recording  there  is  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  they  also  bring  in  a  brief  use  of  atmospheric  sounds  and  some  of  the  tracks  are  very  long,  epic  in  length  and  there  are  also  some  riffs  that  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  melodies  and  when  guitar  leads  are  utilized  they  add  in  a  touch  of  stoner  metal  and  the  vocals  also  mix  in  sludge  style  screams  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  and  one  track also  brings  in  a  brief  use  of  cello's

  Seven  Sisters  Of  Sleep  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  sludge  and  doom  metal  while  also  mixing  in  the  brutality  and  aggression  of  death,  black metal  and  d  beat  to  create  something  very  dark  and  original  sounding,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  darkness  and   occultism  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  album  from  Seven  Sisters  Of  Sleep and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  sludge,  doom  metal  or  any  other  extreme  musical  style, you should  check out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Denounce"  "Brother's  River"  Sacred  Prostitute"  and  "Bastard  Son".  8  out  of  10.

http://www.sevensistersofsleep.com 

http://www.facebook.com/sevensistersofsleep 

http://www.sevensistersofsleep.bandcamp.com 

Black Shape Of Nexus/Carrier/Exile On Mainstream/2016 CD Review

  Black  Shape  Of  Nexus  are  a  band  from  Germany  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  drone/doom  metal  with  a  touch  of  crust,  sludge  and  black  metal and  this  is  a  review  of  their 2016  album  "Carrier"  which  will  be  released  in  March  by  Exile  On  Mainstream.

  Drones  and  soundscapes  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  very  dark,  heavy  and  melodic  doom  metal  direction  and  after  awhile sludge  style  growling  vocals  along  with  some  screams  make  their  presence  known  on  the  recording  and  clean  playing  can  also  be  heard  in  some  parts  of  the  songs  and  it  gives  the  music  more  of  a  progressive  feeling.

  Most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  music  also  gets  very  experimental  at  times  while  spoken  word  parts  can  also  be  heard  briefly  and  some  songs  also  bring  in  a touch  of  ambient  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  along  with  some  elements  of  crust  and  black  metal  and  when  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  used  briefly  they  bring  in  even  more  of  stoner  doom  metal  style  to  the  bands  musical  style  and  they  close  the  album  with  a  cover  of  Hellhammer's "Triumph Of  Death" .

  Black  Shape  Of  Nexus  creates  another  very  dark  and  heavy  sounding  recording  that  remains  true  to t he  drone,  sludge  and  doom  metal style  of  previous  recordings  while  also  getting  a  lot  more  experimental  this  time  around,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Black  Shape of  Nexus  and  if  you  are a  fan  of  this  band  you  should  enjoy  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Lift  Yourself"  and  "Facepunch  Transport  layer".  8  out  of  10.

http://www.facebook.com/blackshapeofnexus 

http://www.blackshapeofnexus.com 

http://www.blackshapeofnexus.bandcamp.com 

 

Hulduefni Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about your musical project?
1- Hello and thank you for this enterview. For those who do not know me, I'm João Simões and Hulduefni is my music project. About Hulduefni... as it says on my blog in the biography part: "It started in November 2011 when a friend of mine showed me the soundtrack of the game "Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines". I really liked the album, and I was extremely interested in the music.
Only in December 2011 is that after further investigate these music styles darker, minimal and sometimes repetitive, like Dark Ambient, Drone, etc., is that I (João Simões) decided to try writing an inspirational tracks on several songs I had heard so far. Using only an electric guitar and sometimes a bass.
The tracks started to get more and more interesting, until I decided to start to pay more attention in the production of each of them.
From December to early February, was to create and produce several songs until February decided it was time to join the best songs he had done, to the point, an album / demo.
Throughout the month of February was preparing the album, but without much certainty if the launch was for the public, or if would do just for me.
But after showing the songs to several people, almost all, if not all the same, they encouraged me to release the album. So I did so ...
In March 2012 I launched my first album titled Deep Darkness, limited to 20 copies. Which also had the participation of two friends.
The reception was very good, which made me immediately start thinking about the creation of new music."

2.How would you describe the musical sound that has been presented on the recordings so far?
2-Well the sound is generally speaking a mix "between dark ambient, drone and experimental, with a touch of psychadelic.", as it says on my blog, but I already record music that is close to black metal and to noise, so it's a mix of strange music genres and styles...

