Arcanorum Astrum/Npo3pehne/MSR Productions/2012 CD Review

  Arcanorum  Astrum  are  a  band  from  Russia  that  plays  a  very  symphonic  form  of  black  metal  with  elements  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2012  album  "Nop3pehne"  which  was  released  by  MSR  Productions.

  The  album  starts  out  with a  dark  and  demonic  sounding  intro  which  also  utilizes  some  symphonic  sounding  and  ritualistic  passages  and  then  the  album  goes  into  a  more  symphonic  black  metal  direction  along  with  some  melody  and  a  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  vocals  and  at  times  there  are  some  blast  beats  being  utilized  and  when  bass  and  clean  guitars  brought  in  they  enhance  the  dark  and  evil  qualities  of  the  record.

  As  the  album  progresses  the  music  starts  getting  more  brutal  and  you  can  also  hear  a  great  amount  of  old  school  death  metal  influences  being  added  in  and  when  solos  are  added  in  you  can  hear  a  great  amount  of  traditional  metal  elements  and  at  times  melodic  vocals  are  also  added  in  and  after  awhile  there  is  a  small  amount  of  electronic  music  being  added  in  for  a  few  seconds  and  the  ritualistic  parts  also  make  a  return  and  one  the  last  song  they  do  a  Death  cover  and  add  a  symphonic  black  metal  twist  to  it.

      Arcanorum  Astrum  show  a  great  amount  of  talent  and  skill  on  this  album  and  take  take  symphonic  and  melodic  black  metal  and  mix  in  a  great  amount  of  death  metal  influences  while  also  sounding  more  evil  than  other  bands  that  play  this  genre  of  music.

  Song  lyrics  cover  Satanism,  Luciferian,  Darkness  and  Occult  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording.

  In  my  opinion  Arcanorum  Astrum  are  a  very  great  sounding  symphonic  black  metal  band  with  elements  of  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Warrior  Of  the  Dark"  "Chaos  War"  "The  Way  to  Myself" and  "Without  judgement".  8/5  out  of  10.

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Portal/For All That Is Damned To Vanish/Vic Records/2014 CD Review

  Portal  are  a  band  from  Sweden  that  plays  a  viking  form  of  melodic  black/death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "For  All  That  Is  Damned  to  Vanish"  which  was  released  by  Vic  Records.

  The  album  starts  out  with  some  fast  melodic  death  metal  guitar  riffs  and  drums  and  a  few  seconds  alter  black  metal  screams  and  growls  are  thrown  into  the  music  along  with  a  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  as  well  as  some  blast  beats  and  a  few  minutes  later  solos  are  added  into  the  music  as  well  as  some  clean  singing.

  As  the  album  progresses  a  good  amount  of  catchy  melodies  are  added  into  the  music  along  with  some  mid  90's  early  2000's  melodic  Swedish  death  metal  influences  and  the  last  beats  also  start  getting  more  powerful  in  the  other  songs  as  well  as  the  melodic  vocals  bringing  in  elements  of  viking  metal  and  you  can  also  hear  some  modern  melodic  death  metal  elements  being  added  into  the  music.

  On  the  fourth  song  Acoustic  guitars  are  added  into  the  recording  and  they  also  help  enhance  the  Viking  and  Pagan  elements  of  the  record  as  well  as  bring  in  some  medieval  sounds  but  the  music  on  the  album  focuses  mainly  on  the  heavy  and  melodic  parts  and  when  spoken  word  parts  are  added  in  the  music  starts  utilizing  a  more  war  like  feeling.

  On  this  recording  the  band  shows  a  lot  of  skill  and  talent  with  the  way  they  can  mix  heaviness,  brutality  and  melody  together  and  they  also  take  an  old  school  sound  an  mix  in  some  modern  elements  to  make  the  music  sound  a  lot  more  powerful.

  Song  lyrics  cover  Mysticism,  Viking/Norse  Mythology  and  Anti  Christian  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  along  with  the  bass  guitars  being  mixed  down  low  in  the  mix.

  In  my  opinion  Portal  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic  viking  black/death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "In  The  Steps  of  Forgotten  Gods"  "The  Wild  And  Furious"  "In  Chase  For  The  Sun"  and  "Kamp".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

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Children Of God/Live At Que Seta/2012 Live EP Review

  This  is  a  review  of  another  recording  from  Children  Of  God  which  continues  their  mixture  of  black  metal,  doom  and  hardcore  with  the  ep  being recorded  live  and  self  released  in  2012  and  called  "Live  At  Que  Sera".

