Star Insight Interview

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

            Star Insight is a melodic and symphonic metal band. The band was founded in 2005. The band has released four self-publish. Summer 2014 debut album, Messera, is published by Inverse Records. We have already released a music video “Emanuela” from the album. You can found it from Youtube.

The band's music combines many elements: symphonic sections, machinelike sounds, punk riffs, ambient and a little piece of power metal. Traditional roaring vocals complemented by fresh vocals. The song's lyrics are mostly fictional and themes are anything between heaven and earth.

For a start Star Insight was a side project (or a hobby of mine) but now, our activities are more serious. My role is to compose music. I play guitar in the band.

2.You have you first full length coming out in August, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical direction of the newer material and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

2. We chose carefully nine best of the best, most different songs for this album and the idea was to keep it as compact as possible. Maybe the forthcoming albums are longer? If you ask me, older songs were a bit dull. So when I wrote new songs, I tried to make newer songs more interesting and long lasting.

3.The band calls themselves 'space black metal' can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

3. That´s actually a bit old description :) These days we call ourselves Symphonic/melodic metal band. We like to combine many musical styles: punk, ambient and electronic music. But “space metal” is music like The Kovenant :)

4.This is so far the bands first full length and while there where demo's, singles, and ep's what was the cause of waiting 9 years to release a full length?

4. Like I said, Star Insight was only a project for a long time. Maybe we needed those years to crow and became what we are now? We also needed good material for the album and money to make this project possible and they both took some time… We also wanted to make music videos beside the album.

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

5. There´s many topics... pain, anger, frustration, sadness.....Like most of the songs that comes from Finland :D We are that happy nation. I don’t know how to make music about unicorns, rainbows and bunnies. I hate happy music.

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

6. My first idea was Star Inside. My friend Teemu Rantanen (former member of the band) suggested Insight instead of Inside because it looked better. I wanted to put "in" to bands name ´cause I just like it, example In Flames. First idea was to make so called "space metal" such as The Kovenant... so Star became from that space idea.

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

. We have had some gigs but cannot say the best yet. We try to get better every time and be more aggressive...if possible. When you see us on stage you´ll know what I mean :) We are not standing quiet and still.

8.Do you have any touring or show plans once the album is released?

8. We don’t have any tour ideas yet for the autumn, but we have some gigs during this summer before the album is release. Hey, you can book us for the gig!

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

9. Mostly good. We have more and more fans around the world. We have had some bad feedback too, but when I read/hear those, I´ll make even better songs. It´s like "We´ll show you, assholes!!" :)

10.Are any of the band members involved with any other musical projects these days?

10. Pekka plays also in the band called "Arina". Aapo plays in "Ravenshine" and Jesse plays in "Stone Mammoth". I make music also by my own name for other bands too.

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

11. More bigger, powerful sound and better, more varied songs. You’ll see!

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. Here´s a few bands that I like and listen nowadays: Nightwish, Shade Empire, Tool, Samael, The Kovenant, Dimmu Borgir, Cradle Of Filth, The Offspring, Sybreed, Fear Factory,... and movie soundtracks. They all affect to the music I make.

13.What are some of your non musical interests?

13. I have a family, wife and kids, so I don’t have so much spare time after my job, Star Insight and other music hobbies, but I like watching movies and tv-series (after kids bedtime :D ) such as: Game of Thrones, True Blood, Vikings and The Walking Dead.

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

14. I hope that everyone will like our debyt album. Follow us on Facebook for recent news. I hope we can play in many different countries and see you guys on our gigs!

-Mikael Nurmi

The founder of Star Insight.

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Star Insight/Messera/Inverse Records/2014 CD Review

  Star  Insight  are  a  band  from  Finland  that  plays  a  very  symphonic  and  melodic  form  of  metal  they  call  space/black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Messera"  which  was  released  by  Inverse  Records.

  A  heavy  and  symphonic  metal  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  black  metal  vocals  and  you  can  also  hear  a  decent  amount  of  industrial  elements  being  added  into  their  symphonic  black  metal  sound  and  after  awhile  melodic  guitar  solos  and  leads  start  becoming  a  huge  part  of  the  recording  along  with  some  gothic  rock  elements.

   On  some  of  the  later  tracks  melodic  clean  singing  vocals  along  with  the  last  track  using  female  vocals  and  spoken  word  parts  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  you  can  also  hear  elements  of  ambient  music  in  the  keyboards  at  times  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  album  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them,  as  the  album  progresses  their  are  a  small  amount  of  ethnic  musical  sounds  beign  added  into  the  keyboard  playing  and  the  guitar  riffing  also  brings  in  punk  rock  influences  that  are  mixed  in  with  a  more  extreme  metal  sound.

