Islay/The Angels' Share/Final Gate Records/2015 CD Review

  Islay  are  a  band  from  Germany  that  plays  a  blackened  form  of  melodic  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their 2015  album  "The  Angels'  Share"  which  was  released  by  Final  Gate Records.

  Drum  beats  and  powerful  sounding  bass  guitar  solos  start  off  the  album  before  adding  in  melodic  leads  and  blast  beats  that  dominate  throughout  the  recording  and  when  growls  are  added  into  the  music  it  gives  the  tracks  more  of  a  Swedish  feeling  along  with  some  high  pitched  black  metla  screams  being  added  in  at  times.

 Throughout  the  recording  there  is  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the music  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  90's  melodic  styles  of  black  and  death  metal  and  as  the  album  progresses  clean  singing  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  they  also  give  the  songs  more  of  a  modern feeling  when  they  are  utilized  while  the  classical  guitars  when  they  are  brought  in  add  progressive  elements  onto  the  recording  and  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  few  seconds  of  atmospheric  keyboards  that  are  almost  close  to  being  symphonic  at  times.

  Islay  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  the  90's  Swedish  melodic  styles  of  death  and  black  metal  and  mix  them  in  with  some  modern  elements  to  update  the  sound  for  current  times,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  war  and  anti  religion  themes  along  with  one  of  the  tracks  being  written  in  German.

  In  my  opinion  Islay  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic  blackened  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Under  The  Sway  Of  God"  "Blind  messiah"  "Napalm  Shower"  and  "The  Angels'  Share".  8  out  of  10.

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Xaemora Interview

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

We're Xaemora, melodic Black Metal from St. Louis, formed in 2012.

2.So far you have released a demo and an ep, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on both of the recordings?

We put a lot of emphasis on melody to balance out the chaos. "Kingdom Venom I" is a great representation or musical snapshot of Xaemora at that particular time, there's fast stuff, slow stuff, some melodic, some brutal, some heavy, some meloncholy, it's a pretty well rounded Black Metal album, it's exactly the kind of stuff I look for in an album.

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

This is pretty simple, most of the songs are about death and suicide.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Xaemora'?
When it came time to start releasing the music we had been working on and start playing live, we knew immediately that we needed a unique name to stand out in the overcrowded world of cliche metal band names, Xaemora is a name we created.

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

Our first tour this spring was absolutely amazing, some truly great shows, most notably, West Texas Death Fest and Full Terror Assault Open Air earlier this month, those shows were incredible!

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

We'll be doing a Southeastern US tour in October as we make our way down to Black Kvlt Fest III in Miami. After we record and release "Kingdom Venom II" the goal is to tour as much as possible in 2016!

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

We've got followers from all over the world but we're still very underground and relatively new, the reactions to our latest EP have been largely positive so we're very happy about that.

8.Are any of the band members also involved with any other bands or musical projects these days?

Too many to name! Pretty much everyone in the band has other musical projects outside Xaemora.

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

We're focusing on releasing the next EP "Kingdom Venom II" in 2016, it's too early to try to predict either one of those.

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?

Lots of influence from Emperor, Dissection, Mayhem, Watain, and 1349.  Lately I've been listening to a lot of the new Keep of Kalessin, Ravencult, Dead Shore, Micawber and Advent Sorrow. Our local friends in Tyranny Enthroned and Black Fast have incredible new albums out right now too.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

This one could really go all over the place, there are five of us and we all have so many different interests outside of music.

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

Look for "Kingdom Venom II" to be out early next year, we're going to tour as much as we humanly can next year, if you want us to come to your city, contact us and let's set it up! Otherwise, if you see us on the road coming through your town, come out to a show!

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Hypermass/Clouded Visions/2015 EP Review

  Hypermass  are  a  band  from  Norway  that  plays  a  melodic  mixture  of  black,  death  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review of  their  self  released  2015  ep  "Clouded  Visions".

  Clean  guitar  playing  and  sound  effects  start  off  the  ep  before  going  into  a  heavier  direction  a  few  seconds  later  along  with  some  melodic  guitar  solos  making  their presence  known  on  the  recording  and  after  the  intro  the  music  starts  going  into  a  very  fast,  technical  and  brutal  blackened  death  metal  direction.

  Death  metal  growls  are  a  very  huge  part  of  the  recording  and  the  band  also  mixes  in  elements of  modern  and  prog  metal  along  with  a  heavy  dose  of  thrash  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  melody and  some  songs  bring  in  a  jazz  influence  but  done  with  more  heaviness  along  with  a  couple  of  tracks  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  clean  playing  also  makes  its  return  briefly  on  the  last  song.

  Hypermass  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  the  more  melodic  sides  of  black,  death  and  thrash  metal  and  mixes  it  in  with  elements  of  prog  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sound s very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  philosophical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Hypermass  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic  mixture  of  black, death  and  thrash  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Ionize"  and  "In  The  Final  Stage  Of  Embryonic  Mutation".  8  out  of  10.  

http://www.facebook.com/hypermassmetal
https://hypermass.bandcamp.com/

Xaemora/Kingdom Venom I/Merdumgiriz/2015 EP Review

  Xaemora  are  a  band  from  Missouri  that  plays  a  very  symphonic  and  melodic  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  ep  "Kingdom Venom I"  which  was  released  by  Merdumgiriz.

   A  very  distorted  sound  starts  off  the  ep  before  getting  more  heavy  and  symphonic  along  with  soem  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  and  melodies  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  meldoic  guitar  leads  and  blast  beats  make  their  presence  on  the  recording  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

  Some  of  the  riffs  bring  in  elements  of  thrash  and  death  metal  and  the  bands  musical  style  also  brings  in  a  very  dark  atmosphere  and  the  music  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  mid  90's  style  of  symphonic  black  metal  and  also  has  a  little  bit  more  aggression  than  most  bands  of  this  genre  and  the   last  track  is  all  instrumental  and  also  introduces  clean  playing  onto  the  recording.

  Xaemora  plays  a  style  of  black  metal  that  is  very  symphonic  and  melodic in  the  mid  90's  Nordic  tradition  and  also  bring  a  lot  of  aggression  that  is  rarely  heard  in  the  genre  these  days,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Misanthropy,  Chaos  and  Death.

  In  my  opinion  Xaemora  are  a  very  great  sounding  symphonic  black  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Gadara'  and  "Desolation  Solitude".  8  out  of  10.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Xaemora
Bandcamp: http://xaemora.bandcamp.com/