  The  ep  starts  out  with  distorted  amp  sounds  and  drones  and  a  few  seconds  alter  heavy  doom  metal  guitar  riffs  make  their  way  into  the  music  and  a  minute  later  aggressive  sounding  hardcore/sludge  screams  start  to  kick  in  and  after  a  few  songs  the  band  starts  going  into  a  faster  direction  and  adding  in  blast  beats  and  crust  influences  while  not  staying  away  from  the doom  and  drone  elements  of  the  earlier  songs  and  halfway  through  the  ep  the  bass  guitars  get  more  powerful  sounding.

  You  can  tell  that  the  doom  metal  influences  are  more  dominant  on  this  ep  than  they  where  on  the  demo  and  the  band  has  a  very  great  live  sound  and  would  be  the  perfect  band  to  play  at  any  DIY  warehouse  gig  and  having  the  audience  really  getting  behind  their  music.

  Song  lyrics  cover  dark,  hateful  and  everyday  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  dark,  raw  and  heavy  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording  as  well  as  all  of  the  songs  being  recorded  live.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Children  Of  god  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  blackened  sludge  and  hardcore,  you  should  check out  this  live  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "30  Seconds  Of  Blind  Rage"  and  "Desolate".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

https://childrenofgod.bandcamp.com/

Children Of God/Demo 2009 Review

  Children  Of  God  are  a  band  from  Los  Angeles,  California  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black  metal,  doom  and  hardcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2009  demo.

  The  demo  starts  out  with  some  amp  noise  before  adding  in  slow,  heavy  and  dark  sounding  guitar  riffs  as  well  as  some  spoken  word  samples  and  then  the  music  goers  into  a  faster  direction  along  with  some  blast  beats  and  hardcore  punk  style  screams  and  the  band  also  keeps  around  the  slower  and  doomier  material  around  and  mixes  it  with  their  faster  stuff.


  This  demo  combines influences from  black  metal,  doom  metal  and hardcore  punk  while  concentrating  more  on  the  doom  and  punk  elements  to  create  their  own  sound  and  the  music  is  very  raw,  dark  and  heavy  sounding.

  Song  lyrics  cover  hateful  and  everyday  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  dark,  raw  and  heavy  sound  with  the  bass  guitars  being  mixed  down  low  in  the  mix.

  In  my  opinion  Children  Of  God  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  black  metal,  doom  and  hardcore  punk  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Not  One  More  Fucking  Anthem".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

https://childrenofgod.bandcamp.com/

Towering Filth Interview

1. Can you give us an introduction to the band for people that will be hearing of you for the first time?
1. My name is Matthew and Towering Filth is music I wrote and recorded all by myself.

2.How would you describe your musical sound?
2. I would say stark and pissed, the theme is the music is oppression.

3.Can you tell us a little bit more about the lyrics that you write for the band?
3. I write lyrics in a stream of conscious style. Most of them carry a thin narrative and overall theme.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Towering Filth'?
4. My original idea was Towering Flesh but I realized that was a Pig Destroyer song. I didn’t want to be one of those bands named after another bands song so I changed it. Also Towering Filth is significant because I do a lot of “writing for the trash can” where I just write all the time even though most of it isn’t very good.

5.According to the Metal Archives page this band is solo in the studio, are you interested in working with a full band on future releases?
5. Absolutely, I tried it a few times but people keep wanting to put there own ideas on it, which can be cool, but most of the time it’s awful. I like working alone to keep things cohesive.

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?
6. We only played 3 as a full band and the first one was probably the best.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
7. Nope, just working on this next record.

8.Recently you did a Germs cover, what was the decision behind during your own version of one of their songs?
8. I watched a documentary about the BYO and the early days of the record label. That song was in the documentary and caught my attention. I also dug it because it’s outside of my style.

9.The last album came out on Monolithic Records, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?
9. It came about through Heavy Blog is Heavy digging my original demo. It’s more of a distribution deal since I recorded the record myself. I don’t hear from them very often.

