ADifferentShadeOfBlackMetalZine

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Deathillusion/Invisible Lights/2011 Demo Review

Deathillusion are a band from Spain that plays an occult form of melodic black/death metal and this is a review of their self released 2011 demo "Invisible Lights".

Drums range from slow to mid paced drumming with some fast playing and blast beats being present on this recording, while the bass playing has a very dark tone with riffs that follow the riffing that are coming out of the guitars.

Rhythm guitars range from slow, mid paced to fast riffs that combine occult black metal with melodic death metal to create a sound of their own, while the lead guitars are very melodic sounding black/death metal guitar solos and leads, as for the classical guitars they use finger picking and full chords to enhance the occult elements of the music.

Vocals range from deep death metal growls, high pitched black metal screams and spoken word occult chanting, while the lyrics cover Luciferian, Anti Cosmic Satanism and Left Hand Path themes, as for the production it has a very strong, powerful, heavy and dark sound to it.

In my opinion Deathillusion are a very great sounding occult melodic black/death metal band and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this demo. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Invisible Lights" "Reflections Of Black ink II -Chaos" and "Holes In The Sky". RECOMMENDED BUY.

Valtari/Fragments Of A Nightmare/2012 CD Review

Valtari are a band from Australia that plays a mixture of black metal, melodic death, gothic and modern metal and this is a review of their self released 2012 album "Fragments Of A Nightmare".

Drums range from slow, mid paced to fast drumming with some blast beats being utilized at times, while the bass playing has a very dark tone with riffs that follow the riffing that are coming out of the guitars, as for the synths when they are utilized they bring a very dark, atmospheric and gothic sound to the music.

Rhythm guitars range from slow, mid paced to fast riffs that combine black, melodic death, gothic and modern metal together to create a sound of their own as well as a brief use of soft and clean playing, while the lead guitars are very melodic sounding black/death metal guitar solos and leads.

Vocals range from deep death metal growls to high pitched black metal screams, while the lyrics cover dark and depressing themes, as for the production it has a very strong, powerful, heavy, dark and professional sound for being a self released recording.

In my opinion Valtari are a very great sounding hybrid of black, melodic death, gothic and modern metal and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Black Sun Rising" "Judas Lie" "Inside My Darkness" and "Dying Light". RECOMMENDED BUY.

Eternal Storm/From The Ashes/2013 EP Review

Eternal Storm are a band from Spain that plays a very melodic and progressive from of melodic black/death metal and this is a review of their self released 2013 ep "From The Ashes".

Drums range from slow, mid paced to fast drumming with some blast beats being utilized at times, while the bass playing has a very dark tone with riffs that follow the riffing that are coming out of the guitars, as for the pianos when they are utilized briefly they bring a dark, depressing and atmospheric sound to the music.

Rhythm guitars range from slow, mid paced to fast riffs that combine melodic black metal with death metal to create a sound of their own, while the lead guitars are very melodic sounding death metal guitar solos and leads, as for the acoustic guitars when they are utilized they use finger picking and full chords to add the progressive elements to the recording.

Vocals range from high pitched black metal screams to deep death metal growls, while the lyrics cover dark and philosophical themes, as for the production it has a very strong, powerful, dark, heavy and professional sound for being a self released recording.

In my opinion Eternal Storm are a very great sounding hybrid of melodic black metal and death metal and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "From The Ashes" "A Picture In The Dark" and "Grey Skies". RECOMMENDED BUY.

Friday, May 3, 2013

Burial Vault Interview

1. Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?

We are in the final steps for the release of our new album “Incendium” and can’t await the first reactions. “Ekpyrosis (Periodic Destruction)” was received really well and it will be interesting to hear what people think about our new stuff in relation to that.

Right before the release we are going to play some selected shows and we’ll present some of the new tunes for the first time. Everything is really exciting.

2. How would you describe the musical sound of the new album and how it differs from previous recording?

The music on “Incendium” is much more diverse than what we did before. There is a lot going on. We have acoustic guitars as well as interludes with a more symphonic appeal. We extended the range of ingredients a lot. It’s still (Melodic) Death Metal with a progressive attitude and influences of Black and Thrash Metal but the “mixing ratio” is different.

