Mudbath/Corrado Zeller/Lost Pilgrims Records/2015 CD Review

  Mudbath  are  a  band  from  France  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black  metal,  sludge,  doom  and  hardcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  album  "Corrado  Zeller"  which  will  be  released  in  2015  by  Lost  Pilgrims  Records.

  A  very  dark  drone  done  by  synths  starts  off  the  album  before  getting  more  distorted  and  after  a  minute  the  music  goes  into  more  of  a  heavy  sludge/doom  metal  direction  and  the  music  starts  to  add  in  high  pitched  screams  that  are  very  heavily  black  metal  influenced  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  At  times  melodies  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  all  3  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  on  the  second  track  the  music  starts  to  speed  up  a  bit  along  with  some  blast  beats  and  black  metal  style  tremolo  picking  while  also  keeping  around  the  slower  parts  and  bringing  in  elements  of  hardcore and  when  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  bring  a  melodic  post  metal  feeling  to  the  recording.

   Mudbath  plays  a  very  slow,  dark  and  heavy  sludge/doom  metal  sound  that  also  brings  in  elements  of  black  metal,  hardcore  and  post  metal  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sound s very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  depressive  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Mudbath  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  black  metal,  sludge,  doom  and  hardcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Shrim  Alternative  Healing  Center".  8  out  of  10.    

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Astrum Malum/Nether Knot/SixSixSix Music/2014 EP Review

  Astrum  Malum  are  a  1  man  band  from  Finland  that  plays  a  mixture  of  neo-classical,  dark  ambient,  black  metal  and  sludge  and  this  is  a  review  of    2014  ep  "Nether  Knot"  which  was  released  by  SixSixSix  Music.

  A  very  symphonic  and  epic  neo-classical  sound  starts  off  the  ep  and  they  also  mix  it  in  with  heavy  guitars  and  grim  yet  deep  black  metal  growls  and  screams  and  the  programmed  beats  bring  in  a  militant  and  industrial  feeling  and  at  times  spoken  word  parts  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording.

  At  times  you  can  hear  a  great  amount  of  melody  being  utilized  on  this  recording  along  with  the  slower  riffing  bringing  in  a  very  heavy  sludge/doom  metal  feeling  and  when  solos  are  utilized  they  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  melody,  talent  and  skill  and  on  the  last  track  there  is  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  aprts.

  Astrum  Malum  creates  a  very  original  sound  with  his  music  taking  a  symphonic  style  of  black  metal  which  he  mixes  in  with  the  slower  riffing  of  sludge/doom  metal  and  the  atmosphere  of  dark  ambient  and  neo-classical,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  while  the  lyrics  are  divided  into  a  3  song  concept  and  have  a  very  dark  subject  content  to  them.

  In  my  opinion  Astrum  Malum  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  symphonic  black  metal,  sludge,  dark  ambient  and  neo-classical  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  project.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Part  II".  8  out  10.

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Abstruse/Outer Void-Inner Void/2014 Full Length Review

  This  is  a  review  of  another  album  from  Abstruse  which  was  released  the  same  day  as  the  previous  one  reviewed  and  also  continues  the  experimental  and  avant  garde  sound  of  the  previous  recording  while  still  retaining  some  black  metal  roots  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2014  album  "Outer  Void-Inner  Void".

  Dark  ambient  drones  and  atmospheric  sounds  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  acoustic  guitars  and  avant  garde  clean  singing  a  few  seconds  later  which  also  get  more  aggressive  at  times  as  the  album  progresses  and  the  distorted  parts  bring  in  elements  of  industrial  while  also  having  the  heaviness  of  metal  and  you  can  also  hear  a  small  amount  of  grim  voices  being  utilized  in  the  background  at  times.

  Guitars  at  times  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  solos  and  leads  that  demonstrate  a  great  amount  of  talent  and  skill  and  just  like  with  the  previous  recording  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length,  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  the  vocals  bring  in  a  black  metal  feeling  and  a  lot  of  the  music  brings  in  traces  of  early  1900's  musical  genres  while  they  never  forget  there  metal  roots.

  Dog  barking  sounds  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  some  elements  of  noise  music  and  with  each  track  the  album  gets  more  diverse  and  original  sounding  and  they  also  bring  in  more  of  a  metal  sound  on  this  recording  than  than  the  previous  one  reviewed  whilr  also  being  very  experimental  at  the  same  time.

  Abstrucs  creates  another  album  that  is  very  experimental  and  avant  garde  while  also  having  a  small  amount  of  black  metal  as  well  as  being  very  heavy  and  adding  an  industrial  influence  into  their  sound  to  create  a  very  original  sounding  recording,  the  production  sounds  very  powerful  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  illusion  and  reality  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Abstruse  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  avant  garde,  experimental  and  black  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Inner  Void"  "Acid  Rain"  "Underground"  and  "Outer  Space".  8  out  of  10.

