Black Urn/Moros/2017 Split Album Review

  This  is  a  review  of  a  split  album  between  Pennsylvania's  Black  Urn  and  Moros  which  will  be  self  released  on  February  27th  in  2017  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  Black  urn  a  band  that  plays  a  blackened  form  of  sludge  metal.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  acoustic  guitar  playing  along  with  some  stringed  instruments  a  few  seconds  later  and  after  awhile  the  music  goes  into  a  heavier  direction  along  with  a  mixture  of  death  metal  growls  and  black  metal  screams  and  the  slow  riffing  is  heavily  influenced  by  sludge  and  doom  metal.

  Some  of  the  riffs  also  adding  in  a  small  amount  of dark  sounding  melodies  and  their  track  is  over  7  minutes  in  length  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  their  side  of  the  split,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  spirituality  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Black  Urn  are  a  very  great  sounding  blackened  sludge  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out t heir  side  of  the  split.

  Next  up  is Moros  a  band  that  plays  a  mixture  of  doom  and  sludge  metal.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  powerful  sounding  bass  guitars  along  with  some  distorted  reverb  that  also  leads  up  to  a  heavier  and  melodic  direction  as  well  as  adding  high  pitched  sludge  style  screams  onto  the  recording  along  with  the  riffs adding  in  the  heaviness  of  doom  metal  and  all  3  of  their  tracks  stick  to  a  very  slow  musical  direction  while  the  second  song  adds  in  a  small  amount  of  death  metal  growls,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Moros  are  a  very great  sounding  mixture  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Vortexwound".

  In  conclusion  i  feel  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  and  would  recommend  it  to  all  fans  of  black,  sludge,  and  doom  metal.  8  out  of  10.

https://moros-666.bandcamp.com/album/moros-black-urn-split-2

Nox Vorago/Al Chem/2017 Full Length Review

  Nox  Vorago  are  a  band  from  Sweden  that  plays  a  symphonic  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2017  album  "Al  Chem".

A  very  symphonic  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  heavy  riffs  being  mixed  in  and  after  awhile  death  metal  growls  are  added  on  the  recording  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  a  decent  amount  of  melody  can  be  heard  in  the  guitar  riffing  and  black  metal  screams  are  added  into  some  parts  of  the  songs.

  Throughout  the  recording  there  is  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced,  and  fast  parts and  some  of the  faster  riffing  also  brings  in a  decent  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  when  guitar  leads  are  finally  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  distorted  yet  melodic  fashion  and  a  couple  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  one  track  also  brings  in  a  brief  use  of  acoustic  guitars  and  all  of  the  musical instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to them.

  Nox  Vorago  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  symphonic  black  metal  and  mixes  it  with  death  metal  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  occultism,  mysticism,  rites,  history  and  legends  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Nox  Vorago  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  symphonic  black  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Elenu  Tiamtatu"  "The  Hissing  Sound  Of  Ouroboros"  and  "At  The  Feet  Of  Ereshkigal".  8  out  of  10.

NOX VORAGO: http://www.noxvorago.com 
| http://www.facebook.com/noxvorago

Noctiferia 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?

Igor Nardin

We just started to promote and book shows for Transnatura. Album is about to be released on 3th of march  2017 for a world wide territory via Plastichead distribution. On 26th of march we will release limited edition Transnatura LP with some unreleased material and perform live in full lineup in Ljubljana National Theatre. Beside that we are currently working on what is to be our next metal album. It is going to be kind of homage to a certain Slovenian artist but can't say much more at this point, it would ruin the surprise.



2.In December 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?

Igor Nardin

Transnatura was released for Slovenian territory on 2nd of december, and is our first acoustic full length album. The fact that is acoustic album is the biggest difference. Can't really describe whole album with few words, cause it is so diverse. With our metal albums we do all the things pretty much by the book and in a way you know what to expect from typical Noc album. But here we did not mind any rules. There are gypsy jazz, balkan, mehico, etno etc parts or even entire songs and a whole bunch of weird instruments. The rules and expectations ware put aside. The fact that in the beginning we were not thinking about an album but merely of single radio show also effected outcome. There are 13 guest musicians on album. There are no samples no digital keyboards all instruments were recorded live, all the partitures and arrangements were done by our keyboard player Dame. It was so far biggest and hardest album to record and mix but hormonically and emotionally wise best so far. It is a journey, a soundtrack.



3.You have experimented a lot with your music over the years, can you tell us a little bit more about the bands musical sound has evolved over the years?

Igor Nardin

We are type of the band that can't repeat it self over and over  again. Can't really say if that's good for fan base or business but anyhow trough years we found our base, people that feel and like the idea of change, follow us and enjoy the unexpected. It was always atmosphere, the one thing, the most important to us in music. If trying to fit in genre boxes then Noctiferia was originally Black/Death metal band in late 90's. Later on with »Slovenska Morbida« we evolved into Industrial death metal and i think we're still there somewhere. With exception of last album that cant be easily categorixed.



4.The new album was unplugged, what was the decision behind releasing an acoustic album instead of a heavier recording?

Igor Nardin

It all started with invitation from Jure Longika's »Izštekani« radio show on Slovenian national radio. Show hosted all major slovenian bands in unplugged version trough the period of last 20 years or so. It was challenge situation, to do something new and weird, we also talked before about going unplugged but it was never right moment. At first it wasn't meant to be an album, but over a time ideas were pouring in and we had to record it. 



5.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band has explored over the years with your recordings?

