Showing posts with label In My Embrace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label In My Embrace. Show all posts

Monday, November 7, 2016

In My Embrace/Black Waters Deep/Sliptrick Records/2016 CD Review


  In  My  Embrace  are  a  band  from  Sweden  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  melodic  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a review  of  their 2016  album  "Black  Waters  Deep"  which  will  be  released  on  November  10th  by  Sliptrick  Records.

  Nature  sounds  along  with  some  clean  guitars  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  atmospheric  sounds  and  melodic  leads  being  added  onto  the  recording  a  few  seconds  later  and  after  awhile  the  music  gets  a  lot  more  heavier  along  with  some  death  metal  growls  and  black  metal  screams  and  blast  beats  can  be  heard  in  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  melody and  some  of  the  faster  riffing  brings  in  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking and  pianos  are  added  on  a  later  track  while  most  of  the  songs  stick  to  a  heavy  musical  direction  and  they  close  the  album  with  an  acoustic  instrumental.

  In  My  Embrace  creates  another  recording  that  remains  true  to  the  melodic  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  from  the  previous  release,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  sorrow,  anger,  hatred,  life,  death,  religion,  society  and  existential  matters.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  In  My  Embrace  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  melodic  black  and  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Black  Waters  Deep"  "The  Road  Of  Hanging  On:" and  "Killing Spree".  8  out  of  10.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MQ25HZC/

Friday, May 30, 2014

In My Embrace Interview


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

[2004 - 2007]
Well, at first it started as a side project from Johans other bands Dii Minores and Well of Tears. We got to know each other through mutual friends and quite soon we felt that it would be a good idea to write songs together. I (Bosse) have Tinnitus related hearing problems so I didn't play live or rehearse like bands usually do and Johan had much to do with the bands he already played with. We jammed together in Johans apartment and wrote different riffs, put them together to songs and after a while I (Bosse) started doing lyrics to some of them. The music style at the time were more old school black metal with some influences from viking black/death metal.Remembrance (a song on the EP) were recorded 2004 to a demo with Dii Minores at the time.

After a while we almost had enough songs for a full length and we did our own demo recordings on some of them, but many of the songs were never truly finished. The quality of the demo wasn't good enough soundwise to see the light of day. We put the project to rest now and then and unfortunately with time many of the songs were forgotten. But the songs we did remember and felt were the strongest were Diabolical Masquerade and Nattvandraren.

Johan started playing with Planet Rain around 2006 and played with them on 3 demos until he left the band during the autumn of 2007. I (Bosse) took his place and played with Planet Rain from autumn 2007 to the beginning of 2009 and left the band when my Tinnitus got worse.

[2010 - 2014]
We brought the project back to life as none of us played in any band at this time! Johan had a bunch of ideas laying and started writing the songs that became Dead to Dust Descend and To Forevermore. Some of the songs we remembered we started to update with new ideas.

During 2012 we did a pre-production to the EP with digital drums to get a picture of what everything could sound like. We asked Tommy Holmer from Planet Rain if he could record the drums for us which he gladly did. So the drums got recorded around 2012-2013 and after that we started recording the guitars, bass and the vocals.

The song Av Skymning Kommen, Mot Gryning Går got written and recorded during the summer 2013. That song is more explained with the lyric content.

Later we got in contact with Sliptrick Records and the end result is the EP Dead to Dust Descend released by them.

2.Recently you have released an ep, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?

The music is a mix of black metal and melodic death with some thrash influences. Perhaps influenced by old school black metal and the melodic death metal scene from the early 90s. So the music is dark, heavy but with a lot of melodies. We've never had a plan to try to sound like anything else. We've written songs we like and if they sound like anything else, it's more of coincidence. But then again, on a subconscious level, of course you get influenced by bands you like or by bands you've played with.

The EP is mixed and mastered by Jonas Lindström at Studio Apocalypse. He created a great dark atmosphere with a sound we really like! He did an awesome job!

3.The band has been around since 2004 but waited until this year to release an ep, can you tell us a little bit more about the 10 year gap?

See the answer in question 1.

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

Most, though not all, of my (Bosse) lyrics are metaphors for something. Some lyrics however are more straightforward.

Dead to Dust Descend is a dark metaphor for the inevitability of death (death as an entity, opponent to and hating all life) and one's inner demons in a kind of inner struggle, that sometimes slam against you with this fact. When hopes and dreams dry out during gloomy days and is replaced by discomfort, doubt, anger, sorrow and in worst case even anxiety.

To Forevermore is about lost hope, agony, the feeling of being betrayed by people you thought you could trust, about losing your path, the thought of giving up and so forth.

Av Skymning Kommen, Mot Gryning Går is a song and lyric I (Bosse) wrote as a way to process a really close to succeed suicide attempt I did 24th of September 2011. It’s about my way back, all thoughts that came to me while I lived at a psych ward after it for about 3-4 weeks. So about the darkness I was in and how I made up my mind to head to a new dawn.

Diabolical Masquerade is about all organized religion and everything negative it causes between people and their different religions (fanaticism, conflicts, wars, death) but also everything it imposes on the individual level. All rules that people apply about what and what not to do concerning everything. How to live, food, clothes, who to love, who to sort of hate, forced weddings, the mutilation of men and women when they are small and so forth. Plus how small children doesn’t have a say in it. They are born in their family’s religions and beliefs. If you have a belief on a personal level, fine. But don’t force that on anyone else!

Nattvandraren the most obvious is that it's about the myth and fascination of vampires as a being/ledgend. But it's also a metaphor of all who works in the shadows, doing stuff on the other side of the law and all admiration some people feel about that sort of underworld/sub world. I'm talking about serial killers/mass murderers and cruel violent gangs; and that some of them becomes legends for doing what they do and even admired and copied. In conclusion, also the dark side of mankind.

