Graves At Sea/The Curse That Is/Relapse Records/2016 CD Review

  Graves  At  Sea  are  a  band  from  the  Western  United  States  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  mixture  of  black  metal,  doom  and  sludge  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "The  Curse  That  Is"  which  will  be  released  in  April  by  Relapse  Records.

  Distorted  drones  start  off  the  album  and  after  a  minute  the  music  gets  more  heavy  and  melodic  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sounding  very  powerful  and  the  vocals  are  screams  that  are  close  to  black  metal  while  the  riffs  mix  in  the  heaviness  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  When  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  stick  to  more  of  a  dark  and  melodic  sludge/doom  metal  direction  and  acoustic  guitars  along  with  violins  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  you  can  hear  some  70's  influences  but  mixed  in  with  more  of  a  very  modern  and  heavy  sound  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  a  very  slow  and  dark  musical  direction  from  beginning  to  ending  of  the  recording  and  they  also  bring  in  a  brief  instrumental  before  returning  back  to  a  heavier  direction  on  the  last  track.

  Graves  At  Sea  creates  a recording  that  takes  black  metal  vocals  and  mixes  it  in  with  the  heavy  style  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  while  also  throwing  in  violins  and  acoustic  guitars  at  times  to  create  another  very  dark  yet  heavy recording, t he  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Witchcraft  and  Darkness.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Graves  At  Sea  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  enjoy  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Dead  Eyes"  "This  Mental  Sequence"  and  "Minimum  Slave".  8  out  of  10.

https://gravesatsea.bandcamp.com/

Giant Of The Mountain/The Empty Quarter/Burning Dogma Records/2016 EP Review

  Giant  Of  The  Mountain  are  a  band  from  Texas  that  plays  a  progressive  mixture  of  black,  death,  doom  and  sludge  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their 2016  ep  "The  Empty  Quarter"  which  will  be  released  in  may  by  Burning  Dogma  Records.

  A  very  heavy  sludge  guitar  sound  starts off  the  ep  before  going  into  more  of  a  fast,  melodic  and  technical  direction  that  also  introduces  blast  beats,  death  metal  growls  and  black  metal  screams  onto  the  recording  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  a  great  amount  of  modern  elements.

  Clean  singing  can  be  heard  in  some  parts  of  the  songs  and  the  songs  also  mix  in  a  lot  of  prog  metal  elements  as  well  as  a  huge  influence  of  melodic  death  and  the  solos  and  leads  the  band  uses  use  of  a  great  amount  of   melody  and  almost  have  a  retro  feeling  at  times  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording.and  some  songs  also  bring in  a  small  amount  of  clean  guitars.

  Giant  Of  The  Mountain  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  melodic  black,  technical  death,  and  mixes  it  with  doom  and  progressive  sludge  metal  to  create  something  very  original,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  H.P  Lovecraft  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Giant  Of  The  Mountain  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  progressive,  black,  death,  doom,  and  sludge  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should c heck  out  this band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Crawl"  and  "Instinct".  8  out  of  10.

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Negative Voice/Cold Redrafted/Hypnotic Dirge Records/2016 Full Length Review

  Negative  Voice  are  a  band  from  Russia  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  melodic  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  with  a  touch  of  doom  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Cold  Redrafted"  which  will  be  released  in  April  by  Hypnotic  Dirge  Records.

  Clean  yet  distorted  playing  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  drum  beats  and  melodic  guitar  leads  making  their presence  known  a  few  seconds  later  which  also  leads  up  to  a  heavier  musical  direction  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording  and  whispers  can  also  be  heard  briefly.

  Clean  singing  can  be  heard  in  some  parts  of  the  songs  while the  aggressive  vocals  are  mostly  black  metal  screams  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts and  the  music  also  alternates  quite  a bit  between  soft  and  heavy  parts  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  along  with  tremolo  picking  can  be  heard  while  the  songs  are  mostly  slow  or  mid  paced  and  the  music  can  also  get  very  progressive  at  times.

  Negative  Voice  retain  some  of  the  melodic  black/death  elements  of  the  last  album  while  also focusing  more  on  the  progressive,  goth  and  doom  metal  side  this  time  around,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  oblivion  and  desolation  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from Negative Voice  and  if  you  are  into t he  melodic  styles  of  black,  doom  and death  metal,  you  should  check  out this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "City  of  Decaying  Gaze"  "Impasse"  and  "Draft Life".  8  out  of 10.

https://hypnoticdirgerecords.bandcamp.com/album/cold-redrafted      

  

 

OfGhost Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the musical project?
Im a working father. I work my ass off. When I have some sparetime I create nonprofit alternative art in garage. Ofghost is good field for creative person. I have done this for years just for fun.

