Showing posts with label blackened crust. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blackened crust. Show all posts

Sunday, November 6, 2016

Ill Neglect/Lambs/Trisma/Drown Within Records/2016 7 Inch Review


  This  is  a  review  of  a  split  ep  from  Germany's  Ill  Neglect  and  Italy's  Lambs called  "Trisma"  which  was  released  by  Drown  Within  Records  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  Ill Neglect  a  band  that  plays  a  mixture  of  sludge  and  grindcore.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  spoken  word  samples  before  going  into  a  heavier  direction  and  when t he  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  screaming  vocals  can  be  heard  while  also  adding  in  touches  of  crust,  d  beat  and  grindcore  while  the  slower  sections  of  the  songs  are  influenced  by  sludge  and  post  hardcore  and  death  metal  growls  are  added  onto t he  second  track,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  angry themes.

  In  my  opinion  Ill  Neglect  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  sludge  and  grindcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Permenant  Euphori".

  Next  up  is  Lambs  a  band  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black  metal,  sludge,  crust  and  post  hardcore.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  a  very  heavy  sound  where  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  their  recording  while  the  vocals  are  high  pitched  screams  that  also  add  in  a  touch  of  black  metal  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  the  songs  also  mix  in  a  lot  of  sludge  and  crust  influences  while  also  bringing  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  spoken  vocals  are  influenced  by  post  hardcore  and when  solos  and  leads a re  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  angry  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Lambs  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  blackened  sludge,  you  should  check  out  their  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Unfeeling".

  In  my  opinion  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  and  I  would  recommend  it  to  all  fans  of  black  metal,  sludge  and  grindcore.  8  out  of  10.

facebook ill neglect
facebook lambs     

Saturday, June 18, 2016

Fange/Purge/Lost Pilgrims Records/Throatruiner Records/2016 CD Review


  Furge  are  a  band  from  France  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  sludge  metal  while  also  having  elements  of  d  beat  and death  metal  and  with  their  newer  music  they  start  mixing  it  in with  more  of  a  black  metal  style  and this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Purge"  which  was  released  as  a  joint  effort  between  Lost  Pilgrims  Records  and  Throatruiner Records.

  A  very  dark  and  melodic  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  a  few  seconds  later  while  the  guitar  riffing  also  brings  in  the  heaviness  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  after  awhile  death  metal  growls  are  added  onto  the  recording  and  all  of t he  musical  instruments  bring  in a  very  powerful  sound.

  When  the  music  speeds  up a   great  amount  of  crust  and  d  beat  elements  can  be  heard  and  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic in  length  and  you  can  also hear  the  influence  of  90's  Swedish  death  metal  in  the  bands  musical  style  and  the  music  sticks  to  mostly  a  slow  or  mid  paced  direction  while  also  having  its  fast  moments  and  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  playing.

  Fange  creates  another  recording  that  remains  true  to  the  sludge  metal  sound  of  previous  releases  while  also  mixing  in  more  black  metal  influences  this  time  around,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  while  the lyrics  are  written  in  French  and  cover  dark  and  angry  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Fange  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  blackened  sludge  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Machefer"  and  "Girone  Della  Merda".  8  out  of  10.   

Bandcamp
Facebook

Friday, April 29, 2016

Okkultokrati/Snake Reigns/Night Jerks/Southern Lord Recordings/2016 CD Review


  Okkultokrati  are  a  band  from  Norway  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  mixture  of  black  metal,  sludge,  d  beat,  crust,  hardcore  and punk  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  compilation  which  contains  the  "Snake  Reigns"  album  I  reviewed  in  2012  and  their  2014  album  "Night  Jerks"  which  was  released  in  May  by  Southern  Lord  Recordings.

  A  crust  punk  style  sound  starts  off  the  compilation  along  with  some  d  beats  and aggressive  non  melodic  punk  vocals  and  all  of the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  when  the  music  slows  down  elements  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  can  be  heard  and  after  awhile  grim  black  metal  screams  make  their  presence  known  on  the  recording.

    Throughout  the  compilation  you can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  on  some songs  a  small  amount  of  acoustic  guitars  can  be  heard  while  some  of  the  heavier  riffs  are  very  heavily  influenced  by  Motorhead  along  with  a  touch  of  first  wave  black  metal  and  when  solos  and  leads  are  added  into  the  music  they  add  in  more  of  an  early  80's  metal/punk  feeling  to  the  songs  and  a  couple  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  intro  on  the  second  album  has  a  horror  movie  feeling  while  the  rest  of  the  music  sticks  to  a  heavy  style  and  they  close  the  recording  with  a  horror  move  soundtrack  style  instrumental.

