Sabhankra/Seers Memoir/Haarbn Productions/2014 CD Review

  Sabhankra  are  a  band  from  Turkey  that  plays  an  epic  and  melodic  mixture  of  black,  death  and  folk  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Seers  Memoir"  which  was  released  by  Hairbn  Productions.

  Atmospheric sounds  start  off  the  album  and  a  few  seconds  later  heavy  guitars  start  to  mix  in  and  the  synths  also  bring  in  a  progressive  feeling  at  times  and  after  a  couple  of  minutes  grim  and  deep  vocals  are  added  onto  the  recording  and  after  the  intro  melodic  guitar  leads  which  are  also  a  huge  part  of  most  of  the  tracks  are  added  into  the  music  along  with  some  elements  of  thrash  and  melodic  death  metal  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  There  are  a  great  amount  of  fast  playing  and  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  present  throughout  the   recording  along  with  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  a  few  tracks  that  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  as  the  album  progresses  clean  singing  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections of  the  recording  along  with  the  guitar  leads  adding  in  folk  elements  into  their  melodic  sound  and  the  synths  also  make  a  return  on  some  of  the  later  songs  giving  the  album  more  of  an  epic  feeling  while  towards  the end  one  of  the  tracks  brings  in  acoustic  guitars.  

  Sabbankra  plays  a  style  that  mixes  the  melodic  sides  of  black  and  death  metal  together  which  they  also  mix  in  with  thrash  and  folk  influences  along  with  some  epic  synths  to  create  a  sound  of their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  epic  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Sabbankra  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic  and  epic  mixture  of  black,  death  and  folk  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Against  The  False  Gods"  "Dancing  With  Death"  and  "A  Star  to  Shine".  8  out  of  10.

VIDEO FROM THE ALBUM SEERS MEMOIR "AGAINST THE FALSE GODS"





  

Frosthelm/The Endless Winter/Black Work (Alkemy Brothers)/2015 CD Review

  Frosthelm  are  a  band  from  North  Dakota  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  melodic  mixture  of  black  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "The  Endless Winter"  which  will  be  released in  March  by  Black  Work  (Alkemy  brothers).

  Classical  guitar  playing  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  stringed  instruments  in  the  background  and  after  a  minute  the  music  starts  going  into  more  of  a  dark,  heavy  and  melodic  musical  direction  along  with  a  heavy  does  of  thrash  metal  elements  and  after  the  intro  spoken  word  samples  are  added  in  at  times  along  with  the  music  getting  a  lot  faster  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  all  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Blast  beats  and  high  pitched  screams  can  be  heard  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  and  the  music  has  a  very  heavy  and  melodic  Swedish  black  metal  feeling  to  it  while  the  band  never  forgets  their  thrash  roots  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  the  music  at  times  also  brings  in  the  brutality  of  death  metal  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  bring  in  a  very  melodic,  extreme  and  old  school  metal  sound  to  the   recording  along  with  some  sections  also  adding  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  playing.

 Frosthelm  remain  true  to  the  melodic  black  metal  sound  of  previous  recordings  while  also  mixing  in  even  more  thrash  elements  this  time  around  along  with  a  touch  of  death  metal,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  winter  and  fantasy  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  form  Frosthelm  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  melodic  black  metal  and  thrash,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Storm  Of  teeth"  "Beneath  Dead  Horizons"  "Endless  Winter"  and  "The  Dragon".  8  out  of  10.

www.facebook.com/frosthelm
www.instagram.com/frosthelm
www.twitter.com/frosthelm
www.frosthelm.bandcamp.com

Primitive Man/Home Is Where The Hatred Is/Relapse Records/2015 EP Review

  Primitive  Man  are  a  band  from  Colorado  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  blackened  form  of  doom/sludge  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  ep  "Home  Is  Where  The  hatred  Is"  which  will  be  released  in  February  by  Relapse  Records.

    A  very  distorted  reverb  sound  starts  off  the  ep  before  adding  in  heavy  guitar  and  bass  riffs  which  eventually  takes  the  music  into  more  of  a  sludge/doom  metal  direction  along  with  some  blackened  death  metal  growls  and  screams  and  on  some  parts  of  the   recording  the  music  does  speed  up  at  times  and  also  brings  in  a  good  amount  of  blast  beats.

  Most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  along  with  some  of  the  riffs  bringing  melodies  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  an d  in  some  of  the  faster  sections  you  can  hear  elements  of  grindcore  and  crust  influencing  their  musical  style  while  the  main  focus remains  more  on  a  slow  black/sludge/doom  metal  direction.

