Act of Impalement/I - Echoes Of Wrath/ II - Hyperborean Altar/Caligari Records/2014 Compilation Cassette Review

  Act  Of  Impalement  are  a  band  from  Tennessee  that  plays  a  blackened  from  of  doom/death  metal  with  elements  of  sludge  and  this  is  a  review  2013  and  2014  demos  "Echoes  Of  Wrath"  and  "Hyperborean  Altar"  which  where  put  together  and  released  on  a  cassette  by  Caligari  Records.

  The  first  demo  starts  out  with  an  old  school  blackened  death  metal  sound  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sounding  very  powerful  sounding  and  the  vocals  are  screams  and  screams  that  are  in  between  black  and  death  metal  and  they  also  bring  in  some  melody  and  old  school  80's  underground  metal  elements.

  When  the  music  goes  into  a  slower  direction  you  can  hear  a  great  amount  of  doom  metal  in  the  bands  musical  style  and  the  lead  guitars  and  solos  are  very  dark  and  melodic  sounding  and  the  band  sticks  to  mostly  an  80's  style  mixture  of  black,  doom  and  death  metal  on  the  following  tracks  as  well  as sticking  to  a  more  slow  or  mid  paced  direction.

  The  second  demo  starts  off  with  a  very  old  school  doom/death  metal  sound  which  also  seems  to  be  heavily  influenced  by  Hellhammer  along  with  some  black/death  metal  screams  and  growls  a  few  seconds  later  and  the  bass  guitars  sound  very  powerful  on  the  demo  and  there  is  also  a  decent  amount  of  amplified  reverb  sounds  in  the  tracks  of  the  second  demo.

  The  lead  guitars  on  the  second demo  sound  more  distorted  than  they  did  on  the  first  recording  and  they  also  speed  up  a  bit  on  the  later  tracks  with  the  music  having  a  punk  rock  feeling  being  added  in  with  the  bands  slow  doom  metal  sound  and  on  on e of  the  later  tracks  a  small  amount  of  fast  and  raw  black  metal  elements  along  with  brutal  blast  beats  are  added  into  the  music  briefly  before  returning  back  to  a  slow  and  heavy  musical  direction  and  the  last  song  also  has  a  few  seconds  of  spoken  word  parts.

Act  Of  Impalement  play  a  very  old  school  style  of  doom/death  metal  mixed  in  with  black  metal  and  a  touch  of  sludge  and  crust  punk  on  all  of  the  tracks  and  they  also   bring  in  a  heavy,  dark  and  evil  atmosphere  with  their  musical  sound,  the  production  sounds very  dark,  heavy  and  old  school  while  the  lyrics  cover  Occultism,  Paganism  and  Historical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Act  Of  Impalement  are  a  very  great  sounding  old  school  mixture  of  black,  doom,  death  and  sludge  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Heathen  Omens"  "Necromancer's  Theme"  "Inquisition  (Of  The  Innocent)"  and  "Rise,  Ancient  Pantheon".  8/5  out  of  10.

 http://caligarirecords.bandcamp.com/album/i-echoes-of-war-ii-hyperborean-altar 

Romuvos Interview

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

1. Well, Romuvos is pagan/folk metal, i am trying to express my passion for the days of the barbaric tribes, knighthood, wars, pagan gods and traditions. While part of the songs are tales and stories from the baltic ancient culture, others are about the pagan ways of the baltic people. 

2.Recently you have released your first album, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical direction you have taken with your music?

2. This album is purely pagan in the sence of it, with folk metal melody all along the way.
Keeping the production heavy with guitars and drum section that directly inspired from BM music, accompanied with soft strings sounding synths and clear vocals. You can find few balad songs though mostly the album tempo is mid to slow. The most important thing that i had worked on was the atmosphere and the sincerity of the music thus making it genuine in a way that the listener can feel the vibe and actually go on a journey sharing my visions.

3.Your lyrics cover Lithuanian Paganism, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this topics?

3.Growing to a Lithuanian/Latvian family with many paints, statues and books on the history and culture of Baltic traditions before it was Christianized was drawing my attentions towards it since i was a kid. My grandmother had told me stories from days long gone and I grew up with allot of passion for this subject. This day i have my music as a tool to express that love and desire.

4.On the album you also have a song about Ouroboros, do you also have an interest in Occultism?

