ADifferentShadeOfBlackMetalZine: Desolation

Friday, November 15, 2013

Desolation Interview

1. Can you tell us a little bit about the band for those that have never heard of you before?
Sure – thanks for giving us the opportunity to spread the word about DESOLATION! Well, we've been around since 1994 and so far we've recorded three albums that have established us as a fairly well-known underground act in the northern part of Germany. In 2014 we celebrate our 20th anniversary and hope to make yet some more new friends and fans.

2. How would you describe your musical sound?
That is always a difficult thing to do if your music doesn't fit the common categories easily. We've mostly been described as a melodic death- black metal act. Somebody recently pointed out that we have an urban feel to the music, and I guess that fits our new album DESORIENTED quite well.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
Our new album deals with questions of belonging and the idea of home – where is our place in this world and which values do we navigate by? This may sound rather theoretical, but in the songs there's always a certain perspective that explores these concepts, for example in "Dorothy" I imagined how it would have been if the little girl from Kansas had not returned home but ended up a cheap whore who breathes her last in a seedy hotel, which itself is a metaphor for this world where we never quite belong... I guess some of the lyrics may seem a bit strange at first, but there's certainly plenty to explore.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name Desolation?
To be quite honest - we were fifteen, sixteen when we formed the band and wanted a cool-sounding, simple name that somehow would help to describe our sound. One of us idly flicked through his LP collection and pulled out a Morbid Angel record: Abominations of Desolation – and there it was. Apart from the fact that now there are a few other bands by that name in the US and GB, we're still very happy with it.

5.What are some of the best show that the band has played so far and how would you describe your stage performance?
We've enjoyed sharing the stage with such fine bands as God Dethroned, Disillusion or Malevolent Creation. Currently we're playing some gigs with our good friends in Bloodwork. Our gigs tend to surprise fans who only know our CDs, as we have a much more brutal live sound while at the same time preserving the melodious aspects of the songs.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future/
As I said, 2014 will see our 20th anniversary and we'd like to play a couple of special shows to celebrate, but so far we haven't really made any definite plans.

7.Currently , you are unsigned are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
We are currently affiliated with Rebellion records, a small German label that supported us in our search for a distribution solution. We're very happy with the current arrangement, but if an interesting metal label were willing to back our work with a somewhat larger budget (i.e. larger than our own...), that would be a great opportunity.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of black and death metal?
Worldwide? Wow – that’s a bit hard to tell from where I’m sitting J. Judging by the reviews we’ve received, people have responded well to the fact that our music is far from boring – that there are worlds within the songs that want to be explored. Fortunately (or unfortunately?) it’s not music for the masses, yet at the same time it’s not only music for the die-hard death metal fan, but other people can relate to the more melodic or experimental parts. So we’re very glad that there are always listeners who give the CDs the couple of run-throughs they need before you get hooked.

9.What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?
That’s impossible to say. We certainly will not part with any of our trademarks. DESOLATION without prominent keyboards would not be DESOLATION, no matter how much some people whine about the fact that we use them. And we’ve always liked to experiment, so I guess there will be lots of experiments in the future. However, our music has always come from the heart, not the head, so we won’t turn into a math metal band all of a sudden.

10.What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your msuic and also what are you listening to nowadays?
That is as diverse as the six people we have in our band. Our drummer and main songwriter is head over heels into progressive rock, while I listen to early nineties European death metal exclusively. The one band we can all agree on is Samael, so there may be some influence from that side…

11.Outside of music what are some of your interests?
Again, this is quite different for all of us. Felix is a passionate downhill biker, whereas to me bliss means a good bottle of wine and a fine piece of literature. The band and extreme metal is our common denominator and the basis of a fine friendship that has lasted almost twenty years. Job and family commitments allowing, we spend a lot of time with each other, so everything beyond that pretty much has to play second fiddle…

12.Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?
First of all thank you for taking an interest in DESOLATION. We love what we do and we’d love others to enjoy our particular kind of metal. If you’re the least bit curious now, go to www.desmetal.de to find out more and have a good listen.
Please go out and support your local underground – wherever that may be. Go to concerts, buy CDs and shirts, talk to the bands and keep the metal alive. HELL YEAH!