3.What are some of the themes and images you bring out with your musical style?
3-It really depends on what album you are asking, because now with more than 30 records out, it really depends... I like to do themed albums. So some albuns can bring to your mind the image of space in a "good" way (like for relaxing) or an image of space in a "bad" way like the movie Alien or something haha. Or it can be very industrial like in the album "Synthetic Works", where you can only imagine and grey industrial city... Very different themes and landscapes like you see from these examples from album to album...

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Hulduefni'?
4-This question is also answered on my blog, but I will told you here: "after searching and looking, and thinking for long hours ...
I found this name "Hulduefni", which means DARK MATTER in Icelandic, now and why the dark matter and why name in Icelandic ...
Dark Matter is tied to space, mystery and at the same time the word "black", has to do with my music ...
Icelandic because I wanted a weird name, confusing and even difficult to pronounce, so to speak, but at the same time not too exaggerated.
Even the Icelanders themselves consider their difficult language.
And for all these reasons, it is perfect."

5.On the albums you have had song titles that deal with occultism, aliens and horror, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in these topics?

5-Well about the occultism it comes from my love of black metal since way back... And horror topics too, like death metal bands and such. Before I knew what dark ambient was I was already an "metal head" so that's why. About aliens well it's obvious, space and terror mixed, and topics like the "end of the human race" of something like that that you normally see in the horror space movies, like the Alien or War of the worlds, here aliens enslave and try to kill humans... That's just some examples...

6.On the albums you record everything by yourself, are you open to working with other musicians or do you prefer to remain solo?
6-Haha, in fact I worked with, not a lot, but some musicians in my albuns... In Deep Darkness for example, I have 2 tracks that were recorded with some friends where at my house, and in another example, like the split "Life (When Nightmares Become Reality)" I have 2 tracks that were played by both artists, and there are some more examples... When I have some friends over my house and we start jamming, sometimes those recordings end up in albums, some times don't. I just reminded another one, the track "Depressive Spring" from the album Journeys Of The Mind, the guitar was played by a friend of mine that lives across the street and the drums were played by me, and then the mixing and production is always made by myself, that is the only thing that I do not want anybody to do but myself, you know it's that "final" touch of the finalisation of the tracks.

7.Over the years you have been a part of a few splits, can you tell us a little bit more about the artists you have shared split's with?
7- Well, frankly it's no special formulla... I just see who are the artists that are usually active in the dark ambient scene and the ones who care about music and love music like I do and contact them and try to work with them... And until today almost all have been very open to splits and to work in colabs and stuff. Great people I have to tell you :)

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of experimental and dark ambient?
8-This is a great and contorvercial question in my opinion. Well, one great artist that guide me through the scene and how "dark ambient works" that is the artist "Merankorii", he is also portuguese, told me that the dark ambient and experimental music takes time to settle down, people need time to listen carefully, to grow the love for the music as the artist grows itself, and it's very true. I the begining I thought that because I was releasing a lot of stuff and dedicating myself like 200% to this that I could like getting a music contract or something and that I could get into "big business" with this, but well with time I saw that it takes time... It's not like from night to day... And with time I think that my "fan base" is growing and that a lot of new people is discovering and liking my music, and that feels great! :D But yes, I still dream of one day do music for a major video game or a movie or something, that would be awesome!!

9.Are you also involved with any other musical projects?
9-Yes, I'm involved in LostsoL my black metal band, that is running a bit slow now... I'm also running my own label Dark Matter Records and my new adventure is hip-hop and beats, with my crazy/funny artist name Crazy John, John because of my name João, that is John in english. It's a totally different world the beats and hip-hop instrumentals, but it's also great to be able to work with new people from a totally different music background.

10.Where do you see yourself heading into as a musician in the future?
10-Well, I really do not know, but like I told you in the question 8, I would like to start making music for movies and games, and to be able to be "more" than just some tracks on some CD and to "bring to light", bigger stuff like, when working with image (movies or games for example) you can feel the music and see it also in the face of caracters in games or actors in movies, you know what I'm saying right?