   On  both  of  these  recordings  Okkultokrati  take  first  and  second  wave  black  metal  and  mixes  it  with  sludge,  doom  metal, crust,  d  beat  and  hardcore  to  create  something  very  original,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  yet heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  Satanism,  Darkness  and  Drug  themes.

     On  both  of  these  recordings  Okkultokrati  take  first  and  second  wave  black  metal  and  mixes  it  with  sludge,  doom  metal, crust,  d  beat  and  hardcore  to  create  something  very  original,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  yet heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  Satanism,  Darkness  and  Drug  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  compilation  from  Okkultokrati  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  black  metal,  doom,  sludge,  crust,  d  beat  and  hardcore  punk,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "No  Ouroboros"  "I  Thought  Of  Demons"  "We  So heavy"  and  "Moon  Dagger".  8  out  of  10.

Bandcamp
Blogspot
Facebook

  

 

Monday, March 7, 2016

Dark Circles/Abstracter/Halo Of Flies/L' Oeil Duu Tigre Records/Sick Man Getting Sick Records/Moment Of Collapse/Shove Records/2016 Split EP Review


 This  is  a  review  of  a  split  ep  between Canada's Dark  Circles  and  California's  Abstracter  which  was  released  by  as  a  joint  effort  between  Halo of Flies Records, L'Oeil Du Tigre Records, Sick Man Getting Sick Records, Moment of Collapse, and Shove Records  and we start  off  the  review  with Dark  Circles  a  band  that  plays  a  blackened  mixture  of  crust,  d  beat  and  hardcore.

  Their  side  of  the  split starts  out  with distorted  amp  sounds  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavy  crust  direction  along  with  some  d  beats  and  black  metal  screams  and   you  can  also  hear  elements  of  post  hardcore  in  the  bands  musical  style  while  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  use  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats.

  You  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  their  side  of  the  recording  along  with  a  great  amount  of  crust  influences  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  which  also  utilize  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  atmospheric  synths  and  spoken  word  parts  are  added  onto  the  last  track,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark and  depressive  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Dark  Circles  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  blackened  crust  and  hardcore,  you  should  check  out  their  side  of the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Ashen"  and  "Isolate".

  Next  up  is  Abstracter  a  band  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and plays  a  blackened  mixture  of  crust,  sludge  and  doom  metal.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  a  very  dark  and  heavy  sound  that  also  brings  in  a  touch  of  drone  and  after  a  few  seconds  drum  beats  are  added  into  the  music  along  with  some  grim black  metal   screams  and  you  can  also  hear  some  tremolo  picking  in t he  guitar  riffing  and  the  vocals  also  mix  in  deep  growls  at  times.

   You  can  also  hear  a  great  amount  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  elements  in  the  slower  riffing  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  both  of  their  tracks a re  very  long  and  epic  in  length  while  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  while  the lyrics cover  darkness,  dystopian  and  metaphysical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Abstracter  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  enjoy their  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Where  All  Pain  Converges".    

  In  conclusion  I  feel  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  and  I  would  recommend  it  to  all  fans  of  black  metal,  doom,  sludge  and  crust.  8  out  of  10.

https://abstracter.bandcamp.com/album/split-with-dark-circles      

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Rats Of Reality/Obsequies/2016 EP Review


  Rats  Of  Reality  are a  band  from  the  United  Kingdom  that  has  been featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  mixture  of  black  metal,  doom,  death,  crust  punk  and  thrash  and  this  is  a  review  of  their self  released  2016  ep  "Obsequies".

  Clean  playing  and  melodic  guitar  leads  start  off  the  ep  before  going  into  a  crust  punk  direction  which  also  utilizes  a  more black  metal  vocal  approach  and  the  drums  also  mix  in  a  lot  of  d  beats  and  they  also  mix  in  the  atmosphere  of  goth  rock  at  times  and  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  short  in  length.

  Deep  death  metal  growls  can  be  heard  in  the  music  at  times  and  when t he  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  some  of  the  riffs  are  also  heavily  influenced  by  thrash  and  the  slower  riffs  add  in  a  touch  of doom  and  when  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  add  in  a  touch  of  NWOBHM  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts.

  With  this  recording  Rats  of  Reality  go  into  even  more  of  a melodic  blackened  crust  direction  this  time  around  while  some  elements  of  doom,  death,  and  thrash  are  present  in the  music,  the  production  sound s very  raw  and  old  school  while  the  lyrics  cover   dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Rats Of  Reality  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  melodic,  blackened  crust,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE "Catharsis"  and  "Mar".  8  out  of  10.  

Bandcamp
Facebook

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Totem Skin/Weltschmerz/Halo Of Flies/2016 CD Review


  Totem  Skin  are  a  band  from  Sweden  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black  metal,  doom,  crust,  hardcore  and  screamo  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Weltschmerz"  which  will  be  released  in  March  by  Halo  Of  Flies.

