Northwind Wolves/Dark Cold Grim/Black Lion Records/2017 CD Review

  Northwind  Wolves  are  a  band  from  Los  Angeles,  California  that  plays  a  very  melodic  and  symphonic  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Dark Cold  Grim"  which  will  be  released  by Black  Lion  Records.

  Atmospheric  soundscapes  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  heavier  direction  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  as  well  as  the  vocals  being  grim  yet  high  pitched  black  metal  screams.

  When t he  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  can  be  heard  while  the  music  also  mixes  in a  decent  amount  of  symphonic  elements  along  with  the  music  being  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  90's  and  clean  playing  can  also  be  heard in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  as  well  as  the  songs  also  bringing  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,

  Northwind  Wolves  plays  a  style  of  black  metal  that  is  very  melodic  and  symphonic  in  the  90's  tradition, the production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Occultism,  Sorcery  and  Black  Magick  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Northwind  Wolves  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic  and  symphonic  black  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Dark Skies  For  Black  Sorcery"  "Foul  Wolves  And  Black  Magic"  "Cold  Hearted  Kings  Of  the  Occult"  and  "Celestial  Extinction".  8  out  of  10.


Homepage: http://northwindwolves.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/Northwindwolves666

Coilguns/Millenials/Hummus Records/2018 CD Review

  Coilguns  are  a  band  from  Germany  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black  metal,  sludge,  noise,  d  beat  and  grindcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  album  "Millenials"  which  will  be  released  in  2018  by  Hummus  Records.

  Dark  yet  melodic  and  heavy  riffing  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  drum  beats  a  few  seconds  later  awhile  the  angry  vocals  bring  in  touches  of  sludge  and  black  metal  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard.

  Elements  of  post  hardcore  and  noise  rock  can  also  be  heard  in  the  music  at  times  while  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  bring  in  elements  of  d  beat  and  grindcore  along  with  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  as  the  album  progresses  the  musical  gets  more  experimental  and  the  songs  also  bring  in a   decent  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and fast  parts.

  Coilguns  plays  a  musical style  that  takes  black  metal,  sludge,  noise  rock,  post  hardcore,  d  beat,  grind  and  experimental  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cove  dark and  philosophical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Coilguns  are  a  very  great  sounding  experimental  mixture  of  black  metal,  sludge,  grind,  d  beat,  noise  rock  and  post  hardcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Anchorite"  "Spectogram"  "Self  Employment  Scheme"  and  "The  Screening".  8  out  of  10.

'Millenials' for full on Bandcamp    

Golden Dawn Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the musical project these days?
1. I haven't created new music for Golden Dawn since 2010. But I am working as producer, composer or studio musician for a handful of other bands and sometimes, when I donate really cool parts to those other projects, I think to myself something like "shit, this riff would be perfect for Golden Dawn, why are you giving it away". So maybe I will be able to keep the best ideas for myself in the future haha, then a new album could be done, but it is very hard for me to fulfill my own demands.

2.How would you describe the musical sound of the newer music?
2. To be honest, Golden Dawn should be judged on the basis of the early demos, the first and now re-released album, plus the unreleased albums "Sublimity" and "A solemn day" (hopefully they will also see a release, right now I think only a dozen of people has ever heard them). The official second album "Masquerade" was some kind of Gothic Black Metal with Power Metal influences, awfully artificial keyboards and even more awful vocals and production. The third album "Return to provenance" was mid-tempo Black Metal with some good creative moments but also some average songs without climax. Back then I wanted to write simpler songs without too much progressive touches, that could be good on stage, but out of a lack of good session musicians, a live performance never happened.

3.In between 2012 and 2017 ther has been no new music, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time span?
3. I have my own recording studio and work as producer for a lot of bands. Also I kind of felt that I have nothing more to "say" in terms of progressive or symphonic Black Metal and I wanted to create simpler, more atmospheric and hypnotic music. This is why I started Rauhnåcht, which is my main band nowadays.

