Sunday, February 27, 2011

Cruachan/Blood On The Black Robe/Candlelight Records/2011 CD Review


  Cruachan are a band from Ireland that has had an album reviewed in this zine in the past, with a style that mixes pagan/Celtic/folk music with black and traditional metal and this is a review of their 2011 album "Blood On The Black Robe" which will be released by Candlelight Records.

Drums alternate between slow, mid paced to fast drumming with some blast beats, while the various folk instruments bring a medieval folk music feel to the music, as for the bass playing it has a very dark, powerful and distorted tone with some heavy riffing.

Rhythm guitars alternate between slow, mid paced and fast riffing that combines black metal and traditional metal together with a good amount of melody, while the lead guitars are very melodic sounding without a lot of guitar solos, since the music concentrates mostly on rhythm, as for the acoustic guitars when they are utilized briefly they use full chords to enhance the darkness of the music.

Vocals are mostly high pitched black metal screams with some occasional clean singing female vocals that bring an esoteric New Age feel to the music, while the lyrics cover Irish Paganism, Folklore, Mythology and History with some anti- Christian themes, as for the production, it has a very heavy and professional feel to it.

In my opinion this is another great album from Cruachan and it is their heaviest and most black metal sounding album in years, while still retaining the folk elements and if you are a fan of their previous albums, you will not be disappointed. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "I Am Warrior" "Blood On The Black Robe" "The Voyage Of Bran" and "Pagan Hate". RECOMMENDED BUY.

http://cruachan.metalfan.nl

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Withering Soul/No Closure/Mortal Music/2011 CD Review


 Withering Soul are a band from Chicago, Illinois that plays a very symphonic form of black metal mixed with melodic black/death and this is a review of their 211 album "No Closure" which was released by Mortal Music.

Drums range from slow, mid paced to fast drumming with a lot of brutal blast beats, while the keyboards are very atmospheric and atmospheric sounding,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 range from slow, mid paced to fast black metal riffing that is also very melodic and utilizes influences from both death metal and traditional metal, while the lead guitars are very melodic sounding metal guitar solos.

Vocals are mostly high pitched black metal screams mixed in with some deep death metal growls and some clean singing mixed in with a short use female vocals, while the lyrics cover Ghosts, the Paranormal, and Horror, as for the production it has a very professional and heavy sound to it.

In my opinion Withering Soul are a very good melodic, gothic, symphonic black metal band, and if you are a fan of this style, you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Phantasmal Chaos" "Sadistic Redress" and "Lifeless They Lie". RECOMMENDED BUY.


www.witheringsoul.com  

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Ironwood Interview


1. Can you introduce the band to my readers, give us a brief history and how you started and what you are doing nowadays?

Henry Lauer: Ironwood was founded circa early 2006. We worked for about a year rehearsing material and released an EP in early 2007. Then followed an intense year of endless performing in the Australian metal scene. After some truly epic struggles we released our debut full length, :Fire:Water:Ash:, in 2009. By that point, however, we already had a second album well on the way to being written, and late last year we recorded Storm Over Sea. Of course the Ironwood recording curse struck again, and we were delayed in our release by almost a year! The consolation being that along the way we ended up with the incredible privilege of getting Dan Swanö as our mixing and mastering engineer, which really served to bring Storm Over Sea to a high polish.

Now, with the new album finally out, we are undergoing a period of evolution within the band. I am excited to see what will come next.

2. How would you describe the musical sound of the new album, and how do you feel that you have progressed from the previous releases, with the new one?

HL: It’s a lot heavier than :Fire:Water:Ash:, and more compact. We wanted to go for the throat this time around, but with a concern not to abandon our use of atmosphere and acoustic instrumentation either! And our progressive influences have come to the fore a lot more too.

This album is the best representation we can create of the ocean in all its mystery, terror, glory, and changeability. Storm Over Sea is a really dynamic, dramatic, trance-inducing, gut-wrenching, soothing album. Not an easy thing to draw together such disparate moods but somehow I think we managed!

Matthew Raymond: The new album also had far more attention given to arrangements and layers within each track. Similar to the previous album it is bound by a focused theme and is richly dense in material, however, we feel this release is far more accessible to listeners while still challenging them.

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and concepts the new album covers, and how does it differ from the past releases?

