Psychophobia/The Fall/Metal Scrap Records/2015 EP Review

  Psychophobia  are  a  band  from  Poland  that  plays  a  melodic  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  ep  "The  Fall"  which  was  released  by  Metal  Scrap  Records.

  Classical  guitar  playing  starts  off  the  ep  and  a  few  seconds  alter  the  music  starts  going into  more  of  a  heavy  and  melodic  musical  direction  along  with  some  blast  beats  and  black  metal  screams  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  very  heavily  rooted  in  melodic  death  metal  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Throughout  the  recording  there  is  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  some  of  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  traditional  metal  feeling  at  times  and  in  some  of  the  parts  the  band  also  adds  in  a  touch  of  thrash  and  modern  metal  and  the  music  also  mixes  in  a  great  amount  of  Swedish  influences  and  there  are  also some  death  metal  growls being  utilized  at  times  along  with  a  brief  use  of  melodic  screams  and  spoken  word  parts.

  Psychophobia  plays  a  very  heavy  and  melodic  musical  style  that  mixes  death  and  black  metal  together  as  well  as  having  a  good  mixture  of  both  modern  and  old  school  influences, the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Anti  Priest  and  Humanity  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Psychophobia  are  a  very  great  sounding  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  Fall".  8  out  of  10.

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Maze Interview

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



Welcome. MAZE is a continuation of our road on the underground metal scene, that we walk for over a decade. MAZE is a musical journey through the forgotten paths of old-fashioned sounds. MAZE is an nostalgia for the old scene. Currently, the band it's me and M.Mist. I play the guitar, M.Mist is a vocalist and bassist. Other musicians participated in the recording session only. They are: S.Goat and D.Morph. They play or played in other bands.



2. So far you have released a demo and finished recording a full length, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on those recordings?



The material contains a lot of elements characteristic of heavy metal music, presented by us in a more aggressive form. The material is full of characteristic melodies known thanks for recordings of Swedish and Greek bands from the nineties. When we created sounds we focused on the atmosphere of individual tracks. We wanted to have something distinctive and worth remembering in every song.



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



Try interprete the lyrics and try to get the essence of things yourself. Each interpretation will be good, because your own. Maybe you'll find appeal to the paintings, movies, literature? But remember: "Something stirs in the cosmic mist, Something wakes in a swirling black, Something wanders, moves and twists, breaking through the gloomy clouds".



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



First of all, our name could not restrict us musically. Second, it was supposed to be a little mysterious and not very obvious. Third, was supposed to be a short and easy to remember. That's all.



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



Few years ago we played live under a different name. So far, we have been focused on making music and recording the full-length album. We haven't any live shows plans yet.



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



Currently we finished recording full-length album. Live performance is a good form of promotion, so probably we will promote our band by playing live. We have some interesting ideas, but it's too early to talk about them.



7. In the email you said you where looking for a label, what kind of label do you fell would be a perfect fit for the band?



I believe, that every band being in our place, try to reach with their music to as many listeners. Every band depends on loyal audience. Only involved record label, who believes in the potential of the band, is able to help us in this matter. We are looking for a label, who believes in our capabilities.



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



We have just started the promotion of the band. We provide whole demo for download, we prepare the packages with our materials for dispatch. Consequently, it's too early to say anything more about it. Time will tell.



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



MAZE is a band, which is a part of underground metal scene and so will be. Maybe in the future our name will be more recognizable in the underground. Although we don't care about this so much.  We will continue create our sound and realize our musical visions. First of all, we care about music development of the band.



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?



Although our music refers to the metal scene of the eighties and nineties, a large part of the material was created very spontaneously. We play music for many years. We know, how and what we want to play. Our music isn't accidental. We love good music, all genre. Primarily old metal tunes, but also hard rock from seventies... mostly old sounds.



11. What are some of your non musical interests?



First of all, we are fans of the music. Music fills most of our free time. Creating and playing our tunes is fascinating, as listening the tunes of our favorite bands. We collect rare LPs, CDs, MCs... we buy a lot of them. We participate in gigs, festivals and other musical events. I know, that M.Mist, reads much books and he loves mountain climbing... You'd have to ask him.