  Primitive  Man  creates  4  very  dark  and  heavy  sounding  blackened  doom/sludge  metal  songs  on  this  recording  and  also  remain  true  to  the  sound  they  established  on  their  last  release,  the production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  violent,  hateful  and  negative  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding   recording  from  Primitive  Man  and if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  enjoy  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Loathe"  and  "Bag  Man".  8  out  of  10.

https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/rmjexp/primitive-man-bag-man-video        

Ensiferum/One Man Army/Metal Blade Records/2015 CD Review

  Ensiferum  are  a  band  from  Finland  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  melodic  form  of  pagan/folk  metal  with  elements  of  melodic  black  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "One  Man  Army"  which  will  be  released  in  February  by  Metal  Blade  Records.

  A  very  medieval  folk  music  sound  starts  off  the  album  giving  the  recording  a  feeling  of  a  fantasy  movie  soundtrack  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  a  very  fast  and  melodic  pagan/black  metal  direction  along  with  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  high  pitched  screams  and  you  can  also  hear  a  great  amount  of  melody  in  the  music.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  along  with  spoken  word  parts  being  added  into  certain  sections  of  the recording  as  well  as  good  back  up  gang  shouts,  symphonic,  folk  and  heavy  parts  mix  together  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  along  with  some  choirs,  viking  singing  and  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

  When  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  all  in  a  very  melodic  musical  direction  and  folk  instruments  can  be  heard  throughout  the  recording  along  with  some  acoustic  guitar  work  being  added  into  some  of  the  songs  and  as  the  album  progresses  elements  of  thrash  metal  can  be  heard  at  times  and  there  are  also  a  couple  of  tracks  that  are  very long  and  epic  in  length.  while  death  metal  growls  and  female  vocals  are  finally  introduced  to  the  music  on  a  couple  of  later  songs  and  they  close  the  album  4  bonus  tracks  one  of  them  including  among  them  a  cover  of  the  Rawhide  theme  and  Barathrum's  "War  Metal".

  Ensiferum  creates  another  pagan/folk  metal  album  that  brings  in  the  heaviness  of  black  and  death  metal  while  also  having  enough  melody  and  epic  elements  that  would  also  appeal  to  a  power  metal  fan,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Nordic,  Germanic  and  Finnish  Paganism  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Ensiferum  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  enjoy  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Heathen  Horde"  "Warrior  Without  A  War"  "My  Ancestors  Blood"  and  "War  Metal".  8/5  out  of  10.

http://www.facebook.com/Ensiferum
http://www.ensiferum.com
http://www.metalblade.com/ensiferum

Barishi/Endless Howl/2015 EP Review

  Barishi  are  a  band  from  Vermont  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  melodic  and  progressive  mixture  of  hardcore,  black  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2015  ep  "Howl".

  A  very  heavy  and  brutal  style  of  prog  metal  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  high  pitched  screams  that  combine  hardcore  and  black  metal  together  and  after  awhile  the  music  starts  incorporating  more  melody  along  with  some  technical  elements  and  the  music  also  brings  in  a  good  mixture  of  both  clean  and  heavy  parts.

  Blackened  death  metal  growls  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  while  some  of  the  heavier  parts  also  bring  in  more  of  a  modern  prog  metal  style  along  with  blast  beats  being  added  in  some  of  the  faster sections  of  the  recording  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  along  with  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

  Barishi  continue  their  extreme  progressive  metal  mixture  of  previous  recordings  taking  the  hardcore,  prog,  technical,  melodic  black  and  death  metal  genres  combining  them  as  well  creating  something  very  original.  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark,  real  life  and  philosophical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Barishi  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  hardcore,  prog,  melodic  black  and  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Smoke  From  The  Earth"  and  "Snakeboat".  8  out  of  10.

http://barishi.bandcamp.com/album/endless-howl-ep 

https://www.facebook.com/barishiband  

Ur Draugr/The Wretched Ascetic/2015 EP Review

  Ur  Draugr  are  a  band  from  Australia  that  plays  a  melodic  and  progressive  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2015  ep  "The  Wretched  Ascetic".

  Acoustic  guitar  playing  starts  off  the  ep  along  with  a  great  amount  of  finger  picking  that  also  gives  the  music  a  progressive  feeling  and  after  awhile  more  full  chords  are  used  along  with  a  mixture  of  death  metal  growls  and  black  metal  screams  that  also  takes  the  music  into  more  of  a  dark  and  heavier  direction.

   Most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  melody  in  both  of  the  guitar  riffs  and  leads  along  with  the  later  mentioned  adding  in  technical  elements  at  times  and  the  music  also  brings  in  a  good  mixture  of  both  acoustic  and  heavy  parts  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  songs  also  stick  to  more  of  a  slow  to  mid  paced  direction  while  there  are  fast  parts  that  also bring  in  blast  beats.