10.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your recordings and stage performances by fans of underground music?
10. The online response has been very slow. The music takes some patience to get into.

11.What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?
11. Faster, the earlier demos were slow because I was pretty awful at guitar. The new stuff is fast and a bit more technical.

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

12. Some of my influences are The Abominable Iron Sloth, Admiral Angry, Killing Joke, Burn Everything, Enabler, Gaza, Pariso, Catherine Wheel, and Unsane.

Recently I’ve been listening to Touche Amore, Code Orange Kids, Intronaut, Cedron, letlive, Coilguns, Gorguts, and Ulcerate.

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

13. I’m a bartender and a recording engineer.

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

14. Thanks for taking the time to check out the music. My next release will be called Bask and is a decent percentage written.

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Undefined/Of Xenoglossy And Saturn/Scythecut Records/2008 Full Length Review

  This  is  a  review  of  another  recording  from  Undefined  which  continues  their melodic  and  progressive  mixture  of  black and  death  metal  with  the  album  being  released  in 2008  by  Scythecut  Records  and  called  "Of  Xenoglossy  And  Saturn".

  The  album  starts  out  with  some  brutal  drums  before  adding  in  heavy  and  melodic  sounding  guitar  riffs  and  after  awhile  death  metal,  growls  and  black  metal  screams  are  added  into  the  music  along  with  some  guitar  leads  and  the  music  starts  going  into  a  darker  direction  before  adding  in  bass  guitars  and  heaviness  and  the  music  also starts  speeding  up  at  times.

  As  the  album  progresses  acoustic  guitars  are  added into  the  music  and  the  album  starts  going  into  a  more  progressive  direction  while  also  being  heavy  at  the  same  time  and  the  album  also  starts  utilizing  melodic  clean  singing  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  the  album  after  awhile  starts  going  for  a  more  heavy  route  and  mixing  in  blast  beats  and  thrash  influences.

  This  album  shows  a  lot  of  progression  from  the  ep,  more  doom  metal  elements  are  added  in  as  well  as  the  music  getting  more  dark,  heavy  and  progressive  and  they  also  re-do  a  couple  of  songs  from  the  ep  and  the  remakes  sound  a  lot  better  than  the original  versions  and  the  spoken  word  parts  that  are  added  on  tracks  number  7  and  8  bring  an  even more  darker  edge  to  the  recording.

  Song  lyrics  cover  dark  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy,  dark  and  professional  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording  as  well  as  some  of  the  songs  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Undefined  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  melodic  and  progressive  black/death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "At  the  Edge  Of  The  World"  "Alecto  -  Megaera  -  Tsiphone"  and  "Wings  of  Disembodiment".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

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Undefined Official Forum

Undefined/Saturnism Unfolds/Scythe Records/2005 EP Review

  Undefined  are  a  band  from  Spain  that  plays  a  very  melodic  and  progressive  form  of  black/death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2005  ep  "Saturnism  Unfolds"  which  was  released  by  Scythe  Records.

  The  ep  starts  out  with  some  dark  sounding  acoustic  guitars  and  then  some  slow  and  heavy  guitar  riffs  as  well  as  some  drums  start to  kick  in  along  with  some  melodic  sounding  guitar  leads  and  the  bass  guitars  start  utilizing  a  lot  more  power.

  Once  the  music  goes  into  the  second  song  the  music  gets  a  lot  more  heavy  and  death  metal  growls  are  added  into  the  music  along  with  some  black  metal  screams  and  the  music  still  retains  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  after  awhile  clean  and  acoustic  guitars  are  added  into  the  music  and  it  starts  going  into  a  more  progressive  direction  while  also  remaining  heavy  all  at  the  same  time.

  This  ep  shows  a  lot  of  many  different  styles  of  variety  within  the  metal  genre,  and  the  band  sticks  to  mostly  slow  sections  while  also  speeding  up  at  times  and  there  is  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  progressive  parts  and  the  band  still  manages  to  remain  heavy  and  on  the  third  song  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  melodic   clean  singing  being  utilized.

  Song  lyrics  cover  dark  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  dark  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording  along  with  a  couple  of  songs  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  In  my  opinion  Undefined  are  a  very  great  sounding  progressive  and  melodic  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "At  The  Edege  of  The  World"  and  "Andreia".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

Official website

Undefined Official Forum