4. Sure, occultism is a big part of my life since i was 12, as i recall, i started to learn about it by reading many books, from the Mesopotamian age to the Egypt, Greece, Rome, pagans and Vikings and many more cultures. Learning on their beliefs and way of looking at the world, their traditions and philosophy. I have made few researches of my own in hermetic and black magic and always kept interest in that matters. If you're asking weather i took part in actually experiencing with black magic and Satanism as well? i can say that barley, these days anyway I'm trying to live my life as pagan and have my own point of view

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

5.Romuva is reviving the religious practices of the Lithuanians and Baltic people before their Christianization, Romuva faith is a form of cultural pride, along with celebrating traditional forms of art, retelling Baltic folklore, practicing traditional holidays, playing traditional Baltic music, singing traditional dainas or hymns and songs. For me it is the closest act, or movement that i can relate to concerning my interests and origin.

6.You have picked Velnias as your name for the project, what was it that interested you about this Baltic bestial god of the natural world?

6. Velnias is one of the underworld gods and a form of a devil, and a very interesting thing, at least for me is that musicians, poets, people who were inspired from the outer world from the world of the dead with whom they had a link were in the old Indo-European tradition associated with magicians and the devil stands in between these two classes with his passion for music. The devil in Lithuania is not how jews/Christians/Muslim and such sees him, the approach toward him is much different and there are even museums devoted to the subject. I have even few wooden art of him that passed in my family for few generations.

7.With this project you record everything solo, do you feel this adds to the creativity of the music?

7. I have a rich experience with working in bands, it has many advantages and some disadvantages as well. In some part of my life i chose to go for solo as it was easier for me and suits my way of living, not saying that I'm a misanthrope, but yes, it has to do something with that as well. I like the freedom and quiet way of working, having my own vision comes to life and executed the way i choose too.

8.The new album came out on No Colours Records, how did you get in contact with this label and also how would you describe the support they have given you so far?

8. When i have finished the album, i sent few demos to few labels. After a while i received a reply from No Colours, it was great due to the fact that this is a label i appreciate concerning his contribution to the BM scene from the early 90's. These days No Colours specializing in the underground scene and i am an underground person, I'm not a fame sicker nor some young band that wait to be the next hot thing so to speak. I must say that as for now,  
Steffen(No Colours) is providing me great support and gives good confident and warm place among the No Colours family, and i do think that his truly believes in my music.

9.Are you involved with any other musical projects these days and also have you been a  part of any other bands or projects before in the past?  

9. These days I'm not involved in any other bands or projects. In the past i played in many bands specially BM bands and some Death/Thrash bands as well but nothing that got out to the open or received any attention, mostly because all of the bands i played in, dissolved right before finishing a demo so there no names to mention anyway.

10.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of pagan and folk metal?

10. I got to say that till now i have received great feedback, i keep in touch with some of the people that write to me and i would like to say at that point  HAILS!!! Thanks to all the pagan warriors out there, may you get the Romuvos keys for travelling to another dimensions, far beyond eyes can see or hands can reach.

11,Currently you reside in Israel, are there any plans in the future to move back to your homeland?

11. All the time, it's a problem, these days i am married and we both established our carriers (day to day job) here in Israel, plus most of my family is living here as well, so it would be hard to move back to Lithuania, i do visit once in a while though.

12.Where do you see your self heading into musically during the future?

 12. To tell you the truth, i want to keep the same style exactly and write the next album with the same atmosphere, there is much more songs that i am working on at the moment that deliver the same content. No plans for changing what i think that at the moment doesn't need a change, there are many bands that i wish that they didn't change, it's not always a good thing. If there will be another muse or some changing in the future, i will try to do it under a different name or at least keep it in a similar music content.

13.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?

13. I have started to listen to metal music when i was very young, its the first thing that have catched my ears, it was at the age of 8 with Iron Maiden, than i discovered thrash metal with slayer and kreator, after that it was death metal and black metal, which is the genre that till these day i like the most. I can say that the bands that influenced me are: Summoning, Abigor, Satyricon, Falkenbach, Bathory etc. I have listened to allot of other music genres as well along the way, but today i listen mostly to Metal music and BM. There is one thing that makes BM unic and the most amazing music genre at least for me, it is "Magic", its this thing that is beyond the music, its like something not from these world and it can take you away for places so mystical and dark, it becomes a voyage into other dimensions

14.What are some of your non musical interests?

14. Nature! i love to just be out there, feel the air, the sun, the moon, i love the ocean, especially at winter days, i go to ride those waves, under the gray clouds and rumbling thunders, feeling the tremendous power of the see, there i am alone totally free from everything, me and the gods. I do paint as well.

