Malconfort/Humanism/Transcending Obscurity Records/2024 Full Length Review

 

  Malconfort  are  a  band  from  the  united  kingdom  that  plays  an  experimental  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2024  album  "Humanism"  which  will b e  released  in  July  by  Transcending  obscurity  Records.

  High  pitched  black  metal s creams  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  heavy  and  avant  garde  riffing  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  also  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.  When  clean  playing  is  utilized  it  also  takes  the  album  into  more  of  a  progressive  direction  and  spoken  word  parts  and  synths  can  also  be  heard on  a  few  tracks.

  At  times  the  music  also  gets  very  experimental  sounding  while  elements  of  free  form  jazz  can  also  be  heard  at times.  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  also  done  in  a  very  melodic  yet  dissonant  style  along  with  the  riffs  also  adding  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody  and  all  of  the  music  sticks  to  either  a  slow  or  mid  tempo  direction,  whispered  vocals  are  also  added  on  a  couple  of  songs.

  Malconfort  plays  a  style  of  black  metal t ha t is  very  avant  garde,  progressive  and  experimental  sounding  as  well  as  mixing  in  elements  of  free  form  jazz  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  philosophical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Malconfort  are  a  very  great  sounding  experimental  sounding  black  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Cruelty  (Elation)"  and  "Carnivore  (God)".  8  out  of  10.

  Official Video

Video Stream

Malconfort Bandcamp

Malconfort Facebook          

Malevich/Trembling And Dowsed/Roman Numeral Records/2024 EP Review

 

  Malevich  are  a  band  from  Atlanta,  Georgia  that  plays  an  experimental  mixture  of  dissonant  black,  sludge  metal  and  post  hardcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2024  ep  "Trembling  And  Dowsed"  which  will  be  released  in  April  by  Roman  Numeral  Records.

  Distorted  beats  start  off  the  ep  along  with  some  synths  a  few  seconds  later  before  going  into  a  heavier  sludge  metal  direction.  Vocals  are  mostly  angry  sounding  hardcore  style  screams  while  the  riffs  also  add  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody  along  with  the  music  also  having  its  experimental  moments.

  Some  of  the  screams  also  add  in  touches  of  black  metal  while  the  riffs  also  go  into  a  dissonant  direction  at  times.  Growls  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  the  music  also  adding  in  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats  and  grindcore  influences  when  it  speeds  up  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  also  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them,  slide  guitars  can  also  be  heard  briefly  and  the  clean  sections  also  add  in  post  rock  elements  and  clear  vocals.    

  Malevich  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  dissonant  black,  sludge  metal,  post  hardcore  and  experimental  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  existential  dread  and  the  oppressive  systems  under  capitalism.

  In  my  opinion  Malevich  are  a  very  decent  sounding  experimental  mixture  of  dissonant  black,  sludge  metal  and  post  hardcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Red  To  Gold"  and  "Inaliencable".  7  out  of  10.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8fH5r8NKI8      

Resin Tomb/Cerebral Purgatory/Transcending Obscurity Records/2024 Full Length Review

 

  Resin  Tomb  are  a  band  from  Australia  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black,  sludge,  dissonant  death  metal  and  grindcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  album  "Cerebral  Purgatory"  which  will  be  released  in  2024  by  Transcending  Obscurity  Records.

  A  very  fast  and  brutal  grindcore  sounds  starts  off  the  album  along  with  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats.  At  times  the  music  also  gets  very  dissonant  sounding  while  the  vocals  are  a  mixture  of  black  metal  screams  and  death  metal  growls  as  well  as  all  of  the  musical  instruments  also  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Elements  of  sludge  metal  can  also  be  heard  in  the  slower  sections  of  the  album  while  the  songs  also  add  in  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.  Melodies  can  also  be  heard  in  some  of  the  guitar  riffing  along  with  a  couple  of  tracks  also  adding  in  a  brief  use  as  well  as  some  touches  of  harsh  noise  also  being  utilized  briefly.

  Resin  Tomb  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  black,  sludge,  dissonant  death  metal  and  grindcore  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  gore  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Resin  Tomb  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  black,  sludge,  dissonant  death  metal  and  grindcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Dysphoria"  "Cerebral  Purgatory"  and  "Putrescence".  8  out  of  10.

  Band Facebook - facebook.com/resintombdeath

  

  

Valve 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?