  Star  Insight  takes  a  symphonic  style  of  black  metal  that  is  heavily  influenced  by  The  Kovenant  and  takes  it  into  a  more  modern  metal  direction  while  also  being  heavily  influenced  by  industrial  music  to  create  their  own  sound,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  every  thing  between  heaven  and  earth.

  In  my  opinion  Star  Insight  are  a  very  decent  sounding  space/black  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Limbo"  "Night  With  Fever"  "Oath"  and  "Poem  Of  Misery".  7/5  out  of  10.

http://www.star-insight.net

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Star-Insight/181538831929864

  

Primalfrost/Prosperous Visions/Maple Metal Records/2014 CD Review

  Primalfrost  are  a  band  from  Toronto,  Canada  that  plays  an  epic   mixture  of  melodic  black/death  and  folk  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Prosperous  Visions"  which  was  released  by  Maple  Metal  Records.

  Dark  sounding  keyboards  start  off  the  album  and  they  also  bring  an  epic,  classical  and  symphonic  sound  to  the  recording  and  after  the  intro  the  music  starts  having  the  feeling  of  a  fantasy  movie  soundtrack  before  going  into  a  more  heavier  direction  along  with  blast  beats  and  black  metal  screams  being  added  into  the  band.

  When  the  guitar  solos  kick  in  they  bring  a  melodic  death  metal  feeling  to  the  album  and  they  also  bring  in  a  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  they  also  add  in  melodic  pagan  vocals  as  well  as  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording.

  As  the  album  progresses  acoustic  guitars  and  flutes  are  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  which  also  enhances  the  folk  music  feeling  of  the  bands  musical  style  and  the  band  also  brings in  death  metal  growls  at  time s and  you  can  hear  some  elements  of  power  and  traditional  metal  being  utilized  in  the  guitar  solos  and  leads  at  times  and  they  also  bring  in  a  few  long  and  epic in  length  tracks  as  well  as  alternating  between  acoustic  and  heavy  parts  as  well  as  a  brief  symphonic  instrumental  which  also  gives  the  album  a  great  amount  of  variety  and  some  of  the  later  tracks  show  the  band  adding  in  a  great  amount  of  thrash  metal  influences  into  their  musical  style.

  Primalfrost  have  a  very  epic  approach  to  melodic  black/death  metal  which  can  also  be  brutal  at  times  and  they  also  mix  in  a  great  amount  of  symphonic  and  folk  metal  into  the  musical  sound  along  with  some  talented  guitar  solos  to  really  create  an  album  that  really  stands,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Paganism  and  Fantasy  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Primalfrost  are  a  very  great  sounding  epic  mixture  of  melodic  black/death,  symphonic  and  folk  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Distant  Cries  Of  War"  "Tale  Of  The  Hero"  and  "Silencing  The  Empire".  8/5  out  of  10.

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Teethgrinder/Hellbound/EveryDayHate/2014 7 Inch Review

  Teethgrinder  are  a  band  from  the  Netherlands  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black,  death  metal,  power violence  and  grindcore  with  touches  of  crust, hardcore,  post  metal,  drone  and  stoner  rock  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  7  Inch  "Hellhound"  which  was  released  by  EveryDayHate.

  Spoken  word  samples  start  off  the  ep  along  with  some  heavy  distortion  before  the  music  goes  into  a  fast  and  brutal  grindcore  direction  along  with  some  high  pitched  screams,  growls  and  crust  style  shouts  as  well  as  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  after  a  minute  the  band  slows  down  a  bit  and  you  can  hear  some  elements  of  doom  metal  in  their  musical  sound.

  On  the  later  tracks  you  can  really  start  hearing  the  blackened  death  metal  influence  kick  in  and  the  band  also  brings  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  on  the  third  track  sludge  and  stoner  metal  elements  find  their  way  into  the  bands  musical  style  and  their  last  song shows  off  some  epic  black  metal  style  riffing.

  Teethgrinder  combine  a  variety  of  many  different  extreme  metal  and  hardcore  genres  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  violent  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Teethgrinder  are  a  very  great  soundign  mixture  of  black  metal,  death,  stoner,  grindcore  and  power  violence  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Hellbound"  and  "187".  8  out  of  10.    

https://www.facebook.com/Teethgrinder/ 

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