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Abstruse/Inner Space-Outer Void/2014 Full Length Review

  Abstruse  are  a  duo  form  Greece  that  plays  a  very  experimental  and  avant  garde  form  of  black  metal  with  elements  of  thrash  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  "inner  Space-Outer  Void".

  Dark  background  sounds  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  keyboards  and  clean  singing  vocals  a  few  seconds  later  which  also  use  spoken  word  parts  and  get  aggressive  at  times  and  there  are  also  some  heavy  guitars,  after  awhile  the  music  starts  to  speed  up  a  bit  and  you  can  hear  blast  beats  being  utilized  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  a  slight  thrash  feeling  on  some  of  the  later  tracks.

  The  music  can  be  very  heavy  and  avant  garde  both  at  the  same  time  as  well  as  adding  in  psychedelic  and  symphonic  elements  at  times  along  with  a  good  amount  of  technical  guitar  leads  and  a  small  amount  of  death  metal  growls  and  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  you  can  hear  a  great  amount  of  ambient  sounds  in  the  bands  musical  style  and  when  acoustic  guitars  are  added  into  the  music  they  bring  in  a  heavy  weird  style  of  sound.

  At  times  you  can  hear  some  80's  style  death  rock  in  the  songs  along  with  small  amounts  of  whispers  being  brought  in  at  times  and  all  of  the  tracks  are  very  diverse  with  the  heavier  part s bringing   in  a  bit  of  the  90's  avant  garde  sound  that  some  of  the  bands  where  experimenting  with  in  these  days  and  they  also  bring  in  a  few  seconds  of  grim  screams  briefly  and  the  later  songs  go  for  more  of  an  un-commercialized  form  of  experimental  music

  Abstruse  creates  a  very  weird  style  of  music  with  their  sound  having  some  roots  in  avant  garde  black  metal  and  thrash  which  is  still  a part  of  their  sound  while  the  later  half  of  the  album  really  goes  for  a  very  experimental  direction,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  yet  powerful  while  the  lyrics  cover  Illusion  and  Reality  themes.

 In  my  opinion  Anstruse  are  a  very  great  sounding  experimental  act  that  have  their  roots  in  black  metal  and  if  you  are  a fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Outer  Void"  :Enchanting  The  Snake"  "Temple  Of  The  Android"  and  "Inner  Space".  8  out  of  10.

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Nervochaos/The Art Of Vengeance/Greyhaze Records/2014 CD Review

  Nervochaos  are  a  band  from  Brazil  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black  metal, doom,  death,  thrash  and  hardcore  punk  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "The  Art  Of  Vengeance"  which  will  be  released  in  December  by  Greyhaze  Records.

   A  very  old  school  thrash  metal  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  death  metal  growls  before  speeding  up  and  adding  in  hardcore  punk  style  shouts  and  the  music  sticks  mostly  to  a  mid  80's  to  early  90's  style  of  extreme  metal  along  with  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  the  raw  energy  of  grindcore  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them..

  You  can  tell  the  band  is  heavily  influenced  by  the  Brazilian  thrash,  death  and  black  metal  bands  of the  80's  in  the  way  they  structure  there  songs  and  a  lot  of  their  fast  riffing  and  screams  bring  in  an  old  school  black  metal  feeling  while  the thrash  and  death  metal  elements  are  still  a  very  strong  part  of  the  bands  musical  style  and  at  time s they  also  add  in  small  amounts  of  melody  to  their  aggressive  sound.  

  When  the  music  slows  down  the  album  starts  showing  more  of  an  early  90's  doom/death  metal  feeling  and  when  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  bring  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody  but  remain  true  to  an  old  school  style  of  death  metal,  one  some  of  the  later  tracks  spoken  word  parts  can  be  heard  at  times.

  Nervochaos  go  back  to  the  mid  80's  and  early  90's  styles  of  death,  thrash,  black  and  doom  metal  and  combine  them  to  create   a  sound  of  their  own  along  with  the  energy  of  grindcore  and  punk,  the  production  sounds  very  old  school  yet  professional  at  the  same  times  while  the  lyrics  cover  Satanism,  Anti  Christian,  Dark  and  Violent  themes.


  In  my  opinion  Nervochaos  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  death,  thrash,  black  metal,  doom,  grind  and  punk  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Harvest"  "The  Devil's  Work"  "Blood  Ritual"  and  "The  Legacy  Is  Pain".  8  out  of  10.

