As Light Dies/The Love Album - Volume I/Maa Productions/2014 CD Review

  As  Light  Dies  are a  band  from  Spain  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  an  avant  garde  and  progressive  form  of  black  metal  with  some  death,  doom  and  gothic  metal  elements  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "The  Love  Album  -  Volume I"  which  was  released  by  Maa  Productions.

  Avant  garde  style  keyboards  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  spoken  word  samples  and  on  the  second  track  the  music  starts  adding  in  heavier  guitars  and  grim  black  metal  screams  along  with  some  atmospheric  sounds  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats  and  tremolo  picking  can  be  heard.

  Clean  singing  goth  vocals  can  be  heard  in  the  music  at  times  along  with  some  doom  metal  elements  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sound  very  powerful  and  the  songs  also  get  very  progressive  at  times  and  a  great  portion  of the  tracks a re  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  songs  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  death  metal growls  and  whispers  can be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording.

  As  Light  Dies  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  the  more  avant  garde  and  progressive  style  of  black  metal  on  the  recording  while  also  standing  out  a  bit  more  and  adding  in  elements  of  doom,  goth  and  death  metal  which  makes  the  music  stand  out  a  bit  more,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  depression,  math  and  historical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  As  Light  Dies  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  progressive  and  avant  garde  black/doom  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE "Orpheus  Morning"  "When  Distance  Becomes  Real"  "No  Pain,  As  Sleep"  and  "Farewell  From  Distant  Shores".  8  out  of  10.

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Drakum/Torches Will Rise Again/2014 CD Review

  Drakum  are  a  band  from  Spain  that  plays  a  mixture  of  folk,  black  and  melodic  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2014  album  "Torches  Will  Rise  Again".

  Nature  and  war  sounds  start  off  the  album  before  adding  in  epic  sounding  keyboards  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into a   heavier  musical  direction  while  also  adding  folk  instruments  onto the  recording  along  with  some  melodic  guitar  leads  and  the  vocals  are  done  in  a  semi  growl  direction  which  gives  the  music  a  touch  of  death  metal.

  At  times  the  riffs  can  be  very melodic  while  back  up  gang  shouts  can  also  be  heard  at  times  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  black  metal  screams  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  some  tracks  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  classical  guitars  and  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats  and  as  the  album  progresses  clean  singing  is  added  on  some  songs  along  with  a  brief  use  of  female  vocals.

  Drakum  plays  a  style  of  folk  metal  that  can  be  symphonic  at  times  while  also  adding  in  the  heaviness  of  melodic  black  and  death  metal,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  life,  mythology,  alcohol,  fantasy  and  paganism  themes,

  In  my  opinion  Drakum  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  folk,  melodic  black  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Around  The  Oak"  "The  Wanderer"  and  "Torches  Will  Rise  Once  Again".  8  out  of  10.

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Teorma/Self Titled/Via Nocturna/2016 CD Review

  Teorema  are  a  band  from  Mexico  that  plays  a  blackened  mixture  of  sludge  metal,  doom  and  drone  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  titled  album  which  will  be  released  on  July  29th  by  Via  Nocturna.

  Clean  guitars  and  drums  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavier  doom  metal  direction  a  few  seconds  later  that  also  introduces  melodies  onto  the  recording  while  also  bring  in  the  heaviness  of  sludge  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  also  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to them a long  with  some  noise  rock elements.

  Vocals  are  mostly  screaming  style  vocals  that  are  very  heavily  influenced  by  black  metal  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  elements  of  ambient  and  drone  and  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  touch  of  folk  music  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  either  a  slow  or  mid  paced  musical  direction  while  one  track  adds  in  a  touch  of  punk  and  a  couple  of  the  tracks  are  all instrumental  and  the  last  song  is  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Teorema  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  sludge  and  doom  metal  while  also  mixing  in  a  great  amount  of  black  metal  influences  as   well  as  adding  in  touches  of  drone,  ambient  and  folk  to  create  something  very  original,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  metaphysical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Teorema  are  a  very  great  sounding  blackened  mixture  of  drone,  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Karma"  and  "Times  Of  Sin".  8  out  of  10.

http://doomedandstoned.com/tagged/Teorema

Stormtide/Wrath Of An Empire/Metal Hell Productions/2016 CD Review

  Stormtide  are  a  band  from  Australia  that  plays  a  symphonic  mixture  of  folk,  death  and black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Wrath  Of  An  Empire"  which  will  be  released  in  August  by  Metal  Hell  Productions.

