Arcana-The New Light/Cyclic Law/2017 CD Re-Issue Review

  This  is  a  review of  another  recording  from  Sweden's  Arcana  which  shows  the  music  going  into  a  mixture  of  dark  ambient  and  darkwave  and  the  album  was  originally released  in  2004  and  called  "The  New  Light"  with  the  re-issue  version  coming  out  in  November  of  2017  by  Cyclic  Law.

  Atmospheric  sounding  drones  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  dark  ambient  style  synths  which  also  use  a  variety  of  many  different  sounding  keys  while  folk  instruments  are  also  used  at  times  and  when  spoken  word  parts  are  utilized  they  give  the  songs  more  of  a  ritualistic  feeling  and  some  of  the  tracks  are  instrumentals.

   Melodic  vocals  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  while  elements  of  darkwave  can  also  be  heard  at  times  and  when  whispers  are utilized  they  give  the  music  almost  a  black  metal  feeling  and  when  drum  beats  are  finally  utilized  they  add  in  more  of  a  tribal  and  ritualistic  feeling  as  well  as  the  music  also  incorporating  elements  of  neo  folk  and  female  vocals  are  added  onto  the  closing  track.

On  this  recording  Arcana  goes  for  more  of  an  atmospheric  mixture  of  dark  ambient  and  darkwave,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  while  the  lyrics  cover  darkness,  nature  and  poetic  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Arcane  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  re-issue.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Reminiscence"  "Wound"  "Through  The  Glass  Horizon"  and  "Roots".  8  out  of  10.

https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/the-new-light-reissue 


  

Arcana/Petrichor/Cyclic Law/2017 CD Review

  Arcana  are  a  band  from  Sweden  that  has  been  around  for  more  than  20 years  and  plays  an  atmospheric  mixture  of  neo-classical,  goth,  folk  and  dark  ambient  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Petrichor"  which  will  be  released  in  November  by  Cyclic  Law.

  Dark  and  atmospheric  ambient  style  synths  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  acoustic  guitars  a  few  seconds  later  while  the  music  also  mixes  in  a  great  amount  of  neo-classical  elements  and  when  female  vocals  are  utilized  they  give  the  songs  more  of  an  operatic  and  ethereal  feeling.

  One  of  the  tracks  is  an  instrumental  while  the  acoustic  guitars  on  some  of  the  later  tracks  add  in  elements  of  neo  folk  along  with  some  male  vocals  and  spoken  word  parts  also  being  utilized  at  times  and  one  of the  tracks  is  15  minutes  in  length,  when  percussion  is  utilized it  gives  the  music  more  of  a  tribal,  shamanistic  and  ritualistic  feeling  and  throughout  the  recording  you  can  also  hear  a  great  amount  of  variety.

  Arcana  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  atmospheric  dark  ambient,  goth,  folk  and  neo-classical  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  while  the  lyrics  cover  darkness and  nature  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Arcana  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  atmospheric,  dark ambient,  goth,  folk  and  neo  classical  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Emperor  Of  The  Sun"  'As  Night  Turns  To  Day"  "Precious  Stone"  and  "For  Our  Continuity".  8  out  of  10. 

https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/petrichor
  

Dark Awake/Atropos Of Eudaimonia/Dornwald Records/2017 CD Review

  Greece's  solo  project  Dark  Awake  has  returned  with  a  new  recording  which  continues  his  mixture  of  ritual,  neo-classical,  martial,  neo-folk  and  dark  ambient  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2017  album  "Atropos  Of  Eudoimonia"  which  was  released  by  Dornwald  Records.

  Dark  ambient  style  synths  along  with  some  elements  of  harsh  noise  and  martial  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  female  choir  vocals  a  few  seconds  later  while  the  music  also  mixes  in  the  more  underground  side  of  industrial  at  times  as  well  as  one  track  also  adding  in  Gregorian  chants.

  At  times  the  music  gets  very  ritualistic  and  occult  sounding  while  oriental  style  folk  instruments  can  also  be  heard  briefly  along  with  some  of  the  tracks  being  very long  and  epic  in  length  and  there  is  also  a  cover  of  Sol  Invictus's  "Kneel  To  The  Cross"  which  also  introduces  clean  male  vocals  onto  the  recording.