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

15. Sure, i would like to say that all the Missionaries out there can go fuck themselves! live and let live, don't try to get inside our heads and into our life, thinking you have reached enlightment and now its the fucking time that somehow we supposed to do it as well. Anyway, big hails to all the metal heads out there, keep it underground and keep it real!
Thank you for this interview.

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Sylvatica/Evil Seeds/Gateway Music/2014 CD Review

 Svlvatica  are  a  band  from  Denmark  that  plays  a  very  melodic  form  of  blackened   pagan/death metal  with  elements  of  folk  music  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Evil  Seeds"  which  was  released  by  Gateway  Music.

  Nature  sounds  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  synths  that  use  a  variety  of  many  different  sounding  keys  as  well  as  adding  symphonic  elements  into  the  bands  musical  sound  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  a  heavier  direction  along  with  some  melodic  guitar  leads  which  end  up  becoming  a  very  powerful  part  on  the  later  songs  of  the  album  and  blast  beats  which  leads  up  to  some  death  metal  growls.

  The  music  is  very  close  to  a  melodic  pagan/death  metal  sound  on  this  album  along  with  some traces  of  black  metal  and  the  acoustic  guitars  when  they  are  added  into  the  music  bring s in  folk   music  elements  and  in  the  heavier  sections  of  the  recording  there  is  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

  In  certain  sections  of  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  small  amount  of  high  pitched  screams  being  utilized  in  the  background  and  they  add a  more  black  metal  feeling  to  the  recording  and  some  of  the  later  fast  parts  show  some  elements  of  raw  black  metal  being  added  in  their  music  along  with  more  acoustic  guitars  being  added  in  on  later  songs  while  the  main  focus  is  on  a  more  heavy  and  melodic  death  metal  sound  and  they  also  bring  in  a  good  amount  of  thrash  metal  influenced  guitar riffing  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Svlvatica  create  a  very  heavy  and  blackened  pagan  form  of  death  metal  with  their  music  bringing  in  a  perfect  balance  between  brutality  and  melody  as  well  as  adding  in  some  folk   and  thrash  metal  influences  into  their  musical  sound  to  create  a  very  interesting  sounding  album,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Norse  Paganism,  Luciferian,  and  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Sylvatica  are  a  very  great  sounding  pagan/blackened  death  metal  band  an d if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Lost"  "Evil  Seeds"  "God Of  the  Gallows"  and  "Sect  Of  Sleep".  8  out  of  10.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RWaOIaEuPw    

Zorakarer/Clarion Call Of Destiny/Senseless Life Records/2014 CD Review

  This  is  a  review  of  the  first  full  length  of  Zorakarer  which  shows  the  band  continuing  in  a  symphonic  black  metal  direction  while  also  adding  in  newer  elements  into  their  musical  sound  with  the  album  being  called  "Clarion  Call  Of  Destiny"  and  was  released  by  Senseless  Life  Records.

  A  very  dark  and  symphonic  sounding  intro  starts  off  the  album  and  after  the  intro  the  music  gets  a  lot  heavier  and  starts  going  into  a  more  symphonic  and  melodic  black  metal  direction  along  with  some  blast  beats  and  high  pitched  grim  sounding  screams  as  well  as  adding  in  a  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  heavier  parts.

  The  guitar  leads  the  band  uses  are  very  melodic  and  demonstrate  a  great  amount  of  talent  and  skill  and  you  can  also  hear  the  bass  guitars  which  sound  very  powerful  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  they  also  add  in  death  metal  growls  at  times  as  well  as  re-doing  both  of  the  tracks  that  where  present  on  the  demo.

  As  the  album  progresses  the music  gets  more  diverse  while  also  sticking  to  a  symphonic  black  metal  direction  and  the  keyboards  also  have  a  prog  rock  feeling  to  them  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  the  band  also  adds  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  parts  and  acoustic  guitars  at  times  before  returning  back  to  a  heavier  direction  an d some  of  the  later  tracks  also  add  in  small  amounts  of  melodic  female  clean  singing  vocals.

  Zorakarer  shows  how  symphonic  black  metal  should  sound  with  this  album  going  back  to  the  1998-001  era  of  this  genre  and  they  also  bring  in  a  very  decent  balance  between  melodic  and  heavy  parts  which  also  make  the  music  sound  a  lot  more  interesting,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Paganism,  Occultism,  Mythology  and  Fantasy  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Zorakarer  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  symphonic  black  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Anthems  Sung  From  A  Dying  World"  "Biology  Of  The  Gods"  "Through  Hyperion  Wastelands"  and  "Brethen  Of  The  Oakthorn  Vale".  8  out  of  10.