2.In January you had 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?
My sound is heavy and aggressive, a little bit lo-fi and raw. I mix many underground playing styles so I try to keep my distortion good for multi purposes. Sometimes I put some electronic elements to make music  more interesting. This album is the best production I have done, still little bit fucked up, but you can hear that behind my chaos, there may be some kind of sense and potential....

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects that you explore with your music?
Ofghost is not a prisoner of one topic. Im quite flexible about lyricks....so I create lovesong, deathsong, hatesong and so on.....I just try to make it rock ok. Keywords for this album are death, darkness, loneliness, love, hate, despair....and beer....
4.Originally your musical project was called 'File Of Ghosts', what was the cause of the name change and also the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'OfGhost'?
I wanted to update the name of the band. I felt like "File Of Ghosts" was boring. I wanted more fresh attack to name so I made it short version. Word OFGHOST rocks better.

5.With this musical project you record everything by yourself, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
At the moment no activity for finding a lable...DIY is my style....good deal is hard to find...but more you eat the hunger you get, so what will happen it happens....I dont take pressure...I just keep on rocking, learning and banging my head on the wall...

6.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?

7.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of extreme metal?
Some listeners have said that my shit has gone forward. Im very happy about that.

8.Are you also involved with any other bands or musical projects these days?
At the moment this is my main project. There have always been and will be a little underground co-operations.

9.Where do you see yourself heading into as a musician in the future?
My vision is to get some improvement to my sound and production...I think i have found an interesting path....maybe someday we hear this....

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?
I am an oldschool man, so I listened a lot of heavy metal in 80 and early 90 from c-casettes. Metallicas "fight fire with fire" effected a lot to me. It was extreme. Then came Slayer, Sepultura and scandinavian death metal for example. I listened finnish radioshow "METALLILIITTO" everytime it came those days. Then came Nirvana and the Prodigy. I have always listened all kind of music. KVELERTAKS "meir" album rocks very well.
11.What are some of your non musical interests?
Family, holiday, sports, movies, society, world, fixing things,  good food and DRINKS
12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Take a listen OFGHOST few seconds. It wont kill ya...CHEERS from Finland!

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Darkend/The Canticle Of Shadows/Non Serviam Records/2016 CD Review

  Darkend  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  a  symphonic  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "The  Canticle  of  Shadows"  which  will  be  released  in  April  by  Non  Serviam  Records.

  Operatic  male  and  female  vocals  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  keyboards  a  few  seconds  later  which  also  takes  the  music  into  a  very  fast  and  symphonic  black  metal  direction  that also  uses  a  great  mount  of  blast  beats  and  the  songs  also  get  very  melodic  at  times  while  you can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical instruments  that  are present  on  the  recording.

  Spoken  word  parts  can  be  heard  in  some  parts   of  the  songs  and  the  music  also  brings  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  solos  and  leads  when  they  are  utilized  are  also  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  and  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  while  also  being  ritualistic  at  times.

  The  fast  riffs  also  use  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  some  songs  also  mix  in  elements  of  classical  music  and  as  the  album  progresses  acoustic  guitars  can  also  be  heard  briefly and  some  songs  also  bring  in  violins  and  saxophones  and  spoken  words  are  also  added  onto  the  recording  at  times  and  there  are  also  some  session  work  from  members  of  Mayhem,  Shining,  Rotting  Christ,  and  Abysmal  Grief.

  Darkened  creates  another  symphonic  black  metal  recording  that  is  very  heavy  yet  epic  sounding,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Occultism,  Spirituality,  Philosophy  and  Death  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Darkend  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  enjoy  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Clavicula  Solomonis"  "A  Passage  towards Abyssal  Caverns  (Inmost  Chasm  II)"  and  "Congressus  Cum  Daemone".  8  out  of  10.   

https://non-serviam-records.bandcamp.com/album/the-canticle-of-shadows

Youtube link: https://youtu.be/TATLIL5M4mE

Cries Of Your Sins Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little about your musical project?

Cries Of Your Sins is my project I'm working on for a pretty long time... musicaly I'm based in more extreme form of metal but still keeping melodic touch in it. I released a few demos and I'm currently working on debut EP.


