Dead Man's Hill/Inner Journeys Through The Living Temples Of Water/Noctivagant/2021 CD Review

 

  Austria's  solo  project  Dead  Man's  Hill  has  returned  with  a  new  recording  which  shows  the  music  going  for  a  mixture  of  ritual, dark  ambient  and  experimental  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2021  album  "Inner  Journeys  Through  the  Living  Temples  Of  Water"  which  was  released  by  Noctivagant.

  Dark  ambient  style  synths  and  soundscapes  start  off  the  album  while  all  of  the  tracks  are  also  very  long  and  epic  in  length.  Water  sounds  can  also  be  heard  in  some  parts  of  the  recording  along  with  the  music  also  having  its  experimental  moments  and  throat  singing  can  also  be  heard   briefly  which  also  takes  the  music  into  more  of  a  ritualistic  direction.

  Distorted  sounds  can  also  be  heard  in  some  parts  of  the  album  while  the  music  also  captures  a  very  meditative  orientated  atmosphere.  One  song  also  introduces  ethnic  style  instruments  into  the  music  along  with  each  track  also  sounding  very  different  from  each  other  as  well  as  the  recording  also  getting  very  shamanistic  sounding  at  times  and  most  of  the  songs  also  stick  to  an  instrumental  direction.

  On  this  recording  Dead  Man's  Hill  take  dark  ambient,  ritual  and  experimental  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  soundtrack  that  is  suitable  for  meditations.  The  production  sounds  very  dark  while  the  song  themes  focus  on t he metaphysical  and  occult  uses  of  water.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Dead  Man's  Hill  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  ritual,  dark  ambient  and  experimental,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "White  Spring"  and  "Hertebron".  8  out  of  10.

Inner Journeys Through The Living Temples Of Water | Dead Man's Hill | Noctivagant (bandcamp.com)   

Shibalba/Dead Man's Hill/Deathwalk/The Circular Shades Of The EquinoxZazen Sounds/2020 Split Album Review

 

  This  is  a  review  of  a  3  way  split  review  between  Greece/Sweden's  Shibalba,  Belgium's  Dead  Man's  Hill  and  Norway's  Deathwalk  called  "The  Circular  Shades  Of  the  Equinox"  which  was  released  by  Zazen  Sunds  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  Shibalba  who  return  with  their  mixture  of  ritual  and  dark  ambient.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  some  dark  soundscapes and  ambient  style  synths  while  all  of  their  tracks  are  also  very  long  and  epic  in  length.  At  times  the  music  also  gets  very  ritualistic  sounding  along  with  some  melodic  chants  also  being  added  into  some  parts  of  there  side  of  the  recording.

  Programmed  beats  are  also  added  into  some  parts  of  the  songs  along  with  some  rain  and  thunder  sounds  as  well  as  some  ethnic  style  instruments  are  also  added  onto  the  second  track.  When  spoken  word  parts  and  whispers  are  utilized  they  also  enhance  the  ritualistic  atmosphere  of  the  music  and  all  of  the  tracks  also  sound  very  different  from  each  other  and  at  times  the  music  also  gets  very  experimental  sounding.  The  production  sounds  very  dark  while  the  lyrics  cover  the  Akashic  Records,  Theosophy  and  Left  hand  Path  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great sounding  recording  from  Shibalba  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  dark  ambient  and  ritual,  you  should  check  out  their  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Akashic  Visions  II".

  Next  up  is  Dead  Man's  Hill  who  returns  with  a  mixture  of   dark  ambient,  ritual,  goth ,  drone  and  neo-classical.

  His  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  some  synths  which  also  brings  in  elements  of  dark  ambient  and  neo-classical  while  the  programmed  beats  also  gives the  songs  more  of  a  militant  feeling.  When  clean  vocals  are  utilized  they  also  add  some  gothic  rock  influences  onto  his  side  of  the  recording.  