HL: Well this is definitely a concept album about the ocean, so naturally there is a much tighter thematic focus to the lyrics than we’ve had previously. That said, we wanted explore the ocean symbolically. For example, the first words on the release are “I am but a ship on the infinite sea…and the name of the sea is Woden!” This is a reflection about just how puny the human ego is compared to the archetypal forces on which we haphazardly sail! And it’s also incredibly personal for me, though trying to explain it succinctly would be…a little too much to ask, really!

One recurring motif in the lyrics is that of journeying, voyaging, transforming, submitting to the challenges of wyrd or fate and finding a way to work with the ocean’s whim to survive, rather than breaking on it out of hubris. Most of the band went through our Saturn Returns in the process of making this album…it definitely shows in the lyrics!

But underlying all of that is sheer, naked reverence for the ocean. Ironwood has always made nature worship a central theme for our music and for this release we really wanted to draw peoples’ attention to the ocean. If we influence a few folks to become more proactively “green” as a result – well, so much the better, the oceans of this planet need all the help they can get.

MR: Oceans show such power and chaos often juxtaposed paradoxically with reflection and calm. It is in that which we were inspired to develop this album. Lyrics touch on life turmoil, friendship, overcoming trials, inner strength, responsibility and awe and respect of nature to name a few.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the band's name Ironwood?

HL: The Ironwood is a forest from Norse mythology. It’s a dark place where wolves and various giants and beasts arose and make their lair. It’s also a route from Midgard to the Underworld (and from there…to Asgard).

We take the Ironwood as a symbol, submitting to the unconscious, to darkness and mystery, so that we may descend deeply – and then rise into a transformed spirit. This is an idea that celebrates all extremes of emotion and experience, and as such it is perfect for the music that we write.

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

HL: My favourite show would have to have been our album launch in Sydney for :Fire:Water:Ash: last year. Wow! That was an awesome night. Very precious and special.

Our stage performances are extremely intense. We tend to go – utterly nuts and out of our minds. People think that we’re possessed, my eyes roll back into my head, weird stuff goes down! And yet at the same time we happily pull out acoustic guitars and the like here and there, and somehow we manage to seduce even the really grumpy metal heads to the idea that vocal harmonies and neofolk atmospheres are a good thing.

I suppose you could say that, like everything else about this band, our live shows are a wild mix of extremes. Sadly…for the immediate future a live band we can no longer be due to personnel metamorphoses…but eventually we’ll be ready to call down the gods of inspired lunacy once more!

MR: On the road as outsiders to the town we play in, there is even a more heightened state of energy that always directly transfers to our shows. Performances are often described by listeners as not simply a band that plays music, but a collection of souls that are seen performing a ritual invoking forces of old. The dynamism of the album's music is represented live... tenfold.

6. Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label and if so what kind of record label do you think that would promote Ironwood's music to the fullest?

HL: We’re certainly open to label interest, particular the more maverick labels such as The End, Profound Lore, Bindrune, etc. But at this point we don’t expect to ever be anything but an independent band, so we aren’t holding our breath. We’ve become a pretty effective little self-sufficient unit, although of course a big promotion budget and proper distribution would be lovely!

MR: In the past there has been smaller label interest, although the terms were not acceptable at the time so we have continued to progress independently until the right circumstances present themselves. As Henry said, additional promotion and distribution support for what we do can only be a good thing.

7. Are there any side projects besides the band, or is this a full time group?

HL: There are various side projects, but nothing with the magnitude and seriousness that Ironwood represents. Most active of the various side projects at the moment would have to be Greed & Rapacity, a very inventive, twisted black metal outfit ( HYPERLINK "http://www.myspace.com/greedrapacity" http://www.myspace.com/greedrapacity for more info).

8. How has your music been received worldwide by folk/progressive metal fans worldwide?

HL: Well to be honest it hasn’t been out long enough to really say! We’ve gotten some fantastic, fantastic reviews early on, though, so I’m hoping that is a good indication of what the verdict will be.

MR: Going off the previous release, really positively. At a local level, we have a very loyal fan contingency, turning up to every gig we play, purchasing all the merchandise. Some have followed us for some time and become close friends highlighting how likeminded some of our fans really are. We also receive comments and orders from many countries over the world and often wonder how word travelled there!!! At the end of the day, the following we have is growing. I'm digging the response from some of the recent reviews of Storm Over Sea!

