And Harmony Dies/Ballast/Club Inferno Ent./2022 CD Review

 

  And  Harmony  Dies  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  on  this  recording  plays  an  avant  garde  form  of  post  black  metal  with  some  elements  of  death,  doom,  thrash  metal  and  influences  from  non  metal  genres  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2022  album  "Ballast"  which  will  be  released  on  January  31st  by  Club  Inferno  Ent..

  Dark  soundscapes  and  electronic  music  sounds  start  off  the  album  while  the  music  also  gets  very  experimental  sounding  at  times  which  also  mixes  in  with  the  heavier  sections  of  the  songs.  Some  of  the  songs  also  capture  the  atmosphere  of  a  movie  soundtrack  along  with  the  pianos  also  taking  the  music  into  more  of  an  avant  garde  direction  when  they  are utilized.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  also  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  a  great  portion  of  the  tracks  are  also  very  long  and  epic  in  length.  Clean  vocals  are  also  added  on  some  of  the  tracks  along  with  the  songs  also  mixing  in  a  decent  amount  of  grim  sounding  black  metal  screams.

  When  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  fast  parts   along  with  synths  being  utilized  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording.  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  also  done  in  a  very  melodic  post  metal  style  as  well  as  some  tracks  also  adding  in  touches  of  world  music.  

  Death  metal  growls  can  also  be  heard  in  some  parts  of  the  recording  as  well  as  the  slower  sections  of  the  songs  also  showing  an  influence  of  doom  metal,  some  of  the  mid  tempo  sections  of  the  album  also  adds  in  touches  of  thrash  metal  and  as  the  recording  progresses  clean  playing  can  also  be  heard  on  some  tracks,  one  song  also  introduces  spoken  word  parts  onto  the  album  and  towards  the  end  acoustic  guitars  are  also  utilized.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  issues  related  to  the  soul  of  a  human  being.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  And  Harmony  Dies  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  avant  garde  post  black  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Alhena's  Chief  In  The  Golden  Spiral"  "Leave  Now"  and  "How  To  Lighten  Daily  Weights".  8  out  of  10.

http://facebook.com/AndHarmonyDies

  

  

  

      

And Harmony Dies Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?
Hi, actually we are looking for a new guitarist becouse our bandmate Rob left the band 2 month ago, then we will promote Totenamt with concerts.

2.Recently you have released a new album 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?
Sound in new album it' s more various and complex and difference with old discography it' s basically in more influences outside metal and better arrangiament on it.

3.The band has been around since 1995 but only has released 3 full lengths, can you tell us a little bit more about the gaps in between releases?
Is it true, our production it's pretty slow, we prefer to publish our music when we are ready, we have work on Totenamt for 7 years and specially in that case, we have had personal problems that slow down us.

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?
In that album we talk about Death, all songs are poems wrote by me almost 10 years ago. I explore death in all his shades and it is a sad album of course.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'And harmony Dies'?
20 years ago we were looking for a band name that include peace, wellness and at the same time something dark and we were fans of Venom, so listening to the album Possessed we focus our attention at the song title Harmony Dies. it became our first name, then we discovered that another band from Germany had the same name, but we were already active and known in our region, so we decided to add "AND" at the beginning, so it become And Harmony Dies.

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?
I remember a great show in a club in 2005 there was a lot of people and all have fun. It was a great show! With the passing of years we decided to focus more of theatrical immaginary instead of metal impact. We are trying to focus more on songs' s feeling not only in anger given by metal parts.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?
Actually not because of our guitarist search.

8.The new album was released on Sliptrick Records, are you happy with the support that they have given you so far?
Yes they are very professional and working really good.

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of black and avant garde metal?
Actually responses are good and we are proud of it Black metal fans still looking to more classical proposal, but people more open minded really like it!

10.Are any of the band members also involved with any other bands or musical projects these days?
Yes me (Black). I have other project like Pesten and Lux Eternæ but And Harmony Dies still my priority.

11.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
Nobady really knows where new songs will arrive. We still listening a lot genres and we will never repeat ourselves.

12.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?
In metal absolutelly Devin Townsend, Arcturus, DHG, Mayhem, Phil Anselmo and the illegals. Outside metal, Asaf Avidan, Lord buffalo, Le trio Joubran and many many more.

13.What are some of your non musical interests?
I love films d' essay, Theather, geopolitics and ancient sumerian. Whisper (keyborder) love literature, especially russian.

14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thank for your interesting, we want to let people crush their musical tastes. There are a lot of good music outside and people are afraid often to discover new one. Life contains a multitude of feelings, that sometimes change quickly. This is our music. Enjoy it!

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And Harmony Dies/Totenamt/Sliptrick Records/2016 CD Review

  And  Harmony  Dies  are  a band  from  Italy  that  plays  an  avant  garde  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Totenamt"  which  will  be  released  in  July  by  Sliptrick  Records.

  Nature  sounds  start  off  the  album  along  with  soem  church bells  before  going  into  more  of  an  avant  garde  direction  which  also  shows  violins  being  added  onto  the  recording  and  after  awhile  it  starts  to  mix  in  with  a  heavier  sound  which  also introduces  grim  black  metal  screams  onto  the  recording  along  with  some  symphonic  elements.

  A  great  amount  of  melody  can  be  heard  in  the  guitar  riffing  while  elements  of  jazz  can  also  be  heard  at  times  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  you  can  also  hear  clean  singing  in  the  music  at  times  along  with  death  metal  growls  being  used  in  some  parts  of  the  songs and  some  riffs  also  bring  in  elements  of  thrash,  heavy  and  doom  metal  and  traces  of  classical  music  are  present  throughout  the  recording  while  the  solos  and  leads stick to  a  melodic  musical  direction.

    When  the  music  speeds  up  a  small  amount of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  the  songs  also  get  very  experimental  at  times  and  as  the  album  progresses  elements  of  goth  can  be  heard  while  some  songs  also  add  in  acoustic  guitars,  pianos  and  spoken  word  parts  and  a  few  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  later  tracks  start  adding  in  traces  of  Middle  Eastern  music  and  on  the  last  track  operatic  female  and  male  vocals  are  brought  onto  the  recording.

 And  Harmony  Dies  plays  a  style  of  black  metal  that  is  very  avant  garde  and  incorporates  many  elements  from  many  different  musical  genres,  to  create  something  very  original,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  suffering  and  agonizing  themes.

  In  my  opinion  And  Harmony  Dies  are  a  very  great  sounding  avant  garde  black  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Sometimes"  "Tears  like  Promises"  "Another  Ending  Fairytale"  and  "The  Cut".  8  out  of  10. 

https://soundcloud.com/grandsoundspr1/and-harmony-dies-birthday/s-EJdKr