  Ur  Draugr  plays  a  style  of  black/death  metal  that  is  very  dark,  melodic  and  progressive  sounding  along  with  all  of  the  band  members  displaying  a  great  amount  of  talent  and  skill  as  musicians,  the  production  sound s very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  metaphysical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Ur  Draugr  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  TRACK  "The  Wretched  Ascetic".  8  out  of  10.

https://www.facebook.com/urdraugr
https://urdraugr.bandcamp.com
https://soundcloud.com/urdraugr

    

Mudbath Interview

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

Marco (bass, effects): We recorded Corrado Zeller between December 2013 and March 2014. We liked the way Red Desert Orgy (our first EP) sounded, so we decided to stick with local hero Mathieu Croux (Verdun, Goodbye Diana, etc.) for recording and mixing. Collin Jordan (Bongripper, Nachtmystium, Cough, etc.) took care of the mastering over the summer. During that time, our guitarist Flo designed the vinyl artwork (under his moniker The Shivering Goat) with the help of Sanair, a local artist who also worked on the artwork for Red Desert Orgy. After the summer we got in touch with a few labels - we're now glad to be in good hands with Lost Pilgrims Records, Grains of Sand Records and Désordre Ordonné.

Luke (drums, vocals): We've been concentrating on getting the album released for most of the year but we've also been setting a lot of plans in motion for 2015, which'll hopefully be a pretty busy year for us. We also played a small handful of local gigs with some bands we like that were coming through the area this year.

2. You have a new album coming out in 2015, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the EP you had released in 2012?

Marco: It's not really the same band any more! After our singer Félix left the band in 2013, Flo, Mika (guitars) and Luke decided to handle vocal duties, and the result is even more harsh and aggressive than before. Musically speaking, the stoner blues influences have almost completed subsided to make room for a darker, deeper, more violent and deranged atmosphere. We basically just followed our collective instinct and made the music we felt like making at the time. The ritualistic doom/drone parts, the fist-to-the-mouth hardcore forays, the synths and effects... all of that wasn't to be found on the EP because there was a concern for staying within certain boundaries at the time. For Corrado Zeller, we didn't set ourselves any guidelines and just let it come together naturally. A healthy amount of substance abuse came in handy as well.

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

Luke: We wrote a bunch of lyrics and recorded them but decided not to include them with the album because we don't want to 'pollute' the music with any kind of message. There are a lot of bands out there all saying the same shit and we're just not interested in being a part of that. It's all about the music.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Mudbath'?

Marco: We wanted something evocative and straight-to-the-point, and Cleveland Steamer was already taken.

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years?

Marco: In 2012 we played at a place called La Ferme de Mauriac, a community farm deep in the hills in France. It was pretty incredible. They had a grindcore goat there, running around the room and stage during the gigs and attacking fucking German Shepherd dogs. There was also this guy on acid that thought we were terrorists or something – the guy was scared shitless, I though he was going to attack us while screaming the US national anthem. Last but not least, the riot grrrl-like band that we were playing with that night kindly offered, right in front of their kids, for us all to fuck them in the ass. Other than that the gig was OK, even if one of the girls from the other band grabbed a mic and started rapping over Smells Like Teen Cunt.

Luke: The last gig we played on our tour last year near Frankfurt, Germany was a weird experience too. We arrived at the venue, set up the gear and did the soundcheck, and literally no one turned up. The local act played their set in the hopes that a few people might walk in but no one did. The promoter offered for us not to play and still get the gas money, and we were tired and annoyed and had a lot of driving to get home so we nearly took the offer, but in the end we just figured “our gear's set up, there's four guys here who just played a whole gig in front of no one but us – fuck it, let's just play”. The other band grabbed a couch and sat on it in the middle of the room and we gave it everything we had left. My mic broke within the first 5 minutes so I was just screaming into thin air for the rest of the show. What was looking to be a really shitty night suddenly ended up being one of the most exhilarating and intense live experiences we've ever had.

Flo: For me it has to the last time we played at KTS, a really cool squat in Freiburg, Germany, with our buddies Haut&Court from Strasbourg. After the show people went home and we got completely wasted and jammed for an hour or two on the stage with Haut&Court, with everyone switching instruments. Then they left too and we just played drunk black metal by ourselves non-stop for two hours. I remember doing a really long blast-beat and thinking to myself “dude you're so good at this” haha. Then we went down to the basement, where they had practice rooms. There were two random guys playing there and we just started playing psychedelic blues stoner rock-ish stuff with them, and Marco, who usually never goes near the mic, was yelling into it for over an hour. Basically we started playing around 11 pm and didn't stop until 5 am. Definitely my favorite show. And the next day Luke puked for hours on end and then drove us to Strasbourg.

Mika: Same as Flo, that was insane. I think the balloons they had everywhere made us feel like kids again all of a sudden.