4.Some of your lyrics cover Shamanism, Sorcery and Lucid Dreaming, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in these topics?
4. This is something I have been connected to since my childhood, I have also experienced lucid dreaming. This is when you realize that you are dreaming and start to have control over your dream. Then you can use the energy that is hidden within the dream to leave your body and take a trip to other worlds. For me, shamanism and sorcery are just ways that lead to an alternative perception of reality. We can walk this path when we understand that energy is much more important than matter and that we can control and use the universial energy with the powers of mind and soul. We are all creators of reality.

5.I know that the music project was named after the Hermetic Order Of The Golden Dawn, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in Hermeticism and Western Occultism?
5. I read some books of Aleister Crowley and other "western sorcerers" when I started Golden Dawn, so yes, the name comes from there but for me, it is also a synonym for the state of enlightenment. Nowadays I am no longer into any kind of "system" or "teachings". I think that the core of most of this reflects a deep truth but also it is subject to man's misinterpretations and problems with our ego. The ultimate truth you can only find when you step beyond all systems and realize that they are all true and also wrong at the same time - which is in fact an "Eastern" thought out of Zen buddhism. As soon as something like spiritual truth is written down or put into systematic patterns, it loses its pureness as it can't be understood with the mind. Meditating or doing some Qi Gong moves in nature while focussing on my breathing often takes me closer to ultimate truth than anything that is written down in books.

6.At different times this band has been either a solo project of full band, can you tell us a little bit more about the decision behind forming a full line up before going back to working solo?
6. Well, I have the impression that I am quite good at taking basic ideas from others and enrich them. The results are often better than what I can create from scratch on my own. On the other hand I never found someone who really harmonizes with my way of perceiving music and also on a personal basis. Also I have to deal a lot with other musicians in my studio work, where it is my job to subordinate to their wants and needs, so I need the freedom to have projects where I am my own boss.

7.What where some of the best shows that the band had played back in the day and also how would you describe your stage performance?

7. Golden Dawn has never performed live so far.

8.Recently 'Casus Belli Musica' re-issued your 1996 album, can you tell us a little bit more about the newer version?
8. It is limited to 100 pieces on vinyl and has the original tape sound with only slight remastering. The cover artwork is looking really great, finally after more than 20 years this is how it should have looked like on the original. I want to express my discontent with the capitalist practises of Napalm Records here, they did the first repress on CD in I think 2001. Back then, the original label Dark Matter Records was already defunct, so they got the rights for free. Now they demanded 300 EUR for the rights to press the 100 LPs and even offered me to buy back all rights on my own for 1000 EUR. Dudes, that feels like when Nestlé takes the water from the poor and sells it back to them. When somebody out there is interested in "The Art of Dreaming", please either look for the original CD or for the new LP, but keep your hands off the Napalm release (which also has a bad remastering and artwork).

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of black metal?
9. In the mid 90ies I got good feedback and letters from all over the world but when Black Metal turned bigger and hundreds of new bands emerged, of course Golden Dawn was not really in the focus anymore and got forgotten in the course of time. All the more surprised I was when I realized that my old demo stuff is still hunted by some collectors and all demos now finally saw a release on CD or LP. In general I think that many people are actually bored by today's Black Metal which rarely offers something fresh, also I think that today's highly edited digital fast food productions make people appreciate the older bands.

10.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that you are a part of?
10. Actually quite a lot. With Rauhnåcht I have released a new split and plan an album (or double album) for early 2018. I am also working as "ghost writer" for a new band called The Negative Bias, the first album has been released via ATMF from Italy, in 2018 we will release a split EP with one Golden Dawn track from 2010 via Seance Records. Also I can mention the current/upcoming releases of Wallachia and Nocturne, where I also contributed arrangements and production. Then I am also about to finish a very calm Dungeon Synth/Ambient album, I still have to decide under which name and on which label it will be released. Oh, and I forgot to mention A portrait of flesh and blood, a new "international" band, the music comes from Japan, vocals from the USA and I am in the middle so to say and contribute keyboards and some additional arrangements. It will be a good mix of Symphonic Black Metal and Post Black Metal/DSBM, the first album will probably come on Zero Dimensional Records from Japan.