9. What kind of musical direction can we expect from future releases, what direction would you like to take the band into?

HL: We’re working on a third album, again with a concept, at the moment. I think at this point gathering back in some of our more atmospheric influences, which were played down somehow on Storm Over Sea, is the intention, although now that we’ve set ourselves such a high bar for complex, technical material I’m sure we’ll have to retain at least some of that to keep the tech-heads smiling!

The general themes of spiritual transformation, nature worship, and journeying will continue to be the guiding impulses for our musical output. Album number three will be a kind of non-linear exploration of archaic Heathen cosmology, but naturally using this as a metaphor to reflect on all manner of things.

Beyond that…we’d like to do an all acoustic, atmospheric album…a totally furious, distilled black metal release, and there are ideas beyond these too! Essentially we feel that Ironwood can travel into any kind of musical territory that we feel we need to explore.

MR: For the next release as Henry said, more use of atmospheric ambience...

10. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music, and also what are you listening to nowadays?

HL: Early on the influences were black metal, neofolk, even ambient and progressive groups. We’re talking Ulver, Emperor, Agalloch, Enslaved, Storm, but also Tool, Isis, and Pink Floyd. Over time that’s evolved to introduce 1970’s progressive and folk bands like Jethro Tull, Steeleye Span, and Gentle Giant into the mix. So at this point we have this black metal / neofolk basis, with richly layered clean vocals, a variety of instrumentation, heavy use of naturalistic samples, and lots of really progressive touches. Some reviewers have heard a death metal element to the new album too, which we didn’t intend, but we’re big fans of Death and Dissection so it isn’t so surprising from that point of view!

I’ve been listening to the new Stargazer album (genius!), the new Enslaved, the new Agalloch, Sig Ar Tyr, Voluspaa, as well as neofolk releases by Awen and Art Abscons. I have also been dipping back into Bathory and Pavor of late. Oh, and an old favourite, Depeche Mode!

MR: Sculptured (other band by Don Anderson of Agalloch), Dengue Fever (Contemporary 60's influenced Cambodian psychadelic rock) and Magma (70's French Jazz and progressive rock fusion band), Secret Chiefs 3's Xaphan and Ulver's Blood Inside.

11. What role does Paganism play in the music, and which form of paganism does the band follow?

HL: For me personally as a Heathen – someone working from the pre-Christian Germanic traditions – well, my spirituality is integral to my creativity. In the larger sense the band would not call itself “pagan” as such, although our lyrics and musical concepts with their emphasis on nature, trance, and spiritual exploration would all appeal to someone of “pagan” leanings. I guess on the whole we’re less interested in labels and categories than in expressing something meaningful.

Germanic imagery and symbols do tend to slip into our lyrics – hence “Infinite Sea” which touches on the impact of Woden in my life, or “Will to Live” which has plenty of runes coded into its verses!

Wearing another hat I edit Hex Magazine (http://www.hexmagazine.com), which is probably the foremost Heathen periodical in the world today (at least in my humble but biased opinion).

MR: It is about a connection to two things...the land/ nature and an ancestral bloodline. These things inspire and strengthen all that I do in life and music. There is a spiritual connection to these things and they are absolutely central to what we have created.

12. Outside of music what are some of your interests?

HL: Obviously nature is a big one! My work with Hex also stands out, of course, and that in turn leads to my literary pretensions as well! Words and music, especially coined in the wilderness, that’s the meat and drink of my creative expression.

MR: Given my connection to the land I spend most of my time re-connecting, through hiking, rock climbing, kayaking and simple meditation in Australian bushland. I recently came back from a mountaineering expedition in Nepal climbing well over 5,000 metres.

13. Any final words or thoughts before we close this interview?

HL: We decided to make Storm Over Sea available for free download from our website at http:// HYPERLINK "http://www.ironwoodsound.com.au" www.ironwoodsound.com.au . Why? Because last time the pirates had :Fire:Water:Ash: on their little boards about two breaths after we released it. Since we can’t beat them, we figure we should at least steal their thunder and let them waste their time. That said, we’re trusting you all to check it out, decide if you like it…and if you do, please buy a copy! It is worth it just for the very lush booklet and packaging that we’ve put together…and to know that you’ve supported a band that is truly dedicated to its art.