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

Marco: We're going to be touring through France, Switzerland, Austria, Croatia and Slovenia from Jan 23rd to 31st, with the final gig being the release party for Corrado Zeller in Montpellier, where Lost Pilgrims Records is based. We'll also certainly play as much as possible everywhere we can in France in 2015 before another Euro tour at the end of the year.

7. The new album is coming out on Lost Pilgrims Records, are you happy with the support they have given you so far?

Marco: Yes, we are. Geraud from List Pilgrims has always given us a hand one way or another since we started out, and it's a real pleasure for us to work together with him on the release of our first LP.
Grains of Sand Records (Russia) and Désordre Ordonné (Canada) are also working with us to bring Corrado Zeller to their respective geographical areas. We're stoked that people are interested in our music thousands of miles away from where we live, especially people that work with many bands we all love.

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

Marco: We were pleasantly surprised by how well our first EP, Red Desert Orgy, was received, and Corrado Zeller seems to be following in its steps. But you know, there are also bands that get poor reviews but tear shit up on stage. We basically just want our music to help us tour as much as possible and to not cost us too much so we can still afford to buy drugs with our overdrafts.

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

Marco: Something honest and brutal, whether it's sludge, doom, black metal, hardcore or full on r&b.

Flo: We don't want to set ourselves any boundaries for the future, although I hope our music will always be recognizable as our own. We're inevitably influenced by all kinds of bands but I think there's a certain color to our riffs. That's how it feels when we compose anyway. All I can say at this point is it looks like the next album will contain more notes than Corrado Zeller.

10. 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?

Marco: There aren't many bands that we all agree on in Mudbath. There are a few bands we all really enjoy such as And So I Watch You From Afar, but we can't really count them as influences on our music. Mika, for example, is more influenced by Rob Crow's work than any doom album.

Mika: On a day-to-day basis I tend to listen to music that's nothing like what we play, partly so it doesn't influence me when I'm writing music for Mudbath. I really like Rob Crow and the plethora of bands and projects he's involved with - Other Men, Thingy, Goblin Cock, Physics, Heavy Vegetables, and more. His melodies, harmonies and mathematical construction really give off a unique atmosphere. I always go for atmosphere over riffs. Boards of Canada's The Campfire Headphase, Bongripper's Miserable or Code Orange's I Am King are a few albums I find absolutely breathtaking, without forgetting my earlier influences such as Orange Goblin and Electric Wizard, or even Nobuo Uematsu's piano work on the Final Fantasy series. That's what inspires me and that's what I want to explore with Mudbath – atmospheres.

Luke: I guess we all bring our own influences to the music. One band that definitely influenced me is Monarch!, an awesome French drone doom band you should definitely check out if you haven't already. The distilled hatred and filth of Kickback has always been a great influence for me too, as has the sheer intensity and honesty of The Chariot.
At the moment some of the records I'm playing constantly are the new Blut Aus Nord, Mayhem, Swans and Run The Jewels albums, Baptists' Bushcraft, Abbe May's Design Desire, Julie Christmas' solo album, an old album by Blonde Redhead, Ghostface Killah's Supreme Clientele, the new EP from Igorrr and Ruby My Dear, as well as Poisse, the first EP from Fange, a stupidly heavy new band from Rennes, France.

Flo: Of course we're influenced by a lot of slow, dirty, and/or psychedelic doom bands, mainly Bongripper, Cough, Thou, YOB, Earth... But unlike Red Desert Orgy, that sounded very stoner/sludge, Corrado Zeller sounds a lot more oppressive and violent. Rorcal's Vilagvege and Oathbreaker's Eros|Anteros undoubtedly influenced me towards this new direction. Before we started the recording sessions we went on a retreat to an isolated house in the mountains, where Luke introduced us to Mare, a unique and brilliant Canadian band that just recorded one EP 10 years ago. We were pretty high all the time there and I'm sure that listening to that band helped shape our approach to some final arrangements on the album. Rob Crow, Grails and Mono don't really have much to do with Mudbath but they've definitely been big influences for me.
Recently I've been listening to the most recent albums by YOB, Earth, Impure Wilhelmina and Code Orange quite a bit, but also a lot of psych rock like Myrrors, The Wytches, Witch, etc. Just in the last few days I've been listening to the latest EP from Selenites like crazy.

11. What are some of your non musical interests?

Marco: Answering interviews.

Luke: In the words of a great American poet: “Money, cash, hoes”.

Flo: Hanging around with my bitch, driving her to the kebab joint - the easy life.
Mika: Fishing. But nobody knows that. And I don't like fish.

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

Marco: Thanks for your interest and thanks to the people who are reading this. Corrado Zeller is already streaming in full on our Bandcamp and will be available on vinyl on Jan 31st. It's going to be heavy as a really heavy thing.

Bandcamp

Facebook