Diabolical/Eclipse/Indie Recordings/2019 CD Review

  Sweden's  Diabolical  have  returned  with  a  new  recording which  shows  the  music  going  into  more  of  a  symphonic  and  melodic  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal   and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2019  album  "Eclipse"  which  will  be  released  in  February  by  Indie  Recordings.

  A  very  dark,  heavy  and  symphonic  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  choir  vocals  before  evolving  into  death  metal  growls.  Clean  guitars  are  also  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  as  well  as  the  heavier  riffs  also  adding  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody.  Black  metal  screams  are  also  added  into  some  parts  of  the  music.

  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very melodic  style  as  well  as  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.  Clean  vocals  are  also  added  into  some  parts  of  the  music. At  times  the  riffing  also  gets  very  technical  sounding  and  choirs  also  return  on  some  of  the  later  tracks.

  As  the  album  progresses  the  music  also  starts  to  speed  up  at  times  and  also  introduces  blast  beats  onto  the  recording  while  keeping  the  main  focus  on  more  of  a  slower  or  mid  tempo  direction.  Some  of  the  tracks  are  long  and  epic  in  length.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  a  concept  album  based  upon  the  dark  side  of  humanity.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Diabolical  which  shows  the  music  going  into  more  of  a  symphonic  and  melodic  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "We  Are  Diabolical"  "Failure"  "Tyranni"  and  "Requiem".  8  out  of  10. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=repKhh998Io

 

  

Diabolical/Neogenesis/Vicosolum Productions/2013 CD Review

  Diabolical  are  a  band  from  Sweden  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  with  a  musical  style  I  would  describe  as  being  a  technical  and  melodic  form  of  black/death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  album  "Neogenesis'  which  was  released  by  Vicosolum  Productions.

  "Into  Oblivion"  which  is  also  the  first  song  on  the  album  opens  up  with  a  choir  and  orchestra  and  a  few  seconds  alter  heavy  guitar  riffs  and  drums  kick  in  before  getting  fast  along  with  deep  death  metal  growls  and  blast  beats  and  then  going  for  a  more  mid  paced  direction  and  then  alternating  between  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  as  well  as  the  guitar  riffing  utilizing  more  melody  and towards  the  end  there  is  a  brief  use  of  guitar  solos  and  leads  being  utilized.

  ''Metamorphosis"  begins  with  sound  effects  before  adding  in  heavy,  melodic  and  technical  guitar  riffs  and  drums  before  speeding  up  with  blast  beats  and  death  metal  growls  and  a  few  seconds  later t he  music  slows  down  a  bit  and  then  alternating  between  fast  and  slow  parts  as  well  as  bringing  in  guitar  solos  and  leads  and  halfway  through  the  song t here  is  a  brief  use  of  clean  parts  along  with  some  powerful  sounding  bass guitars.

  "Oracle"  opens  up  with  some  dark  sounding  synths  and  a  few  seconds  alter  heavy  and  melodic  guitar  and  bass  riffs  kick  in  along  with  some  drums  and  a  few  seconds  alter  death  metal  growls  and  black  metal  screams  come  in  and  then  the  song  starts  alternating  between  fast  and  slow  parts  as  well  as  having  a  melodic  choir  in  the  background.

  "Ex"  which  is  a  short  instrumental  kicks  in  with  keyboards  that  utilize  a  variety  of  many  different  sounding  keys  along  with  some  violins.

  "World  of  Silence"  starts  up  with  some  fast  and  melodic  guitar  riffs  along  with  blast  beats  from the  drums  before  slowing  down  and  adding  in  growls  along  with  more  technical  and  progressive  elements  and  you  can  hear  a  small  amount  of  black  metal  screams  in  the  background  and  then  the  song  alternates  between  fast  and  slow  parts  and  you  can  also h ear  bass  guitars  in  certain  sections  of  the  song.

  "Reincarnation  Of  the  Damned"  kicks  in with  dark  sound  effects  before  adding  in  dark  and  melodic  guitar  riffs  and  a  few  seconds  later  they  get  heavier  along  with  some  drums  and  a  few  seconds  alter  growls  become  a  part  of  the  song  along  with  some  melodic  female  vocals  a  few seconds  later  and  towards  the  end  their  is  a  brief  use  of  acoustic  guitar  before  getting  heavy  again  and  adding  in  blast  beats  and  guitar  solos.