  A  very  heavy  and  symphonic  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  choir  vocals  which  also  gives  the  music  more  of  an  epic  atmosphere  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sound  very  powerful  and  after  awhile  death  metal  growls  make  their  presence  known  on  the  recording  while the  riffs  also  use  a  decent  amount  of  melody.

  Elements  of  folk  music  can  be  heard  throughout  the  recording  along  with  some  black  metal  screams  also  being  utilized  at  times  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  while  the  synths  bring  in  elements  of  prog  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts and  as  the  album  progresses  acoustic  guitars  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  while  a  later  song  brings  in  a  brief  use  of  melodic  chanting.

  Stormtide  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  symphonic  and  melodic  death  metal  and  mixes  it  in  with  elements  of  folk  and  black  metal  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  fantasy  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Stormtide  are  a  very  great  sounding  symphonic  mixture  of  folk,  black  and  melodic  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Wrath  Of  An  Empire"  "Conquer  the  Straits"  "Ride  To  Ruin"  and  "The  Green  Duck".  8  out  of  10. 

Official Website:
http://stormtidemetal.com

Official Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/Stormtideaustralia

Curse The Flesh Interview

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

Well we're a blackened death metal band, from Mobile AL, the heart of the bible belt. We are basically a group of people who got together because we were all dissatisfied with the horde of bullshit "southern metal" bands infesting the scene for the past ten years or so in our area. Too many people trying and failing to be Pantera had diluted the scene to the point that no one could take it seriously. No one gives a shit that you're southern, so we wanted to give our scene an alternative to that style. Over the past few years more and more amazing bands have been popping up on the Gulf Coast that share our vision of bringing our local music scene up to date with the rest of the world. We're happy fucking campers at the moment.

2.So far you have released one album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?

We had this idea of combining the structure and flow of pop music with the extreme metal that we all love. Huge choruses, melodic flow, and the atmoshpere thats prevalent in European black metal. Basically trying to combine the best of both worlds to trick the ear.

3.Your lyrics do cover some occult and anti religion topics, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in these subjects?

The lyrics dont directly reflect the views of the guys involved, though as a whole we fucking despise all forms of organised religion and have an appreciation for any attack against it. With that said each song is written from the perspective of a fictional character. What we do lyrically could be thought of as short horror vignettes. Think Tales from the Crypt with a splash of occultism.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Curse The Flesh'?

It sounded cool. We didnt realize it was actually a Morbid Angel song until later. By the time we realized that we'd spent too much on branding to change it. Still sounds cool though.

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

Our home town shows have been badass. We like to get as theatrical as possible and the people that come to our shows lose their shit in the pit. We've played with bigger groups like Abigail Williams, Michael Graves, Vital Remains etc etc but the local shows have been just as if not more crazy.

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

We are gearing up for the 4th annual Communion of Darkness black metal festival in South Carolina. We'll be rolling with Lustravi from Panama City, Florida and Sytherium from New Orleans, Louisiana. These are bands we feel are on the cutting edge of extreme metal on the Gulf Coast.We're planning a trip up the east coast of the US at the beginning of next year with Lustravi, and hope to hit the west coast by the end of the year

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

If the time comes that we receive an offer for something we are not capable of accomplishing ourselves, then we would consider it. However, at the moment we have an amazing team that fulfills most of the things that a record label would offer. Our killer publicist in Zoheb at Qabar-Extreme Music PR. Those guys are fucking awesome. The majority of our art is done by the extremely talented Nate the Knife aka Nathan Britton, our unnoficial "tour manager/chauffer" Jabba, our merch girl Kayla Dahmer, the list goes on. We've been really lucky in the amount of support we've received from people who believe in what we're doing as strongly as we do. So in short, no.

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

Russia appears to have a healthy interest in us seeing as how we've had more illegal downloads of our album there than anywhere else. We keep track of that shit and document a carefully detailed "Fuck/Kill" list. We know where you live. Seriously though, we've been shocked by the response we've received in the UK, Middle East, the Netherlands as well as on our home terf. To see people so far away appreciating what we're doing when we are only a small fish in a large pond inspires us to keep pushing ourselves and continue to fight the good fight.