  Clean  playing  starts  off  the  album  and  after  a  few  minutes  the  music  speeds  up  and  gets  heavy  along  with  some  blast  beats  and  screaming  and  the  music  also  mixes  crust  and  post  hardcore  elements  to  them  while  the  influence  of  black  metal  is  also a  very  huge  part  of  the  bands  musical  style  and  some  of  the  riffs  bring  in  melodies.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  when  solos  are added  into the  music  they  are  in  a  melodic  post  metal  direction  and  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  touch  of  emo  and  as  the  album  progresses  growls  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  clean  playing  also  makes a  return  at  times  and  a  couple  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Totem  Skin  plays  a  musical style  that  takes  post  black  metal  and  crust  and  mixes  them  together  with  doom,  screamo  and  melodic  hardcore  to  create  a  style  of  their own,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  angry  and  depressing  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Totem  Skin  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  black  metal,  doom,  crust,  hardcore  and  screamo  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Longing  leans  And  Beckons"  "The  Mouth  Of  Man"  and  "Distant  Visitant".  8  out  of  10. 

BANDCAMP

     

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Dead To A Dying World/Litany/Tofu Carnage/Gilead Media/Alerta Antifascista/2015 CD Review


  Dead  To  A  Dying  World  are  a  band  from  Texas  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black  metal,  sludge,  doom,  crust  and  post  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "Litany"  which  was  released  as  a  joint  effort  between  Tofu  Carnage,  Gilead  Media,  and  Alerta  Antifascista.

  Atmospheric  sounding  violins  start  off  the  album  and  after  a  few  seconds  the  music  goes  into  a  very  fast  black  metal  direction  along  with  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  after  awhile  high  pitched  screams  make  their  presence  known  on  the  recording.

  Most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  when  the  music  slows  down  a  lot  of  doom  metal  elements  can  be  heard  and  they  also  bring  in  clean  singing  vocals  at  times  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  when  clean  guitars  are  utilized  they  give  the  music  a  very  progressive  feeling.

  Female  vocals  are  brought  into  the  music  at  times  and  the  growls  also  add  a  touch  of  crust  and  death  metal  to  the  bands  musical  style  and  a  variety  of  many  different  string  instruments  can  be  heard  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  and  as  the  album  progresses more elements  of  sludge  and  post  rock  are  added  into  the  music  and  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

  Dead  To  A  Dying  World  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  black  metal,  sludge,  doom,  crust  and  post  rock  and  mixes  it  in  with  stringed  instruments  to  create  an  original  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  epic  scenes  of  pain  and  death.

  In  my  opinion  Dead  To  A  Dying  World  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  black  metal,  sludge,  doom, crust,  and  post  rock  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Hunt  Eternal"  and  "Narcissus".  8  out  of  10.    

Sunday, August 16, 2015

Hellripper/Batsheva/Label 2318/2015 Split Cassette Review


  This  is a  review  of  a  split  ep  between  Scotland's  Hellripper  and  U.S.A's  Batsheva  which  was  released  by  Label  2318  and  we  will  start off  the  review  with Hellripper  a  solo  project  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black  and  speed  metal  with  a  touch  of  crust  punk.

  A  very  hard  and  heavy  old  school  metal/punk  sound  starts  off  his  side  of  the  split  along  with  some  melodic  guitar  leads  and  grim  black  metal  screams  and  the  music  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  speed  metal  and  you  can  also  hear  elements  of  retro  thrash  in  both  of the  tracks,  the  production  sounds  very  raw,  heavy  and  old  school  while  the  lyrics  cover  rock'n'roll  and  real  life  themes.

  In  my opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Hellripper  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  black,  speed  metal  and  punk,  you  should  check  out  his  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Hells  Rock'n'roll".

  Next  up  is  Batsheva  a  solo  project  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  symphonic  mixture  of  black  and  doom  metal.

  Spoken  word  ritualistic  parts  start  of  his  side  of  the  split  before  going  into  more  of  a  drone/doom  metal  direction  and  after  awhile  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  are  added  into  the  music along  with  some  elements  of  harsh  noise  and  on  a  later track  the  music  speeds  up  and  also  adds  in  deep  growls  as  well  as mixing  in  keyboards  and  the  symphonic  side  really  shows  on  the  last track, the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  Occult  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Batsheva  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  symphonic  black  metal,  you  should  check  out  his  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Inverted  Gravity".