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Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Windfaerer/Tribus/2010 CD Review


 Windfaerer are a band from New Jersey that has had previous ep reviewed by this zine as well as had an interview, with a musical style that mixes folk metal with melodic death metal and black metal and this is a review of their self released album "Tribus".

Drums range from slow, mid paced to fast drumming with a great amount of blast beats, while the bass playing is mixed down low in the mix and seems to follow the riffing that is coming out of the guitars and at times they have a very heavy and powerful doomy sound of their own, as for the violins when they are utilized, they bring a folk music element to the music with some violins being used on one song.

Rhythm guitars combine influences from folk metal, melodic death and black metal with the riffing ranging from slow, mid paced to fast with a great amount of melody and some traditional metal influences, while the lead guitars are very melodic sounding death metal guitar solos, as for the acoustic guitars when they are utilized briefly, they bring a much more darker tone to the music as well as a small amount of classical guitar.

Vocals are mostly high pitched black metal screams with some clean singing vocals being used on the last song, while the lyrics touch on the paganism and history of the Iberian Penisula and nature elements, as for the production it has a very heavy and professional sound to it, for being self released.

In my opinion this a good full length from Windfaerer and if you where a fan of their previous demo, you will not be disappointed. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "A Gentle Touch On Ravaged Ruins" "The Invader" and "The Seafaerer's Legend"> RECOMMENDED BUY.

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Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Ironwood/Storm Over Sea/2010 CD Review


  Ironwood are a band from Australia that plays a very progressive form of folk/black metal and this is a review of their self released 2010 album "Storm Over Sea".

Drums alternate between slow, mid paced to fast drumming with some blast beats being used at times, while the bass playing has a very strong and powerful sound that is very progressive at times with a lot of bass leads being thrown in at times.

Rhythm guitars alternate between slow, mid paced to fast riffs that combine viking/black metal with traditional metal with a good amount of melodies being used at times, while the lead guitars are very melodic sounding guitar solos that also have a classic rock feel to them, as for the acoustic guitars they  mix elements of folk and progressive music together to give the music a very haunting edge.

Vocals are a mixture of high pitched black metal screams and clean singing vocals, while the lyrics touch on Heathen Values, as for the production it has a very heavy and professional sound with all of the instruments coming out with a great sound to them.

In my opinion Ironwood are a very original folk/progressive/black metal band and if you are a fan of bands that mix these styles together, you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS "Infinite Sea" "Weather The Storm" and "A Bond To Sever". RECOMMENDED BUY.

ironwoodsound.com.au
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Sunday, October 31, 2010

Vex Interview


1. Can you tell us a little bit about Vex for those that have never heard of you before?

Vex originally began in San Angelo, West Texas, formed by Bill and Ciaran. The band underwent many many different personnel and stylistic changes over the years. We have been jamming with the current lineup since early 2008 and we feel like we've finally discovered the Vex sound after all these years.


2. How would you describe the musical sound of the new album?

Well interestingly, Thanatopsis comprises material that we've been playing live for a long time; some of the songs we wrote all the way back in 2000 and 2001. But when we began tracking this record, we were also writing new material that reflects a lot of the progressive rock and jazz fusion music we were beginning to listen to and be inspired by; you can really hear those influences on 'Thanatos' and 'The Past is Frozen.' So since those two songs ended up on this album, the album sort of documents a lot of the history of the band as well as reflecting a change that was just beginning to happen in our sound.

3. What are some lyrical topics and concepts the new album explore?

Well I'm maybe not the best person to answer this one but in general the lyrics explore a philosophy of personal nihilism and through that lens it sort of views the world and all the big formative experiences that a person can go through in life. The album name is reflective of that--even though 'Thanatos' is an instrumental, the concept of Thanatos and Thanatopsis pervades many of the lyrics. In my view, that's really what the album cover symbolizes as well--a monument to a human life, though from the perspective of nature. The natural world outside of the human species approaches death much differently than we do. That's what the Bryant poem 'Thanatopsis' is about that inspired many of the lyrical themes on the album, essentially a view of humanity and death from the perspective of the natural world.


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

Well as I mentioned Vex has a lot of history, many different band members and many different musical styles. If I remember the story correctly, the name was chosen at random out of a dictionary. We've discussed changing it, but no matter how much we evolve as a band, that name always just seems to fit with what we are doing.