But aside from just being more diverse the new album is also arranged in a way that it sounds more like one big entity. Sometimes we transfer melodies from one song into another by putting them into a different musical context. This may not be obvious in the first place, but even if you don't realize it, it (hopefully) makes the whole record more accessible for the listener.

Production wise, it was also a big step for us. Even if it was the same studio (Soundlodge) and producer (Joerg Uken), we had a lot more time and you can hear that on the new record. It sounds a lot more powerful.

3. Can you tell us more about the lyrical concept of the new recording?

The lyrical concept is influenced by parts of the book “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury. The setting is a near future in which people aren’t allowed to read. The job of the firemen is to burn books and the protagonist is one of them. But something is different with him. Some special incidents change his view and he goes through a metamorphosis, from a blind follower to a resolute opponent of the system.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?

Back in the day, we just wanted a name that fits our preferred musical genre. Yet as time went by, the meaning changed. “Burial Vault” is not just a ‘crypt’ but a fictitious icon of a society that is not very careful for its environment. Humanity starts wars, sticks at nothing and maybe one day we all will end in the “Burial Vault”.

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

That’s a tough one. The show at Legacyfest 2009 was a very remarkable one for us. It was the first time we played a festival of that size and it was a blast.

But we also played some very great smaller club shows. Last year we played two shows in a row in Eastfrisia (Northern Germany) and they were awesome, too. Eastfrisia is not that far from our hometown Papenburg and sometimes we think that we know all the “metalheads” over there. But these two shows really surprised us. It felt like it was the first time we played there.

Our stage performance is very minimalist on the one hand but very energetic on the other hand. The focus is always on the music. So we go on stage, dressed in black and give the best of us.

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

We don’t have particular touring plans so far. But we want to plan something in the near future so keep on checking our page.

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

To be honest, we’re blessed if we know ;) But we realized that something’s going on there. On Facebook the number of followers increased immensely since the release of “Ekpyrosis (Periodic Destruction)” and sometimes we achieve mails from somewhere outside of Germany by people who like our stuff.

8. What is going on with the other musical projects these days?

We’re not sure about this question.

If you want to hint at other musical projects in general, we’ll say that it is quite hard for musicians these days. You can’t blame people for downloading music that they are interested in. Music shall be for everyone. The problem is that people don’t worship what they hear. It is hard work to write, rehearse and record music. And it costs a lot of money to do this. Don’t misunderstand that, it’s not about the money. We don’t want to be the next big thing and get rich, but it is indeed an immense cost factor to be an artist (or whatever you want to call us ^^).

9. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?

Our main goal is to not record the same album twice. We try to evolve and to extend our musical range. We have no idea where this rollercoaster ride will take us but it will be different from “Incendium”.

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

The musical influences are more or less the same. It's obvious that you can find more than 90% of these influences in the extreme metal scene. When we write music nowadays, we try to get inspired by things outside of music. The musical influences are important to create a certain sound but how it's meant to turn out depends on an idea. The fact that “Incendium” is a concept album had a bigger impact on how the music turned out than new musical influences.

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

We all have very different personal interests. Some of us like movies, others are more into sport. We also have our jobs or go to university. Life is a full-time job.

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

Thanks for the interview. We really appreciate your support. It truly means a lot to us!

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Odraedir Interview

1.Can you tell us a little bit about the band for those that have never heard of you before?
Odraedir is a young epic/pagan metal band coming from Prague, the capital of Czech Republic lying in central Europe. The band was founded in 2009 by guitarist Křen, who did his best efforts to turn his dreams real. Nowadays Odraedir consists of five members. Guitarists Křen and Mtyperys, bass guitarist Oggy, drum master Artiller and growling vocalist Dub.