  In  conclusion  I  feel  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  and  i  would  recommend  it to  all  fans  of  black,  speed  and  doom  metal.  8  out  of  10.

https://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Batsheva_-_Hellripper/Hellripper_-_Batsheva/534034

      

 

Sunday, June 14, 2015

Rats Of Reality/The Art Of Debilitation/2015 EP Review


  Rats  Of  Reality  are  a  band  from  Scotland  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black  metal,  doom,  thrash  and  crust  punk and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2015  ep  "The Art Of Debilitation".

  A  very  slow,  dark,  heavy  and  atmospheric  sound  starts  off  the  ep  before  going  into  more  of  a  crust  punk  direction  which  also  introduces  black  metal  screams  onto  the  recording  and  the  faster  sections  of  the  music  use  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  the  slower  sections  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  doom  metal  elements  and  you  can  also  hear  melody  in  some  of  the  riffs  and  guitar  leads  which  are  only  used  briefly  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  very  heavy  retro  thrash  vibe  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  death  metal  growls  and  the  last  track  brings  in  a  small  amount  of  acoustic  guitars  and  is  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Rats Of  Reality  plays  a  musical  style  that  mixes  80's  and  90's  black  metal  with  thrash,  crust  punk  and  doom  metal  to create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  violent  and  angry  themes.   

  In  my  opinion  Rats  Of  Reality  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  black  metal,  doom,  thrash  and  crust  punk  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Shallow  Bastards"  and  "Liferuiner".  8  out  of  10. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0J_--dx0II

Thursday, April 9, 2015

Leucrota/Sentient Ruin Laboratories/2015 Demo Review


  Leucrota  are  a  band  from  Santa  Cruz,  California  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black  metal,  sludge,  crust,  d  beat,  hardcore  punk  and  noise  rock  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  demo  which  was  released  by  Sentient  Ruin  Laboratories.

  Clean  playing  starts  off  the  demo  and  after  a  minute  reverb  is  added  onto  the  recording  and  takes  the  music  into  a  heavier  direction  along  with  a  great  amount  of  high  pitched  screams  that  are  heavily  influenced  by  hardcore,  black  metal  and  sludge  and  you  can  also  hear  a  lot  of  noise  rock  elements  in  the  bands  musical  style.

  Throughout  the  recording  there  is  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  some  blast  and  d  beats  in  the  faster  sections  of  the  music  and  the  vocals  also  bring  in  deep  growls  at  times  and  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  melodies  at  times  and  some  of  the  songs  also  use  a  small  amount  of  guitar  leads.

  Leucrota  takes  black  metal,  sludge,  crust  and  post  hardcore  and  mix  them  together  along  with  a  variety  of  many  influences  to  create  a  sound  of  their own,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  raw  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  violent  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Leucrota  are  a  very  decent  sounding  mixture  of   black  metal,  sludge,  crust,  d  beat,  hardcore  punk  and  noise  rock  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Never  Again"  and  "Systematic  Violence".  7/5  out  of  10.

https://www.facebook.com/leucrota/?fref=ts

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Macerie Interview


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

Hi everyone we are Macerie, 4 guys from around Florence, we've been playing together for a year. All of us are really active in music, we had and have at least two bands each. the band started as a joke, while drunk one night we decided to form an "extreme music" band, me (Ivan) and Lorenzo put bass and guitar in various tones, Giuliano started doing blast beats and Alessio (the first singer who recorded the demo) started doing growls and screams.

2.Recently you have released an ep, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?

Yes our EP came out on tape for two labels (Sentient Ruin Laboratories and Yambushi Recordings) and we are happy about this release! Alex (who plays with me in Carlos Dunga and xDeloreanX) recorded the EP DIY-style at his house. What came out of the recording is a dark and evil sound, it sounds open in some parts (especially the slow ones) but closed in the parts with blast beats.


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

The lyrics are simple and direct, in Italian. Alessio our old singer had written some very dark lyrics, with very few words repeated. They are hermetic (obscure) and about worms, ruins and wreckage. The new lyrics by Eugenio are longer and obscure...


4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Macerie'?

After playing for a while we couldn't find a decent name. One night after practice we were drinking and smoking, and after thousands of senseless names (i remember “Rosafante" was an option, Barney's drunk pink elephant friend) we found the name Macerie which represents the kind of music we make. (Macerie means "ruins" or "rubble" in Italian)


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

I wouldn't know which was our best concert, but we are a young band, we went on tour once, and in Italy we've only played in our region, Tuscany.
But i have good memories of all our tour dates, even the ones with not so many people, playing around Europe is always fantastic! Especially when you go and play in Holland and you smoke some good stuff before, during and after the gig!


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

We don't have much planned for the future, we are all busy with jobs and other bands. Soon we'll play with Eyehategod in Livorno and we can't wait to open for such an incredible band! Then we want to go on tour again soon!

7.In the US you have Sentient Ruin Laboratories and in the UK you have Yambushi Recordings, do you feel these 2 labels have been very helpful when it comes to getting your music out there heard?

