Tagarot Interview

1. For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
We are a band from Carinthia, Austria, and we combine metal with acoustic instruments just like flutes, bagpipes, accordeon and mandolin. Our melodies are influenced by traditional celtic tunes.

2. Recently you have released and ep, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?
While mixing the ep we tried to receive an intimate sound, especially for the acoustic instruments, for example a sound you might hear when you are sitting in a pub and listening to a gig of a folk band. A sound that creates a feeling as if the (flute)player sits direct in front of you. On the other hand we were looking for a big metal sound for drums and guitars with a powerful low end.

3. There is a concept in your lyrics, can you tell us a little bit more about it?
Yes, the ep is following a concept. Most of the songs are dealing with the legend of the germanic priest Veleda. She lived a few decades AD and was an important personality in the Batavian rebellion against the Roman Empire. Veleda predicted the victory of the Germanic people in that war. But finally the rebellion failed and Veleda got arrested. Our songs are dealing with the emotional involvement of different people in this uprising.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Tagarot'?
“Tagarot” is Old High German and means dawn. When we were searching for a band name we soon decided to choose one in a really old language because we wanted a name that sounds totally different from most band names we usually know.

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
Sadly we haven’t played any show yet. Our band formation crashed because of the occupational way some members devided to choose. Know we have a new formation and looking forward to play some shows
6. Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

At the moment nothing is tangible.

7. Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label are you looking for any interest?
No, we are not interested in sign a conduct with a label. Maybe in the future but now we are managing ourselves.

8. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of folk metal?
Tagarot isn´t very famous at the moment and we have a small fan base. So the world wide feedback keeps within a limit but we have already fans from over 40 countries and we received great personal feedbacks from some guys which makes us really happy.

9. When can we expect a full length and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
Actually we are composing new songs but we haven’t decided until yet if there will be a full length album or a second EP but we can say that we are working hard and trying to improve our skills and learning new instruments to bring our music to the next step.

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?
Enisferum, Moonsorrow, Nightwish and Eluveitie but also a lot of folk bands such as The Bothy Band, Lúnasa, Caladh Nua and Grada. These are also the bands we are listening to nowadays and many more.

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

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Gloria Morti/Kuebiko/Willowtip Records/2016 CD Review

  Gloria  Morti  are  a  band  from  Finland  that  plays  a  mixture  of  melodic  black,  death  metal  and  thrash  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Kuebiko" which  will  be  released  in  March  by  Willowtip  Records.

  Spoken  word  samples  start  off  the  album before  going  into  a  heavier  musical  direction  along  with  some  blast  beats  and  death  metal  growls  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sound  very  powerful  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  after  awhile black  metal  screams  can  be  heard.

  A  great  amount  of  melody  can  be  heard  in  the  guitar  riffing  and  the  music  is  mostly  rooted  in  a  blackened  death  metal  direction  and  the  music  can  be  atmospheric  at  times  and  when  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  more  of  a  melodic  direction  and  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  playing  and  spoken  word  samples  also  make  a  return  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  a  lot  of  riffs  are  very  heavily  influenced  by  thrash  and  the  last  track  is  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Glori  Morti  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  mostly  in  the  blackened  death  metal  style  taking  both  the  brutal  and  melodic  sides  of  the  genres  and  mixing  them  together  with  a  touch  of  thrash  to  create  a  style  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  the  dark  and morbid  side  of  real  life.

  In  my  opinion  Glori  Morti  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  melodic  black,  brutal  death  and  thrash  metal and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Joseph  Fritzl"  "Gallows  Built  In  Rows"  and  "The  Termination  Of  All  Bonds".  8  out  of  10. 

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Catacean Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
1. The band started with me (David) wanting to write heavy music inspired by bands like Opeth, Cult of Luna, Yob, Emperor, and Neurosis. At first, I didn't know if this project would even become a band, I just wanted to write some songs, record them, and then make those recordings available for people to listen to. Fortunately, I was able to slowly, but surely assemble a group of talented guys who were eager to make their own mark on the material, and the end result exceeded my expectations. The band consists of me on guitar, Emmanuel on guitar/sax/vocals and assorted auxiliary instruments, Steven on bass/vocals, Trae on main vocals, Ben on guitar/vocals, and Dan on drums.

    2.Recently you have released your first album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?
2. I feel that the sound encompasses everything that we as a group love about metal music. One of the goals was to create a mood, and I hope we accomplished that through the use of dynamics. We're all fans of music that takes one on a journey.

    3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
3. The main lyrical topics refer to inner/outer space, with the extrasolar planet WASP-18b being a particular subject of inspiration. That planet is spiraling towards it's host star, and should merge with it in about a million years. So the vastness of space is an obvious inspiration, but also the vastness of the ocean - that is our planet's inner space.