2. How would you describe your musical sound?
In general, songs have a quick rhythm inspired by Nordic “humpa”. We play many melodic solos that are still changing with sampled instrument as flutes and bagpipes and many more. These samples are filling small music gaps, making it more complex, dynamic and making the sound “epic”

3. I know that the band covers alot of Paganism and Occultism in the lyrical topics, how would you describe your views on these topics?
Nowadays our lyrics describe Nordic paganism. We are slowly preparing a CD fully focused on a tale from north, but in our Demo CD Pagan Forest, we dealt with a kind of unspecific pagan topics, including our pilot song Pagan Forest describing a band of druids living in a forest and a song called Occultism and Mystic Practics in Pagan Forest, that is more blackened and describes summoning of daemon horde to punish, let’s say, bad evolving if human society. I was trying to touch a change between pagan and “post-pagan” times but I am probably the only one who takes the text like this, all in all it has a success. Other two songs are dedicated to Norse mythology. Taken from the wider range, our repertoire includes even Celtic topics, like in song called The Rise of Cernunnos that came out in our recent release, EP Troll’s Cave. To shortly describe our view, our relation to the topics, we like making stories that can be “illuminating”.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?
Name Odraedir comes from mythology. It is a one of three mead vessels. Odraedir is kettle, others are wooden. The mead gives the one who drinks it an ability of versing and singing. There is a story connected to Odin that he gained the mead from a hideout and as he was drinking in a hurry, a few drops felt down to Midgard, thus giving people that ability.

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and how would you describe your stage performance?
Our performance on stage is living, we enjoy movement definitely. As the music is fast, we are so. Give us a large stage and we will use every meter of it.
Our best performance we had was in Brno, the second largest city of Czech Republic, where we played with Russian band Arkona. That was really nice performance because that time it was our first larger concert and we saw, that people enjoy the music even they had nearly no chance to know us. We played as second ones and we heated up the audience that was nice feeling. Later we took the advantage of visiting the city and decided to organize a small Czech tour called Dawn of Heathen Warriors. One of the stops were in Brno. Connected to the tour, these are our next best performances we did so far. We are proud that we can connect foreign bands and play together and possibly show people new bands that fit our style. We did two DOHW tours so far and we would like to continue and make a tradition.

6. Do you have any touring plans for the future?
From the nearest future we are preparing a tour of middle Europe in September in cooperation with German band Knaat and Austrian band Heathen Foray. We’ll visit bands’ home countries and we plan to stop in Hungary. There are also some more distant plans like this December but only in the phase of “we could” so I wouldn’t like to say any certain data but for sure we’ll do our best to accomplish them. Next planned is the Czech one as I mentioned.

7. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of folk and black metal?
We have been abroad once so far on a festival. It was an underground festival called Darkness over Paradise held in Austria in Wolfsegg am Hausruck. Festival ground was situated on a hill with nice view on distant Alps that was really nice experience. Unfortunately while we had our performance, it was raining, so many people were hidden in a tent just in the front of the podium. On the other hand, some brave ones stayed out and were enjoying the music and compared to other bands we had quite a success.
But what is more interesting is that from the beginning of the year, there were quite lot webzine reviewers, radio moderators and so on who were interested in making review at our EP or just in promoting Odraedir in their programme. Messages were coming from Germany, Poland, also Czech Republic and even Great Britain and Greece. The last one from America was quite a surprise.

8. Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label and if so what kind of label do you feel that would be a perfect fit for your music?
Yes, a label would be nice to sign a contract with. But there is a huge problem. In the area of pagan, folk and black metal, which would fit us well, labels risk a lot of money if they sign a contract with young band like us. The “market” of bands vary and not one label met this problem. It can be told that these labels sign a contract only with that bands, which are well based yet and this will take us a bit more time.
9. Are there any other musical projects besides this band or is this a full time line up?
Instead of drummer and bass guitarist, who were recruited from underground type of black metal, this is our first music project. Artiller played in three bands before, Oggy played in one together with Artiller and in a rock
10. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?
To be honest this question is hard to be answered. Taken from beginning, from Demo Pagan Forest, the sound was harsh and raw. We used only guitars to make melodies and we were satisfied. We were looking for a keyboard player to underline the melody but no one stayed long with us. Despite of Křen's imagination, me personally, I was really sceptic about adding a keyboard sound and I wanted to leave it like it was that time, just guitars. But last year we decided to record an EP, but there was a bit problem with having exact bass drum as we use it in long and fast passages. It was necessary to start to hold the rhythm by metronome and as we started to use a computer, we decided to try to make some samples. Křen quickly managed everything around that and started to produce not only underlining but complex sound that fills up guitars and gives them more.
Nowadays sound fits us perfectly, we enjoy much every song of “new generation” Odraedir sound every week during band practising, they make us move. And what is important, people also enjoy them during concerts.
So by the end I can conclude, that as our EP has epic influence, our next release will be “full-epic”.
I don't want to make any prognosis about farther future because you can see style changes even in the sphere of large bands. This is a kind of evolvement, let's be surprised...

11. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
Musical styles that influenced our music are pagan, folk, black and partially melodic death. There are influences of Ensiferum, Equilibrium, Finntroll and Moonsorrow. The music style we listen to cannot be described in general, you know, different people have different taste. But of course we are connected by pagan metal. The range is really wide, starting from pagan metal, folk, technical and melodic dead, black over grind, punk, gothic rock, Irish traditional and folk, up to some rock and even some popular music, dark wave or dubstep.

12. Outside of music what are some of your interests?
Artiller is interested in breeding of tarantula. I don't have any special interests instead of my work, that is connected to study and that's molecular microbiology (in the meaning of study of bacterial cell, let's say, molecular interactions). Maybe you say “what the fuck is this” but metalists are clever people. I met Křen in the first year of study and that time he was founding Odraedir. This leads me to him, he likes conspirative theories and he is also porn specialist. Oggy likes fishing and Mtyperys cycling and painting that fit us well, we are really looking forward to the front of upcoming CD, which he will create.

13. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?
Thoughts? Our thoughts are encrypted in our songs. Needs to be listened and felt. And final words? I’ve heard, that after long years of American metal history, where took the main part trash metal and hardcore, came an era of pagan metal. My friends, listen to the voice of wild, maybe one day you will hear a whisper, announcing arrival of Odraedir brotherhood.

Thoreous/Black Crow King/The Grace Of Pettiness/badGod Music/2013 Split Review

This is a review of a split album between Thoreous and Black Crow King called "The Grace Of Pettiness" which was released by badGod music in the year of 2013 and we will start of the r eview with Germany's Thoreous which mixes drone, doom, experimental and noise together.

Drum programming ranges from slow to mid paced beats, while the sound effects and synths bring elements of drone, experimental and noise to their side of the recording, as for the bass playing it has a very dark tone with riffs that follow the riffing that are coming out of the guitars.

Rhythm guitars range from slow to mid paced riffs that combine doom metal, drone and noise together along with a great amount of heavy distortion behind the riffing, while the lead guitars are very distorted sounding guitar solos and leads.

Vocals range from weird vocals, deep growls and high pitched screams which brings a black metal/noise sound to the recording, while the lyrics cover Occultism, Sadistic and Perverted themes, as for the production it has a very dark, heavy, raw and primitive sound to it with some of the songs being long and epic in length.

In my opinion Thoreous are a very great sounding hybrid of doom metal, drone, noise and experimental and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out their side of the recording. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "The Genital Scalps Of The SS Impressing Our Prurient Lollipop Balding" and "Occult Masturbation Wets The Sceptre Of Darkness Injected. R ECOMMENDED.

Next up is Black Crow King a band that has been featured before in this zine with a musical style that mixes black metal, drone, experimental, doom and sludge together.

Drums range from slow to mid paced drumming with no fast playing or blast beats being present on their side of the recording, while the synths bring elements of ambient, drone and experimental to the music, as for the bass playing it has a very dark tone with riffs that follow the riffing that are coming out of the guitars.