A: /

C: Our schedule has been pretty tight because we had booked a tour for November 2022 and logically, the release date had to be around the same time. While we did our best to plan ahead, with vinyl production delays and all that, we ended up having to deal with a lot of different things in a very short amount of time, like promotion, final tour details, printing merch... It was challenging but it went well, the release went as planned and we went on tour with everything we hoped for!

G: /

S: /

W: /

2.Recently you have released a new album, musically how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

A: /

C: /

G: I would say that we incorporated more influences, like "Mathcore/Noisecore" for example, which can be heard on "Kabuki", and we also added synths parts which was new for us. In my opinion we have a wider range of sounds, noises, sonic textures and atmospheres on "Thermoclines".

S: /

W: Yes, still a sludge/doom musical base, but with a larger soundscape, with on the one hand psychedelic and melancholic phases (including synths parts, but not only) and on the other hand more aggressive ones, with d-beat patterns and blast beats.

3.This is also your first release in 7 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time frame?

A: /

C: /

G: The line up changed, we toured in 2015 and 2016 across Europe to support our previous release "Apnée" and we have to admit it : we like to take our time !

W: It was not an explicit desire, but we were embarked in a complex composition process, absorbing the musical influences of the newcomers and also wanting to enlarge our musical spectrum. COVID phase was also not very helpful, of course, as well as our personal and professional lives.

S: Yeah, we don't have any excuse really… We just implicitly decided we'd rather do it well than do it fast I guess! 

It took us a long time to find which composition process was right for us. And even when all the songs had finally been written, we took the time necessary to get every detail just the way we wanted them. 

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the new release and also how would you describe your progress as songwriters over the years?

A: I would say that since the first EP that we released in 2012, we have always followed a common thread which was water and diving to the depths, like an allegory of the existential questioning of the human being.

Each project was an opportunity to push this reflection a little further.

The texts are also borrowed from feelings by which I could be submerged in my personal life at the time when I wrote them, while being enough imaged, in order to leave to the listener his own interpretation.

C: /

G: /

S: /

W: /

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Valve'?

A: Finding a name for this band has been subject to a lot of debate, which in my opinion is something inseparable from the identity of VALVE, 5 thinking heads, so a lot of debate! We even went so far as to put random letters in a hat!

C: It’s “VALVE”, all caps! More seriously, back then when we created the band, we did not want its name to bear a “deep” meaning, that felt a little pompous to us. And we were laughing about some noise rock bands with common names like “Cheveu”, “Tondeuse” or “Pneu”. “Pneu” means “tire” in french, and at some point somebody said “Well, some bands are named “Pneu”, so we might as well call ourselves “Valve”, and that stuck with us. We liked the word for its sound, and the absence of meaning, I guess. But we like to write it all upper case, “VALVE” 🙂

G: /

S: /

W: Disappointing, isn’t it ? :)

6.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?

A: Ëmgalaï had worked on the artwork for the project of one of my beatmaker friends, Aguirre, and I loved his work! Then I realized that he had worked for a lot of bands with a tendency to doom, sludge... I immediately thought of him for the artwork of Thermoclines.

C: /

G: /

S: /

W: We really like Ëmgalaï’s work and, especially, his fascination for dystopian landscapes, so he was given free rein to interpret visually his perception of the album, the atmosphere and the message conveyed in it.

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

A: Without hesitation, the small and medium venues with the pit totally filled!

C:

G: I have great memories of playing gigs at small venues, bigger venues or at festivals.

I remember a gig in 2015 at "Le 3 pièces", a small venue in Rouen, France which was an absolute mess ! We had wonderful times on stage on this tour too.

I would describe our stage performance smoky but intense ahah !  

S: This last tour we just came back from (November 2022) has been packed with great shows. We have been playing together for a while now and I feel we really have become a well oiled machine. The fact we are now mostly playing songs we wrote together definitely adds to that too. I don't know if it is up to us to describe our own performance, but I hope the people coming to the shows find them worth remembering! 

W: Our best scene experiences were probably shows in short/medium sized venues, with dense crowd and proximity between the stage and the crowd, facilitating interactions.

8.Do you have any touring or show plans for 2023?

A: /

C: /

G: Yes, we are planning to tour in Europe next spring, possibly in Germany, Czech Republic,  Hungary… and maybe some shows in France as well.

W: We’ll try to play as much as possible in France, in Europe and… Who knows ?

S: We love to play, invite us and we'll come! Simple as that… 

9.On the new album you also worked with 3 different labels, can you tell us a little bit more about the labels that have helped you with the new release?