Yes these labels have been very helpful in getting our name out! They both put out good music, ​I​ liked the latest release from Sentient Ruin, by Abstracter, and the tape of our friends Buioingola. I appreciated Sesso Violento released on Yambushi. And anyway both these labels are nice underground scenes, it's nice when someone from the other side of the world (we are Italians, they are american and english) appreciates your music and decides to release a record of it!​ W​e really hope we can meet Mattia and Umberto in person, maybe on tour in USA or England (this is a veiled request to bring us to play over there!)

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

We've had good feedback from different parts of the world! you know now with internet it's all global and you don't just get feedback from your friends or from people who come to your gigs. now everything is available to everyone (this is good on some levels, and bad on others.. but that's a different story). Basically lots of people added us on Facebook and complimented us on our music, so I’d say the feedback has been positive!


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

We were thinking of recording our soon pieces soon, and doing a split (on vinyl) maybe with one of our friends' bands from around here. I think we'll need some more time for the full-length, but after the split we'll definitely get down to work making enough pieces for an LP!


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?

We all listen to music that's different, but similar. Recently I’ve been into slow/drone/experimental stuff, I’m going through all the releases of Donovali Records. Giuliano is more into grind, and Euguenio has been slaughtering his ears with black metal and doom for years; Lorenzo is a hipster (ahahah). The band's influences are: everything we listen to, mixed together: black metal, doom, drone, grind, and a bit of crust which never hurts!


11.What are some of your non musical interests?

Our non musical interests are different and mixed, Lorenzo love​s​ fishing, ​G​iuliano ​is a hot-air balloon​ enthusiast​, Eugenio lives in an ​squat and is an anarchic activist, and I (Ivan) am trying to get my degree (it's going to happen soon and I’ll be the only one in the band with a degree).


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


​F​
inal thought: METAL!
You buy our beautiful tapes that will be out soon, and we hope to play as far from home as possible! See you soon and thanks a lot for the interview!

Bandcamp
Facebook

Monday, March 30, 2015

Macerie/Self Titled/Sentinent Ruin Laboratories/2015 EP Review


  Macerie  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  a  blackened  mixture  of  sludge  metal  and  crust  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  titled  2015  ep  which was  released  by  Sentinent  Ruin  Laboratories.

  A  very  dark  and  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  ep  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sounding  very  powerful  and  a  few  seconds  later  a  good  mixture  of  growls  and  screams  are  added  onto  the  recording  an  you  can  hear  element s of  post  metal  in  the  melodies  and  when  the  music  speeds  up it  brings  in  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats.

  The  faster  sections  bring  in  elements  of  crustcore  while  the  slower  parts  are  more  influenced  by  doom  and  sludge  metal  and  the  vocals  bring  in  traces  of  black  and  death  metal  and  every  song  has  a  sound  of  its  own  along  with  some  of  the  tracks  bringing  in  atmospheric  elements  and  a  more  brutal  sound and  the  last  song  also  brings  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  playing.

  Macerie  takes  a  very  dark  and  heavy  style  of  sludge  metal  and  mixes  it  with  black  metal  and  crustcore  along  with  a  touch  of  post  metal  and  hardcore  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Italian  and  cover  dark  and  desolate  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Macerie  are a  very  great  sounding  blackened  mixture  of  sludge  metal  and  crust  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Agonia"  and  :Macerie".  8  out  of  10.

http://www.cvltnation.com/exclusive-cvlt-nation-streaming-macerie-agonia/

Thursday, March 12, 2015

Augurs/Deathgrave/Sentinent Ruin Laboratories/2015 Split 7 Inch Review


  This  is  a  review  of  a  split  7  inch  between  Oakland,  California's  Augurs  and  Deathgrave  which  will  be  released  by  Sentinent  Ruin  Laboratories  on  March  17,  2015  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  Augurs  a  band  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black  metal,  doom  and  crust.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  off  with  a  very  dark  and  heavy  sound  that  starts  to  speed  up  a  few  seconds  later  and  bring s in  elements  of  crust,  and  black  metal  screams  along  with  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  you  can  also  hear  a  small  amount  of  doom  and  post  metal  in  the  bands  musical  style  as  well  as  some  deep  growls,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  depressive  themes and  towards  the  end  the  music  gets  melodic  and  also  incorporates  a  brief  guitar  lead.

  In  my  opinion  Augurs  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  black  metal,  doom  and  crust  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  band.