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Frostbitten Kingdom Interview

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

The new album, "The Winter War Symphony" will be out in 25th of November via Wormholedeath. Therefore we have took care of some promotional stuff with the label and media. We are also planning a music video or two. Meanwhile some new material is also being written and naturally we rehearse our playing.

2.Earlier this year the band released a new recording, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

To put it short, it is epic death metal. Some people have compared it to early Wintersun. I think our work is more brutal, but I guess it is still a fair comparison. When we think about our older works, the new album is definitely more melodic than our previous ones. Everyone used to compare our music to Dissection earlier, but I haven't heard that once when it comes to the songs of the new album. So hopefully, we are also a bit more unique nowadays.

3.This was the first release to be put out in 4 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what was going on during that time frame?

Well, when "Infidel Angel" was published in 2010, the album release was followed by a lot of live shows. They kept coming till the spring of 2011, when we decided it is time to start work on new material. We had couple of line-up changes by then and the process of rehearsing and writing the new material took it's time. We finally recorded the new album, "The Winter War Symphony", in December 2012. Our previous label agreed to publish it, but after couple of delays of the release we ended up in the situation where the label was sold and the new owners were not interested in the album. By that time it was already late 2013 and we were naturally a bit pissed off. We lost a guitarist and a bass player around that time. The surviving members finally published the album as a promo in the spring of 2014, only to seek a label and send the work to medias. When Wormholedeath contacted us, we signed the deal they offered without a hesitation. So, long story short, it wasn't our easiest album to make.

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

The entire new album is loosely based on a novel called "Korpisotaa" by Finnish author Pentti Haanpää. The book tells about The Winter War, a war between Finland and Soviet Union during the beginning of World War II. The Winter War lasted from November 1939 till March of 1940 on one of the coldest winters of the century. We thought lyrical theme like that fitted perfectly to the music on our album, as the atmosphere is pretty cold.

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

We just took it from the Immortal's song "Grim and Frostbitten Kingdoms". We were huge fans of Immortal's music by then, like we still are. And naturally, we thought the name sounded so fucking cold, exactly like we tried to sound back then.

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?

You gotta come see yourself as soon as we are starting the live shows again. We have always tried to be energetic on stage, as we share the opinion that nowadays metal bands in general don't focus enough on performing. I think there is some decent live videos on Youtube, where you can get some kind of picture of the shows. It's hard to pick any favorite shows, as we have done this for pretty long. To pick one, it was awesome to open for Venom in Krakow, Poland a few years back. It is also always nice to play on our hometown, where we probably have our biggest support.

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

We have nothing scheduled by now. We will get back on that after we have completed our line-up, published the album and finished at least one music video.

8.WormHoleDeath Records are re-releasing the ep you had released earlier this year, do you feel this will help get your music out there more well known?

Actually we never released the album to anyone but medias and labels, so basically Wormholedeath are first to publish it to the listeners. Wormholedeath is highly professional label and we know they work hard to get us more attention. So sure, we hope that after they have published the album we will get some new listeners.

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

When it comes to reviews, basically each and everyone of them has been positive, when we talk about the new album. We naturally hope that metal fans will like it as much as the critics have. Those few metal fans - outside the labels and medias - who have already heard the album have liked it, as far as we are concerned.

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

Our drummer Sami Vainio plays also for the Finnish death/sludge metal band called Concrete Icon. Their debut album "Perennial Anguish" was released last year. For the fans of the genre, we would strongly recommend checking that out.

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

Probably to more imaginative dimensions. More different kind of sounds, less repetition, more melodies and influences from other genres... maybe stuff like that. But you never know, we do not plan these things much. And the new material written after "The Winter War Symphony" is anyway pretty dark and heavy. So, we'll see when the next album comes out.

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?

When we first started, we tried to create an evil mix of Scandinavian black metal and Florida style death metal, even thou we have never thought ourselves as a black metal band. The death metal stuff has always been more present in our music, if we don't count the vocals. Nowadays we think our music is basically just epic death metal with small nuances of black metal, classical music and rock. If we must name our biggest influences, they might be Death, Dissection and Suffocation.

13.What are some of your non musical interests?

We actually have really little of those.

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

Not really. Thanks for your interest and be sure to check out "The Winter War Symphony"!

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Usnea Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording and release of the new album?

The new album just came out today, which is really exciting. We have a record release show in the works for next month and we're working on Spring touring plans. Nothing final yet, but next year we're hoping to do some US as well as European touring to support the album.

2.Recently you have released a new album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the new recording and also how does it differ from your previous split and full length?