  Throughout  the  recording  the  music  also  incorporates   a  great  amount  neo-classical  elements  while  spoken  word  parts  can  also  be  heard  briefly  along  with  all  of  the  songs  sound  different  from  each  other  as  well  as  one  track  also  bringing  in  a  small  amount  of  acoustic  guitars  and  as  the  album  progresses  the  music  gets  more  experimental.

  Dark  Awake  creates  another  recording  that  remains  true  to  his  mixture  of  ritual,  neo-classical,  martial,  dark  ambient  and  neo  folk,  the  production  sound s very  dark  while  the  lyrics  cover  O.N.A  Satanism,  Alchemy,  Persian  Occultism,  and  Greek/Hermetic  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  From  Dark  Awake  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  neo-classical,  folk,  martial,  ritual  and  dark  ambient,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Algol  And  Naos"  "Kneel  To  The  Cross"  and  "The  Medusa  Of  Despair".  8  out  of  10. 

https://dornwaldrec.bandcamp.com/album/atropos-of-eudaimonia

    

Tuskar Interview

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

Tyler: We are just a couple of guys making some angsty music together. We just make the music we want to hear and hope other people want to hear it too.

Tom: Yeah, from our beginnings just jamming in a room we've continued to go where the wind takes us, like Pocahontas.



2. How would you describe your musical sound?

Tom: Imagine you have a big cauldron of music and you throw in some doom, sludge, black, and maybe a bit of Madonna and that's pretty much Tuskar.

Tyler: We are trying to create something a little bit different from the scene, we take inspiration from all the great bands around us but put our own twist on it. We feel it helps that we're both pretty young so we have a fresh approach to how doom should be done.



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

Tyler: Well the first EP is based around the Celtic goddess Arianrhod. The majority of the lyrical content is based around fate and the concept of time. Like life is short, so control your own destiny.



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

Tom: As much as Tyler doesn’t want to admit it, we are named after a video game character, we were in the pub and struggling for a name so I just thought of the doomiest sounding character I could think of. No deep shit here haha.



5.Currently there are only 2 members in the band, are you open to expanding the line up or do you prefer to remain a duo?

 Tom: While the idea has crossed our minds I think we both enjoy the dynamic of being a two piece - less people to organise, less people to have creative differences with, and less people to share rider beer with.

Tyler: Yeah I don’t think we're gonna expand anytime soon, but it’s never going going to be completely off the table.





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

Tyler: Playing with Monolord was one of my favourite shows, they are such an on point band live! And as for our show I try to create energy on the stage that translates across into the crowd, despite me being in the same place I try to never stay static on stage.

Tom: I think our shows are a bit like a journey. There's a beginning, a middle and an end and hopefully you’re in a different place than when we started.



7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

 Tyler: Yeah we have a few more shows to finish the year off, including an awesome hometown show supporting Red Fang. Then we are gonna leave the beginning of 2018 off to work on the new EP and then hit the road in March and April, hopefully hitting Europe in the process!



Tom: There's some killer lineups we’ve been added to in November and December that I can’t wait to play, we're going to be on the road from the 30th of Nov to the 3rd of Dec including our first headline show.



8.Currently the band is signed to 'Riff Rock Records', can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

 Tom: Riff Rock is great, ever since we got on board they’ve been behind us all the way. We definitely wouldn’t be speaking to you guys now if it weren’t for them haha.

Tyler: Leigh has really helped us find a footing with the the scene and beyond so we can’t thank him enough, also he's real good for buying Guinness.





9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of stoner, sludge and doom metal?

Tyler: I’ve been really surprised with the response from afar that we have been getting. Got to give a big shoutout to Ygor Silva from Brazil for helping spread our music on a global level.



Tom: Yeah I’m so glad that our music is being enjoyed by people from all corners of the world, I just hope we can go out and play for them one day!



 10.When can we expect a full length album and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

Tom: We have plans for a full length at the end of next year but nothing is set in stone, we will just go with what feels right, we don’t want to release something that isn’t the best of what we have.

Tyler: Yeah as we change as musicians we are going to change as a band so our music won’t ever stay the same. With each release we are going to experiment more and more, with everything from styles, instrumentation, composition, the lot! Hopefully you won’t ever be able to expect what's going to come next.