A: /

C: /

G: /

S: /

W: 4 labels in fact : Itawak & Moment of Collapse for the LP, Poutrage & Yoyodyne for the tape, and we released the CD by ourselves. Itawak, Poutrage & Yoyodyne were basically friends, even if we like their previous releases. Regarding MoC, we feel lucky since we consider this label as one of the most important in the underground european scene.

10.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your newer music by fans of extreme metal and post hardcore?

A: Thermoclines came out while we were on tour, so we mostly saw the reactions of the public to this new album that was presented to them live in its entirety.

And honestly we can say that people were quite enthusiastic and eager to get Thermoclines 😁

C:

G:

S:

W: It’s too early to get worldwide feedbacks at this point. That said, it seems so far that our friends and the people met during our November tour were very enthusiastic, indeed. 

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

A:

C:

G:

W: I guess we’ll explore deeper the sonic territories we entered in with “Thermoclines”.

S: Although we're all extremely pleased with how Thermoclines turned out, I think we're all eager to try and make an even better album next, indeed going deeper into the new sounds we experimented with on Thermoclines. We'd love to manage that in less than 7 years this time, but I feel we're not comfortable with working with deadlines composition - wise, so… 

12.What are some of the bands or musical styles the band members are currently listening to nowadays?

A: We are quite eclectic music lovers.

For my part, I listen to a lot of rap, especially french rap, techno, jazz and of course metal with a big preference for bands with a tendency to sludge, doom, post hardcore, chaotic…

To give you a few names, all styles combined, Alpha Wann, Veerus, Converge, Wolves In The Throne Room, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Autechre, Venetian Snares...

C:

G: I would name Cave-in, Botch, Car Bomb, High On Fire, Fantômas, Kowloon Walled City and even some soundtrack composers (Howard Shore, Richard Band, Harry Manfredini…).

S: There are of course a few references we share. Bands like Isis, Torche, Yob or Converge come to mind. But we all have very personal tastes the rest of the band don't necessarily approve of haha. I believe I am alone in VALVE to unironically enjoy Bon Jovi! Some of us are really into techno, others into old school hip hop…

W: We share a musical base indeed, but beyond that, we listen to very different music. For example, for my bass player cred, I really like dub (roots or electro), drum’n’bass, trip hop (Seriously, I really like this music). Regarding “heavy” music, I used to mainly listen to what we call post-metal or post-rock, but now more and more “straight to the point” music (punk/hxc;crust;d-beat…). As I was a teenager in the 90’s, I’m also deeply attached to grunge, noise, post-hxc and (good) pop rock bands.

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

A: Let's see what the future holds for this band!

C:

G: Yes, we will see ! Thanks for interviewing us !

S: Thanks for taking the time to talk to us, and thanks to people who have read this far! See you on the road hopefully! 

W: /

https://www.facebook.com/VALVE.PARIS/

Valve/Thermoclines/Moment Of Collapse Records/2022 Full Length Review

 

  Valve  are  a  band  from  France  that  plays  a  blackened  form  of  sludge  metal  with  some  elements  of  post  hardcore  and  mathcore  and  this  is  a  review  of t heir  2022  album  "Thermoclines"  which  will  be  released  on  November  11th  by  Moment  Of  Collapse  Records.

  Cinematic  sounding  synths  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavier  and  melodic  direction.  Elements  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  can  be  heard  in  the  slower  sections  of  the  songs  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  also  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  vocals  are  mostly  blackened  metal  screams.

  Clear  vocals  can  also  be  heard  at  times  while  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  add  in  a  decent  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats.  Hardcore  style  growls  are  also  utilized  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  along  with  some  of  the  riffing  also  bringing  in  more  of  a  dissonant  style  and  most  of  the  tracks  are  also  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Clean  playing  can  also b e  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  the  songs  also  adding  in  touches  of  post  hardcore  and  mathcore  as  well  as  the  tracks  also  adding  in a  decent  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts,  spoken  word  parts  can  also  be  heard  at  times.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  despair  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Valve  are  a  very  decent  sounding  blackened  sludge  metal  band  with  elements  of  post  hardcore  and  mathcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Kabuki"  and  "Schism".  7  out  of  10.

  https://www.facebook.com/VALVE.PARIS/  

Hegemone/Voyance/Brucia Records/2022 Full Length Review

 

  Hegemone  are  a  band  from  Poland  that  has  had  music  reviewed  before  in  this  zine  and  on  this  recording  plays  a mixture  of  post  black,  sludge  metal  and  hardcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their 2022  album  "Voyance"  which  will  be  released  in  September.