Rhythm guitars range from slow to mid paced riffs that combine black metal, drone, sludge and doom metal together to create a sound of their own with a great amount of heavy distortion behind the riffing and there are no guitar solos or leads present on their side of the recording.

Vocals are all deep and high pitched blackened death metal growls and screams, while the lyrics cover darkness and occult themes, as for the production it has a very dark, heavy, raw and primitive sound with some of the songs being long and epic in length.

In my opinion this is another great sounding recording from Black Crow King and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out their side of the split. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Legacy Of Dust" and "The Beast Within". RECOMMENDED.

In conclusion I feel t his is a very great sounding split and I would recommend to all fans of black metal, drone, doom, sludge, experimental and noise. RECOMMENDED BUY.

Monday, April 22, 2013

The Unconscious Mind Interview

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

1- We're a black/death metal band, or like many say, “blackened death metal”. We come from the South Shore of Montreal, and the band started officially in 2007. TUM is truly a band of old friends, we've all known each other for about 9 years. We started the band to have a good time and to provide a good time to other people. That goal remains, but with a more focused and professional approach.

2. How would you describe your musical sound?

2- A maelstrom of black and death metal with a touch of symphony.

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

3- Our new album Where Philosophers Fall is essentially the concept of the free thinking philosopher who devotes his life to truth and knowledge for humanity but at the end of the line becomes unhappy, solitary and insane. Think of certain great ancient philosophers that ended up in mental asylums (Frederich Nietzsche). Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?

4- The Unconscious Mind is the source of creation and of dementia. No one really knows how this mysterious part of the brain works. It's also a metaphor about the unconsciousness of humanity as desired by the media, commercial radio and modern society that tries to model our spirit right under our noses. We say that dreams are the language of the unconscious, which is one of the symbolic aspects of our songs. It happens often that I write a song during the night after waking up from a dream and I ask myself where these ideas come from that I did not have the night before. The unconscious is an inner power that we must harness.

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

5- We particularly loved our Montreal show at Le National with The Agonist. We were called upon the day before to replace a band, and it was a big gig on the Domination tour. There were 500 or 600 people there, we weren't on the flyer and more than half of the people had never heard of us. We still got an amazing crowd reaction and our singer even ordered a wall of death. Le National is probably the best venue we've played at.

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

6- We have 4 shows in Quebec in June: Montreal, Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivières and Saint-Hyacinthe. We also intend to expand to the rest of Canada in cities like Toronto and Ottawa.

7. Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label and if so what kind of label do you feel that would be a perfect fit for the music?

7- We just signed with CDN Records for our physical copies and duplication.

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

8- Very well up to now, but I must say that we just recently started a PR campaign and our physical album is not even out, but I think reviews will start coming in soon thanks to Ricburn Media and CDN Records. We are really proud of the album and we've worked hard for many years to put out something of quality and we hope to get good feedback.

9. What is going on with the other musical projects these days?

9- I (Simon Cléroux, guitars) also play in the technical death metal band Derelict. We have 2 albums out and are currently working on a third, as well as going through a competition to play on the Heavy MTL festival which will conclude at the end of May. I also have an instrumental solo project that should see the light of day in 2013 or 2014.

10. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?

10- Our next album will be more collaborative and the writing will be done as a band and not just by one member like on Where Philosophers Fall where it was our keyboardist (Micheal Racine) and I. We want to keep pushing the emotional side for the next one and continue in a more positive direction. Perhaps less technical as well but with added effectiveness.

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

11- Personally, I was very inspired by Old Mans Child for the technical and melancholic riffs, as well as by other black metal bands like Dimmu Borgir and Immortal. But I've also always liked the clean and efficient production of modern death metal bands like Decapitated and Meshuggah who probably inspire that modern side of our sound.

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

12- Well, drinking beer and seeing people that we love, living it up and being happy. Although we all have jobs or are in school, music remains a constant priority in our lives.

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

13- A huge thank you to all of you who support us in this adventure, thanks to you we can do this. We hope to see you at our official launch at Foufounes Électriques in Montreal!