Ooh
Crikey It's... The Return of the Fabulous (see
what I did here?)Copromafia,
aka Coprostasis. Having had the rather questionable honour of being
one of the first bands I reviewed for this zine (here, scroll down a
bit) the gang's latest album is yet another example of what's wrong
with yours truly music tastes. Why, yes - I like it dirty and
arrogant, and I like it when an album makes me giggle hysterically
every now and then, whilst pouring down another beer in the belly.
Yep, I'm talking about having fun times and those charming odes to
necrophilia, violence and drug abuse are suiting that particular
mood perfectly. Coprostasis' death metal has all the ingredients an
old-school maniac would be digging - there's enough groove 'n grind,
thrash-on-steroids intensity and punk/hardcore styled rawness. All
you sickoids should immediately stop whatever you're doing right now,
be it packing the bong or cooking human stew or whatever floats your
boat and get this album. You don't wanna missing out on this fine
soundtrack to the killing spree you've been planning since the last
bitch dumped ya, right? Kudos to the Copromafia for putting this out
in such adorable digipak, too. Glad to see pimp money spent good,
guys. [8]
I always look forward to a new promo pack from
Hammer Of Hate - if there was a label that knows their violent black metal, it is them. This time the label unleashes FORGJORD's
third release and what an assault on the senses. Cold, vicious and
pure violent black metal just the way it is meant to be played.
FORGJORD embrace the classic Finnish sound perfectly with harsh
screechy vocals, raw razor-sharp guitars that will tear your soul
apart with each riff and drums that are all over the place with
mid-paced beats to more a furious barrage of blast beats. FORGJORD
will not disappoint any of the bands long-time fans, or if you,like
me, are new to the band but you enjoy cold,vicious Finnish black then
this band's latest is a must have.
Finland never ceases to amaze me with it's
never-ending sea of great bands whether it is the traditional,
hateful black metal or more atmospheric blackened death, it is mostly
always good. Well, you can now add NATTFOG to this ever growing long
list of bands. NATTFOG is a duo creating - what else? - cold, grim
and harsh black metal. The songs are fairly long for this style of
music though ranging from 3 minutes up to 9 minutes, but the band
members are good enough song-writers and musicians ; they can make
the songs a little long but it never gets boring to my ears. Raw,
primitive production and harsh mid-paced raw guitars, with some
killer drumming along with some well-done sick, violent black metal
shrieks. Fans of SARGEIST, HORNA etc. will love NATTFOG, so
definitely give this a chance.
Australia's Pestilential Shadows continue their journey
of creating and releasing quality, great black metal on their newest
release, 'Depths'. Pestilential Shadows do play the classic black
metal style with plenty of violent and unrelenting music, but the
band also adds a certain element of atmospheric black metal within
their sound to give the band a very unique and original sound. They
are one of the bands I can think of that can mix in "atmosphere"
to their music without compromising the violent,straight forward
black metal sound. If you enjoy original, straight-forward black
metal then Pestilential Shadows has created a masterpiece.
Black Crow King is the vision of Corvus (vocals, all
instruments) and the music is a nice blend of blackened doom with
some experimental, and sludge doom moments mixed in. Usually you
would not think these styles would work together but Corvus does a
good job mixing them in and creating a dark, and sometimes
eerie/creepy atmosphere. Vocals are a natural fit to Black Crow King's music, with harsh, spoken word style vocals. I think Black Crow King have a good future for itself in the experimental black
metal scene, so if you enjoy blackened doom that is creative and not
afraid to add other genres within their sound you will enjoy this a
lot.
(Patrick)
(The band was named after the Nick Cave's tune, I'd presume? Now that's the way to my heart, if I actually still had one ;) - ED)
Legendary
Finnish black metallers return with their ninth masterpiece of
blackness. That is something any band should be proud of in this day,
considering most bands either break-up or completely change musical
direction over the years. But not Azaghal, they continue on with
their brand of hateful,violent Finnish black metal. Fast, furious
razor sharp guitars, blasting drums and vicious demonic screams
combined together to create the cold atmosphere that is Azaghal. Not
a lot more can be said about Azaghal - you either love this style of
pure, cold black metal or you hate it. But I can not think of any
other band does it better than Azaghal.