  Next  up  is  Deathgrave  a  band  that  plays  a  brutal  mixture  of  power  violence,  crust  and  grind.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  a  very  heavy  guitar  sound  and  high  pitched  screams  before  speeding  up and  adding  in  blast  beats  that  also  take  their  music  into  more  of  a  brutal  grindcore  direction  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  a  small  amount  of  growls  being  added  onto  later  songs  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  violent  and  hateful  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Deathgrave  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  grindcore,  crust  and  power  violence  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Hugged  In  Half".

  In  conclusion  I  feel  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  and  I  would  recommend  it  to  fans  of  black  metal,  doom,  grind,  power  violence  and  crust.  8  out  of  10.

https://augurs.bandcamp.com
https://deathgrave.bandcamp.com


    

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Mortals/Repellers/Broken Limbs/2015 Split EP Review


  This  is  a  review  of  a  split  ep  between  New  York's  Mortals  and  Pennsylvania's  Repellers  and  we  will start  off  the  review  with  Mortals  a  band  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black  metal,  sludge  and  crust.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts out  with  horror  movie  samples  and  a  few  seconds  alter  the  music  starts  going  for  more  of  a  heavy  and  melodic  sludge/doom  metal  direction  along  with  some  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  you  can  also  hear  a  touch  of  post  metal  in  their  musical  style  and  you  can  hear  the  crust  influence  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  bit  and  the  lyrics  are  very  dark  along  with  a  powerful  sounding  production  on  their  8  minute  long  track.

  In  my  opinion  Mortals  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  black  metal,  sludge  and  crust  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.

  Next  up  is  Repellers  a  band  that  plays  a  mixture  of  crust  and  grindcore.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  some clean  playing  and  after  a  minute  the  music  starts  going  into  more  of  a  heavy  direction  while  also  having  melodic  riffs  at  times  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  when  vocals  are  added  into  the  music  they  are  grim  screams  that  also  gives  the  music  a  black  metal  influence,  in  the  faster  sections  of  the  music  you  can  hear  some  d  beats  and  the  songs  at  times  also  bring  in  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  on  the  last  tack  clean  playing  makes  a  brief  return,  the  production  sounds  very  powerful  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Repellers  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  crust  and  grind  with  black  metal  style  vocals  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band  and  their  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "False  Solace".

  In  conclusion  I  feel  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  and  I  would  recommend  it  to  all  fans  of  black  metal,  sludge,  crust  and  grind.  8  out  of  10.  

Mortals:
FACEBOOK
BANDCAMP

Repellers:
FACEBOOK
BANDCAMP

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Bretwaldas of Heathen Doom/Seven Bloody Ramparts/Caligari Records/2014 Cassette Re-Issue Review


  Bretwaldas  of  Heathen  Doom  are  a  band  from  the  United  Kingdom  that  plays  a  mixture  of  stoner,  doom,  black  metal  and  crust  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2010  album  "Seven  Bloody  Ramparts"  which  was  re-issued  on  cassette  by  Caligari  Records.

  A very  dark  black  metal  sound  starts  off  the  album  before  going  into  more  of  a  crust  direction  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  music  also  incorporates  a  decent  amount  of  melody  and  after  awhile  the  music  starts  bringing  in  more  of  a  doom  metal  style  along  with  some  vocals  that  are  both  aggressive  and  melodic  at  the  same  time.

  When  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  very  melodic  and  in  some  of  the  songs  a  small  amount  of  acoustic  guitars  are  utilized  and  there  are  also  a  couple  of  tracks  that  are  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  decent  mixture  of  slow  and  mid  paced  parts  and  the  songs  bring  in  a  lot  of  80's  metal  and  punk  elements  but  done  in  more  of  a  modern  day  fashion.

  Bretwaldas  Of  Heathen  Doom  plays  a  style  that  is  a  little  bit  more  closer  to  old  school  crust  and  doom  and  they  update  the  music  by  mixing  in  elements  of  black  metal  and  stoner  metal  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  powerful  yet  raw  at  the  same  time  while  the  lyrics  cover  Heathenism  and  Old  English  Forests.

  In  my  opinion  Bretwaldas  Of  Heathen  Doom  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  stoner,  doom,  black  metal  and  crust  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Raising  The  Wind"  "Flight  of  Curse"  and  "Smite".  8  out  of  10.  

 CaligariRecords.Bandcamp.com

Monday, January 5, 2015

Abstracter/Wound Empire/Sentient Ruin Labratories/2015 CD Review


  Abstracter  are  a  band  from  Oakland,  California  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black  metal,  sludge,  crust,  noise  and  psychedelic  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "Wound  Empire"  which  will  be  released  in  February  by  Sentient  Ruin  Labratories.