  Most  of  his  tracks  are  also  very  long  and  epic  in  length  along  with  the  music  also  having  its  ritualistic  moments.  Atmospheric  sounding  drones  can  also  be  heard  in  some  parts  of  the  music  as  well  as  all  of  the  songs  also  sounding  very  different  from  each  other  and  the  vocals  also  have  their  operatic  moments.  The  production  sounds  very  dark  while  the  lyrics  cover  Occultism  and  Left  hand  Path  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Dead  Man's  Hill  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  dark  ambient, drone,  goth,  neo-classical  and  ritual,  you  should  check  out  his  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "My  Body  Is  the  Universe  in  The  Body".

  Next  up  is  Deathwalk  a  solo  project  that  plays  a  very  sinister  and  ritualistic  form  of  dark  ambient.

  His  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  dark  soundscapes  while  all  3  of  his  tracks  are  also  very  long  and  epic  in  length.  Programmed  beats  can  also  be  heard  in  some  parts  of  his  side  of  the  recording  along  with  the  distorted  sounding  spoken  word  parts  also  adding  in  some  touches  of  black  metal  into  the  music.

  At  times  the  music  also  gets  very  ritualistic  sounding  along with  the  songs  also  adding  in  some  elements  of  dark  ambient.  All  3  of  his  tracks  also  sound  very  different  from each  other  as  well  as  adding  in  some  touches  of  noise  and  death  industrial  into  certain  sections  of  his  music,  demonic  voices  can  also  be  heard  briefly.  The  production  sounds  very  dark  while  the  song  themes  focus  on  the  O.N.A  and  sinister  traditions  of  Satanism  and  the  Left  Hand  Path.

 In  my  opinion  Deathwalk  are  a  very  great sounding  sinister  and  ritualistic  dark  ambient  solo  project  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  his  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Daemonic  Order  Procession".

  In  conclusion  I  feel  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  and  I  would  recommend  it  to  all  fans  of  the  more  ritualistic  and  occult  styles  of  dark  ambient.  8/5  out  of  10.

https://zazensounds.bandcamp.com/album/zzs-049-shibalba-dead-mans-hill-deathwalk-the-circular-shades-of-the-equinox-on-digipack-format-sold-out-and-high-quality-digital-download

                 

Dead Man's Hill/Crossroads/2016 Full Length Review

   Dead  Man's  Hill  are  a  solo  project  from  Belgium  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  mixture  of  dark  ambient  and  industrial  with  some  elements  of  experimental  and  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  self  released  2016  album  "Crossroads".

  Dark  ambient  soundscapes  along  with  some  synths  start  off  the  album  and  after  awhile  the  music  gets  more  atmospheric  and  experimental  while  also  bringing  in  a  variety  of  many  different  sounding  keys  and  female  vocals  can  also  be heard  in  the  music  at  times  and  they  also  give  the  music  more  of  an  operatic  feeling.

  All  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  while  also  getting  very  psychedelic  and  ethnic  sounding  at  times  while  the songs  also  bring  in  elements  of  neo  classical  and  there  is  also  a  decent  amount  of  male  vocals  being  utilized  throughout  the  recording  while  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  shamanistic  atmosphere  as  well  as  mixing  in  touches of  black  metal  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  samples  and  as  the  album  progresses  the  music  starts  incorporating  more  industrial  influences  while  also  getting  more  ritualistic.

  Dead  Man's  Hill  creates  a  recording t hat  goes  for  more  of  a  nature  orientated  approach  to  dark  ambient  while  still  adding  in  some  ritualistic,  experimental,  industrial  and  black  metal  elements,  the  production  sounds  dark  yet  powerful  while  the  song  themes  revolve  around  nature.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Dead  Man's  Hill  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  dark  ambient  and  industrial,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Crossroads"  and  "The  Call  Of  the  Moth".  8  out  of  10.
https://deadmanshill.bandcamp.com/album/dead-mans-hill-crossroads-free-album

Dead Man's Hill Interview

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

- I'm working for a new album, but things are going very very slowly. It's a new experiment, a combination of everything I did in dmh in the past. So for the rest things are going very calm for this project - but you can expect some new planned releases soon.

2. How would you describe your musical sound?

- Goh, it's very difficult to tell, since almost every album sounds difficult, let us say, a sort of ritual neoclassical industrial with a lot of influences of nature and nature religion.

