Saturday, April 15, 2017

Downcast Twilight/Under The Wings Of Aquila/Stygian Crypt Productions/2017 CD Review


  Downcast  Twilight  are  a  band  from  the  United  Kingdom  that  plays  a  mixture  of  folk  and  melodic  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Under  The  Wings  Of  Aquila"  which  was  released  by  Stygian  Crypt  Productions.

  A  very  heavy  and  symphonic  sound  starts  off  the  album  and  when t he  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  along  with  the  riffs  utilizing  a  lot  of  melody  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the recording  and  after  awhile  death  metal  growls  start  to  make  their  presence  known.

  When  screams  are  utilized  they  add  in  a  touch  of  black  metal  and  they  also  mix  folk  instruments  in  with  the heavier  sections  of  the  songs  and  when  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  and  the  music  also  brings  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  female  vocals  along  with  clean  guitars  are  added  onto  the  closing  track.

  Downcast  Twilight  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  folk  metal  while  mixing  in the  heaviness  of  melodic  death  and  black  metal  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  fantasy  and  mythological  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Downcast  Twilight  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  folk  and  melodic  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Soldier  Of  Pompeii"  "The  Ides  Of  March"  "The  Ironclad  Legion"  and  "The  Red  Queen".  8  out  of  10.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0UErzTJcL0

Friday, April 14, 2017

Pereplut/V Starodavine Goda/Stygain Crypt Productions/2017 CD Review


  Pereplut  are  a  band  from  Russia  that  plays  a  mixture  of  pagan,  folk  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a review  of  their  2017  album  "V  Starodavine  Goda"  which  was  released  by  Stygian  Crypt  Productions.

  Acoustic  guitars  start  off  the  album  and  they  also  bring  elements  of  folk  music  onto  the  recording  while  other  folk  and  stringed  instruments  are  also  used  at  times  and  they  also  mix  this  side  in  with  the  heavier  sections  of  the  songs  while  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording. 

  Clean  yet  aggressive  singing  can  also  be  heard  at  times  while  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats  and  after  death  metal  along  with  black  metal  screams  are  also  used  in  some  parts  of  the  songs  along  with  some  of  the  riffing  also  mixing  in  elements  of  thrash  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

  Pereplut  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  pagan  and  folk  metal  while  also  mixing  in  the  heaviness s of  black,  death  and  thrash  metal  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Russian  and  cover  folk  tales,  paganism,  mysticism,  and  anti  Christian  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Pereplut  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  pagan,  folk  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Rualya"  "Vedmachya  Vecherya"  and  "Zmievyi  Valyi".  8  out  of 10. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkYify_O45M
 

Mudbath/Brine Pool/Grains Of Sand Records/2017 CD Review


  Mudbath  are  a  band  from  France  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  blackened  mixture  of  stoner,  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Brine  Pool"  which  was  released  by  Grain  Of  Sand  Records.

  Clean  guitars  and  drum  beats  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  powerful  sounding  bass  guitars  a  few  seconds  later  and  after  awhile  heavy  yet  melodic  riffs  make  their  presence  known  along  with  some  high  pitched  screams  that  are  very  heavily  influenced  by  black  metal  and  most  of  the  tracks  are  long  and  epic  in  length.

  When  the  music  speeds  up a   decent  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  the  slower  sections  of  the  songs  are  very  heavily  influenced  by  stoner,  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  touches  of  scream  and  post  hardcore  are  also  used  at  times  and  when  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  and  some  tracks  also  bring  in a  small  amount  of  doom  growls  and  clean  playing  also  makes  a  return  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  one  track  is  all  instrumental  and also  adds  in  a  touch  of  ambient  and  drone. 

  Mudbath  creates  another  recording  that remains  true  to  the blackened  mixture  of  stoner,  sludge,  and  doom  metal  from  previous  releases,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Mudbath  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  black  metal,  sludge,  stoner  and  doom, you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "End  Of  Cold"  and  "Fire".  8  out  of  10.

bandcamp • facebook • bigcartel

 

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Mind Mold/Self Titled/Sentient Ruin Laboratories/2017 EP Review


  Mind  Mold  are  a  band  from  Calgary,  Alberta,  Canada  that  plays  an  avant  garde  mixture  of  black  and doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  titled  2017  ep  which  was  released  by  Sentient  Ruin  Laboratories.