2.In February you had released a promo, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?

I tried to do something very melodic and a little bit more technical than my previous stuff but people have to understand that all of my tracks I released yet are just demos... they're just my ideas. Now, after 2 years of writing different stuff I have pretty clear vision about the right COYS sound and the whole idea behind this project. That will be presented with my upcoming debut EP... everything I can say now is that new music will be more agressive and atmospheric.


3.You label your music as 'Melodic Extreme Metal', can you tell us a little bit more about this term?

I have nothing to say about it... I just used this label so people can make some picture about my music - demos I recorded. That's it.


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

I don't want to get into this topic too much... the reason for it is, that I released only demos so I was just playing with different ideas. I would like to talk about these things but there's still time for it.


5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Cries Of Your Sins'?

The same thing as the lyrics. I don't want to people misunderstood this project so I will be more comfortable to talk about it when my debut EP will be finished..... yeah this project is that important to me. Hope you understand.


6.With the exception of a drummer, you record everything by yourself, are you open to working with a full band or do you prefer to work solo?

I like to work on this project alone... COYS became very personal to me. I wanna play live so I will be looking for live members. If someday COYS will become a full band, it will be only in case that I will play with people very close to me.


7.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?

I was looking for a label and a few labels were interested in working with me but the deals they offered were ridiculous. I'm planning to found my own label and release my upcoming album by myself. I was always interested in business side of music so I know something about these things and I started learning about it more. Also I like the idea of doing it by my own.... nobody can fuck me over.

 

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

Pretty awesome... I'm getting only positive feedback which is really cool. I've been lucky to not getting any hate I guess and I really appreciate it.


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

I'm currently working on debut EP that will tell everything about this project so that's the only thing I'm focusing on. Nothing about this project is more important right now. I want to the album be almost ''spiritual''... it's not the right word but I don't know how to describe it. It's very important to translate that atmosphere into the music... anyway I want to go to completely different level from what I've done yet.


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?

I'm influenced by many different music genres  and artists. Even non musical stuff... any kind of art I find interesting inspires me. I love art. About music I'm listening to... there's so much different music I like that if I had to pick up one band from every genre... it would be a long list. I'm not listening to  just metal... that would be very stupid and ignorant.


11.What are some of your non musical interests?

There's not many interests besides music. I love music and art. It's my lifestyle. I'm trying to paint sometimes... yeah and I'm planning to try some filming and photography.


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

Thanks to all of you who are interested in this project and for your support. I appreciate it. Stay tuned for upcoming stuff.

Mike Coys

https://www.spirit-of-metal.com/en/band/Cries_Of_Your_Sins

Mantar/OdeTo the Flame/Nuclear Blast Records/2016 CD Review

  Mantar  are  a  band  from  Germany  that plays  a  mixture  of  black  and  sludge  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Ode  To  The  Flame"  which  will  be  released  in  April  by  Nuclear  Blast  Records.

  A very  distorted  yet  atmospheric  drone  sound  starts  off  the  album  before  adding  in  some  punk  influenced  riffs  which  also  leads  up  to  a  heavier  musical  direction  where you  can  also  hear  all  of the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on t he  recording  and  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  decent  amount  of  tremolo  picking  at  times.

  Vocals  are  mostly  grim  black  metal  screams  and  some  of  the  riffing  also  brings  in  a  small  amount  of  melody  and  the  slow  riffs  are  very  heavily  influenced  by  doom  metal  and  sludge  while  some  of  the  riffing  also  adds  in  a  touch  of  black'n'roll and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  death  metal  growls  and  as  the album  progresses  some  tracks  also  brings  in  a  small  amount  of  psychedelic  elements  while  the  whole  album  sticks  mostly  to  either  a  slow  or  mid  paced  musical  direction  while  there  is  a  brief  use  of  fast  playing  and  blast  beats  and  there  is  also  a  small  amount  of  clean  playing  on  one  of  the  tracks.

  Mantar  plays  a musical  style  that  takes  punk,  sludge  and  doom  and  mixes  it  in  with  black  metal  screams  to  create  a  style  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Mantar  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  black  metal,  sludge,  doom  and  punk  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you should  check  out t his  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Praise  The  Plague"  "Born  Reversed"  "Cross  the  Cross"  and  "Sundowning".  8  out  of  10.

http://www.mantarband.com
http://www.facebook.com/mantarband
http://www.nuclearblast.de/mantar