  A  very  dark  yet  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  album  while  the  slower  sections  of  the  songs  also  bring  in  elements  of  sludge  metal.  Vocals  are  a  mixture  of  growls  and  black  metal  screams  along  with  the  solos  and  leads  also  being  done  in  a  very  dark  yet  melodic  style  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  also  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Most  of  the  tracks  are  also  very  long  and  epic  in  length  while  some  of  the  vocals  also  show  an  influence  of  hardcore.  At  times  the  music  also  gets  very  atmospheric  sounding  along  with  some  clear  vocals  also  being  utilized  at  times  as  well  as  the  music  also  being  very  heavily  rooted  in  post  metal.

  Clean  playing  can  also  be  heard  on  some  of  the  tracks  along  with  a  small  amount  of  synths  also  being  utilized  at  times.  The  music  also  adds  some  dissonant  touches  on  one  of  the  tracks  as  well  as  adding  in  a  small  amount  of  tremolo  picking  blast  beats  when  the  music  finally  speeds  up,  folk  instruments  and  electronic  frequencies  can  also b e  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  rage,  tension,  pain  and  disquiet  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Hegemone  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  post  black,  sludge  metal  and  hardcore,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Nourishment"  "Sermon"  and  "After  Demise".  8  out  of  10.

  https://hegemone.bandcamp.com/  

Feed Them Death/Negative/Brucia Records/2021 CD Review

 

  United  Kingdom's  solo  project  Feed  Them  Death  has  returned  with  a  new  recording  which  continues  the  avant  garde  mixture  of  black,  sludge  metal,  experimental,  noise  and  grindcore  from  his  previous  releases  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2021  album  "Negative"  which  will  be  released  in  May  by  Brucia  Records.

  Avant  garde  soundscapes  and  clean  playing  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  faster  grindcore  direction  which  also  uses  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats.  Vocals  are  a  mixture  of  death  metal  growls  and  black  metal  screams  while  the  riffing  also  brings  in  some  dissonant  structures  and  at  times  the  music  also  gets  very  experimental  sounding.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  also  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  melodies  can  also  be  heard  in  some  of  the  guitar  riffing.  Guitar  solos  and  leads  can  also  be  heard  in  some  parts  of  the  recording  and  are  also  done  in  a  very  chaotic  yet  progressive  style.

  Elements  of  noise,  industrial  and  drone  can  also  be  heard  on  some  of  the  tracks  along  with  the  slower  sections  of  the  songs  also  adding  in  the  heaviness  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  as  the  album  progresses  the  music  also  starts  getting  more  diverse  sounding,  spoken  word  parts  can  also  be  heard  briefly  and  clean  vocals  and  shouts  are  also  added  onto  the  closing  track.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  the  philosophical  writings  of  Theodor  Adorno.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  album  from  Feed  Them  Death  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  avant  garde,  black,  sludge,  doom  metal,  grindcore,  experimental,  noise,  industrial  and  drone,  you  should  check  out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Minima  Moralia"  "Our  Cruelty  to  Reality  (Evokism  IV)"  and  "The  Idiotic  Yearnign  For  More  (Barbarism  of  Perfection)".  8  out  of  10.

https://www.facebook.com/feedthemdeath/            

Skyless Aeons Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
Skyless Aeons formed in 2014 in London, Ontario when I (Nathan Ferreira) and guitarist Nicholas Luck were 18 years old. I met him at a Cryptopsy show when a mutual friend introduced us, and immediately we clicked - as a metalhead, when you meet someone else who listens to shit like Adversarial and Antediluvian, it's like discovering your long-lost brother. I wanted to be in a metal band so bad, and this guy not only knew his shit, but was also incredible at guitar, AND he knew a drummer that he was practicing with - and that guy liked extreme metal too! I tagged along to their practice one time, screamed my face off not knowing what I was doing, and they liked it enough to keep me around. Shortly after we found our bassist and we haven't had a single lineup change since, which has allowed us to learn to feed off each other's strengths and create a cohesive, tight, and very unique sound that draws from every type of extreme metal you can imagine.

2. In October you have your first full length coming out, musically how does it differ from your previous ep?
"Drain the Sun" is much more of a complete piece with a beginning, middle and an end. Our last EP was more of a "get every good idea we have on recording" type of release, with songwriting that's more wandering and all over the place. It's good for what it is, but with the new album, we decided to focus more on the death, doom, and atmospheric elements. The songwriting process was much more laborious, with many sections being scrapped, re-written, or just taken out entirely if we felt they did not serve the songs well enough.