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?



Tyler: So many bands have influenced our style, we try to keep our sound as separate from anything that’s around at the moment  and I feel like we’ve achieved that. Listening wise, I think I can speak for both of us when I say we listen to such broad range of music, but recently I’d say the main band I’ve been listening to is Aussie sludge/death titans ‘LO!’.

Tom: Everything we listen to ends up changing what we write one way or another, whether it be bands like Mastodon and Conan to artist such as Thundercat and Kendrick Lamar (as unlikely as that sounds) so it’s hard to pinpoint specific influences. At the moment I’m spinning Mars Red Sky’s album ‘Apex III(Praise for the Burning Soul)’ pretty much on repeat.



12.What are some of your non musical interests?

Tyler: To be honest music takes up pretty much all of my life, but when I’m not playing, booking and organising shows I’m a bit of a foodie and I love to cook. Also can’t forget drinking Guinness.

Tom: My free time is taken up by two things when I’m not playing - my girlfriend and good ol' PC gaming.



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

Tom: Praise the Riff

Tyler: Hail the Loud

https://www.facebook.com/TUSKARBAND/

Hanetration/Ancients/2017 EP Review

  United  Kingdom's  Hanetration  have  returned  with  a  new  recording  which  continues his mixture  of  dark ambient,  drone,  idm  and  glitch  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  self  released  2017  ep  "Ancients".

  Idm  style  beats  start  off  the  ep  along  with  some  elements  of  dark  ambient while  traces  of  glitch  and  drone  are  also  utilized  at  times  along  with  all  of  the  music  being  instrumental as  well  as  most  of  the  music  being  done  on  synths  and  mixing  in  a  great  amount  of  programmed  beats  and  all  of  the  tracks  sound  different  from  each  other.

  Hanetration  creates  another  recording  that  remains  true  to  his  mixture  of  dark  ambient,  drone,  idm  and  glitch  while  also  keeping  everything  instrumental  and  the  production  sounds  very  dark.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Hanetration  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  dark  ambient,  idm,  glitch  and  drone,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Fire"  and  "Aether".  8  out  of  10. 

http://hanetration.bandcamp.com

Trepaneringsritualen Interview

Can you give us an update on what is going on with the musical project these days?
I just came back from a US tour with Bölzer a month ago and keeping busy with a long string of one-nighters in Europe this fall. There’s a slew of reissues coming over the coming month, but Kainskult is the obvious focus for me right now.

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?
Kainskult is pretty much a natural progression from Perfection & Permanence. I suppose the main difference is that there’s more focus on rhythmic material this time around, and less ambient passages. There’s a tangible tribal feel to it, seething and hallucinatory.

Your lyrics have on the new recording have a gnostic concept to them, can you tell us a little bit more about the songwriting?
Gnosis is at the very core of T × R × P, so it’s nothing unique to Kainskult. The object of the whole ritual is to achieve enlightenment, so as to be able to escape the bounds of flesh and become God.

Kainskult is first and foremost a celebration of Kain, the original transgressor and heresiarch, and all those who follow in his footsteps. It’s nine chants of defiance, of Willful heresy.

On the website you had some pictures of runes, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in the Germanic alphabet?
The emanate from time before time, from the whirling chaos of uncreation, and through them, one may communicate with the primordial forces that know no fleshly bounds. In them is contained all the knowledge, all the power, all the mysteries. I’ve only recently begun working with them in earnest, but it’s proven to be a very rewarding journey thus far.

What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Trepaneringsritualen’?
I never chose the name, it was given to me along with the task of carrying the curse that is T × R × P. I willingly go where I am lead. I believe the name hides many meanings, but the core would be to open ones third eye and thus come in full communion with all the gods, and all that lay beyond the created worlds.

On the albums you record everything by yourself, are you open to working with other musicians?
That is not entirely true, there’s a number of outside collaborators, without whom Kainskult would not have been the same. Thanks and praise are due to Blitzkrieg Baby, Lina Baby Doll, Veil of Light, Nordvargr, Idlu Lili Regulus, Michael Idehall, Kim Larsen, Thomas Bøjden, Joachim Nordwall, Peter Bjärgö, DE · TA · US · TO · AS, Antti Litmanen, Daniel Hofmann, Aaron Turner, Fredrik Bergström, David S. Herrerías, Alone in the Hollow Garden, Dag Rosenqvist, and last but not least Peter Johan Nijland.