Zorakarer.bandcamp.com

Zorakarerofficial.com

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Zorakarer/MMXIII/2013 Demo Review

  Zorakarer  are  a  band  from  Portland,  Oregon  that  plays  a  symphonic  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2013  demo.

  A  very  fast,  melodic  and  symphonic  black  metal  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  blast  beats  and  high  pitched  screams  and  the  music  also  slows  down  at  times  and  lets  the  keyboards  have  a  more  powerful  presence  in  the  musical  sound  and  they  also  alternate  between  slow,  mid paced  and  fast  parts  with  the  guitars  having  a  technical  feeling  to  them  at  times  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  enhance  the  melodic  moments  of  the  music.

  On  the  second  track  the  band  adds  in  a  good  amount  of  palm  muted  riffs  with  the  music  also remaining  true  to  the  symphonic  and  melodic  black  metal  sound  of  the  first  track  and  they  also  add  in  a  small  amount  of  death  metal  growls  and  the  second  song  is  in  a  more  slower  direction  than  the  first  track  while  it  also  has  its  fast  moments  and  blast  beats  and  the  solo  on  this  track  shows  how  talented  of  musicians  the  guitar  players  are  in  this  band  and  towards  the  end  they  add  in  more  clean  parts,  acoustic  guitars  and  gothic  elements  while  also  remaining  very  heavy  at  the  same  time.

  Zorakarer  plays  a  very  symphonic  form  of  black  metal  that  goes  back  to  the  mid  90's  Norwegian  variation  of  this  genre  and  also  has  a  very  dark,  heavy  and  melodic  feeling  throughout  the  2  songs  they  bring  to  this  demo,  the  production  sounds  very  powerful  for  being  a  demo  while  the  lyrics  cover  Paganism  and  Occultism  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Zorakarer  are  a  very  great  sounding  symphonic  black  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  demo.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Astral  - Theological  Literary  hybrid".  8  out  of  10.

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Romuvos/Romuvan Dainas/No Colours Records/2014 CD Review

  Romuvos  are  a  1  man  band  from  Lithuania  but  now  resides  in  Israel  and  plays  a  pagan  form  of  folk  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2014  album  "Romuvan  Dainas"  which  was  released  by  No  Colours  Records.

  A  very  dark,  epic  and  melodic  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  guitar  leads  and  folk  instruments  and  it  leads  to  a  heavier  folk  metal  direction  as  well  as  adding  in  melodic  clean  singing  pagan  vocals  and  after  awhile  the  music  starts  adding  in  tragic  sounding  keyboards  and  acoustic  guitars  while  also  remaining  heavy  at  the  same  time.

  A  good  portion  of  the  songs  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  music  alternates  between  acoustic  and  heavy  parts  while  always  having  a  great  amount of  melody  in  them  and  most  of  the  music  sticks  to  a  slow  or  mid  paced  direction  and  as  the  album  progresses  you  can  also  hear  nature  sounds  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  there  are  also  a  decent  amount  of  ballads  present  on  this  album  that  pay  homage  to  the  ancient  pagan  gods  as  well  as  evoking  a  medieval  and  dark  ages  feeling  and  while  the  pagan  side  of  black  metal  is  an  influence  on  the  music  done  of  the  heavier  elements  or  vocals  of  that  genre  are  ever  utilized  on  this  recording.

  Romuvos  creates  a  very  interesting  pagan/folk  metal  album  with  this  recording    focusing  more  on  melody  and  the  more  folk  music  side  of  this  genre  and  he  ends  up  creating  a  very  melodic  and  medieval  sounding  record,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Lithuanian  and  Baltic  folklore  and  paganism  along  with  a  touch  of  Hermeticism  with  one  of  the  songs  being  about  Ouroboros.

  In  my  opinion  Romovos  are  a  very  great  sounding  pagan/folk  metal  project  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Under  The  Glaciers  Of  Baltijos"  "Poems  For  The  Dead"  and  "Egle  -  The  Queen  Of  Serpents".  8  out  of  10..

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Warthrone Interview

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

Richard: We recently put out a new full length album, "Venomassacre", which we are extremely proud of and has been getting a lot of positive feedback! We also inked a deal with the awesome people at Lost Apparations Records to re-release Venomassacre, along with a remastered version of our 2005 EP " Ghoststorm Eulogy" included as bonus tracks.Things are killer!