  A  very  dark  and  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  ep  along  with  a  mixture  of  growls  and  black  metal  screams  and  you  can  also  hear  influences  of  sludge  and  hardcore  in  the  bands  musical  style  and  the  riffs  also  use  a  decent  amount  of  melody  while  blast  beats  can  also  be  heard  in  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs.

  All  of  the musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  at  times  the  vocals  also  have  a  semi  melodic  tone  to  them  and  as  the  ep  progresses  synths  are  added  onto  the  recording  while  the  songs  also  mix  in  influences  from  noise  rock,  shoegaze,  avant  garde  and  experimental  music  and  the  tracks  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

  Mind  Mold  plays  a  musical  style  that  mixes  black  metal,  doom,  sludge  and  avant  garde  to  create  something  very  original,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  surreal  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Mind  Mold  are  a  very  great  sounding  avant  garde  mixture  of  black  and  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Antipath"  and  "Nyx".  8  out  of  10.

https://sentientruin.bandcamp.com/album/mind-mold?utm_source=ALL&utm_campaign=2fc01e2960-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_04_06&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6a669a183c-2fc01e2960-443412889
 

   

Thursday, April 6, 2017

King Satan/King Fucking Satan/Saturnal Records/2017 CD Review


  King  Satan  are  a  solo  project  from  Finland  that  plays  a  mixture  of  industrial  and black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2017  album  "King  Fucking  Satan"  which  will  be  released  in  May  by  Saturnal  Records.

  Industrial  sounds  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  heavy  riffs  and  distorted  vocals  start  off t he  album  along  with  some  black  metal  screams  also  being  used  at  times  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  while  elements  of  ebm  are  also  used  at  times.

   In  some  parts  of t he  songs  the  vocals  bring  in a  more  melodic  tone  while  influences  of  death  metal  and  aggrotech  are  also  added  into  most  of  the  tracks  along  with  a  touch  of  hard  rock  and  spoken  word  parts  are  also  used  at  times  and  one  track  also  brings  in a  brief  use  of  female  vocals  while  they  have  more  of  a  punk  feeling  when t hey  are utilized  and  clean   playing  is  also  used  briefly.

  King  Satan   plays  a  musical  style  that  mixes  black  metal,  industrial,  ebm  and  aggrotech  to  create  something  original,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Satanism,  Occult  Philosophy  and  Psychological  themes.


  In  my  opinion  King  Satan  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  industrial  and  black  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  solo  project.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Dance  With  The  Devil"  "Sex  Magick"  "Spiritual  Anarchy"  and  "Kali  Yuga  Algorithm".  8  out  of  10.

    

Gehtika/The Great Reclamation/2017 EP Review


   Gehtika  are  a  band  from  the  United  Kingdom  that  plays  a  symphonic  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2017  ep  "The  Great  Reclamation".



  A  very  heavy  and  symphonic  sound  starts  off  the  ep  and  after  awhile  black  metal  screams  and  a  death  metal  growls  are  added  onto  the  recording  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  along  with  riffs  also  bringing  in  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  the  solos  and  leads  are  also  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion.

  Throughout  the  recording  there  is  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  stringed  instruments  are  also  used  at  times  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  music  also  mixes  in  a  great  amount  of  90's  influences  while  still  sounding  very  modern.

  Gehtika  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  symphonic  black  metal  and  mixes  it  with  death  metal  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark,  philosophical  and  mythological  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Gehtika  are  a  very  great  sounding  symphonic  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Existence  Or  Oblivion"  and "The  Human  Divergence".  8  out  of  10.



  

Saturday, April 1, 2017

Drenai Interview


 1. Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording and release of the new EP?

Guile (guitar): We’ve made the promotion of our new EP ‘Nadirs’ and we are focusing on our next LP which is already written and composed. We are rehearsing on it and for several scheduled shows.

