As Light Dies/The Laniakea Architecture, Volume II/Darkwoods/2023 Full length Review

 

  Spain's  As  Light  Dies  has  returned  with  a  new  recording  which  shows  the  music  going  for  an  avant  garde  style  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2023  album  "The  Laniakea  Architecture,  Voume  II"  which  will  be  released  in  March  by  Darkwoods.

  Spoken  word  parts  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  heavier  direction  while  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording.  When  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats  can  be  heard  along  with  the  vocals  being  mostly  high  pitched  black  metal  screams.

  Death  metal  growls  can  also  be  heard  while  avant  garde  structures  are  also  mixed  into  the  heavier  sections  of  the  songs.  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  also  hear  a  decent  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  a  great  portion  of  the  tracks  also  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Melodies  are  also  added  into  some  of  the  guitar  riffing  along  with  the  songs  also  adding  in  a  small  amount  of  clear  vocals  and  add  in  touches  of  goth  metal.  Cello's,  violin's,  synths  and  piano's  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  as  well  as  the  slower  sections  of  the  tracks  also  bringing  in  elements  of  doom  metal,  female  vocals  and  clean  playing  can  also  be  heard  towards  the  end.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  math,  history  and  depression  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  As  Light  Dies  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  avant  garde  black  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Falling  Apart"  "The  Green"  and  "To  Finish".  8  out  of  10.

  http://www.aslightdies.com 

https://aslightdies.bandcamp.com

http://www.facebook.com/aslightdies    

As Light Dies/The Love Album - Volume I/Maa Productions/2014 CD Review

  As  Light  Dies  are a  band  from  Spain  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  an  avant  garde  and  progressive  form  of  black  metal  with  some  death,  doom  and  gothic  metal  elements  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "The  Love  Album  -  Volume I"  which  was  released  by  Maa  Productions.

  Avant  garde  style  keyboards  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  spoken  word  samples  and  on  the  second  track  the  music  starts  adding  in  heavier  guitars  and  grim  black  metal  screams  along  with  some  atmospheric  sounds  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats  and  tremolo  picking  can  be  heard.

  Clean  singing  goth  vocals  can  be  heard  in  the  music  at  times  along  with  some  doom  metal  elements  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sound  very  powerful  and  the  songs  also  get  very  progressive  at  times  and  a  great  portion  of the  tracks a re  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  songs  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  death  metal growls  and  whispers  can be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording.

  As  Light  Dies  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  the  more  avant  garde  and  progressive  style  of  black  metal  on  the  recording  while  also  standing  out  a  bit  more  and  adding  in  elements  of  doom,  goth  and  death  metal  which  makes  the  music  stand  out  a  bit  more,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  depression,  math  and  historical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  As  Light  Dies  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  progressive  and  avant  garde  black/doom  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE "Orpheus  Morning"  "When  Distance  Becomes  Real"  "No  Pain,  As  Sleep"  and  "Farewell  From  Distant  Shores".  8  out  of  10.

Bandcamp

Facebook

Homepage

Myspace

Twitter

  

As Light Dies Interview

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

Many things. This EP was recorded back in 2006 two months after we recorded our first album “A step through the reflection”. The band released 2 albums from then till now. The last one is “TLA vol.1”.

2.You have a new ep coming out at the end of June, 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?

I assume that you consider that we have recorded this stuff recently, but GEA is old stuff. The other track is one song included in the tribute to Enslaved in which we participate in 2012. Many things changed because the band was another people.

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

This lyrical concept was about the negative influence of mankind over the nature in terms of contamination and in terms of spirituality.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'As Light Dies'?

The meaning is about that all the magic use to happen when the light starts to fade away.

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

It is really difficult to choose our best show. All the members have different opinions about it. Some shows were special because we played fine, others because the energy of the public, another ones because we did had a good time in the travel, or maybe because we played in a very special show. Our performances are really distant and cold. We use video projections to introduce the song, and also we have some other macabre and highly extreme projections while we are playing the songs.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new ep is released?

We decided to stop playing because we didn’t have good proposals.

7.On the new ep you had done an Enslaved cover, what was the decision behind doing your own version of one of their songs?

Because Pictonian records offered us to participate in the tribute “Ond: A tribute” released back in 2012. We covered the song we wanted to do.

8.The ep is going to be released on Brutal Arratia Records, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

Well, it is a recently created label which makes small editions of weird unreleased stuff. GEA EP was never released in 2006, so they offered us to release it now in 2015.They are really young people, they are small yet but they work fine.

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

The reviews are good, but we didn’t noticed any change to our band during these two last years of releases. Maybe we are in the surfeit era, then it is really difficult to stand out over the others.

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

Yes. I (Oscar)’m involved in Garth Arum, Aegri Somnia, Alien Syndrome 777 and other stuff.
Strudle and Maqueda are involved in classic music performance, and Pablo is playing in a surf rock band named Surflamingo.

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

I don’t really want to know. Maybe my vision is not really optimistic.

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?

Well, we always like the weird and dark stuff of all ages. Starting with Gesualdo, having in the way Mike Oldfield, and finishing in the most experimental music inside and outside of metal nowadays.

13.What are some of your non-musical interests?

We all really like cinema. Anyone has different opinions about it. Some we like more the auteur cinema, and others gore, B movies and similar. Also I am on writing and Strudle is on painting.

14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
We want to thank you very much for this interview. If anybody is interested in our music please check http://aslightdies.bandcamp.com

As Light Dies/Gea/Brutal Arratia Records/2015 EP Review

  As  Light  Dies  are a  band  from  Spain  that  plays  an  avant  garde  form  of  black  metal  along  with  some  elements  of  doom  and  goth  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  ep  "Gea"  which  will  be  released  on  June  26th  by  Brutal  Arratia  Records.

  Dark  avant  garde  sounds  start  off  the  ep  along  with  some ambient  style  synths  a  few  seconds later  and  after  the  intro  violins  are  added  into  the  music  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them and  the  music  also  starts  to  get  more  heavier  along  with  the  heavy  and  atmospheric  parts  being  mixed  in  together.

  When  vocals  are  added  the  music  they  use  both  death  metal  growls  and  black  metal  screams  along  with  the  guitars  adding  in  a  great  amount  of  goth  and  prog  rock  elements  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  are  utilized  and  you  can  also  hear  clean  singing  being  utilized  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording and  half  of  the  songs  are  instrumental  and  they  close  the  ep  with  a  cover  of  Enslaved's  "As  Fire  Swept  Clean  the  Earth".

  As  Light  Dies  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  the  avant  garde  black  metal  style  but  also  mixes  in  doom,  death,  symphonic  and  goth  elements  to  create  a  musical  style  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  depression, math  and  historical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  As  Light  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  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Gea"  and  "As  Fire  Swept  Clean  the  Earth".  8  out  of  10.

http://www.aslightdies.com
http://aslightdies.bandcamp.com
http://www.facebook.com/aslightdies
http://www.twitter.com/aslightdies