3. What are some of the lyrics and subject matter that you bring out in your song lyrics?

- They're mostly about nature and all her aspects, in combination with animist religion. Others are about my own fantasies or things I feel or experience. In the past I was also very inspired by various horrormovies :)

4. Have you had any opportunities to do live shows yet

- Yeah, I did several live-shows during the years, especially in Belgium, but also in The Netherlands, Germany and Portugal.


if so what are some of the best shows that the band has played so far

- The best show was definitely on the live noises festival (2008, in Hof ter loo - Antwerp, Belgium). It was together with Con-dom, Sect, Section B, Grunt, and others. This concert is released on cdr in the meantime - and the album is called "speaks in the tongues of the universal reporter". Another one which was special was in January 2006,also here in Belgium, together with Allerseelen, Sanctum and Predella Avant. It was a very short one with the most powerful tracks from the dmh-discography, and with pretty brutal videoprojections.

and how would you describe your stage performance?

'till 2008 I worked with live singers/musicians but thereafter I decided to work solo on stage - I always work with synthesizers, soundeffect boxes and videoprojections. The reactions on those solo-concerts were always very good, so I decided to keep it this way.

5. What kind of influence do you feel you have on other death industrial bands that have came out in the last few years?

- To be honest, I have no idea. I don't follow the industrial scene anymore since 5 or 6 years or so...and silence can often bring more original inspiration than listening to whatever type of music.

6. How has your music been received so far from fans of death industrial worldwide?

- According to the things I hear it all seems to be okay. I already received a lot of mails and messages trough the years from a lot of people living in several regions on earth, who enjoy dmh a lot and buy the albums from me directly, and most (totally not all, but most) of the cd-reviews I receive are telling good things about it, so I'm very happy with that, it motivates me to keep continuing with spreading the music as much as I can.

7. Out off all the releases that you have put out so far, which one are you the most satisfied with?

- Via Occulta, definitely. And Songs from the forthcoming Apocalypse too. But the one I'm the most satisfied of will be released soon (I think at the end of this year), and will be called "Spirits". You can expect a (super)natural horror-dark ambient soundtrack.

8. How would you describe your musical progress over the years and what direction do you see the music heading into on future releases?

- I think I work much more precisely, regarding to more recent releases. And about the future...I don't know..with each release I'm trying to bring more power in the music, and also more mystic and unexpected / unusual sounds in it, so that the entire album is a deep and fargoing journey on itself. That's what I want to achieve - to let people use the music, so that they can travel to deeper or higher stages.

9. I have read somewhere that you have a lot of black metal influences, what are some of the black metal bands that have influenced your style

In the past I listened some time pretty intensive to black metal, and I feel that especially Taake and Limbonic Art influenced me a lot. What doesn't want to say that you'll hear those influences in my albums, since I'm inspired by so many things. Life is so diverse that becoming a giant mix happens very soon. But dmh has certainly not the intention to sound like a black metal band.

, and since your music is very diverse what other musical styles or bands that have influenced your music

- In Slaughter Natives have been a giant influence for me in the past, nowadays I notice that I'm very inspired by Gaë Bolg and cabaret oriented singers, what concerns music.


and also what are you listening to nowadays?

- These days I listen a lot to didgeridoo music - especially when it's inspired (or when it is) by traditional yidaki playing, cabaret singers like Wannes Vandevelde and Dimitri Van Toren, and also more Deathrock/wave oriented stuff.

10. When I have listened to your music and looked at the song titles, you have some songs about kaballah and voodoo, what are some of the esoteric or magickal paths that you find the most interesting, Eastern or Western?

- All those paths are very very interesting, as long as they are practised in a consequent ethical way in balance with nature. And the best of all is to combine all those paths - to take out what you need and what suits you the best, and to use it all together. To unite them all is the strongest medicin.

11. Outside of music what are some of your interests?

I'm addicted to didgeridoo playing, so I spend also a lot of time with this wonderful instrument. For the rest I read a lot, and I'm a lot outside in nature.

12. Any final words or thoughts before we close this interview?

Yes: I want to thank all the people who supported dmh 'till so far.
Thanks for the interview!

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