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

4. The group was originally called 'Orcinus' after Orcinus Orca - the full scientific name of the Orca aka Killer Whale. I wanted the music to be the aural equivalent of that mammal - devastating yet elegant. We found there was another band called Orcinus, and we decided to change the name to Cetacean, which is the infra-order of marine mammals that includes whales and dolphins.


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

5. We haven't played any shows yet, but we do have one scheduled for March 5th, 2016 in downtown Los Angeles. We hope to achieve an intense and inspiring live performance.

    6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?
6. We have our record release show March 5th, 2016, and we're looking into some more shows for the spring/summer. As far as touring goes, we're looking into a short run up to the bay area (SF, Oakland) this summer.

    7.The album was released on 'Apes Who looked Up Records', can you tell us a little bit more about this label?
7. Apes Who Looked Up is an independent label founded and run by our own Benigno Esau. It's intent is to produce and release ours and other friends projects under one banner. A musical family, so to speak, composed of people that have collaborated and known each other for a pretty long time and wish to see their output represented amongst other DIY contemporaries. 

    8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of black and sludge metal?
8. So far we've been receiving positive feedback. However, I don't believe we've had much exposure to metal fans outside of the United States yet. I hope that changes soon, and that those fans enjoy our material.

    9.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?
9. Emmanuel (guitar/sax/vocals) is part of the LA blackened death-prog band Exhausted Prayer, and they have recently completed recording a split with Burials, an amazing band from Portland, Oregon. (Swan - you want to add more details?). Daniel (drummer) has been recording with his bands Ancestors and Horse the Band, and Steven's other band The Elephant Parallax are wrapping up a recording as well.

    10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
10. The next round of writing will be the first material that the whole band will be collaborating on. The three songs on Breach | Submerge were largely written by Me (david) and Emmanuel, with some help from Steven and all lyrics written by Trae (vocalist). The next batch of songs will be a much more collaborative effort, and I know Steve, Emmanuel and I already have a lot of song ideas waiting to be jammed on and fleshed out. Although we all love metal, we also have myriad other music influences, and we plan to draw upon those as well.

    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?
11. Cult Of Luna and Opeth are probably the primary influences that inspired me to creat this project. However, there are a host of other bands that have been inspirational such as Intronaut, Black Sheep Wall (Trae's former band), Neurosis, Metallica, Megadeth, The Atlas Moth, Emperor, Krallice, Nachtmystium, Death Spell Omega, Wolves In The Throne Room etc...We've also been influenced by classic and modern jazz artists such as Christian Scott, Bill Frisell, and Kurt Rosenwinkel. Swan in particular has taken to Tuvan throat singing, and he does some of that on the track Outpour I.II.III.

I'm currently listening to bands like Un, Metric, Immortal Bird, Nothing, Elliphant, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Hooded Menace, Midnight, Boys Night Out, Cult Leader, Echoes of the Moon, Darkentries, He Whose Ox Is Gored, and Arctic Sleep.

    12.What are some of your non musical interests?
12. Non-musical interests for me would be bodybuilding/fitness, skateboarding, sci-fi movies and literature, cats.


    13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any  final words or thoughts?
13. Thank you for taking the time to do this interview. We thank family and friends who have supported our endevour. I hope the readers of this zine enjoy our musical expression and are inspired by it.

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Onirism/Cosmic Dream/2016 CD Review

  Onirism  are  a  solo  project  from  France  that  plays  a  very  epic  and  symphonic  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  self  released  2016  album  "Cosmic  Dream".

  Nature  sounds  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  keyboards  a  few  seconds  later  that  also  use  a  variety  of  many  different  sounding  keys  and  tribal  style  percussion  can  also  be  heard  at  times  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  more  of  a  heavy  yet  symphonic  musical  direction  that  also  utilizes  a  great  amount  of  melody.

  A  great  portion  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  while  the  solos  and  leads  remain  true  to  a  melodic  musical  direction  and  the  vocals  are  mostly  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  melodic  singing  while  other  songs  also  bring  in  ethnic  music  sounds  and  as  the  album progresses  acoustic  guitars  are  brought  into  the  music  briefly.

  Onirism  plays  a  style  of  black  metal  that  is  very  symphonic  and  epic  while  also  adding  new  elements  to  the  genre  to  create  a  style  of  his  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  darkness,  cosmic,  nature  and  Occultism  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Onirism  are  a  very  great  sounding  epic  and  symphonic  black  metal  solo  project  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Beginning  Of  A  New  Era"  "Hymn  To  Ahriman"  and  "Cosmic  Dream".  8  out  of  10.