11.Where do you see yourself heading into as a musician in the future?
11. I think I will produce more calm, Synth-driven or symphonic stuff in the future but I am pretty sure that I will still feel the drive to do blast beats and tremolo guitars also. The way my music will go will reflect my personal development, so I am curious myself how it will sound haha.

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?
12. Definitely Bathory was a major reason for me to start making music, both the "Viking era" and the old albums. Also the advent of the second Black Metal wave with especially Emperor, Darkthrone, Burzum and Satyricon influcended me a lot. But I was also listening a lot to Doom and bands like Tiamat or My Dying Bride, which can also be recognized in my early demos. Apart from Metal I was a big fan of Dead can Dance and also listened to Ambient as well as Synth pioneers like Jean-Michel Jarre. I think that it was this big range of influences that made "The Art of Dreaming" a really diverse record. I must say that nowadays I still listen to many of the stuff I already liked as a teenager. Admittedly I do not follow the current extreme Metal scene very much.

13.What are some of your non musical interests?
13. I love to take trips through nature and do hiking or mountainbike tours in my local mountain areas. This is my way to set me free from all stress or daily routines. But music is part of nearly each and every of my days.

14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
14. Thank you for your support and the opportunity to share some of my thoughts. To the people out there, even though Black Metal is an extreme style and most bands sing about negative or nihilistic topics - don't forget that music is art and there is no art without soul.

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Mortis Cruentus Interview

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

Mortis Cruentus was born in 2003 under the name of "Dark Wood", placed on Alicante (Spain). In those early days, the band used to play raw Black Metal without any serious pretentions. The band began to grow and after more than fourteen years of career, a lot of changes in the line-up, and many good live gigs, we'd reached a personal and mature identity into our local metal scene.

2.How would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recordings?

On our first serious release, "Agony as Doom" (2009 LP), we collected the best songs from the first six years of the band. You can find a lot of diversity among the tracks, from some Black/Death Metal songs till Melodic Death patterns, always mixed with some melodies but reflecting the lack of an identity mark. Of course its a good album with some cool ideas.
The 2013 EP "Winter Holocaust" was like a gap union between past and the actual sound.
And our brand new LP "Hellthrone" is more solid into the Blackened Death Metal, with some structure changes and melodies, where we tried to make some extreme metal without boring repetitions and blast-beats excess. We are looking for a good sound without the overproducted actual trends.

3.The band has been around since 2003 but only put out a release once every few years, can you tell us a little bit more about the gap in between releases?

We like to rehearse and play live, our composition process its too slow and we're too perfectionist when finishing a song. We've got a lot of discarted songs also. Hellthrone is the goal of almost eight years and we're very glad for it.

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

We started with war themes, with blood and death lyrics but "Hellthrone" it's a conceptual album. Tells an entire story through the 13 tracks about the "Demonic Veil", a parallel universe where thousands of demons live and humans cannot see. The whole story was created by Jabo Garcia, our guest voice for this recording.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name ;Mortis Cruentus'?

The meaning is "bloody death" in Latin language, and it fits perfectly our philosophy, it mixes death in Death Metal and  blood from Black Metal. The use of Latin language could be the melody.

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

 We are very proud of having shared stage with some bands that we admire and follow like Stormlord, Finsterforst and many more, but the bests live shows we've given were on the south side of our country, where the crowd feels metal in a different way, more insane, and this feeling makes a live gig greater like a metal feedback power from both sides.
We are now working on our future live performances, we want to transmit all the power and anger included in "Hellthrone". We'll try to introduce the audience into a demonic journey without any dull moment through the whole show. This will be our next goal.