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?
11-Like I told you on question 5, the music styles that influence me is black metal and metal in general, a lot of OST of games and movies and the list goes on and on... But if you want names, I can give you names... Burzum, Xasthur, Darkthone, Mayhem, etc... About games, it is with no doubt the OST of "Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines", and also a band that I would like to guive a especial thank YOU for existing is Darkspace ! This one is wow... I don't have any words to discribe this, only one MASTERPICE!
And about the question what I'm listening these days... Well nowadays I listen to anything, I mean it! From black metal to clasical to hip-hop, I listen to it haha. (But right now I have been listening to a lot of old school punk! UK PUNK! Like Chaos UK for example)


12.What are some of your non musical interests?
12-Haha interesting question, well right now because of college unfortunatly I do not have much free time :/ and the only free time that I get I try to relax a bit, go out with friends, sometimes do a music jam, and when I can, I like to go to the country side to relax away from the stress of the city and just to breathe some freash air :)

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
13-Yes, I would like to thank YOU for this enterview! I would like to thank to ALL my fans out there reading this! THANK YOU! And I would like to thank to my family and closest friends for the bigg support over the years! :) Thanks!
And just to finish, sometimes people ask me if Hulduefni will eventually end... haha, the answer is no... I can be sometimes be more worried about college or something and sometimes release less stuff but Hulduefni is here to stay, so no worry about it and keep listening!
Thanks!

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

Horizon On The Mute/Self Titled/2016 Mini Album Review

  Horizon  On  The  Mute  are  a  solo  project  from  Finland  that  plays  a  mixture  of  doom  and  death  metal  with  a  touch  of  drone,  industrial  and  electronic  music  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  self  titled  and  self  released  2016  mini  album.

  A  very  dark  and  atmospheric  drone  sound  starts  off  the  ep along  with  some  synths  a  few  seconds  later  which  also  leads  up  to  more  of  a  heavier  doom  metal  direction  and  after  a  couple  of  minutes  deep  death  metal  growls  that  are  also  very  easy  to  understand  make  their  presence  known  on  the  recording.

  All  3  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  music  also  alternates  between  the  atmospheric  and  heavy  parts  as  well  as  mixing  them  together  at  times  and  industrial  elements  are  also  used  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  and  clean  playing  can  also  be  heard  in  some  parts  of  the  songs.

  Black  metal  screams  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  when  violins  are  utilized  they  give  the  music  more  of  an  experimental  and  avant  garde  feeling  and  there  are  also  a  great  amount  of  electronic  elements  present  throughout  the  recording  and  the  songs  also  stick  to  a  very  slow  and  dark  musical  direction.

  Horizon  Of  The  Mute  plays  a  style  of  doom/death  metal  that  is  very  slow,  dark  and  heavy  while  also  being  very  experimental  at  times  with  a  touch  of  industrial,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  exploring  the  unknown.

  In  my  opinion  Horizon  Of  The  Mute  are  a  very  great  sounding  doom/death  metal  solo project  with  a  touch  of  industrial  and  drone  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  mini  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Chime".  8  out  of  10. 

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Miel Noir/From the Ashes/Indiestate Distribution/2016 CD Review

  Miel  Noir  are  a  band  from  Germany  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  mixture  of  gothic  rock,  apocalyptic  wave,  dark  ambient,  neo-classical  and  industrial  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "From The Ashes"  which  was  released  by  Indiestate  Distribution.

  Electronic  sounds,  spoken  word  parts  and  heavy  guitars  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  synths  and  goth  rock  style  vocals  and  female  vocals  can  also  be  heard  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  and  when  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  and  the  music  also  gets  very  experimental  and  avant  garde  at  times.

  Militant  beats  can  be  heard  in  some  of  the  songs  along  with  some  elements  of  martial  and  the  music  can  get  very  atmospheric  at  times  while  also  mixing  in  a  touch  of  neo-classical  and  as  the  album  progresses  the  music  also starts  incorporating  industrial  and  drone  into  some  of  the  tracks  and  as  the  album  progresses  the  music  starts  getting more  diverse  and  some  of the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  on  the  bonus  ep  tracks  the  music  adds  in  some  traces  of  psychedelic  while  also  bringing  in  touches  of  electronic  dance  music.