Furthermore, I am never truly alone in T × R × P, as I believe it is something far greater at work here than just one man’s creativity. There are plans in the works that will see T × R × P grow far larger and far more powerful, but it’s too early to go into greater detail at this time.

What are some of the best shows that you have played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?
Each performance is ecstatic revery and hallucinatory ritual. The aim is to throw both myself and the audience headfirst into the Void ∴ Vision ∴ Vortex and to escape the bondage of flesh. The joint ritual with my brothers in Sutekh Hexen at Stella Natura in 2013 is one that had a profound effect, not only on me but anyone in attendance. Just ask anyone who was there, all of creation howled in agony and turned on us. A recording of the event is available on Pesanta Urfolk with the title One Hundred Year Storm, though it comes nowhere near doing justice to the awesome power present then and there.

Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
There's a handful of one-nighters across in the coming month and a half, then a bit of a break followed by 18 dates across Europa with Batushka and Shammasch in January. The rest of 2018 is still too sketchy to mention, but I have no plans of slowing down, quite the contrary.

The new album was released on 'Tesco Organization', can you tell us a little bit more about this label?
Tesco Organization is nothing short of legendary. They’re celebrating 30 years of uncompromising audial assaults this year, so it’s, of course, a huge honor to be working with them.

On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of ritual and death industrial?
I hear words like “legendary” bandied around, so I think it’s fair to say that people are appreciative.

Where do you see yourself heading into as a musician in the future?
I go where I am led, so it is not for me to say. Like I said, T × R × P is something far greater than me, and its purpose is far from clear to me. Therefore I strive to put as little of my own consciousness into it as I can.

What are some of the bands or musical style that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
I listen pretty much exclusively to folk music these days, but it’s been a good fall for new music I must say. I’ve been listening a lot to the new albums by Zola Jesus, Myrkur, Wolves in the Throne Room, and Arckanum. All are warmly recommended. The roots of the T × R × P lay in the ritual industrial bands of the 80’s; Zos Kia, Current 93, Zero Kama, Ain Soph, Lustmord and so forth, and of course Brighter Death Now. Anything on Galakthorrö also hits the spot. I also urge everyone to check out the works of all of the contributors to Kainskult.

How would you describe your views on Occultism?
The purpose of T × R × P is to reveal that which is hidden, but words ending with “ism” rarely contribute anything of value to this world. I forge my own path.

Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Kainskult is available now on vinyl, cd, and as download on Tesco Organization.

https://trepaneringsritualen. bandcamp.com
http://tesco-germany.com
http://tesco-distro.com

Haexecnth/Macabre Noize/2017 Split Album Review

  This  is  a  review  of  a  self  released  split  album  between  Brazil's  Haexecnth  and  Macabre  Noise  who  team  up  to  create  a  recording  that  is  a  mixture  of  harsh  noise  and drone    with  some  blackened  touches.

  Harsh  power  electronics  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  field  recordings  a  hew  seconds  later  while  all  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  as  well  as  mixing  in  elements  of  death  industrial  as  well  as  adding  in  a  great  amount  of  drones  and  must  of  the  music  is  instrumental.

  At  times  the  music  evokes  a  ritualistic  atmosphere  while  black  metal  screams  can  also  be  heard  briefly  while  touches  of  dark  ambient  are  also  utilized  at  times  and  all  3  of  the  tracks  sound  different  from each  other  as  well  as  having  their  experimental  and  avant  garde  moments and  synths  are  added  on  the  closing  track.

  Haexecnth  and  Morbid  Noize  team  up  and  creates  a  recording  that  mixes  dark  ambient,  harsh  noise  and  drone  together  to  create  something  very  different  and  the  production  sounds  very  dark.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  from  Haexecnth  and  Morbid  Noize  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  harsh  noise,  dark  ambient  and  drone,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Sonitsi  Abyssum".  8  out  of  10.