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

We definitely have a certain sound that we established with the first album. Since then we have undergone a heavy lineup change and while we want to stick to what we do, we have new musicians from different musical backgrounds that open up new possibilities for us to do more.

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?

There are too many to list. Each member has completely different musical tastes and backgrounds. Collectively I dont think we could find one band that we could all agree on to be "inspirational" to us. And we like that because thats what makes us what we are.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

We like to give back to our community. For instance: giving makeovers to the homeless to make them appear more hirable, getting bags of ice from the local gas station taking them the the harbor and releasing them back into the wild, ensuring our local bars, liqour stores and drug dealers have a steady income, shit like that.


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

We really want to get our music out to as many people as possible. So we'd like everyone to know that our album Black Majesty is available at every online music retailer and is available for streaming on Spotify and Bandcamp. Add that shit to your playlist, come to our shows, buy a T-shirt do something so that we dont have to whore out our guitarists anymore. And to those already doing so, we truly love you guys and cant wait to bring you more.


LINEUP:

Vocals: Jeremy Dahmer
Guitars: Arron Guy
 Guitars: Duel Guess
 Bass: Sam Barnette
 Drums: Jacob Hines



Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/Cursethefleshmetal/
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https://cursethefleshofficial.bandcamp.com/releases

Quinta Essentia/Initiates Of The Great Work/Deathgasm Records/2016 CD Review

  Quinta  Essentia  are  a  band  from  Alabama  that  plays  a  melodic  mixture  of  black,  death  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a review  of  their  2016  album  "Initiates  Of  The  Great  Work"  which  will  be  released  on  September  29th  by  Deathgasm  Records.

  A  very  hard  and  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  melodic  guitar  leads  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  and  the  vocals  are  grim  sounding  black  metal  screams  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard.

  Throughout  the  recording  there  is  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  some  songs  also bring  in  clean  singing  which  also  gives  the  music  more  of  a  traditional  metal  feeling  and  synths  along  with  spoken  word  parts  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  acoustic  guitars  while  some  tracks  are  also  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  influences  from  thrash  and  death  metal  and  they  also  bring  in  an  instrumental.

  Quinta  Essentia  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  the  melodic  style  of  black  metal  while  also  mixing  in  elements  of  heavy,  thrash  and  death  metal  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  alchemy  and  Hermetic  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Quinta  Essentia  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  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Stone  As  A  Key"  "Mystical  Union"  and  "Iniates  Of  The  Great  Work".  8  out  of  10.   

http://www.facebook.com/quintaessentiaofficial

http://www.quintaessentia.net

Mumincunt/Visor Fran Muminskogarnas Morker/Heathen Tribes Records/2016 Cassette Review

  Mumincunt  are  a  band  from  Sweden  that  plays  a  melodic  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Visor  Fran  Muminskogarnas  Morker"  which  will  be  released  on  cassette  in  September  by  Heathen  Tribes  Records.

  A  very  dark  and  atmospheric  sounding  intro  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  epic  synths  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  a  heavier  musical  direction  along  with  some  grim  vocals  that  also  use  growls  and  clean  singing  while  the  riffs  also use  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  after  awhile  black  metal  screams make  their  presence  known  on  the  recording.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  clean  playing  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  some  acoustic  guitars  which  also  gives  the  songs  more  of  a  folk  music  vibe  and  spoken  word  parts  can  also  be  heard  at  times  and  blast  beats  can  be  heard  in  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  along  with  all  of  the  musical instruments  sounding  very  powerful  and  synths  also  make  a  return  briefly  as  the  album  progresses  and  you  can  hear  some  elements  of  doom  metal  in the  slower  guitar  riffing and  some  of  the  tracks  are very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Mumincunt  plays  a  melodic  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  that  is  more  different  than  most  bands  of  this  genre  and  they  are  not  afraid  to  be  experimental  and  also  bring  back  some  of  the  doom  metal  elements  of  the  genre  that  have  been  missing  since  the  days  of  Ophthalamia,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  raw  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Swedish  and  cover  dark  and  depressive  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Mumincunt  are  a  very  great sounding  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Knullad  Av  En  Mumin"  "Mumintrollets  Dod"  "Hemeluns  Bekannelse"  and  "Kuken  I  Kottvarnen".  8  out  of  10.

https://mumincunt.bandcamp.com/track/hattifnattarnas-massiva-bukake-sprut