Vex/Sky Exile/Eihwaz Recordings/2016 CD Review

  San  Marcos,  Texas's  Vex  have  returned  with  a  new  album  that  takes  the  melodic  and progressive  mixture  of  black  and death  metal  of  previous  recordings  and  expand  on  it  by  mixing  in  elements  of  folk,  post  punk  and  ambient  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Sky  Exile"  which  will  be  released  in  June  by  Eihwaz  Recordings.

  Distorted  guitar  drones  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  tribal  beats  and  after  the intro  the  music  start  going  into  more  of  a  heavier  musical  direction  along  with  some  black  metal  screams  and  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  after  awhile  death  metal  growls  make  their  presence  known  on  the  recording.

  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  and  the  clean  guitars  also  gives  the  songs  more  of  a  progressive  feeling  while  melodic  vocals  are  also  utilized  at  times  and when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  are  utilized while  the  acoustic  guitars  bring  in  a  touch  of  folk.

  Some  of the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  as  the  album  progresses  elements  of  post  ambient  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  a  couple  of  the  tracks  are  all  instrumental  while some  of  the  slower  riffs  bring  in  a  touch  of  doom  metal  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  some  of  the  faster  riffs  bringing  in  a  small  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  spoken  word  parts.

  On  this  recording  Vex  remove  the  thrash  elements  that  where  present  on previous  recordings  while  keeping  the  melodic  black  and  death  metal  style  and  taking  it  into  more  of  a  progressive  direction  on  this  recording   and  mixes  in  influences  of  folk,  ambient  and  post  punk  to  take  their  musical  style  to  another  level,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while the  lyrics  cover  dark,  depressive  and  metaphysical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  vex  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  the  progressive  and  melodic  styles  of  black  and  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Empyrean"  "The  Cygnus  Light"  "Dark  Skies  Painted"  and  "August  11".  8  out  of  10. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5UrDVWQYUA

  

Whispered Interview

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


Greetings! Things are going pretty good. We're making a music video, doing interviews, trying to get more contacts with promotors / booking agencies and such.



    2.In May  you have a new album coming out, 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?


Every member in the band agress that this is the best stuff we've done yet. Metsutan - Songs Of The Void contains all the usual Whispered elements, but I think everything is in better balance this time. There are also more japanese influences which give the album a nice ethnic atmosphere and most of the songs are quite fresh so compositions are more in line with our vision and concept. Influences from several metal genres are represented on the album forming a very diverse and compelling experience I might say.


    3.In the beginning the music was more power metal but the newer music has more of a melodic death metal approach, what was the decision behind going into a heavier direction?


Even during the recordings of our first album, I was thinking that I wanna push things to a bit heavier direction. I love all kind of metal, but I think that the driving force with Whispered should be drawn from melodic death metal clashing with symphonic and ethnic elements. On the new album there's probably more black metallish influences than ever too, but we wanna keep things interesting and not force the band to go to any specific direction.



    4.Your lyrics deal a lot with Samurai's and Japanese Legends, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this topics?


I've always thought that those themes work really well with metal music, and no-one seems to disagree. I've been interested in japanese culture for a really long time so the inspiration to write this kind of music felt really natural for me. Samurai as a concept is really like Whispered's music I think. Fearlessly engaging to the battle, without forgetting to enjoy a nice cup of tea on occasion.



    5.originally the band was called 'Zealot' what was the decision behind the name change and also the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Whispered'?


Zealot didn't sound quite what we're about and we thought that another name could work better. I think Whispered works nicely because it's gives an serene and silent impression of the band, yet we're mostly quite the opposite. It's also a name that gives us a chance to play something else in the future if we want. If we'd named the band "Samurai Killers", we'd have a hard time to play country music. Hopefully that won't never happen.



    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?


One show we did in Tokyo 2013 really stands out (no surprise there). It was truly amazing experience since we had no idea what to except from an audience in the land of our concept.
Luckily everything was a blast and we had really great time there meeting fans and getting some connections. These recent shows in Finland have also been quite great. Audience has been amazing and we're really excited to play some new songs. I'd describe our stage performance as I'd describe a battle. Tons of adrenaline being scattered in the midst of the fight, leaving the crows to pick up what's left!


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


Not much really. We're really trying to make connections to Europe, since this is our first release there also and we hope to hook up some booking opportunities.
Currently the situation is that we're giving one festival show in Finland at Tampere Metal Meeting with likes of Moonsorrow, Insomnium, Tiamat and Finntroll.
We try to get as much shows as possible for autumn.


    8.The new album is coming out on 'Redhouse Finland Music Publishing', can you tell us a little bit more about this label?


Well it's a quite small label, but they've given us really much financial support with our journey. Like us, Redhouse FMP doesn't have much connections
outside of Finland, but we hope we'll / they'll gain something with the new album.