From the opening riff of 'Onward..' it is obvious the
members of Deathhammer are influenced by the classic black/thrash
sounds of the mid 80's/early 90's. With the aggressive, whirlwind
guitars mixed with the drummers aggressive blasts of fury, the band
does draw from their influences but without being a total clone band.
There is enough originality and well-thought out guitar patterns to
keep the old-school fanatics happy without having to rip-off any one
elder god band or certain country from the golden era of speed/thrash
metal. If you crave chaotic,insane blackened speed metal then look no
further. Deathhammer is here to crush all.
(Patrick)
('Onward
To The Pits' is one heluva album! This is a fuckin' nuclear power plant of
viciously ripping thrash and menacing black metal that's due to
annihilate at any given listen. Deathhammer rank up high on my list
alongside Aura Noir for wrecking musical havoc, no mean feat in
itself, ain't it? This gets 9 out of 10
from me - ED)
'The Spell Of Damnation' is the creation of Mexico's Ominous Crucifix. To be truthful I had my doubts for this band and
release, due to the massive amounts of bands that are playing and
releasing old-school styled death metal the last few years. But
Ominous Crucifix are really good and can be, and should be, added to
the list of bands that are doing the old-school gods right, by
playing and producing quality well-played death metal. Heavy, thick
mid-paced guitars and bass, deep growls spew out the lyrics. Ominous Crucifix have done a good job of creating old-school death metal that
is enjoyable and memorable.
'Death
Scroll Of The Seven Hells And Its Infernal Majesties'
(Hells
Headbangers)
This is a new band to my ears, and it's not a bad
listen at all. HELLVETRON play a very dark, heavy mix of early 90's
death/doom with slow pounding drums and crushing guitar chords.
HELLVETRON kind of remind of SKEPTICISM, dISEMBOWELMENT etc. to give
you some idea of their sound. There is a very dark atmosphere
intertwined within the death/doom to kind of give it a black,dark
metal atmopshere. Vocals are deep, slow almost talking like vocals
that fit perfect with the slow, bleak music. HELLVETRON are
definitely not for every metal fan out there but if you enjoy bands
like dISEMBOWELMENT, or slow death/doom they might be your cup of
tea.
One of
Serbia's most well respected and known bands return with their best
release to date! 'Golet' is the latest release from THE STONE and
shows the band still creating complex, uncompromising and above all
original black metal. The band's sound is firmly set in the roots of
black metal but is very hard to pin point a certain band they sound
similar to. The songs are mid-paced range but do speed up but usually
move back and forth between mid-range and fast as hell black metal
keeping the listener interested as to what the band will do next. The
band keeps their production somewhere in the middle not the most
crystal clear sounding band (personally black metal should never
sound like this to me) but it also does not have a real primitive,
rehearsal type of sound like so many of the early bands of the genre
had. THE STONE has been going strong since the mid 90's and one
listen to their latest release, 'Golet', you will understand why. All
hail THE STONE and Serbian metal!!!
Belgian blasphemers ENTHRONED
are releasing their ninth full-length album, 'Obsidium' this following week and
our contributor Patrick did an interview with
band's vocalist/guitarist Nornagest. This chat
first appeared on Patrick's own Winter Torment Zine and now he has
given me the permission of posting it on my site as well. We're all
in this together, aren't we?
Horns up.
Hails Nornagest, thank you for taking the time to fill out this
interview. Please introduce yourself to the readers who might not be
familiar with you or ENTHRONED.
I am Nornagest vocalist,
lead guitar player and song writer of ENTHRONED. ENTHRONED has been
performing black metal in the pure sense of the word for 20 years now
and we are ready to release our 9th album 'Obsidium' on
Agonia Records on April 10th in the US. (March 20th for
the European version - ED)
When did you all first meet? When did you get the idea to form
ENTHRONED? How would you describe ENTHRONED's music to the readers
who have never heard it?
I met Cernunnos, the first
drummer and founding member in 1992 at a SAMAEL/MORBID ANGEL show in
Antwerp, Belgium. The band was formed in 1993, the goal was to create
a band that would be the catalyst for the belief of its members using
the most powerful kind of sound to carry its energies, and what is
more powerful than extreme metal? ENTHRONED performs black metal,
meaning that our music is the soundtrack for our lyrical concept,
extreme and aggressive yet dark and full of variations, that's how I
could describe it the best IMO.