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

Like an underground extreme metal band, we're not working with management agents or labels, and today it's complicated to schedule a live tour by our own. We always worked by direct contact with the other bands and promoters and now we're on promotion process and looking for new dates to show how Mortis Cruentus kicks "Hellthrone" on stage. At this moment we've got two confirmed dates, february 24th with the Black/Death metallers Noctem and May 4th with Incursed and Nethertale, both shows in our hometown Alicante.

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

Well, this is a difficult question, because it's a closed circle where the band are moving on, the local Black/Death underground movement. It's true that today with this hyper-connected world we can reach  many people. We are very glad to had received greetings from Russia, Croatia, England and other foreign countries . From our official page, anyone can buy our material from everywhere without problems and this is a great advance.

9.Are any of the band members currently involved with any other bands or musical projects these days?

Yes, we are playing in other projects at this momment. Our drummer Dani and the vocalist Manthor, are both in "Metaphilia", a Deathcore Metal band from Alicante (Spain). The guitarist Toño is also playing at a Symphonic Metal band from Alicante called "Oblivion's Garden", and the last adition at guitars Savage Jouretz have a solo project of Death Metal.
Band members have got different music tastes and that enriches our own music.

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

We are focused on the new release presentation, but maybe the musical aspects of "Hellthrone" succesor will be faster and exploring new technical venues always respecting our style of mixing Black with Death patterns.

11.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?

At the beginings of the band, the original ideas were mixed with great influences from Black Metal bands like Cradle of Filth, Stormlord, Dimmu Borgir or Graveworm, which were our favorite bands at these years. The maturity of our compositions comes from letting in new influences from another metal styles, like Progressive or Death Metal, building the basis of our actual music.
Today we listen to multiple different kinds of music but Black Metal it's always our main way of live music.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?

Music its one of the best ways to escape from daily problems, relax and share good moments with friends.
For non musical, travel and enjoy with a good beer and company more music.

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

First of all, thank you so much for this interview, we hope you like it. We would like to show our new work to greater audience, we worked hard and the final result we think its good enough, give it an opportunity with a relaxed hearing, letting the narrative and music embrace you, entering in a new demoniacal dimension, the "Demonic Veil" and being witness of this Hellthrone battle. The gates of hell are finally open...
Visit www.mortiscruentus.com for further information, live dates and take our material.

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Heidevolk/Vuur Van Verzet/Napalm Records/2018 CD Review

  Heidevolk  are  a  band  from  the  Netherlands  that  plays  a  mixture  of  folk  and  pagan  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  album  "Vuur  Vsn  Verzet"  which  will  be  released  in  2018  by  Napalm Records.

  Heavy  guitar  riffs  start  off  the  album  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  when  vocals  are  added into  the  music  they  are  mostly  clean  pagan  metal  singing  as  well  as  folk  instruments  also  being  used  at  times.

  A  touch  of  black  metal  can  also  be  heard  at  times  when  growls  and  screams  are  used  briefly  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  along  with  some  songs  also  bringing  in a   small  amount  of  acoustic  guitars  and  as  the  album  progresses  a  brief  use  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  when  percussion's  are  utilized  it  gives  the  music  more  of  a  shamanistic  feeling.

  Heidevolk  plays  a  style  of  pagan/folk  metal  that  is  very  melodic  while  also  mixing  in  a  touch  of  black  metal,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  a  mixture  of  English  and  Dutch  and  cover  History,  Culture  Of  Gelderland  and  Germanic  Mythology  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Heidevolk  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  folk  and  pagan  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE "A  Wolf  In  My  Heart"  "Britannia"  "Tiwaz"  and  "Woedend".  8  out  of  10.

www.heidevolk.com
www.facebook.com/heidevolkofficial

Beldam/Pasung/Horror Pain Gore Death Productions/2018 CD Review

  Beldam  are  a  band  from  Washington  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  blackened  mixture  of  doom  and  sludge  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  album  "Pasung"  which  will  be  released  in  2018  by  Horror  Gore  Pain  Death  Productions.