Monday, November 4, 2013

Desolation/Desoriented/Rebellion Records Germany/2013 CD Review

Desolation are a band from Germany that plays a very melodic and symphonic form of black/death metal and this is a review of their 2013 album "Desoriented" which was released by Rebellion Records Germany.

"Home Is Where The Heart Is" which is also the first song on the album begins with heavy guitar riffs, drums, synths and a mixture of death metal growls and black metal screams before adding in some melodic guitar leads that come in and out of the song and a few seconds alter the music speeds up in some parts along with some blast beats and you can also hear the bass guitars at times.

"Dorothy' starts up with some melodic guitars riffs, drums, synths and a mixture of black metal and death metal vocals and it leads to some heavier parts and after awhile the music starts utilizing some symphonic elements as well before adding in some guitar solos and leads along with some clean singing vocals while also keeping around the growls and screams before adding in some spoken word parts.

"Desorientated" which is also the title track begins with heavy guitar riffs, drums, synths and blackened death metal vocals and a few seconds alter guitar leads start coming in and out of the song as well as a brief use of spoken word parts before getting heavy again along with a small amount of blast beats which also lead to some high pitched screams and growls before alternating between fast and slow parts.

"On Bloodshed" begins with some symphonic synths and a few seconds alter, drums, melodic guitar riffs and black metal screams make their way into the song along with some death metal growls and a minute later guitar leads start coming in and out of the song as well as a brief use of whispers and towards the end the bass guitars start utilizing more power.

"L'auberge d'esolation" kicks off with psychedelic sounds before adding in guitars, drums, synths and melodic vocals as well as some melodic guitar riffing and progressive sounding bass which also leads to growls and screams to kick in and after awhile guitar solos and leads start coming in and out of the song before adding in some fast parts and blast beats for a few seconds along with a small amount of female spoken words.

"The Sainthood Of the Fallen" opens up with symphonic synths and heavy guitar and bass riffs along with some drums before adding in some growls as well as some screams and a minute later guitar solos start coming in briefly along with some doom metal influences.

"Ava Maria" hits off with some classical style violins before adding in some drums, heavy guitars and spoken word parts which lead up to some black metal screams as well as some death metal growls a few seconds alter before adding in some guitar solos and leads and halfway through the song there is some power being added into the bass guitars.

"Contagion" makes its way in with symphonic synths, drums, heavy bass and guitar riffs along with some growls and screams and then the guitar riffing starts utilizing some melody as well as putting in some spoken word parts, halfway through the song there is a brief sue of melodic clean singing vocals being utilized briefly and towards the end there is a small amount of blast beats being utilized and the song closes with some clean guitars.

"Agnus Dei" comes in with some heavy and melodic guitar riffs along with some synths, blast beats and black metal screams and a minute alter the music goes into a more mid paced direction along with some growls before alternating between fast and mid paced parts as well as adding in some slower sections and guitar leads and a minute alter melodic vocal make their presence known for a few seconds.

"Iche Hassee Ein Bisschen Die Welt" which is also the last song on the album begins with powerful bass before adding in melodic guitar riffs and drums along with some synths black metal vocals along with some growls a few seconds later and halfway through the song guitar solos and leads start coming into the song

Song lyrics are written in a mixture of German and English and cover dark themes, while the production has a very strong, powerful, heavy and professional sound where you can hear all of the musical instruments that are present on this recording along with some of the songs being very long and epic in length.

In my opinion Desolation are a very great sounding symphonic and melodic black/death metal band and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Home Is Where The Heart Is" "L'auberge d'esolation" "The Sainthood Of the Fallen" and "Agnus Dei". RECOMMENDED BUY.