You can also expect a much more professional and polished album - Era of Famine was recorded live off the floor, in one or two takes, over the course of a single day. With our new album, we wanted to make sure everything was fine-tuned to perfection, so we recorded in multiple sessions layer by layer to a click, with the whole recording process taking months as opposed to hours.

3. This is also your first release in 4 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time span?
As I was saying above, it took a while to make sure everything was right! We focused on quality over speed, so although we had already had a couple of songs mapped out for Drain the Sun when Era of Famine was released, we didn't actually complete writing until about the end of 2018 and didn't hit the studio until summer of 2019. Simultaneously, we were also trying to play live as much as possible in order to build our reputation, so whenever we had a show coming up we'd be focusing more on rehearsing our set overwriting new material. That, and we all have day jobs, most of us play in other bands as well, and (very) occasionally, one of us manages to get laid...ya know, life and stuff.

Oh yeah and I think there was like a global pandemic or something? That definitely set back the release process a few months.

4. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band has explored with the music?
On metal-archives, our lyrical themes are listed as "space", "death", and "corruption". That's a good three-word summation.

Our new album actually has a bit of a concept going on with the lyrical themes, if you'll allow me to get a little pretentious. As a group, we're frustrated with how humans over-consume, over-indulge, blindly conform to baseless beliefs to justify it, and fail to recognize that this is exactly what causes us suffering, guilt, and our eventual demise. Each song on this album explains a different way that this happens. "Age of Regression" and "A Consciousness Decays" are about our obedience to ideology being our downfall, "Go Forth and Multiply" laments our relentless urge to breed, and "Dimensional Entrapment" explains how our limits as humans make our downward spiral inevitable. "Drain the Sun" is a metaphor - everyone has their own Sun. For some of us, it is pleasure, for others love, for some it is money, for others it could be power, but whatever it is, we will drain it until we die.

5. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Skyless Aeons'?
I like to think it refers to the period of time before the earth existed - when there was nothing more but raw matter and void, and the idea of a "sky" could not even be fathomed. Our sound is both an audio representation of that time period, and also a warning of where we're headed if we don't change course and fail to see the error of our ways.

The actual origin of it is much less glamorous - we stole it from an obscure New York death metal band, Haagenti, who has a song titled "Skyless Aeon". Nick thought that it sounded cool, we didn't hate it as much as we did the other names that were going around, we added an "s" to "Aeon" to make it more our own thing, and there you have it.

6. Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?
The cover was done by the talented Sam Nelson/Stigma Art, who has also done pieces for some of our favorite tech bands - First Fragment, Vale of Pnath, Virvum, and a bunch of others - so we were followers of his work already. While we were fleshing out the concept for our album, we came across this piece that visually described what I had in my head so perfectly - there's a beacon of light at the top, and the entire environment seems to be drawn towards it to the point where it starts to block out the light. The relentless pursuit of light creates an eternity of darkness. The album cover actually influenced the songs very greatly, since most of the album wasn't written until we bought the rights to the piece.

7. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
Tough to name a personal favorite. Lots of local shows with good turnouts and killer bands. One of the more memorable ones was our most recent show with Killitorous back in January, which was hosted by a drag queen who interacted with the crowd throughout the night, got people into the sets and got freaky on stage with us while we played. That was definitely different.

Our live performance is tight, focused, and delivered with conviction, but as you might have gathered from the drag show I mentioned above, we don't mind letting loose and having a bit of fun with it - where else do you get to just go berserk without judgement?

8. Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
We looked (and are still looking really, if you run a label hmu) for a while, but despite a couple of promising responses, no one showed enough interest to get something going. We're kind of in a difficult spot, because labels usually have a very distinct vision and style that they go for, and we kind of mix a little bit of everything in. We don't really fit on a straight-up black metal label, we're not quite doom, we're not quite death metal...but we're also all of those things? Either way, we'd love to be on a label if possible, but these days it seems you have to establish yourself more independently first before labels will show interest. Hopefully, with this new album, we do just that!

9.On a worldwide level, how has the reaction been to your music by fans of underground metal?
Hard to say what the general consensus is, but it at least seems like most people like it! The overall reaction to our first EP was that it had some very promising ideas but was a little raw and amateurish, which is fair - with our new album, we're looking to tighten all of that up, and so far, the reaction to the new song has been really good. It seems like everyone has a different idea of what it sounds like - I've heard Gorguts, Deeds of Flesh, Rotting Christ, Anaal Nathrakh, Cradle of Filth, and all sorts of the stuff mentioned as comparisons by others...which is funny because I don't think any of those were direct influences. That's kind of the cool thing about music, everyone hears something a little bit different.