ENTHRONED has been
going strong in the black metal scene for nearly twenty years! When
you started the band did you ever think you and the band would still
be going this strong? What is it about ENTHRONED and the black metal
scene that has kept you motivated for so long?
Ha! There's
absolutely NOTHING about this scene that kept us doing what we do or
been doing for almost two decades; our honesty towards ourselves
would be more a factor. We never cared about anyone and from day one
we didn't even thought we would have a label knocking to our door to
give us a recording deal. Our thing was to do what we do for
ourselves and if it would reach someone fine , else who cares? But
things went in a very unexpected way, full of surprises and burdens
and in a way made us what we are today as persons, it only gave us
more comfort within our initial idea. ENTHRONED is a part of us as
much as our arms, legs and dicks, so it will always be there as long
as we are alive as it is something we do to first of all please
ourselves, to fulfill some goals we have set for our own and which
would be pretty hard to understand for most.
What is your opinion of the black metal scene today
compared to say 20-25 years ago? Do you feel it has gotten too
commercial? What does 'black metal' mean to you personally? Black
metal is to me satanic/occult message or concept with a metal
background, to me bands such as BLASPHEMY, ROTTING CHRIST, DEATH SS,
MERCYFUL FATE and MAYHEM are all black metal! They are as different
as night and day but in my eyes they're all black metal. This style
is different from others, as it is supposed to be with a strong
personal message behind it linked with the Left Hand Path or Median
Path belief of the persons who are performing it. The main
differences in between the actual scene and the scene as we knew it
20-25 years ago is the accessibility and the flock of pretenders
polluting this 'scene' and creating such a band only due to their
likeness of other bands. But luckily , there is still some bands who
are doing this for the good reasons and not just to show off or
pretend to be something they are not.
The band recently released it's new CD 'Obsidium' through
Agonia Records. How did you come in contact with the label? Are you
happy with them so far? I was in contact with Filip of
Agonia since 1995, he has been a fan since the beginning of the band
and knows our history, releases etc. by heart. He has always been
very supportive even tho we were not signed on his label. After the
demise of Regain Records, we had to start the search for a new record
label and although we had big record companies contacting us and who
were very interested, Agonia gave us the best deal, not necessarily
money wise, not at all, but the rest was far more important, like our
requests, support and most important; he knows ENTHRONED and how the
band is suppose to be, so he never interfered within our decisions,
he respected every single idea, imagery and message the band carries
on, which to me is of the utter most importance. How
long did it take the band to write and record the songs for
'Obsidium'? How has the response been from the fans and the press?
Does the band have any upcoming tours or shows in
support of the album? If yes - where will the band be touring and
playing?
We are working on a south American tour at the
moment and we have some dates planned in the UK, Belgium and Romania.
There might be a fest in Denver, Colorado for the summer. A European
tour is in discussion as well as a North American one.
Over the years I am sure ENTHRONED has shared the stage with
many great legendary and underground cult bands. Who have been some
of your favorite bands to tour with? If you could set-up a 'dream'
show/tour who would you love to tour with?
There are a few
bands that we both musically and personally enjoyed to share stages
with, the best moments were probably with bands like GORGOROTH (the
real GORGOROTH that is), DESTROYER 666, USURPER, EMPEROR, SHINING,
SADUS, ROTTING CHRIST, HELL MILITIA and ANTAEUS. Maybe doing some
kind of festival tour with those same bands would be just utopia,
especially on the personal, human point of view. You
play the guitars and perform the vocals duties in the band, at what
age did you start playing guitars? Are you self-taught or did you
take lessons in the beginning?
I started playing at the
age of 13 and before that my first instrument was bass guitar. I am
completely self-taught, to be honest I do not even know partitions,
solfège or any pedagogical solmization, I just let my feelings flow
or being puked through my guitar, this is the best way to express
yourself I think. Who are some of your
influences/favorite guitarist? Do you play other instruments?
My influences are pretty vast; my first years as a guitar
player were bath by the influences of guitar players such as Kerry
King, Axel Rudi Pell, Jimmy Hendrix, Quorthon, Jeff Waters and Adrian
Smith amongst others. But the principal thing is that I always
tried to do my own thing, which gave me hours of headache and serious
nervous breakdown to be honest, but it was very rewarding. I also
play bass, piano, keyboards, sistrum and the tubular bell.
Nornagest
You are also the vocalist for the band, when did you first
become interested in singing? who are some of your favorite singers?