  "Fields  Of  Nihil"  comes  in  with  sound  effects  before  adding  in  heavy  guitar  riffs  and  drums  along  with  some  guitar  leads  and  a  few  seconds  alter  growls  become  a  part  of  the  song  along  with  a  small  amount  of  high  pitched  screams  and  you  can  hear  melodic  choirs  in t he  background  and  a  few  seconds  later  a  small  amount  of  clean  parts  and  spoken  word  parts  mix  in  with  the  heavier  elements.

  "Dialogue  With  The  Dead"  hits  it  off  with heavy  and  melodic  guitar  riffs  along  with  drums  and  a  few  seconds  alter  growls,  technical  elements  and  female  vocals  kick  in  and  halfway  through  the  song  there  is  a  brief  use  of  guitar  solos  and  leads  being  utilized.

  "Wolves'  Choir"  is  introduced  with  synths  and  orchestras  before  adding  in  guitar  leads,  riffs  and  blast  beats  from  the  drums  as  well  as  the  guitar  riffing  utilizing  some  melody  and  then  the  music  slows  down  a  bit  and  growls  come  in  before  alternating  between  fast  and  slow  parts  as  well  as  adding  in  a  small  amount  of  high  pitched  screams  and  halfway  through  the  song t here  is  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts  before  adding  in  avant  garde  parts  with  the  heavier  elements.

  "The  Age  To  Come"  is  brought  in  with  heavy  guitar  riffs  and  leads  along  with  some  drums  and  a  few  seconds  later  growls  start  to  kick  in  which  also  lead  to  the  guitar  riffing  getting  more  melodic  and  a  couple  of  minutes  later  there  is  a  brief  use  of  clean  playing  and  spoken  word  parts  as  we;l  as  a  small  amount  of  violins  in  the  background  before  getting  heavy  again  along  with  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats  and  black  metal  screams.

  "Humanitas"  which  is  also  the  last  song  on  the  album  begins  with  melodic  chanting  and  synths  as  well  as  a  choir  and  orchestra.

  Song  lyrics  are  a  concept  album  based  on  a  novel  as  well  as  all  of  the  chapters  in  the  book,  while  the  production  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  to  it.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Diabolical  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  check  out  this  album>  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  ""Into  Oblivion"  "Oracle"  "Dialogue  With  The  Dead"  and  "The  Age  To  Come".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

www.diabolical.se/neogenesis

Diabolical/Ars Vitae/Abyss Records/2011 CD Review

  Diabolical are a band from Sweden that has been interviewed by this zine before and plays a musical style that mixes melodic black metal with technical death metal and this is a review of their 2011 album "Ars Vitae" which was released by Abyss Records.

Drums are mostly technical slow to mid paced playing with some fast parts but that much in the way of blast beats, while the synths are very dark sounding and don't over dominate the music, as for the bass playing it has a very dark tone with riffs that follow the riffing that is coming out of the guitars and at times they sound very powerful.

Rhythm guitars are mostly slow to mid paced to fast technical death metal riffs that are also influenced by melodic black metal and thrash, while the lead guitars are very technical and melodic metal guitar solos.

Vocals are mostly deep death metal growls that have somewhat of a black metal edge to them in the high pitched screams, while the lyrics cover death and the apocalypse with an occult edge, as for the production it sounds very heavy and professional with some songs being recorded live.

In my opinion this is another great album from Diabolical and if you where a fan of their previous releases, you will not be disappointed. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Sightless" "Suicidal Glory" "Guidance Of Sin" and "The Dreaming Dead". RECOMMENDED BUY.

 www.diabolical.se 

 www.facebook.com/diabolicalofficial 

www.myspace.com/religionist 

 www.vkontakte.ru/club23028073 

Diabolical Interview

Diabolical Interview

1. Can you give us a brief history of the band.

The band was formed in 1996 in Sundsvall, Sweden, by Sverker Widgren. The debut mini album "Deserts of Desolation" was released in 2000 and followed by the debut full-length in 2001, entitled "Synergy". The second album, entitled "A Thousand Deaths" was released in 2002. The album was followed by several tours during 2002 and 2003. After that we began working on a what was to become "The Gallery of Bleeding Art" which finally came out in November 2008.

2. What were you doing for the last 6 years, since the last full length.We experienced a series of unfortunate events.

The main issue for us was to find a suitable label to release "The Gallery of Bleeding Art". We have put a whole lot of effort and heart into this album and we didn't want just anybody who could give us a half-hearted deal release it for us. But after much searching we finally came across ViciSolum Productions.