I think our new album definitely is a progression from our last. Musically the same elements are there, but this album feels much more to me like a complete album whereas our first album was four songs that didn't all fit together as well since they were our first output as a band. The new album also shows some differing influences and ideas for us. Vocally we tried some different things: Joel's vocals are much deeper on this album and they came out amazing. And Justin has a few soft singing parts that really add an excellent contrast to the music. There are other things too: more death-doom style parts, things like that. As a band we are constantly evolving and trying out new ideas, so I expect each album will do will be a bit different. We also put out a split 7" this year with a shorter song for us and something that wouldn't have really fit with what's on this album, so it was the perfect spot for that song.

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

The name of the album, Random Cosmic Violence, comes from a Carl Sagan quote: “It is a characteristic conceit of our species to put human face on random cosmic violence.” We are not the creation of some benevolent being or divine inspiration. We are here because of a random series of events that occurred over millions of years. I think that idea is beautiful in its own way and that was what Carl Sagan was really good at conveying - the beautify of the natural universe and the chance that brought us here. In contrast, our society goes to war over dogma, kills over religious ideology, destroys the environment. So our lyrics explore some of those juxtapositions and I suppose we focus a bit on some of the negativity of the random human experiment. As as species what are our conceits, what insanity moves us to do certain things.

4.On the fb page you had some horror and science fiction authors along with a few philosophers listed as influences, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in these topics?

A lot of the ideas in science fiction shed some light on what it means to be human, what we could become given the best and worst of choices and circumstances. So I see a connection there between some science fiction and philosophy - they both can inform our perspective of what we are as a species.

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

Usnea is the name of a lichen, which is actually pretty common up here in the northwest and is nicknamed "Old man's beard". We were trying to come up with a name for the band and coming up with all kinds of ideas. I was looking at lists of names of plant tinctures and I saw that and it just instantly fit. As far as I know, there aren't any other bands named Usnea so that's a plus. And the word has a sort of mysterious sound to it which fits out music well. And its local to our area with medicinal properties, so that's pretty cool as well.

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

I think my favorite show as a band so far was with Yob here in Portland. They are such an incredible band that we look up to that we were humbled to be able to share the stage with them. Also the nicest guys you will ever meet. Mike wore our shirt when they took the stage that night which was pretty incredible, he is such a caring dude, it's hard not to be awed and inspired by his presence and amazing music.

As for our stage performance, playing in a slow doom band is a bit funny. It's not the sort of thing where you're going wild, head banging like crazy, getting the crowd wound up. Live we really just try to project the music and the energy it brings - whether it's a meditative, introspective feeling or a sort of angry, cathartic feeling. Music is meant to make you feel, so that's what we try to convey; if the crowd felt the music, then we succeeded.

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

We have a record release show scheduled in Portland for December 13th, and we're going to follow that up with a tour this Spring. We'll announce more soon.

8.A few months back you had released a split with 'Ruins', how would you compare their musical style to yours?

Ruins are a great band and awesome dudes. Their music is pretty different than ours for sure but I think that makes the split interesting and I think what we do is very compatible with each other. Some of my favorite shows are those with a diverse lineup. No one wants to see a show with four funeral doom bands unless you're a total masochist. So I think it's rad to mix it up a bit, within reason of course.

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your newer music by fans of black metal, doom and sludge?

The feedback we've gotten has all been really positive and sometimes overwhelming. I'm curious to see the reaction to our new album since it should be hitting a few more ears than the last. And although we've sold a few dozen records overseas, shipping costs these days are prohibitive. So I'm stoked that more people overseas will get to hear our new album and get the vinyl. And we will be there ourselves in not too long, playing the songs, so that's exciting too.

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

None of us are doing much else really. We all have little projects here and there but Usnea is definitely our focus.

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

I see Usnea heading down the same track we always have: constantly evolving, getting excited about new influences and ideas, etc. I don't see our sound changing much, but as I mentioned before, I think each album will be a little different than the last and I'm excited to see where this journey takes us. I really have no clue what will be the inspiration for our music several years down the road and that's pretty exciting.

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?

Some favorites of mine that have had a big influence are Yob and Neurosis. As a band we all like a great variety of music, but for this project are obviously focused on creating doom metal. In the context of that, we are free to pepper it with other ideas and create our own unique take on the genre.

13.How would you describe your views on Occultism?

The occult is a dark and weird entity and so it has an appeal and draw to non-mainstream folks and a strong foothold in metal for sure. At the very least, occult themes are an interest in the art that Justin does for the band, and because of our influences lyrically from horror and sci-fi a la Lovecraft and others, the occult finds it’s way in to our aesthetic that way. To be honest though, we are all skeptical critical thinkers and none of us really have any kind of spiritual connection to the occult or any religious thinking at all really.

14.What are some of your non musical interests?

When we're on tour we often play chess and this last tour we had some epic late night games of Carcassonne going.

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

Thanks for the interview!

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