10.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are a part of?
We like to keep busy and have a lot of other projects - there's no such thing as too much metal!

 Earlier this year our guitarist Nick joined Aepoch, who are a fantastic progressive death metal band that just put out an EP, and he's working on new material with them as we speak. He also plays slam death metal in Existential Dissipation, and they're putting out a split with a huge band from Norway soon.

I've always been more of a black metal guy myself, and in order to scratch that itch I play in two other bands: one is Cryopathy, a DSBM band that takes heavy influence from stuff like Lifelover, Intig, Woods of Desolation and Apati, and we are actually just getting ready to enter the studio to record our first full-length this fall. I also play in Hell is Other People, a post-black metal band. Covid put a bit of a strain on our practice regimen because half the band is in Windsor and the other half is in London, but we've got new songs written that we're fleshing out as well.

Our bassist Stefan has been jamming with a prog-rock band for the past year or so-called Free the Kid - they were about to play live in April before all live music imploded before our very eyes, and they've got some stuff coming out soon. Don't know much else myself, but I heard a raw demo track one time and it was pretty neat, had some Protest the Hero/Scale the Summit kinda vibes.

Martin doesn't play in any other bands because we keep him chained up in the basement. As long as we feed him enough Cheese Nips and don't make the shackles on his ankles too tight, he doesn't complain about it too much.

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

Once live shows become a thing again, we'd like to get out on the road and play outside of our hometown to spread our sound as far as it'll go. We also have some songs written for a follow-up release already, and we've already agreed that we want to continue going down a heavier and more atmospheric path. It took a bit, but we've found our sound with this new release, so the sky's the limit.

12.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 have different tastes in metal (though it would be fair to say we're all primarily metal fans). I tend to go more for black and death metal, Nick likes more modern brutal and tech death, our drummer is a huge Opeth fan and likes a lot of melodic death/doom like Dark Tranquillity and Swallow the Sun, and our bassist likes a lot of black, folk, doom and prog.

We're fans and consumers of metal as much as we are creators, and we're constantly buying new albums and sharing/trading them with each other during our practices. Some bands that released super cool albums recently: Aronious, Defeated Sanity, Wormhole, The Spirit, Ulcerate, Like Rats, The Great Old Ones, Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard, Augury...that being said, like most fans of music, our playlists could consist of anything from Iron Maiden to Psyopus to John Coltrane to My Bloody Valentine. Influences can come anywhere and from anything.

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thanks for taking an interest in our ruminations on humanity's collective failures. Drain the Sun drops October 2nd. Check it out, buy a CD or a shirt, or at the very least write angry messages to us about how we suck. Your acknowledgment of our existence draws us away from the void, if only for a fleeting second. Support underground extreme metal!!!

Facebook.com/SkylessAeons

Skyless Aeons/Drain The Sun/2020 Full Length Review

  Skyless  Aeons  are  a  band  from  London,  Ontario,  Canada  that  plays  a  melodic,  technical,  progressive  and  dissonant  mixture  of  black,  doom  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2020  album  "Drain  The  Sun" which  will  be  released  in  October.

  Clean  playing  starts  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  heavier  direction  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  also  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.  The  riffs  also  add  in  a  great  amount  of  dissonant  structures  along  with  the  vocals  also  adding  in  a  great  amount  of  death  metal  growls.

  Black  metal  screams  are  also  a  very huge  part  of  the  recording  while  the  music  also  gets  very  progressive  sounding  at  times.  Elements  of  doom  metal  can  also  be  heard  in  the  slower  sections  of  the  songs  along  with  the  solos  and  leads  also  being  done  in  a  very  melodic  and  technical  style.

  Some  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  along  with  some  whispered  spoken  word  parts  also  being  utilized  briefly  as  well  as  some  melodies  also  being  added  in  some  of  the  riffing  and  the  music  also  has  its  atmospheric  moments,  synths  can  also  be  heard  briefly  towards  the  end.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  space,  death  and  corruption  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Skyless  Aeons  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic,  technical,  progressive  and  dissonant  mixture  of  black,  doom  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE "Ascension  Towards  Nothing"  "Dimensional  Entrapment"  and  "Drain  The  Sun".  8  out  of  10.

Facebook.com/SkylessAeons