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



Thank you for this interview and the interest in our music. Of course, thank those who will read this interview. I greet you and all readers of your blog. Support MAZE and check our tunes:

https://soundcloud.com/thebandmaze

www.facebook.com/thebandmaze

http://thebandmaze.wix.com/maze

Palinopsia/Murmurs From The Well Nothing More/2015 EP Review

  Palinopsia  are  a  band  from Vermont  that  plays  a  blackened  form  of  doom/sludge  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2015  ep  "Murmurs  From  The Well Nothing  More".

  Distorted  reverb's  start  off the  ep  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavy  and  melodic  sludge  metal  direction  and  a  few  seconds  alter  growls  and  black  metal  screams  are  added  into  the  music  and  you  can  also  hear  a  lot  of  elements  of  doom  metal  in  the  bands  musical  style  and  at  times  the  music  speeds  up  a  bit  and  adds  in  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  when   solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  give  the  music  more  of  a  southern  and  stoner  metal  feeling  and  spoken  word  parts  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording and  some  of  the  riffs  have  almost  a  70's  vibe  at  times  while  the  music  is  still  very  modern  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  clean  singing  on  one  of  the  tracks.

  Palinopsia  plays  a  music  style  that  is  mostly  in  a  stoner,  sludge  and  doom  metal  direction  and  mixes  it  in  with  a  great  amount  of  black  metal  elements  to  create  a  very  heavy  sounding  recording,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Palinopsia  are  a  very  great  sounding  blackened  sludge/doom  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Three Sisters"  and  "Celestial  Rift".  8  out  of  10. 

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Abaton Interview

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

Abaton born in 2009 as a mate's band that spent time in rehearsal-room to create something together. After finding a good balance in 2011, was released the first full length album "Hecate". In 2015, after having closed friendship with Viscera///, we decided to record this collaboration, two tracks with mixed line up.


2.So far you have released a full length and a split ep, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on both of the recordings and also how do they differ from each other?


Whereas the band is constantly in evolution, it's hard to characterize a specific musical style. The constant aim is to engage the listeners in landscapes that bring them to the emotions we had feel in the writings time.

Differences between Diade(ms) and Hecate is obvious, becouse they were composed and recorded by different people and inspirations.


3.The band has been around since 2009 but so far has only put out 2 releases, can you tell us a little bit more the gap in between recordings?


We had to change line up and we had internal path which made the process of writing new material more difficult. Besides we try to make for us every detail perfect of each song and concept. So the writing process take a long time from the draft to the complete project.


4.On the ep you had team up with Viscera////, how would you compare their own musical style to yours?


Our musical genres, although slightly similar, they definitely have different sounds and rhythms. Indeed, what bonded us it was not the likeness of musical style but the real interpersonal connections. For these reasons we decided to make a real collaboration, not a simple split album.


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


The lyrics are music's extensions. it describe the landscape created from the music and vice versa. Hecate's album theme was the evolution through the suffering, Diade(ms) and our currently theme has been talking about the concept of the evolution through the knowledge, transcending the suffering.


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


The fundamental value that binds Abaton is a shared passion by the members of the band, what we are able to create together and all the experiences that we live together. Abaton is a greek word, which literally means inaccessible, more detail, however, is a sacred place, inside a sacred place. A room of a subterranean temple, accessible only by those who have taken a spiritual journey.

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


The last gig was at Santa Maria Summer Fest, in Beja - Portugal (we take this opportunity also to thank all the staff) it was really amazing.

To name others concerts, various dates of tours, Pilsen in Czech Republic in 2014, Macigni Fest in Milan in 2014.

Our stage performance tries to be a visual as well as emotional involvement, through the use of specific lights.


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


Sure, we are planning a European tour (Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Czech Rep) at the end of October, as well as other Italian dates for the promotion of Diade(ms), where we will be on the stage with Viscera///.


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


For now, they have always been positive, in some cases more than others.

We hope to continue to be like that. People appreciate us especially on the stage and it's something that makes us very proud.


10.When can we expect another full length and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?


We will release the next full leght album "We are certainly not made of flesh" in October (in which there will be a guest vocal by Sean Worrel from Nero di Marte, who we thank heartfully) and, for the future, we're already at work for the concept of the next full, we hope to do collaborations with other bands, such as this one.