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


It has been quite amazing actually. We have a really solid and constantly growing fanbase which I'm extremely thankful of. I think we're making something quite new and I'm really
happy that most of the people seem to understand what we're trying to do here. I've not read much of negative stuff about Whispered, though nowadays it's probably not the smartest
idea to constantly browse the internet to see what people think. But overall, the feedback has been extremely positive.


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


Well our bass and backing vocalist dude Kai Palo sings and plays in a band called Drawn Awake. Others don't have much projects, though I'm slowly cooking up some game soundtrack projects and such in the future. Whispered takes about everything we have to offer, so we don't have time for other uphill projects.


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


For now, probably the same direction we're going already. Bigger, better, more oriental, more focused. Though I'm quite sure that at some point, we'll make a bit less crowded album.
Meaning something that's really focused to the band with less orchestral elements. That sounds something I'd like to do at some point.


    12.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?


Well for me, I constantly listen to all kind of music. I love finnish metal bands, game and movie soundtracks and some smooth jazz for instance. If I had to give some names right now,
I'd give Joe Hisaishi, Yuko Takehara, Moonsorrow, Hans Zimmer, Alan Silvestri, Carach Angren, Waltari, Sodom, Vesperith etc.



    13.What are some of your non musical interests?


Movies, making movies (shortfilms and stuff), wandering in the woods, games. I'm all fired up to try Dark Souls 3!



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


Check out Metsutan - Songs Of The Void! Support the band, buy the music and merchandise!
Stay heavy, stay honored and hail Gojira!

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And Harmony Dies/Totenamt/Sliptrick Records/2016 CD Review

  And  Harmony  Dies  are  a band  from  Italy  that  plays  an  avant  garde  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Totenamt"  which  will  be  released  in  July  by  Sliptrick  Records.

  Nature  sounds  start  off  the  album  along  with  soem  church bells  before  going  into  more  of  an  avant  garde  direction  which  also  shows  violins  being  added  onto  the  recording  and  after  awhile  it  starts  to  mix  in  with  a  heavier  sound  which  also introduces  grim  black  metal  screams  onto  the  recording  along  with  some  symphonic  elements.

  A  great  amount  of  melody  can  be  heard  in  the  guitar  riffing  while  elements  of  jazz  can  also  be  heard  at  times  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  you  can  also  hear  clean  singing  in  the  music  at  times  along  with  death  metal  growls  being  used  in  some  parts  of  the  songs and  some  riffs  also  bring  in  elements  of  thrash,  heavy  and  doom  metal  and  traces  of  classical  music  are  present  throughout  the  recording  while  the  solos  and  leads stick to  a  melodic  musical  direction.

    When  the  music  speeds  up  a  small  amount of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  the  songs  also  get  very  experimental  at  times  and  as  the  album  progresses  elements  of  goth  can  be  heard  while  some  songs  also  add  in  acoustic  guitars,  pianos  and  spoken  word  parts  and  a  few  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  later  tracks  start  adding  in  traces  of  Middle  Eastern  music  and  on  the  last  track  operatic  female  and  male  vocals  are  brought  onto  the  recording.

 And  Harmony  Dies  plays  a  style  of  black  metal  that  is  very  avant  garde  and  incorporates  many  elements  from  many  different  musical  genres,  to  create  something  very  original,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  suffering  and  agonizing  themes.

  In  my  opinion  And  Harmony  Dies  are  a  very  great  sounding  avant  garde  black  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Sometimes"  "Tears  like  Promises"  "Another  Ending  Fairytale"  and  "The  Cut".  8  out  of  10. 

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Wormfood/L' Envers/Apathia Records/2016 CD Review

  Wormfood  are  a  band  from  France  that  plays  an  avant  garde  mixture  of  gothic  and  black  metal    and  this  is  a  review  of  their 2016album  "L'  Envers"  which was  released  by Apathia  Records.

  Spoken  word  parts  start  off  the  album  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  a  heavy  and  fast  black  metal  direction  that  also  utilizes  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats  before  slowing  down  and  mixing  in  avant  garde  style  keyboards  and  the  vocals  start  out  in  more  of  a  spoken  fashion.

  After  awhile  black  metal  screams  and  clean  singing  goth  style  vocals  are  added  onto  the  recording  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts and  a  good  amount  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  clean  playing  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  some  songs  also  bring in  psychedelic  elements.

  Wormfood  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  an  avant  garde  form  of  black  metal  and  mixes  it  with goth  to  create  a  style  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  perversions  and  an  acid  view  on  society.

  In  my  opinion  Wormfood  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  goth  and  avant  garde  black  metal  and  if you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE "Serviteur  Du  Roi"  "Gone  On  the  Hoist"  and  "Poisonne".  8  out  of  10. 

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Voland/Self Titled/Mask Dead Records/2016 EP Re-issue Review

  Voland  where  a  duo  from  Italy  that  plays  a  mixture  of  folk  and   symphonic  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  titled  2008  ep  which  was  re-issued  in  2016  by  Masked  Dead  Records.