Remembrance doesn’t have any lyrics as it is instrumental, but it’s about the people that have died that I’ve (Bosse) known. It’s also about nostalgia. Memories that sometimes appear for any reason. A smell you feel, a song you hear, something you see that activates it and you get lost in that memory for a while.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'In My Embrace'?

In My Embrace as a name comes from life itself. Your life is in your embrace. Of course things happen which you can’t control but you can control how you’ll deal with it (doing that by yourself or with help from family/friends or experts in some profession). Other things in life you can control, or at least think you do, as nothing is certain in life. You can’t and should not control another person or try to. But the point is that life is what you make of it, how you deal with it and how you choose to live during the circumstances you either been given or the plans you have to get to that point you want to reach. Giving up or striving forward, your choice. With that said, life isn’t easy, a lot of people have really tuff situations around the world. And a lot of people go through and experience things we can’t even imagine. The name is about continuing your fight to live your life no matter what.  

6.Currently there are only 2 members in the band, are you planning on expanding the line up in the future or do you chose to remain a duo?

The plan is to expand the number of members to be able to rehearse correctly and to play live. Tommy did the drums on the EP and is the obvious choice to continue working with on upcoming releases and possible gigs. We are trying out a bass player at the moment too (Jon Brundin), a friend Johan played with in Dii Minores and Well of Tears. But for me (Bosse), playing live isn't an option because of my severe Tinnitus - so who would take my place during gigs is uncertain. That means we probably will need a live guitarist as well. Time will tell what happens.



7.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of black and death metal?

The EP is newly released and when we write this, only digital so far, but in spite of that the feedback has been good. The physical version is soon to be released and can be bought from us when we get our copies and from the labels [Sliptrick Records] partners. A press release with the physical EP and the music video will come next week.

8.Are the band members involved with any other musical projects these days?

Johan: has a side project that he's thinking of starting up again. The future will tell if it happens.

Bosse: does guest appearances now and then on other bands albums with guitar solos or lyrics.

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

The plan is to have a full length album released during spring 2015. Musically it's getting faster, heavier but still melodic and dark.

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?

Johan: 
Well, I listen to a lot of bands. Mostly it´s Death and Black Metal. These are however some of my favorites from different genres:  Edge of Sanity, Ensiferum, Wintersun, Decide, Behemoth, Naglfar, Kalmah, Morgana Lefay, Helloween.

Bosse:
Hard question to answer, but I listen to almost everything when it comes to music. The important thing is that the music gives me or enhances some sort of a feeling. At the moment these are my favorites: Alscest, Winterfylleth, Dark Funeral, Funeral Mist, Agalloch, Windir, Undivine, Amorphis, Rimthurs, Diabolical, Planet Rain, Behemoth, Marduk, Katatonia, Ereb Altor.


  
11.What are some of your non musical interests?

Johan:
There are a lot of things I like to do, but at the moment my cabin and girlfriend takes up most of my spare time.

Bosse:
Hmm, hanging with friends, visit nature and take walks or run in natural areas. Go to the gym a couple of days during the week and so forth. At the moment my studies at the University as well. Plus a beer now and then. Trying what I can to feel as good as possible.

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

Thanks for the review (!) and for this interview! =) Don't forget to check out our music video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iv8VFrJ-Pd4
Drink a beer or twelve this upcoming we


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Friday, May 23, 2014

In My Embrace/Dead To Dust Descend/Sliptrick Records/2014 EP Review


  In  My  Embrace  are  a  duo  from  Sweden  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black  and  melodic  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  ep  "Dead  To  Dust  Descend"  which  was  released  by  Sliptrick  Records.

  Distorted  guitars  start  off  the  ep  before  going  into  a  more  heavy  and  blackened  direction  along  with  some  melodic  guitar  leads  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  band  also  speeds  up  a  little bit  at  times  along  with  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats  as  well  as  adding  in  black  metal  screams.

  When  the  death  metal  elements  are  added  into  the  music  the  ep  starts  having  a  more  modern  feeling  mixed  into  their  sound  and  you  can  also  hear  a  small  amount  of  thrash  influences  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  an  old  school  melodic  Swedish  death  metal  sound  being  mixed  in  with  black  metal.

  On  a  cople  of  the  later  tracks  acoustic  guitars  are  added  into  the  music  briefly  before  returning  to  a  more  melodic  black  metal  direction  and  adding  more  blast  beats  into  their  musical  sound  along  with  a  dark  and  atmospheric  sound  and  they  also  add  in  a  small  amounts  of  clean  parts  with  the  heavier  guitars  for  a  few  seconds  on  one  of  the  tracks  and  the  last  2  songs  are  all  acoustical  along  with  a  slight  symphonic  element  on  the  first  of  the  last  2.

  In  My  Embrace  have  a  more  dark  approach  than  most  bands  that  mix  melodic  death  with  black  metal  with  a  sound  that  would  attract  both  both  and  old  school  listeners  of  the  genre,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  powerful,  while  the  lyrics  are  written in  a  mixture  of  Swedish  and  English  and  cover  sorrow,  agony,  hatred,  life,  death,  religion,  society  and  existential  matters.

  In  my  opinion  In  My  Embrace  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  melodic  death  and  black  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Dead  To  Dust  Descend"  and  "Diabolical  Masquerade".  8  out  of  10.

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/inmyembrace
Last FM: http://www.lastfm.se/music/In+My+Embrace
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InMyEmbrace