3. I know in the past members in the band have played in other bands as well , are these other bands still together and can you tell our readers who those bands are.At the moment two of us are involved in other bands.

I play bass in Devian and Sverker do vocals in Demonical.

4. What are some the best live shows that you have done and what crowds would you say are the best or craziest.

It's always a pleasure to play live! It's hard to point out any particular occasion, any show where the crowd is crazy and the moshpit is wild is great. But I'd say that in general the crowds in eastern Europe are more crazy in general.

5. What are your touring plans for the future, any live dates scheduled for the U.S

We are about to do the Hammer Battalion North Tour 2009 together with Unleashed, Belphegor and Devian. The tour starts off in Tallin, Estonia, on the 27th of February and ends in Gothenburg, Sweden, on the 14th of March. After that we have more touring planned for the near future so check www. diabolical. se for updates soon! We'd really like to tour the U.S, although we don't have any plans for that right now.

6. How would you describe your music to a listener that has not ever heard you before.

One of the most difficult questions for any musician. Diabolical has a strong foundation in death metal, although we don’t belong to the vacuum cleaner division of death metal. We are more aligned towards the melodic death metal genre, although we’re not part of the Gothenburg style, we’re far more dark and evil. We’re technical, but we still have a natural flow to our compositions and the music isn’t spastically technical. This is a really hard question, having lived with the band and our songs for many years, but I hope I could bring some clarity to it. It’s easy to find out for yourself nowadays, you’re one click away from our myspace site: myspace. com/religionist.

7. What are some of the bands main music influences, I can hear pretty much every style of metal in your sound.

Personally I can pick up influences anywhere, regardless of band or genre. It could be anything from Morbid Angel to a couple of notes I hear in a film music score. As for the songwriting on "The Gallery of Bleeding Art", and the string arrangements in particular, I spent some time picking up inspiration from composers like Shostakovich and Bartok. There is much in classical music that can be inspiring for making metal. As for our style we don’t try to limit us to any particular style, although we are a death metal band. However we try to be aware of our sound and not trail off too far from how we want Diabolical to sound.

8. Where was the new album recorded at.

The most part of the album was recorded at Necromorbus Studio in Stockholm which is run by our own Sverker. This was very convenient since we were basically working in an environment we're used to and we could focus on creating exactly what we wanted to. The drums were recorded at Underground studio, and the mixing was done there as well. This was a natural choice for us as well since both previous albums were recorded there.

9. Does Satanism or the Occult play any rule in the bands life style or music.

Yes.

10. What are you listening to these days and what are some new bands that you would recommend.

I listen to anything that I find interesting for any reason. Recently I've listened a whole lot to the latest Enslaved album, "Vertebrae", a phenomenal album. I’ve also listened some to the new Anna Ternheim album as well. Not as good as the previous album but still enjoyable. Obviously I don’t limit myself to listening to metal. There is much to discover, and find inspiration from, from many genres. As long as a song or an album has quality and a good nerve I can listen to it and enjoy it, regardless of genre.

11. What are some good books or movies that you would recommend.

Right now I’m mostly reading poker books. Poker is one of my largest interests besides music. Right now I’m reading the second volume of Dan Harrington's book on cash games. I'd say he's one of the very best poker authors so anybody who’s interested in playing poker without going broke should spend a lot of time with his books.Just like with music there are so many crap movies that shouldn’t be viewed by anyone. I had a lousy day on my last tour with Devian and decided to watch a movie to get in a better mood, so I thought I’d watch a comedy. I started watching Disaster Movie and it was probably the worst piece of crap I’ve seen in years, had to turn it off half way through. So beware of that one! When it comes to good comedy I’d say that Monty Python’s Quest For The Holy Grail is at the top of my list. It should be at the top of everybody’s list.

12. How would you describe the metal scene in Sweden, I know in the past there have been some great metal acts that have came from that country.

The scene here is flourishing, as it has always done. For some reason Sweden has always been at the very front of the worldwide metal scene. It’s hard for me to say why, I really don’t know. At the same time I’m not that updated on the current status of the scene. But historically the Swedish scene has stood for much quality and innovation and I hope we can keep it up. With Diabolical we do our best to contribute.

13. Any final words

Listen to our album! And buy it after you downloaded it, I hope you find that investment inevitable. And I hope to see you on tour, both in the moshpit and at the bar afterwards!14. Thanks for the interview.Thank you too!

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