Before I joined ENTHRONED, I was the vocalist of every band I
was involved with, so when our previous vocalist was removed from the
line-up, the other members wanted me to take over the vocals. For
them it was only logical as I write all the lyrics and they loved my
vocals, but then I really did not want to do that mainly due to the
fact that I appreciated my position as lead guitarist and I didn't
want to be the center of attention on stage, but well, when Phorgath
was asked to join on bass he told me that the he would gladly accept
at the condition that I would do the vocals, so I gave it a shot and
after a while got use to it and actually appreciate the fact that I
could give my lyrics the correct and right feeling into them. As for
my favorite vocalists, few would be BM ones but Ihsahn (EMPEROR) and
Attila (MAYHEM, SUNN O))), TORMENTOR) would be my stand outs. Else I
really appreciate Nick Cave, Sivert Høyem (MADRUGADA), Lou Reed
(VELVET UNDERGROUND era), Bruce Dickinson and Arno (Belgian artist)
among others. Do you do anything special to keep your
throat/voice healthy when recording a release or on tour?
Yes,
smoke and drink booze! Sometimes I just have to make a break of
course, you can't just keep doing this on tour, but I've noticed that
if I completely stopped smoking on tour it just got worse, just had
to keep on smoking but in a 'reasonable' way.
Which usually comes first, the music or the lyrics of the song?
What are some topics/subjects you all write about?
It
depends really, for the previous album 'Pentagrammaton',
the lyrics were written first and the whole work was to literally
translate those lyrics into music, which is a titanic work. Else, it
really depends of the song, but one side always influences the other,
for example; If the music is written first, I'll write lyrics that
matches, represent the emotions involved within the music and
likewise is the lyrics are written first.
Our topics are always dealing with Satanism/Occultism in the pure
sense of the word, no BM Satanism or gimmicks, we are dealing with
what really lies behind the veil. On the three last albums, the
concept is identical, each album is a follow up to the previous one,
like three different volumes following the same concept and ideals.
'Tetra Karcist' is dealing with the reality of
occultism how it is, without any gimmick nor supposition, how things
are within the occult. 'Pentagrammaton' retrace
experiences, real lived experiences through those doctrines and
practices we talked about on 'Tetra Karcist',
now with 'Obsidium' the concept deals with what
we learned, the achievement we reached in one form or another through
those experiences, all written in a way that only people who are
actually within the occult circle can understand fully.
Well
Nornagest, we have reached the end of interview. Do you have anything
you would like to add before we end the interview?
Thanx
for the interview and be sure to get our 9th album 'Obsidium'!
Thankfully,
that 'thrash revival' wave seems to be largely over by now and you
can bet I'm fucking glad about that. I'm not against guys having fun
and chugging down beers, a good party is a must obviously, it was
just that the music and the zombie-themed lyrics simply didn't made a
lasting impact on me. FORTRESS neither made one to a full extent as
well, but there's some real promise in this band and I'd like to see
if the Polish lot would be able to hone their craft on the future
offerings. These eight tracks are well-composed and played with real
flair, they know what good, hefty, non-Pantera type, groove is and
when to use it, the guitar work is tasty, with some nice soloing
that's not simply slapped over for the sake of it, and the rhythm
section holds their end pretty well. The vocals are near perfect too
and are the reason I'm constantly reminded of good ole OVERKILL
whilst listening to this, plus they're using some of the classic
'gang-style' choruses thrash has been known for since time immemorial
(read, the 80's), which is OK in my book. Had this been more violent
and lose I'd have probably liked it tad more, but apparently the band
knows their strength and influences and this album should go over
well with those who like it energy-laden and musically proficient.
Fans of TESTAMENT, FORBIDDEN and DARK ANGEL, yes – I'm talking to
you! And yeah, no cheap zombified 'fun' in the lyrics here. Thanks,
FORTRESS! [7,5]
(Abyss
Records) A very powerful production of the Norwegian band Fester.
Doom metal riffs and death metal growls in this savagery art
performance,there are a few changes in the riffs but the tracks are
constructed very well, it keeps your attention until the end of the
CD. The guitar sound is awesome, nasty and raw along with the the
vocals, in fact that match with the band's sound, the production has
paid attention to the guitars so that offer a very solid sound. In
general this album left me a very good taste and I think it's worth
listening to it. Another great release of Abyss Records!