  Miel  Noir  creates  an  album  that  is  very  hard  to  classify  with  the  music  mixing  in  goth,  industrial,  martial, neo-classical  and  dark  ambient  to  create  something  very  original,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  philosophical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Miel  Noir  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  gothic  rock,  apocalyptic  wave,  dark  ambient,  neo-classical  and  industrial,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Follow  The  Waves"  "Floodgates"  "Heimkehr"  and  "The  Burning  Season".  8  out  of  10.   

https://www.facebook.com/mielnoirscapes/ 

   

Inverloch/Distance | Collapsed/Relapse Records/2016 CD Review

  Inverloch  are  a  band  from  Australia  that  consists  of  2  former  members  of  Disembowelment  and  plays  a  very  atmospheric  form  of  funeral  doom/death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of their  2016  album  "Distance | Collapsed"  which  will  be  released  in  March  by  Relapse  Records.

  Ambient  soundscapes  start  off  the  album  and  after  awhile  the  music  starts  getting  more  heavy  along  with  some  dark  sounding  melodies  as  well  as  speeding  and  introducing  blast  beats  and  death  metal  growls  onto  the  recording  while  the  guitar  solos  and  leads  go  for  more  of  a  melodic  route  and  the  music  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  early  90's.

  Most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  there  are  also  some grim  black  metal  screams  being  mixed  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  while  some  of  the  fast  riffing  also  uses  a  good  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  playing  and  as  the  album  progresses  some  of t he  songs  start  bringing  in  a  great mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  when  guitar  leads  are  utilized  they  bring  in  more  of  a  dark  yet melodic atmosphere  to t he  music.

  Inverloch  plays  a  musical  style  that is  mostly  rooted  in the  early  90's  style  of  doom/death  metal  while  also  bringing  back  some  of t he  original  funeral  style  and  also  having  its  atmospheric  and  ambient  moments  along  with  a  touch  of  black  metal,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  darkness  and  occultism  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Inverloch  are  a  very  great  sounding  atmospheric,  funeral  doom/death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "From  The  Eventide  Pool"  and  "Cataclysm  Of  Lacuna". 8  out  of  10.  

http://www.facebook.com/InverlochOfficial
http://www.inverloch.bandcamp.com  

Gadget/The Great Destroyer/Relapse Records/2016 CD Review

  Gadget  are  a  band  from  Sweden  that  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  crust  and  grindcore  but  also  mix  in  elements  of  black  metal,  doom,  sludge,  hardcore  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "The  Great  Destroyer"  which  will  be  released  in  March  by  Relapse  Records.

  A  very  heavy  sound  with  high  pitched  screams,  death  metal  growls  and  blast  beats  start  off  the  album  along  with  d  beats  and  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  short  in  length  and  you  can  also  hear  some  melodies  being  thrown  in  the  riffing  at  times along  with  some  black  metal  elements  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  to  them.

  When  the  music  slows  down  a  lot  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  elements  can  be  heard  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  ans  as  the  album  guitar  leads  and  solos  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  the  whole  album  also  remains  from  beginning  to  end.

  Gadget  plays  a  very  aggressive  style  of  crust/grindcore  which  they  also  mix  in  with  a  bit  of  black,  death  metal,  doom,  sludge  and   hardcore  which  gives   the  music  more  of  an  original  style,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover death  and violence  themes.

 In  my  opinion  Gadget  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  grindcore,  crust,  black,  death  metal,  doom,  sludge  and  hardcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Pillars  Of  Filth"  "Dedication"  "Lost  On  A  Straight  Path" and  "I  Don't Need  You-Dead  And  Gone".  8  out  of 10.

http://www.facebook.com/gadgetgrindcore 

http://www.gadgetband.bandcamp.com 

http://www.instagram.com/gadgetgrindcore 

http://www.twitter.com/gadgetgrindcore 

Dperd/V/My Kingdom Music/2016 CD Review

 Dperd  are  a  band  from  Itsly  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  etherial  darkwave  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "V"  which  will  be  released  in  March  by  My  Kingdom  Music.

  Electronic  sounds  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  programmed  beats,  bass  guitars and  female  vocals  a  few  seconds  later  while  the  guitars  add  in  a  flavor  of  darkwave  and  all  of  the  musical  instrunments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  you  can  also  hear  a  great  amount  of  melody  in  the  guitar  leads.