It 'hard to predict which style we will hit for the next compositions, the new album is much atmospheric and liquid, compared to Hecate, which was very visceral and scratchy.


11.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?


Everyone of us listen to different genres, from hardcore to punk, from doom to sludge. It's difficult to name bands that particularly affect the way we compose music.


12.What are some of your non musical interests?


We like every forms of art, paintings, tattoos, nature ... and having fun together and meet new crazy people.


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


We would thanks those who will read this interview, Viscera///, all the labels involved in releasing Diade(ms), Maicol from Soundscape Studio, all the amazing bands that we have known and created great friendship and all the people those who follow us.

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Isenmor/Land Of The Setting Sun/2015 EP Review

  Isenmor  are  a  band  from  Maryland  that  plays  viking/folk  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2015  ep  "Land  Of  The  Setting  Sun".

  Violins  start  off the  ep  along  with  some  heavy  guitars  and  black  metal  screams  and  the  music  also  mixes  in  elements  of  thrash  and  death  metal  and  the  clean  singing  gives  the  songs  more  of  a  pagan  metal  feeling  and  they  also  mix  the  folk  music  and  heavy  parts  together   and  you can  also  hear  spoken  word  parts  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording.

  Throughout  the  recording  there  is  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts   and  you  can  hear  a  great  amount  of  melody  being  utilized  in  the  guitar  riffing  and  the  vocals  also  bring in  a  small  amount  of  growls  at  times  and  as  the ep  progresses  keyboards  are  brought  in  briefly  and  none  of  the  songs  use  any  guitar  solos  and  leads.

  Isenmor  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  the  viking  and  folk  metal  genres  but  also  mix  in  a  great  amount  of  black  metal  elements  and  a  touch  of  thrash  and  death  metal  to  give  their musical  style  more  of  a  heavy  sound,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  Nordic  and  Vinlandic  Mythology.

    In  my  opinion  Isenmor  are  a  very  great  sounding  viking/folk  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Death  Is  A  Fine  Companion"  and  "Land  Of  the  Setting  Sun".  8  out  of  10. 

STREAM & BUY: http://isenmor.bandcamp.com/
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Bearstorm/Americanus/Grimoire Records/2015 CD Review

  Bearstorm are  a  band  from  Richmond,  Virginia  that  plays  a  very  melodic  and  progressive  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "Americanus"  which  will  be  released  on  June  30th  by  Grimoire  Records.

  A  very  melodic  sounding  guitar  lead  starts  off  the  album  and  a  few  seconds  alter  grim  black  metal  screams  are  added  onto  the  recording  along  with  a  great  amount  of  progressive  elements  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  and  the  riffs  also  use  a  great  amount  of  melody.

  A  lot  of  post  metal  elements  can  be  heard  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  and  a  great portion  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  on  some  of  the  tracks  a  small  amount  of  death  metal  growls  are  utilized  and  some  of  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats  and  when  acoustic  guitars  are  utilized  they  bring in  elements  of  Americana  to  the  bands  musical  style  and  some  of  the  heavier  riffs  also  have  a  southern  rock  feeling  at  times.

 Bearstorm  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  the  melodic  side  of  black/death  metal  but  also  mixes  in  a  great  amount  of  progressive  and  post  metal  elements  along  with  a  touch  of  Americana  and  southern  rock  to  create  a  musical  style  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Bearstorm  are  a  very  great  sounding  progressive  and  melodic mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "De  Soto"  and  "Why  We  Can't  have  nice  things".  8  out  of  10. 

STREAM & BUY: http://grimoirerecords.bandcamp.com/album/americanus
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Aeveron 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?

Hi. This is Thomas, the singer. First of all, thanks for the interview and the interest in Aeveron.

It is now three weeks that our new album has been released and so far the response from fans and the press have been overall very good. Our release party was also very successful and we could sell a good amount of the new record.

Apart from that, we are still searching for a second guitarist and a keyboard player as well.

2.Recently you have released a new album, 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?

The music on „VVD“ is basically not differing very much from past releases. But I would say that it is more or less sounding as if made from one piece. This is mainly because the songs were written by our guitarist Jens. Our past records as well as our new record congregate lots of different musical influences which sometimes makes it hard for listeners to discover a common theme. But I think the new record sounds more homogeneous.