  A  very  dark,  distorted  and  atmospheric  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  a  great  amount  of  reverb  and  distortion  before  getting  a  little  bit  more  louder  and  you  can  hear  some  grim  black  metal  vocals  being  added  into  the  music  after  awhile  along  with  some  deep  growls  which  also  takes  the  music  into  a  more  heavy  sludge  metal  direction.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  songs  also  mix  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody  with  the  heavier  parts  and  all  of  the  songs  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length,  as  the  album  progresses  clean  playing  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  more  elements  of  drone,  noise  and  psychedelic  being  added  into  some  of  the  tracks  and  on  the  last  song  a  small  amount  of  melodic  clean  singing  vocals  are  added  into  the  music.

  Abstracter  plays  a  very  slow  and  heavy  form  of  music  that  mixes  black  metal,  doom  and  sludge  together  while  also  adding  in  elements  of  drone  and  psychedelia  to  make  their  music  sound  a  lot  more  experimental,  the production  sounds  very  dark  yet  powerful  at  the  same  time  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  metaphysical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Abstracter  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  black  metal.  sludge,  doom,  noise  and  psychedelia,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Lightless"  and  "Cruciform".  8  out  of  10.  

 http://www.cvltnation.com/exclusive-cvlt-nation-streaming-abstracter-lightless/

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Teethgrinder/Hellbound/EveryDayHate/2014 7 Inch Review


  Teethgrinder  are  a  band  from  the  Netherlands  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black,  death  metal,  power violence  and  grindcore  with  touches  of  crust, hardcore,  post  metal,  drone  and  stoner  rock  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  7  Inch  "Hellhound"  which  was  released  by  EveryDayHate.

  Spoken  word  samples  start  off  the  ep  along  with  some  heavy  distortion  before  the  music  goes  into  a  fast  and  brutal  grindcore  direction  along  with  some  high  pitched  screams,  growls  and  crust  style  shouts  as  well  as  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  after  a  minute  the  band  slows  down  a  bit  and  you  can  hear  some  elements  of  doom  metal  in  their  musical  sound.

  On  the  later  tracks  you  can  really  start  hearing  the  blackened  death  metal  influence  kick  in  and  the  band  also  brings  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  on  the  third  track  sludge  and  stoner  metal  elements  find  their  way  into  the  bands  musical  style  and  their  last  song shows  off  some  epic  black  metal  style  riffing.

  Teethgrinder  combine  a  variety  of  many  different  extreme  metal  and  hardcore  genres  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  violent  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Teethgrinder  are  a  very  great  soundign  mixture  of  black  metal,  death,  stoner,  grindcore  and  power  violence  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Hellbound"  and  "187".  8  out  of  10.    

https://www.facebook.com/Teethgrinder/ 

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Helmsplitter Interview


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

 We have been pretty busy since recording the album.  We recently added a 2nd guitarist (Jason Grevas) to the lineup so we have been busy showing him the songs we usually play live.  We have also been working on writing new material for a split release that we are going to do with a bad ass New York grindcore band called The Communion. 

2.Recently you have released a new album, how would you describe the musical sound of the new recording and also how does it differ from your past releases?
I personally feel like this album is a bit more varied than our debut album (Storms of Genocide) was.  The reason for this is we had some older songs left over from our very earliest days as a band that we thought were too good to not release, so we reworked them a bit and decided to include them on this new album.  Most of those songs have a bit more of a southern sludge sound to them.  The rest of the material on the album is brand new and has a bit more of a evil black metal vibe.  We knew that this combination would make for an interesting album and that some people might accuse us of jumping from genre to genre too much, but we didn't care.  We knew we would be happy with it and our label (Horror Pain Gore Death Productions) was happy with it so I feel we did the right thing by including those older songs.  We arranged the song order in a way that i feel takes the listener on a pretty interesting ride because of the variety in the songs.

3.Can you tell us a little bit more about the lyrical topics that the band explores with the new release?

I wrote a few verses for "Aura of Suicide" that is inspired by the cluster migraines i used to suffer from.  Other than that Blakk wrote all of the lyrics.  He gets a lot of inspiration by watching documentaries about the dark side of reality.  He is fascinated with serial killers, war, torture, and various other topics.  The overall lyrical and visual theme to the album is pain, whether it be physical or emotional, and how every human has to go through it at some point in their lives. Pain is inevitable.  There is no escaping it.  Every member of the band has gone through dark and painful times, and we have all found ways to overcome these things so we wanted to reflect on that with this album.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Helmsplitter'?

Our drummer came up with the name Helmsplitter.  He actually got the idea from a video game that he likes, apparently in this game there is weapon called the Helmsplitter that will pretty much destroy anything.  We like to think that our music is pretty powerful and destructive so we thought it was a good fit.  Plus we just liked the way it sounded haha.