  Elements  of  goth  rock  can  be  heard  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  while  some  of  the  synths  also  bring  in  a  touch  of  70's  psychedelic  rock and  some  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  while  some  songs  also  bring  in  influences  from  80's  synth  pop  and  new  wave  and  as  the  album  progresses  electric  guitars  start  being  utilized  more  and  you  can  hear  a  great  amount  of  diversity  throughout  the  recording.

  Dperd  creates  another  ethereal  darkwave  album  that  brings  in  a  great  amount  of  atmosphere,  melodies,  darkness  and  depression,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  a  mixture  of  Latin  and  English  and  cover  melancholic  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Dperd  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  enjoy  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "I  Believe  In  You  Song"  "The  Way  Down  Song"  "But  I  Love  You  Song"  and  "They  Do  Know Song".  8  out  of  10.

http://www.facebook.com/Dperd

Goatpsalm Interview

1. Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?
H.: Hello! Honestly, nothing special is going on. At least, nothing is to be mentioned in particular. We wait for release of our third full-length album and prepare the material for upcoming releases without any haste. That’s the point.

2. Recently you have released a new album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?
H.: Regarding music, “Downstream” does differ from its predecessors. Noise and power electronics component almost disappeared in favour of metal, so we have atmospheric doom metal as a base of album, tightly woven with drone ambient and ethnic music. Getting more into metal, we got Kim to our band, to let his outstanding drumming skills serve our purposes, so “Downstream” has live drums, unlike previous releases. Some features of this approach appeared already on “Erset La Tari”, but at that time we were focused on other things and solved other problems.
Vaarwel: Our aim was to create certain atmosphere of Far North in music, and not North of European kind (vikings/Asatru/Welteislehre/Hyperborea/whatsoever), but North of nature and aboriginal people united with the nature, especially shamanism.  We tried to represent as many authentic instruments (for example, H. played jaw harp, and I played sanshin, and we used more of them) as possible in addition to traditional ones. For the main goal we also played traditional instruments different ways – I used wide excess of guitar flageolets both as piercing solos and as supporting parts of chromatic polyphony, howling and discordant.

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?
H.: “Downstream” is a conceptual work devoted to Ancient North, its rituals and beliefs. We didn’t take any particular mythology or cosmogony of nations that live there, but tried to make something more general: to describe nature from the viewpoint of the man whose whole life is being spent within it, from birth to death. All he has and all he will have is nature, from it he was begotten and into it he will return.
Vaarwel: The whole album is a journey through life of North – from Grey Rocks where was your home (was it?), to vast and frigid shores of Sea, hiding from spirits of Death, through desperate rage of Hunt, merciless Hunger and finally – to the descent Downstream as the end of your current life, but also a spark for your next life - which will be pretty much similar to previous one. This picture we imagine is quite doomed and hopeless yet astoundingly beautiful, and it inspired us a lot.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Goatpsalm'?
H.: This name emerged during work on our debut album, soaked with dark and chaos. At that time it seemed very suitable for the description of hell we created. With every next album our style gradually transformed, and for now it is not as relevant as it was at the beginning. However, we certainly will not change it – we still have enough darkness in our songs and who knows what will our next album become?..

5. Has the band done any live shows or this strictly a studio project?
H.: For now Goatpsalm exists as studio only project. Sometimes we have some thoughts or intentions to perform live, but we couldn’t make it real because of personal, creative and financial troubles. Maybe one day…

6. The new album was released on 'Aesthetic Death', are you happy with the support they have given you so far?
H.: Yes. I am glad of our collaboration and can say for sure that AD is one of the best labels I worked with. Stu does know what he does, and does it honestly and decently without unnecessary fuss and playing of Record Company Big Boss – the thing I sometimes faced earlier. Finally, Stu is a nice man and is close to me by convictions, which fact is quite important.
Vaarwel: From my experience, Aesthetic Death is one of the few labels I met who really cares of promotion of its releases, unlike some labels of even bigger scale. This is more than valuable nowadays, when even a retard can spend his disability allowance to print the CD, but only a wise and experienced man can make it required and sell it.

7. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of metal and other forms of dark and underground music?
H.: Feedback is usually controversial and often bipolar, from total rejection to total admiration. However, this is not surprising, taking into account the controversial music we create. I am pretty sure that “Downstream” will have much more favourably than its forerunners.
Vaarwel: “Erset La Tari” had wide spectrum of opinions on it, but it was not liked pretty much by metal fans, due to excess of electronics and being exactly non-metal music. “Dowstream”, on the one hand is metal in basis, but on the other hand it has a hell of non-metallic parts and additions. I often face this attitude to works of my another project, so I wouldn’t like to make prognostications.

8. Are any of the band members also involved with any other bands or musical projects these days?
H.: Yes, every single band member has his own projects aside Goatpsalm. Kim works with Do Skonu and a plethora of other bands of different styles; Sadist is mastermind of SS18, Lashblood, Deathmoor and Misanthropic Art; I am part of Sickrites. Working on Goatpsalm music, each of us usually brings ideas that hardly could be appropriate for other projects.
Vaarwel: As H. said, we all have separate activities. I am the only member of atmospheric metal/ambient project Frozen Ocean and also play guitar in Smothered Bowels.

9. Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
H.: It’s an uneasy question. Maybe we will continue our experimentation in doom metal, maybe sometimes we will return to the roots and record an album of classic death industrial, or maybe our experiments will lead us to novel fields of extreme music unexplored by us. Time shall tell.
Vaarwel: But we can say firmly that every new Goatpsalm release will be dissimilar to previous ones.

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?
H.: We all listen to completely different music and to some extent everything listened can find a place in new Goatpsalm songs, although it is not easy to recognize from outside. I can’t speak for other band members, but my personal influences are Mordor, Abruptum, Lustmord, Emperor, The Doors, Astral Projection, Dead World, God Is An Astronaut, Beherit, Pink Floyd… it’s really hard to list them all. =) Currently I listen to lot of Hindu ethnic music, Gnaw Their Tongues, underground Death Metal of early nineties and the last album of Mylene Farmer – such a tracklist doesn’t let me get bored.
Vaarwel: Influences in music is a bit of sore spot, because today the scene exhibits a severe lack of creativity. Problem is get influence not too much, to avoid borrowing or copying. Speaking of what really affected my work for Goatspalm, I can remember Jute Gyte, Leakh, diSEMBOWELMENT, Spires That In The Sunset Rise and Arckanum. Presently I listen to brutal and technical death metal with almost no exceptions in styles, and wait patiently for new Wormed album.

11.How would you describe your views on Occultism?
H.: We all have very different attitudes to this subject – from a sufficiently high interest to the total rejection - so we are can't to answer this question hardly. As for me, I generally try not to deal with such questions in an interview because I consider it quite personal. I hope you understand me.

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

H.:Nothing special, I think. Good luck - and thank you for the interview!
Vaarwel: Take care.

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Ten Thousand Miles Of Arteries/Even Spilled Seed Crawls Toward The Womb/Annihilvs Power Electronix/2016 Full Length Review

  Ten  Thousand  Miles  Of  Arteries  are  a  solo  project  from  Idaho  that  plays  a  mixture  of  industrial,  harsh  noise  and  power  electronics  with  a  touch  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Even Spilled Seed Crawls Toward The Womb"  which  will  be  released on  February  14th  by  Annihilvs  Power  Electronix.

  Power  electronic  sounds  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  angry  style  industrial  screams  and  the  synths  also  bring  in  a  very  powerful  sounding  presence  to  the  recording  and  the  music  also  brings  in  a  great  amount  of  harsh  noise  elements  and  also  mixes  it  in  with  a  more  evil  style  of  ambient  music.

  Black  metal  screams  can  be  heard  in  the  music  at  times  while  programmed  beats  are  also  used  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  atmospheric  elements  and  a  couple  of  the  tracks are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  while  the  music  also always  sticks  to  a  very  slow  yet  harsh  musical  direction  and  a  member  from  Venowl  helps  with  the  drumming  and  percussion  work  which  also  gives  the  music  more  of  a  militant  atmosphere.