3.While the band is from Germany, sou still refer to your musical style as 'Melodic Sweden Death', can you tell us a little bit more about this term?

We have agreed on that term since mainly all members in the band like the Swedish Death Metal scene, especially the one from the late 90s. So, lots of influences can be heard in our songs. That's why we have decided to use that term as a broad orientation since the stereotypical thinking is indispensible even in the Metal scene today.

4.This is the first album to be released in 4 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time period?

These four years were characterized by a lot of changes in the band. I, for one, moved to the south of Germany in August 2011, shortly before the release of „Impending Doom“. So, I have not always been able to join the rehearsals. Unfortunately, in September 2012, both our guitarists Matthias and Alex informed us that they would leave the band for personal reasons. This was a hard time for the rest of the band and we really thought about quitting the band completely. But thankfully we could find a competent and very talented guitar player in Jens. He joined our ranks in November 2012 so we were able to continue the band.
So, we began writing material for our new album back then.
Things went really well and we played several gigs in 2013 and the song writing also went pretty good, when suddenly, in March 2014, our keyboard player Markus, who was a founding member of Aeveron, told us that he would leave the band.
We were devastated because over the past 12 years we had seen guitar players come and go but we had never played live without a keyboard before. That was a pretty challenging thing for us.
But we decided to continue with the band. Markus thankfully contributed the keyboards on our latest release “VVD – Destination Annihilation”.

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

The new record mainly deals with the eternally destructive and greedy nature of mankind. „VVD“ stands for „Venimus, Vidimus, Delevimus“ which means „We came, we saw, we detroyed“. Most of the lyrics on the new record explore aspects of mankind's behaviour throughout its existence and its inevitable destiny – annihilation.

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

„Aeveron“ is a complete fantasy name which was created by our former guitarist Kay. It is the realm we are living in when making music.

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

We had some pretty good shows pretty small clubs in Eastern Germany, i.e. in the Hagalaz Club in Elterlein together with Manegarm, Skyforger and Goddess of Desire in 2005. The gig on the newcomer stage of Metal Camp in 2010 was also a pretty nice experience although there were almost no people in front of the stage. Our performance is pretty normal I guess. :-) Headbanging and having a good time with the audience.

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

We are not planning a tour at the moment although that would be a great thing to do. But, we are all working fulltime, so a tour is not possible at the moment. But, if someone wants to invite us for a small tour, we are definitely interested. The next live show is confirmed for September 2015 in Plauen.

9.The new album was released on Battlegod Productions, can you tell us a little bit more about the deal you have signed with this legendary label?

There you are misinformed. I don't know who spread this rumour but it's definitely wrong. Our new album was self-published. We released „Existential Dead End“ on Battlegod, but after that we did not cooperate anymore. So, I hope that this false info will soon be cleared up. Battlegod did not publish „VVD“.

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

As I have already said above, the new record „VVD“ was received quite well among the fans and the press. We are pretty satisfied with the response so far and hope that a lot of people buy our albums and come to our shows.

11.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are a part of?

I think that you mean our drummer Paul. He is the only one involved in other musical projects. But since this interview is about Aeveron, I will not talk about his bands. Maybe you should do an interview with him in the future. :-)

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

Well, let's see where our inspiration leads us. But I think that our style will not dramatically change. It will more or less stay the same since this is the music we like.

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

A big influence are the Melodic Death bands from Scandinavia, like Arch Enemy for instance. Jens is a huge fan of them. Also, Black Metal is an influence for us and of course traditional Heavy and/or Power Metal. So, the musical input is rather widespread.

14.What are some of your non musical interests?

I can now only speak for myself. I like to read, mainly horror or crime fiction. I like horror and fantasy movies and tv series like The Walking Dead or American Horror Story. Our bass player has a dog. So, that's his non musical interest, I guess. ;-) So, pretty normal things.

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

Again I would like to say thank you for this interview and the interest in our band. Check out our our new record „VVD – Destination Annihilation“. You can order it on www.aeveron.com or on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify or Google Play.

Regards,
Thomas

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