2.Recently you have put out a full length album, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical direction of the new recording and also how does it differ from the demo's and ep's you have released in the past? Erik: We basically write what comes naturally, whether we feel inspired by black or death metal at the time. Our inspirations range from both so I would say we just naturally progress and the mixture of both genres comes out in different parts of our songs.. We write fast music but like to keep the feeling within our songs. Our new album came out a lot heavier than our debut, but it was not intentional.

3.This album is the first release that has came out in 7 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what was going on during those years?

Richard: People got jobs, people got married, people had kids..Just life happening basically. But we never stopped working on Warthrone. It just took a long time, and the proper planets elining, to actually put it out. Many of the songs on the new album were actually written years ago,,

4.All of the band members at one time where a part of Witch-Hunt, do you see the band as a continuation of your past band?

Richard: Somewhat. Erik and i have been friends since we were 12 years old..so actually Warthrone is a continuation of being kids, discovering underground extreme music together, spending all day everyday listening to it and daydreaming of "I wish we could put out an album like this.." Witch-Hunt was a very cool chapter in all our lives, but for myself and Erik, Warthrone is much more from the heart, as far as the kind of music we want to play and hear.

Erik: I feel Warthrone's a new direction from both Witch-hunt and Dying Fetus.  I wrote a lot of Witch-hunt's (later day) riffs, so maybe there are some comparisons. But for the most part, Warthrone is much more brutal, faster and crushing and progressed than anything we did with Witch-hunt. We were young then in the Witch-hunt days so at this point in our lives we are more pissed off than ever and I think it shows in the aggression of Warthrone.

5.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects on the new album?

Richard: Well with our first EP "Ghoststorm.." the lyrics were pretty much all about "the supernatural" in a way...I dont want to say it was a "concept album", but pretty much every song followed that theme..it was always just something we were fascinated by..but the new full length, well, lyrically its all over the place...some things are simply expressing,,certain "aggressive feelings" I was having at the time...its open to interpretation..but none of it is nice. 

6.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Warthrone'?

Erik: Honestly, I've had the name for a while and finally got to unleash the name with this project in 2004. The video games came after us by the way..haha..   The meaning behind it is not much other than it sounded like a good name when we thought of it.

7.The band was originally from Virginia but relocated to Florida, what was the decision behind the move?

Richard: We live in both Virginia and Florida lol. Hard to explain that.. We never really relocated, but we do the music in VA then the vocals in FL.. we live both places I guess.

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

Erik: When I was in Dying Fetus the best show was in Wacken and Graspop about 2002. Warthrone has not played live yet, since we live in different states.. but maybe one day.

9.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?

Not as of right now, we want to start writing the next album then see about establishing a lineup to play live one day.

10.The new album came out on Ghost Storm Records, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

Erik: It's basically a band label we did ourselves to release the debut ep. We have just inked a licensing deal with Lost Apparitions Records (Luray Virginia) that will release Venomassacre on an official label and it should be out around July 2014. It will include a remastered version of our debut ep Ghoststorm Eulogy.

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

Richard: The feedback has been amazing! Much better than we ever hoped! We've gotten positive feedback from literally all over the world, its been awesome!

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

Richard: we already have some ideas..I have tons of lyrics written, and we've got some riff and song ideas already..the answer is...staying true to who we are, but without repeating ourselves.

13.What are some bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

As far as influence, we started with old school thrash and death metal, especially early 90's Florida death metal, grindcore, and european death...then after that, it encompasses all forms of extreme underground metal. Lots of Black Metal obviously,These days im digging on Vader, Krake (Biest of Krake does guest vocals on the new album), Keep Of Kalliseen, Fleshgod Apocolypse, and also always listening to the old school stuff..also really liked the new Carcass album alot..those guys were huge influence on us.

Erik: My favorites right now are Fleshgod Apocalypse and Putrid Pile. We listen to everything from all types of black metal to most brutal death. But, I think old school death metal still and will always have a special place in our hearts, and will always be a main source of our inspirations. However, I can listen to Katatonia or King Diamond, then listen to Dark Funeral or Pathology, all of which inspire us in our songwriting one way or another.

14.How would you describe your views on occultism?

Erik:  We don't really care about any of it.

15.What are some of your non musical interests?

Richie:My family. And beer. Beer is good.

Erik: Kristel and I and my family  run a haunted attraction in VA called Wicked Woods and I pretty much only watch horror movies.  I do also like beer a little much. And racing mustangs or riding rickety carnival rides at the fair  that's fun too haha.

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

The support for Warthrone has been incredible! Thank you so much! also our label LostApparations.com, go check them out, they have lots of killer bands they are supporting. Keep it alive!!

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