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?
Some of the shows that stick out in my mind are when we opened for Rwake, they are one of my favorite bands and playing with them was an honor.  Same goes for the time we opened for Jucifer.  The cd release show for our first album was outstanding also, as was the show we just played with Against the Grain.  We have had quite a few shows that went very well and were a blast to play.  Of course we have played plenty of shows that sucked also.  You have to take the good with the bad i guess.  Our performances are usually pretty intense and full of energy, you have to be intense and full of energy to play this stuff!  There isn't a lot of flash or bells and whistles, we just get up there and let it rip.  Blakk doesn't do a lot of talking to the crowd and we don't do a lot to try and pump the crowd up or anything....we just perform our art as well as we can and hopefully the crowd enjoys it.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new release?

We have a few shows around the midwest set up and are working on setting up a short east coast run.  Other life obligations make it hard for us to just jump in a van and tour for months, but we try do as much "weekend warrior" stuff as we can.  I think we will start hitting it pretty hard once our new guitarist has a sets worth of material down.....and he is a freaking beast of a guitarist so that won't be long from now.

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

The feedback from the underground metal world has been very positive.  Of course there is always going to be some people out there that aren't going to like what you do, you can't please everyone.  We try not to worry about it too much but we are only human and of course are going to pay attention to reviews and things like that,  and for the most part the feedback has been very positive.  Our first album got some great reviews and got us signed to Horror Pain Gore Death Productions so that was a success, and so far the reviews we have been getting for the new one have been great.  

8.What is going on with the other musical projects these days that a couple of the band members are involved with?

Nate, Lyndon, and myself are in another band called Obsidian Hammer.  It is a mix of sludge, doom, and crust punk.  Imagine Eyehategod and Bongzilla mixed with Discharge and you will be on the right track.  It is in its infancy but is off to a very good start.  We opened for Church of Misery for our first ever show, and have opening spots lined up for Spirit Caravan and D.R.I. so things are going well.  Blakk has been the mastermind behind Angelkill for around 20 years and he is still going.  It has pretty much turned into a one man band and I think he prefers it that way.  He is also involved with Mortuary Oath, as well as creating scores for video games and movies.  Our new guitarist Jason was involved with Through Terror and King of Clubs but they are both inactive now.

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

Helmsplitter has been going more and more into a dark, evil direction.  Future releases will be more focused on the black metal/grindcore side of things and will probably have less southern sludge parts.  There will still be slow sections but they will probably be more along the lines of Craft than Crowbar.  Some of the members we had in the past were pushing for more of the southern sound, which we are getting away from more and more.  That element will always be there but it is going to be less and less prominent as time goes on.

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?

Well the band that probably has had the biggest influence on us has been Soilent Green simply because i basically learned how to play and write music by hanging out with them and watching them practice and perform.  The way they have dramatic tempo and time signature changes really rubbed off on me.  I cant imagine how long the list would be if i were to start naming off bands that have influenced us.....we all are into so many different styles its nuts.  But as far as directly influencing what we are currently doing with Helmsplitter I would say black metal is the biggest influence right now.  We are all fans of a lot of the older Norwegian stuff like Mayhem, Darkthrone, Emperor, etc etc......Craft is a huge influence.....also grindcore like Pig Destroyer and Napalm Death....I could go on and on!  Personally I have been listening to mainly black metal like the bands i mentioned as well as a ton of sludge, doom, and stoner rock.  Eyehategod and Electric Wizard are pretty much always in my rotation of cds im listening too.

11.How would you describe your views on Occultism?

The occult is something i am somewhat fascinated with but I don't have an extensive knowledge or any really strong views/opinions of.  I am a very non-religious person and i think a part of me has always kinda lumped occultism in with religion.  Although I will say i have read some things about various cults or cult leaders that i do agree with.  For example i am pretty big believer in the whole "Do what thou will, that shall be the whole of the law" frame of mind.  I am not a fan of authority or laws of almost any kind so that mindset does appeal to me.  I don't really feel I am educated on the subject enough to elaborate much more however. 

12.What are some of your non musical interests?

My main non-musical interest is nature.  My family goes to the Canadian Border fishing every year and the beauty of that wilderness is awe inspiring.  Alone in the wilderness is one of the only places I truly find peace.  I used to be a video gamer and a reader as well.  However lately it has basically all been about music for me, with two bands going full time it is hard for me to make time for hardly any other hobbies or interests.  And that is fine with me, because I am basically obsessed with making music and there is nothing that makes me happier.  

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

I guess I would just like to say thank you to anyone who reads this and bothers to take the time to check out Helmsplitter, hopefully you like what you hear.  The best is yet to come from this band, our musical vision is becoming more clear and focused and the addition of Jason on 2nd guitar is really going to propel us to the next level I believe.  Also I would like to thank you guys for the interview! You can stream the whole album here: http://hpgd.bandcamp.com/album/enraptured-by-suffering