  A  very  symphonic  sound  bordering  on  classical  starts  off  the  ep  bring  in  an  epic  feeling  to  the  recording  and  after  a  few  seconds  the  music  goes  into  a  very  fast  black  metal  direction  that  utilizes  a  great  amount of  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats  along  with  some  grim  screams  and  they  also  mix  the  symphonic  and  heavy  parts  together.

  Clean  singing  and  melodic  vocals  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of the  recording  giving  the  music  a  medieval folk  music  feeling  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  death  metal  growls  can  also  be  heard  in  the  music  at  times  and  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  melody  while  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  while  spoken  word  parts  along  with  elements  of  ambient  have  their  moment  on  some  tracks .

  Voland  played  a  style  of  symphonic  black  metal  on  this  recording  that  was  more  close  to  the  90's  side  of  the  genre  while  also  mixing  it  with  folk  music  to  create  something  very  original,  the  production  sounds  very dark  and  old  school  while  the  lyrics  cover  the  History  Of  Russia.

  In  my  opinion  Voland  where  a  very  great  sounding  symphonic  folk/black  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Leningard"  and  "Ii  Lado  Dei  Ciudi".  8  out  of  10. 

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Asura/Only Death For My Warriors/Masked Dead Records/2016 Demo Re-issue Review

  Asura  where  a band from  Italy  that  played  a  symphonic  and  gothic  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2009  demo  "Only  Death  For  my  Warriors"  which  was  re-issued  in  2016  by  Masked  Dead  Records.

  Melodic  chanting  starts  off  the  demo  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavy  and symphonic  musical  direction  and  a  few  seconds  later  grim  black  metal  screams  make  their  presence  known  on  the  recording  and  the  riffs  also  use  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  most  of  the  tracks  are  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Death  metal  growls  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  while  the  keyboards  bring  in  the  atmosphere  of  a  gothic  horror  soundtrack  and  when  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  remain  true  to  a  very  melodic  musical  style  while  choirs  can  also  be  heard  in  the  music  at  times  along  with  a  small  amount  of  clean  playing  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  melodic  vocals  and  the  music  sticks  mostly  to  either  a  slow  or  mid  paced  musical  direction  while  a  brief  use  of  fast  playing  and  blast  beats  are  added  onto  the  last  track.

  Asura  played  a  style  of  black  metal  that  was  very  symphonic  while  being  more  dark  and  underground  than  most  bands  of  that  genre  and  also  adding  in  a  touch  of  goth  and  death  metal  which  makes  the  music  stand  out  a  bit more,  the  production  has  a   very  dark  demo  sound  to  it  while  the  lyrics  cover  darkness,  death  and  hate  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Asura  where  a  very  great  sounding  symphonic  gothic/black  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  re-issue.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK "Escape  From  Death".  8  out  of  10.  

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Romuvos/Infront Of Destiny/No Colours Records/2016 CD Review

  Romuvos  are  a  solo  project  from  Lithuania  that has  been  featured before  in  this  zine  and  plays  an  epic  form  of  folk/pagan  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2016  album  "Infront  Of  Destiny"  which  was  released  by  No Colours  Records.

  Thunder  and  rain  sounds  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  synths  a  few  seconds  later  before  adding in  pagan  chanting  and  acoustic  guitars  which  also  gives  the  music  more  of a  medieval  feeling  and  other  folk  instruments  can  be  heard  throughout  the  recording  and  it  also  mixes  in  with  the  heavier  side  of  the  music.

  At  times  the  music  can  be  very  atmospheric  and  clean  singing  pagan  vocals  are  also  a  very  huge  part  of  the  recording  and  the  music  also  alternates  between  both  folk  and  metal  parts  and  when  solos  and  leads  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  while  some  of  the  drums  bring  a  tribal  and  shamanistic  atmosphere  to  the  music.

  A  great  amount  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  you  can  also  hear  the  influence  of  black  metal  in  the  guitar  riffing  and  as  the  album  a  brief  use  of  whispers  can  be  heard  and  when  synths  are  finally  utilized  they  give  the music  more  of  an  epic  feeling  and  the  songs  stick  to  either  a  slow  or mid  paced  musical  direction.

  Romuvos  remains  true  to  the  pagan/folk  metal  sound  of  previous  recordings  while  also  mixing  in  some  black  metal  influences  in  the  guitar  riffing  to  create  a  very  heavy,  epic  and  melodic  recording,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Paganism,  Lithuanian  Traditions  and  Medieval  Times.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Romuvos  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  pagan  and  folk  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Infront  Of  Destiny  We  Shall  Face  Our  Death"  "Our  Spirits  Pass  Through  The  Underworld"  "The  Return  Back  Home"  and  "Let  thy  Gods  Sing  Your  Glory hymn".  8/5  out  of 10.

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