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Cetacean/Breach/Submerge/Apes Who Looked Up Records/2016 EP Review

 Cetecean  are  a  band  from  California  that  plays  a  very  blackened,  atmospheric  and  progressive  mixture  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  ep  "Breach/Sumberge"  which  will  be  released  in  may  by  Apes  Who Looked  Up  Records.

  Dark  yet  clean  playing  starts  off  the  ep  giving  the  music more  of  a  progressive  feeling  along  with  some  drum  beats a  few  seconds  later  and  saxophones  can  also  be  heard  at  times  and  after  a  couple  of  minutes  the  music  goes  into  more  of  a  heavy  sludge  metal  direction  that  also  uses  a  great  amount  of  aggressive  almost  hardcore  style  vocals.

  All  of  the  tracks a re  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  slower  riffs  bring  in  the  heaviness  of  doom  metal  while  the  melodies  bring  in  a  touch  of  post  metal  and  when  the  guitars  bring  in  tremolo  style  riffing  it  adds  in  black  metal  elements  along  with  some  blast  beats  and  high  pitched  screams  and  the  songs  also  bring in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

   When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  dark  and  melodic  fashion  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  clean  singing  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  as  the  ep  progresses  psychedelic  elements  are  added  into  the  music  a  little  bit  more.

  Cetacean  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  black  and  sludge  metal  and  mixes  it  with  post  and  progressive  metal  to  create  a  musical  style  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  Cryovolcanism,  melancholy  and  resonance  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Cetacean  are  a  very  great  sounding   blackened,  atmospheric  and  progressive  mixture  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Earth  Is  A  Whisper".  8  out  of  10.

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Demonstealer/This Burden Is Mine/2016 Full Length Review

  Demonstealer  are  a  band  from  India  that  plays  a  melodic  mixture  of  black,  death  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2016  album  "This  Burden  Is  Mine".

  A  very  fast  and  brutal  death  metal  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  blast  beats  and  growling  vocals  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  a  great  portion  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Clean  singing  and  black  metal  screams  can  be  heard  in  some  parts  of  the  song  and  the  music  also  brings  in  atmospheric  and  progressive  elements  along  with  a  decent  amount  of  keyboards  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that are  present  on  the  recording  and  some  of  the  riffs  are  heavily  influenced  by  thrash.

  Most  of   the  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  very  melodic  and  some  of  vocals  bring  in  angry  shouts  and  as  the  album  progresses  the  music  gets  more  technical  and  they  also   bring  in a  great  amount  of  modern  metal  elements  and  one  of  the  tracks  also  brings  in  a  touch  of  Indian  ethnic  music  and  the  melodic  vocals start  having  more  of  a  dominant  presence  on  the  later  tracks.

 Demonstealer  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  modern  melodic  metal  but  also  bring  in  the  heaviness  of  black, death  and  thrash  metal  along  with  some  technical  and  progressive  elements  to  create  a  style  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  philosophical  themes.

 In  my  opinion  Demonstealer  are a  very  great  sounding  melodic  and  atmospheric  mixture  of  black,  death  and  thrash  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "How  the  Mighty  Have  Fallen"  "This  Burden  Is  Mine"  "Where  Worlds  End"  and  "From  Rubble  to  Ruin". 8  out  of  10   

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Totem Skin/Weltschmerz/Halo Of Flies/2016 CD Review

  Totem  Skin  are  a  band  from  Sweden  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black  metal,  doom,  crust,  hardcore  and  screamo  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Weltschmerz"  which  will  be  released  in  March  by  Halo  Of  Flies.

  Clean  playing  starts  off  the  album  and  after  a  few  minutes  the  music  speeds  up  and  gets  heavy  along  with  some  blast  beats  and  screaming  and  the  music  also  mixes  crust  and  post  hardcore  elements  to  them  while  the  influence  of  black  metal  is  also a  very  huge  part  of  the  bands  musical  style  and  some  of  the  riffs  bring  in  melodies.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  when  solos  are added  into the  music  they  are  in  a  melodic  post  metal  direction  and  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  touch  of  emo  and  as  the  album  progresses  growls  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  clean  playing  also  makes a  return  at  times  and  a  couple  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Totem  Skin  plays  a  musical style  that  takes  post  black  metal  and  crust  and  mixes  them  together  with  doom,  screamo  and  melodic  hardcore  to  create  a  style  of  their own,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  angry  and  depressing  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Totem  Skin  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  black  metal,  doom,  crust,  hardcore  and  screamo  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Longing  leans  And  Beckons"  "The  Mouth  Of  Man"  and  "Distant  Visitant".  8  out  of  10. 

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