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

Actually the CD release show for this album I would say is right near the top of the list for us. We were able to land an opening spot for Katatonia, Swallow the Sun, and Orphaned Land at Emo's here in Austin. We played a good set to a packed house and then topped it off by getting to watch some of the best metal bands out right now. I wouldn't really know how to describe our stage performance; we don't really have the typical metal look. Honestly I think most of the time we are more concerned with how we play and the stage presence just kind of naturally happens as a result of our feeding off of the music. It's not something we really plan in advance.


6. Do you have any touring plans for the new albums?

Not as of yet. We have a ton of new songs that we need to get written and recorded first, so that's gonna be the focus of the band at least for the near future. After that, I'm sure we will look at touring.



7/ What is going on with the side projects these days?


We all keep very busy with side-projects. Bill has a very well-received and talented metal band in San Angelo called A Black Anatomy. Ciaran's side project Nosferion is in the midst of recording a new album, really good sort of primitive black metal but with a more modern edge. I play regularly in a band called Batcastle based out of Austin, and actually Mike and I collaborate on many of the same side projects like Ruins of Honor, Alternate 15, and The Stan Laurels.



8. How has your music been recieved so far by extreme metal fans worldwide?

It's hard to say, really. As I mentioned we don't really have a typical metal look, and I wouldn't say our sound is typical metal in any way, so I'm always interested to see how really hardcore metal-heads react to our stuff. Overall it's been fairly positive; we've been very pleased that most of the reviews coming in on Thanatopsis have been generally positive.



9. How would you describe your musical progress over the years?

Well Vex in its original format was more heavy rock, kind of catchy, heavy stuff. As the band continued, the music took on a more extreme sound, incorporating 'dirty' vocals and faster drumming, etc. It was during 2000-2005 that we wrote most of the stuff on Thanatopsis, and we were gigging practically every weekend at the time so that was where we really polished those songs to their current state. But just as we were beginning this album, we began to see that a lot of our non-metal influences, particularly progressive rock bands, were beginning to seep into the sound, and that's something that's continued to this day, as our music just seems to get weirder and weirder.



10. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Honestly I think we've gotten to the point as a band that we really don't even pay much attention to who our influences are anything of that nature. We really just listen to any type of good music; I know that may seem like a half-assed answer but it's really true in our case. I mean I can trace influences of everything from metal bands like Vader, Iron Maiden and Dissection all the way in the other direction to the Beach Boys, the Beatles, the Zawinul Syndicate, etc. Really just all over the place. If something's good we listen to it, and the more we listen to something the more it tends to work itself into the music in all kinds of subtle and unsubtle ways.



11. Outside of music what are some of your interests?

Well I am in the process of transitioning to playing music full-time, so it seems like there is less and less time to maintain interests outside of music, but I mean I watch a lot of sports, cook a lot, some nerdy science shit, pretty standard stuff I guess.



12. Any final words or thoughts before we close this interview?

Just a big thanks for the review and the interview!

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Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Vex/Thanatopis/Horror Pain Gore Death Records Records/2010 CD Review


Vex are a band from Texas that plays a mixture of melodic black metal and progressive death metal with a thrash edge and this is a review of their 2010 album "Thanatopis" which was released by Horror Pain Gore Death Records.

Drums alternate between slow, mid paced to fast playing and not much in the way of blast beats, while the bass playing has a very strong tone with some progressive sounding bass riffs.

Rhythm guitars combine many different genres of metal together ranging from black, death and thrash metal that also combine  a lot of melody and progressive parts together, while the lead guitars are very melodic and progressive sounding black/death metal guitar leads, as for the acoustic guitars when they are used, they utilize a lot of open chords to add to the progressive elements.

Vocals are mostly high pitch screams that combine influences from black metal and thrash metal that also have a death metal edge at times, while the lyrics cover somewhat dark times that deal with more real life type situations, as for the production it has a very dark and raw feel while still having a professional sound that captures all of the musical instruments.

In my opinion Vex are a very good band for their style of music, if you are looking for a band that mixes black, death and thrash metal together with some progressive and melodic edges but a little bit more rawer, check this band out. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Motionless" "Eyes Of Wrath" and "Erosion". RECOMMENDED BUY.

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