  Ten  Thousand  Miles  Of  Arteries  plays  a  musical  style  that  mixes  the  harshest  elements  of  noise,  power  electronics  and  industrial  together  while  also  adding  in  a  touch  of  black  metal  to  create  a  style  of  his  own,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  while  the  lyrics  are  a  concept  album  based  upon  a  woman  who  happens  to  be  the  last  person  on  earth  making  a  journey  towards  her  death  and  eventually  accepting  her  fate  as  the  final  bearer  of  our  collective  human  history.

  In  my  opinion  Ten  Thousand  Miles  Of  Arteries  are  a  very  great  sounding mixture  of  power  electronics,  noise  and  industrial  with  a  touch  of  black  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres, you  should  check  out  this  solo  project.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "One  Last  Woman"  and  "Skeletal".  8  out of  10.  

http://www.facebook.com/ttmoa

http://ttmoa.bandcamp.com     

Six ReasonsTo Kill/Rote Erde/Bastardized Recordings/2016 EP Review

  Germany's  Six  Reasons  To  Kill  heave  returned  with  a  new  recording  continuing  the  melodic death metal  and  hardcore  mixture  with  a  touch  of  black  metal  of  their  previous  recordings  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  ep  "Rote  Erde"  which  will  be  released  in March  by  Bastardized  Recordings.

  A  very  hard  and  heavy  sound  starts off  the  ep  along  with  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  the  vocals  use  a  good  mixture  of  death  metal  growls  and  high  pitched  screams  while  the  guitar  solos  and  leads  remain  true  to  a  melodic  musical  direction  and  you  can  hear  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  in  the  faster  sections  of  the  music.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  the  mid  tempo  sections  are  very  heavily  influenced  by  metalcore  and  they  also  add  in  a  small  amount  of  shouts  and  spoken  word  parts  and  the  whole  ep  remains  very  heavy  from  beginning  to  ending  of  the  recording  and  they  also  bring  in  a  cover  of  Dismember's  "Of  Fire".

  Six  Reasons  To  Kill  creates  a  recording  that  shows  the  music  getting  more  heavy,  brutal  and  aggressive  sounding  while  also  remaining  true  to  the  music  style  they  have  established  on  previous  recordings,  the  production  sounds  very professional  while  the lyrics  cover  politically  and  socially  critical  topics.

 In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Six  Reasons  To  Kill  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  enjoy  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Rote  Erde".  8  out  of  10.   

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Dark Awake/Imago Typhonis/Frozen Light Records/2016 EP Review

  Greece's  Dark  Awake  have  returned  with  a  new  ep   that  continues  the  dark  esoteric,  ritual  neo-classical, folk  music  sounds  of  previous  recordings  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2016  ep  "Imago  Typhonis"  which  was  released by  Frozen  Light  Records  and  consists  of  one  original  track  and  2  cover  songs.

  A  cover  of  Emperor's  "I  AM  The  Black  Wizards"  starts  off  the  ep  and  while  it  sounds  like  the  original  in  a  lot  of  ways  it  has  more  of  a  dungeon  synth  feeling  that  also  reminds  me  of  pre-industrial  era  Mortiis  and  Burzum's  ambient  albums  and  after  awhile  spoken  words  are  added  into the  song.

  The  only  original  track  on  the  ep  starts  out  with  classical  guitars  that  use  a  great  amount  of  finger  picking  and  after  a  few  minutes  tribal  beats  and  ritualistic  soundscapes  are  added  into  the  music  along  with  some  atmospheric  synths  a  few  seconds  later  and  the  song  is  over  17  minutes  in  length.

 After  while  the  song  also  brings  in  neo-classical  instruments  at  times  along  with  some  traditional  acoustic  guitar  full chords  and  the  song  also  stands  out  a  bit  more  with  human  bones  being  used  as  a  musical  instrument  that  also  brings  in  a  more  shamanistic  feeling  to  the  recording  and  the  spoken  word  parts  add  more  to  the  ritualistic  atmosphere of  the  song.

  Closing  the  ep  is  a cover  of  Northland Tradition's  "Herr  Manelig"  which  starts  out  with  a  very  dark  ambient  synth  that  also  uses  a  variety  of  many  different  keys that  also  gives  the  music  an  atmospheric  and  epic  feeling  along  with  some  programmed  beats  in  the  background  and  the  song  is  all  instrumental  and  after  awhile  acoustic  guitars  and  folk  instruments  make  their  presence  known  in  the  track.