2. Recently you have released a new EP, 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?

Guile: It is both different and similar in fact: ‘Nadirs’ is a full folk acoustic 5-tracks which differs with our usual musical style, much more raw and metal. But it’s still our way of composing, how Drenaï sounds in its metal style. The real difference is in its approach: this EP is a tale, with a narrator and we searched deeper in ethnic musical cultures worldwide, not only in Celtic music but also in Arabic, Native American, traditional Japanese and many more musical sources and inspirations. This way, ‘Nadirs’ sounds like a soundtrack for a story, told by Diego, with its ambiances like when you are watching a movie who would deal with the advent of Nosta from his youth to who he is to become later: the dark shaman Nosta Khan.

3. The material on the new recording is all acoustic but the band has used heavier guitars and growling vocals in the past, are there any plans on returning back to this direction?

Guile: Indeed yes: this whole EP has been made thanks to an opportunity we had to record an EP with friends from several folk (metal) bands in France and French speaking surrounding countries like Ithilien, La Horde, Les Compagnons du Gras Jambon… We called back other friends who already took part to our previous LP ‘Deathwalker’, in the choir for instance… Almost 30 people recorded this EP. Whether it is different from our habits, we call ‘Nadirs’ our “EP for the pleasure”, the one we had recording it and the one we try to display on our listeners who are used to Drenaï only sounding folk metal. But the forthcoming album stands at the crossroads of what we have formerly made; it will sound more folk and more metal in a way… “more epic” to sum up in two words J

4. The band name and lyrics come from the writings of David Gemmell, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this author and also do you have any interest in other fantasy authors?

Diego (lead voice): I’ve been reading Fantasy and related since something like twenty years. While I started the hard way, with J.R.R.Tolkien, and various authors from Moorcock or Howard to Nicholls or Lovecraft, I literally fell into Gemmell’s work. His work is both simple to approach and read, but still, you can find in it some concepts, which seems directly taken from the author’s life and way of thinking. Thus, you may find in it many invariants: epic and hopeless defense of a fortress, the idea that no one is bounded by fate, that you must judge anyone by his deeds, not his origins, heroes with their doubts and weaknesses... It’s not only about fearless knights in their shiny armors, crashing the bad guys, whom just enjoy being evil: there is a meaning behind almost any character’s action or set of mind.
That’s why, in the band’s genesis, we were five fantasy readers, all keen on Gemmell’s. So, when it comes to set a folk metal formation, we almost choose his work naturally.

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

Guile: To me, there are several places where we played I will keep in my memories: our first gig in a fest, the Cernunnos Pagan Fest (for we didn’t expect to win the contest to play there), the one we made in Germany at the Hörnerfest, for it was both professional but also relaxed and friendly (and we shared the stage with Finntroll and Skyforger!), the one we made in Switzerland for personal reasons… XD Drenaï on stage is a show where we incarnate roles (sometimes one, sometimes two depending on the set we fixed in rehearsal) and try to make our gigs the more interactive as possible. The more the audience is responding, the better it is for us (and for them too J).
Diego: Guile summed it up pretty well: the Cernunnos Pagan Fest was an amazing experience, because even if we summoned our crowd to support us at the contest show, we’ve been actually quite surprised to win and play at the main event. It was great to see our friends and fans made it to Paris just to give us that chance. And Germany, well… We’re French lads, from a country where metal isn’t well seen and renowned. At Hörnerfest, we enjoyed the “Deutsche Qualität”, in a nice fest, where it’s like being with your family (a quite large one, though). When we are on stage (with space and time enough), we try to do our best to make a LIVE and LIVING show as much as we can. We are fully involved in the idea that we are there to incarnate the characters we talk about in our songs. I think we must be more than just a bunch of guys playing what was recorded on album, only looking to their instrument: I’m talking about coming and WATCHING a band, not only listening to it during a gig. The roles are now an important part of our live experience: we have enough songs to plan various shows, depending on the audience we expect to be there, the set time we’re given… And so, we can tell the crowd a rather different story every time. And to emphasize it, we generally choose to introduce the songs with short narrations to make the people understand that we are telling about nice books that should definitely be read (and bought!). So, that’s why we’ll be Druss or Bodasen or Nosta or Sieben the bard, and so on and so forth…


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

Guile: These days, Greg (guitar) is working on booking dates for Drenaï and we have several shows to come within the end of this year and the beginning of the next one (in Nantes for example). We are still waiting for answers that haven’t come yet from several fests to which we have applied and we are still applying to others in different countries… We are trying to book a tour this summer but it depends on the answers we have.

7. Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?

Guile: One day we will… be interesting or interested… (lol) The question is in debate for our next album: it will be really convenient to be signed by a label for a better distribution…
Diego: Obviously, working with a label would be great to reach more and more listeners.

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

Guile: We did not receive many feedback but our followers’ number keeps growing worldwide which may indicate that ‘Nadirs’ pleases a growing amount of people. Even our usual listeners seem to have been surprised by this EP, expecting that “the next opus should be folk metal” and have been disconcerted in their way of receiving and listening to Drenaï or folk music in general: no distorted guitars, no drums, no growling voice, but folkloric instruments and a narrator... It’s not easy to change the habits of the listeners (ours too) but it’s the way we conceive music: changes and perpetual open-mindedness in order to give new and fresh ideas to our crowds and not repeat the things we already did before, and we hope they will think the same.

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

Guile: I don’t really predicate the future of the band, we’ll see where all this leads us. One thing I’m sure: we won’t stay in one defined style and fall into its stereotypes but try to evolve each time we’ll release something: there are so many things left to do in music by trying new approaches, new sounds, new things, and even melt them with older ones… The only thing that will not change is the band’s thematic (or we’ll have to change our name in… I don’t know… “Drenaï of Fire and Wind” maybe… lol).
Diego: As we said, we’ll keep renewing our music and surprising our crowd, but I think, we’ll keep the things that make our identity: only live music when we’re on stage (no samples), epic orchestrations, and numerous and various choirs.


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

Guile: Each one in the band has several musical tastes, you can easily guess how hard it is to please everyone and both create a music that suits to our purpose. J Actually mine go to Metal in general but mostly to Symphonic Metal (Death, Black or only Symphonic). Obviously I don’t have only one band I can refer in Metal (I could quote Iron Maiden, Slayer, Megadeth, Mors Principium Est, No Return, etc.) but I also listen to world traditional music (Japan and Arabic World especially) and “classical” music like Mozart, Beethoven, Verdi, Wagner, Dvorak, Palestrina… My latest “coups de coeur” go to The Browning’s “Isolation”, Sepultura’s “Machine Messiah” and Ex Deo’s “The Immortal Wars”.
Diego: Usually, I’m really into epic scores composers, such as Two steps from Hell, or Twelve Titans Music, and movie scores (guess what kind of movies!). Since it allows me to picture epic scenes, battle speeches and stuff alike, I’m in. But when it comes to metal, it’s mostly folk metal. Not the “party/beer/women” ones (who said Alestorm? XD), but more in the lineage of Finntroll or Turisas. On a more inspirational side, I’m quite fan of Amon Amarth, even if their last album was a small disappointment. And lately, I’ve been listening Gorgon’s ‘Titanomachy’. It’s an epic death metal band from Paris (and nice guys) which shared with us a nice show in our hometown. You should definitely check it.


11. Does Paganism play any role in your music?

Guile: If the question is “does religion take a place in Drenaï?”, none of us believe in any god, we are atheists. Even though the study of religion and religion history (from paganism to monotheism for instance) can be a long and interesting subject, it has nothing to do with our music or lyrics.
Diego: … Even when the Nadirs, one of Gemmell’s numerous people praise the Gods of Stone and Water… oops, I said too much… see you on the next album ;) )

12. What are some of your non musical interests?

Guile: Movies and cinema, videogames (RPGs), comics & graphic novels (Rochette’s ‘Snowpiercer’, Willingham’s ‘Fables’… just finished Garth Ennis’ ‘Hellblazer’ and begun ‘Preacher’)… Each one of my hobbies is where there is a universe I can hear /imagine/ put music/soundscape on…
Diego: Mostly reading: novels, graphic novels, comics… provided it’s Fantasy or SF themed (I don’t like dramas that take place in the “real” world, or imply actuality. We’re living a dark and hard enough world; escaping it from time to time is a relief). And playing old vintage videogames (I stopped somewhere between Age of Kings and Baldur’s Gate II).


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

Diego: Support your local scene. Enjoy and attend their shows. Don’t save your money for one fest only; discover new stuff! They deserve it.
Guile: Stay epic and open minded! Enjoy listening to ‘Nadirs’ and share with your friends! Get well! See you (maybe) on a local stage!

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