  Dark  yet  melodic  riffing  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  grim  black  metal  screams  as  well  as  a  few  death  metal  growls  a  few  seconds  later  while  the  riffing  also  brings  in  the  heaviness  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  the  solos  and  leads  also  add  in  touches  of  70's  rock  and  stoner  metal  along  with  some  tracks  also  bringing  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  guitars  and  as  the  album  progresses  the  drums  also  start  displaying  more  aggression  and  the  mid  tempo  sections  also  add  in  a  touch  of  crust  punk.

   Beldam  creates  another  recording  that  remains  true  their  blackened  mixture  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  from  their  previous release,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  death,  despair  and  decadence  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Beldam  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  black,  sludge  and  doom  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Vial  Of  Silence"  and  "Carrion  Feast".  8  out  of  10.


https://www.facebook.com/BeldamOfficial

Enhailer Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
Enhailer first formed in 2014 in Akron, Ohio.  The bassist (Michael Gilpatrick) and drummer (myself) originally came from another band together that went on hiatus, so we decided to start a new project.   The first couple of years, we had a hard time maintaining a consistent lineup with other members, but over the past year or so we have been able to lock in a really good band of guys whom enjoy hanging out and playing together a lot which is important.

2.How would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recordings?
There isn't really a direct way to answer that question because our sound has changed somewhat over the different recordings--between the demo, our first LP, and now this EP.  The one thing that people seem to consistently touch on in reviews is a progressive doom sound.

3.Originally the band was instrumental but the new ep has vocals, what was the decision behind going into this direction?
The last LP did have some vocals on it, but they were sparse.  We always wanted to try experimenting with vocals as another instrument rather than a lead position in the band, but we never had a member who really wanted to try doing it.  When Matt joined, he had the chops, so we let him run with it.

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
We like to explore Kittens and cats, satan, weed, you know, the important stuff.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Enhailer'?
We were totally joking around one day, not being serious at all, while trying to come with band names.  It kind of came out of a cloud of pot smoke honestly...

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
We've been lucky enough to play with Eyehategod ,Goatwhore , today is the day, Childbite, Ringworm and others.  Our stage performance is fucking amazing.  We have lasers and smoke machines and wild animals running around.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
We are going to play a lot of shows over the winter and then we are going to tour in the summer.  Watch our Facebook page and other social media pages for updates coming soon on specific dates.

8.Currently the band is signed to 'Black Seed Productions', can you tell us a little bit more about this label?
I was shopping around for labels to collaborate with on our first album and I vaguely knew of Shy Kennedy of Blackseed records, based out of Pittsburgh, through some other friends.  I took a chance and sent her a message.  She's been nothing but awesome ever since.

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of stoner, sludge and black metal?
It's been better than we ever expected. We have already mailed packages to France, Poland, Germany ect..  The whole thing has been a lot of work but it's a labor of love.  We released three albums in three years including the demo.

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 are not currently a part of any other projects that Im aware of, because we are entirely consumed by this one.

11.When can we expect a full length and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
We are currently working on a full length, as for our future musical explorations its hard to say. This band seems to keep reinventing its sound. Its still evolving, we love to expiriemnt with different sounds not commonly found in heavy music and yet try to find a way to weave them in with really big, heavy  parts

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 a pretty wide range of tastes, however for me personally in regards to Enhailer, Frank Zappa in particular has been a huge influence. Also, everything from Mastodon to Hank Williams, Sr.  As for what am I listening to, I'm really digging Sumac, which is Aaron Turner from Isis

13.What are some of your non musical interests?
I'm into woodworking a lot, painting and daydreaming lol

14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
We really look forward to getting this album out on the live stage and sharing with folks.
Thanks to you and everyone else who has helped us get the word out in anyway!
P.S. Fuck Trump!

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