  Dark  Awake  creates  a  recording  that  brings  in  an  original  tack  that  remains  true  to  vis  musical  vision while  the  2  cover  tracks  pay  homage  to  the  groups  that  have had  a  huge  influence  on  his  musical style,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  while  the  lyrics  cover  Typhonian  Witchcraft,  Sumerian  Magick  and  a  long  forgotten  Heathen  past.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Dark  Awake  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  ritualistic,  occult,  dark  ambient,  neo-classical  music,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Imago  Typhonis".  8  out  of  10.

https://www.facebook.com/DARK-AWAKE-189786207738223

  

   
 

Goatpsalm/Downstream/Aesthetic Death Records/2016 CD Review

  Goatpsalm  are  a  band  from  Russia  that  plays  a  mixture  of  death  industrial, black/dark  ambient  and  atmospheric  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Downstream"  which  was  released  by  Aesthetic  Death  Records.

 Nature  sounds  start  off  the  album  and  after  a  few  seconds  ambient  style  synths  make  their  presence  known  on  the  recording  while  whispers  are  added  onto  the  album  a  couple  of  minutes  later  along  with  some  drum  beats  which  slowly  leads  the  music  into  more  of  a  heavier  musical  direction  and  a  great  portion  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  You  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  and  demonic  growling  vocals and  screams  are  also  used  at  times  bringing  in  a  touch  of  black  and  death  metal  while  some  parts  of  the  songs  also  use  classical  guitars  and  the  album  also  brings  in  a  great  amount  of atmospheric  elements.

  Melodies  can  be  heard  in  the  music  at  times  while  the  guitars  also bring  in  the  heaviness  of  doom  metal  and  some  of  the  tracks  mix  in  more  of a  tribalistic  and  shamanistic  feeling  and  all  of   the  songs  sound  different  from  each  other  along  with  a  couple  of  the  tracks  being  all  instrumental  and  elements  of  death  industrial  are  also  brought  in  more  and  as  the  album  progresses  melodic  ritualistic  chanting  starts  getting  mixed  in  more  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  a  slow  musical  direction.

  Goatpsalm  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  an  atmospheric  style  of  funeral  doom/death  metal  which  they  also  mix  in  with  ambient  and  industrial  with a  touch  of  black  metal  to  create  a  musical  style  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  heavy  and  powerful  while  the  lyrics  cover  nature,  magick  and  occultism  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Goatpsalm  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  death  industrial, black/dark  ambient  and  atmospheric  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  the  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE "Grey  Rocks"  "Orphan"  and  "Downstream". 8  out  of  10.

 facebook.com/goatpsalm

Soul Cylinder/Cultus/Dickcrush Records/Cold Dark Matter Records/2016 EP Review

  Slave  Cylinder  are  a  solo  project  from  Rockford,  Illinois  that  plays  a  mixture  of  funeral  doom  metal,  industrial  and  noise  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2016  ep  "Cultus"  which  was  released  as  a  joint  effort  between  Dickcrush  Records  and  Cold  Dark  Matter  Records.

  Melodic  guitar  riffing  and  spoken  word  samples  start  off  the  ep  along  with  soem  percussion  a  few  seconds  alter  which  also  leads  up  to  heavy  guitars  making  their  presence  known  on  the  recording  while  the  solos  and  leads  also  bring  in  a  dark  and  melodic  style  of  doom  metal  and  both  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Vocals  are  mostly  angry  sounding  growls  and  the  music  can  also  be  very  atmospheric  at times  while  the  influence  of  industrial  metal  can  also  be heard  in  both of  the  tracks  and  when  high  pitched  screams  are  utilized  they  give  the  songs  an  influence  of  black  metal  and  after  awhile  clean  playing  is  also  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording and  the  last  track  also  brings  in  a  small  amount  of  melodic  singing.

  Soul  Cylinder  plays  a  style  of  funeral  doom  metal  that  is  very  slow  and  dark  while  also  sounding  a  bit  different  by  adding  in  a  touch  of  noise  and  industrial,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  depressive  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Soul  Cylinder  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  funeral doom  metal,  noise  and  industrial  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  solo  project.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Love  Sermon".  8  out  of  10.   

https://slavecylinderil.bandcamp.com/releases