Uros Lipovec

We write about themes dealing with modern society and spirituality. Lyrics are mostly critical as a result of the world in which we are living. On the other hand with spiritual messages we are trying to show a positive aspect of this experience we call life.



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

Uros Lipovec

Name basically means eternal night or bringer of the night. We were 16 at the time we chose the name and although we would probably pick a different name today it still represent the atmosphere of the music we create.



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?

Uros Lipovec

Some of the best shows were probably in Spain when we were supporting In Flames on european tour, Midi festival in China was beyond crazy and also performing at Wacken was special experience... Our shows are dark, energetic with lots of atmosphere and anger!



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

Uros Lipovec

We are planning to return to China in May this year. More shows will follow.



9.The new album was released on 'Nika Records', can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

Uros Lipovec

It is basically the biggest slovenian independent label and Warner Music records representative with long tradition in business. They made our album also available in Europe through Plastic Head and Code 7 distributions.



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

Uros Lipovec

Wherever we played so far we were mostly really well accepted and pleasantly surprised by the reactions of people, specially in China as it is on the other side of the world and was complete mystery to us. We would like to be more on the road as touring is the most efficient way of promotion this days, unfortunately it's not cheap.



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

Igor Nardin

Giani and Dame have few jam bands but nothing serious for now. Dame is studying composition on Academy of Music so he's active in that field to.



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

Igor Nardin

 We'll go on do few more albums and try to be creative and original as possible. Enjoy the process of creating music. With Transnatura we kinda started parallel Noctiferia timeline, at this point we're not sure if this is just a single album or we started something that might go on for years.



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?

Igor Nardin

We all listen to different styles of music, We're not band that agrees on everything or shares fascinations for same bands by the default. But there are few bands that we all love and those few had an impact on our creative process last few years. Bands like Dead Can Dance, Korn, Juno Reactor. These are few that popped to my mind instantly.



13.What are some of your non musical interests?

Igor Nardin

Personally Motion Graphics, Graphic Design, Snowboarding, Dogwalking and in general spending as much time possible in nature in woods! Other guys are all in to art, music or visual stuff.



14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Uros Lipovec
Check out Transnatura. We guarantee you it is not what you would expect or even imagine!

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Valfreya/Promised Land/2017 Full Length Review

  Valfreya  are  a  band  from  Montreal,  Quebec,  Canada  that  has  been  featured  before  in this  zinw  and  plays  a  mixture  of  folk  and  melodic  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Promised  Land".

    Stringed  instruments  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  symphonic  elements  and  keyboards  a  few  seconds  later  and  after  the  intro   they  go  into  a  heavier  direction  while  also  keeping  the  symphonic  elements  and  the  vocals  also  bring  in  a  mixture  of  death  metal  growls  and  black  metal  screams  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  very  melodic.

  When  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  back  up  vocals  are  also  used  at  times  along  with  the  songs  also  bringing  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  some  songs  also  bring  in  both  male  and  female  clean  singing  vocals  and  as  the  album  progresses  more  folk  music  elements  are  added  onto  the  recording  and  spoken  word parts  along  with  acoustic  guitars  are  also  used  briefly  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  fast  riffs  also  use  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking.

  Valfreya  remain true  to  the  folk  and  melodic  black/death  metal  mixture  of  previous  releases,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  Nordic  Paganism  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding recording  from  Valfreya  and  if  you  are  a fan  of  folk  and  melodic  black  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Odin's  Fury"  "Shame  And  Despair"  "Promised  Land"  and  "Evolution".  8  out  of  10. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX2M2deDyb8 

Unearthly Trance/Stalking The Ghost/Relapse Records/2017 CD Review

  Unearthly  Trance  are  a  band  from  New  York  that  plays  a  blackened  mixture  of  doom  and  sludge  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Stalking  The  Ghost"  which  will  be  released  on  February  24th  by  Relapse  Records.

  A  very  heavy  sludge  metal  sound  starts  off  the  album  and  after  awhile  aggressive  screaming  vocals a re  added  onto  the  recording  and  they  also  add  in touches  of  black  metal  and  at  times  the  riffs  add  melodies  into  some  parts  of  the  songs  and  drones  are  also  added  onto  some  of  the  tracks  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sounding  very  powerful.

  A  great  portion  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  a  lot  of  doom  metal  elements  can  be  heard  in  the  slower  riffing  and  melodic  yet  rough  vocals  are  also  used  at  times  adding  in  some  influences  of  the  90's  New  Orleans  sludge  style  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  clean  playing  and  acoustic  guitars  and  when  guitar  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  while  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  either  a slow  or  mid  paced  musical  direction and  thy  close  the  album  with  an  instrumental  while  spoken word  samples  are  used  towards  the  end.

  Unearthly  Trance  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  sludge  and  doom  metal  while  also  mixing  in  the  darkness  and  screaming  approach  of  black  metal  to  create a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Occultism,  Seasons,  and  Hallucinations  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Unearthly  Trance  are  a  very  great  sounding  blackened  mixture  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE "Into  the  Spiral"  "Famine"  and  "The  Great  Cauldron".  8  out  of  10.

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/unearthly-trance-into-the-spiral-video-premiere-2/

   

The Evil Dead/Earth Inferno/Witches Brew/2017 CD Review

  The  Evil  Dead  are  a  band  from  Argentina  that  plays  a  melodic  mixture  of  black,  death,  speed, and  thrash  metal  with  touches  of  traditional  metal  and  classic  rock  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Earth  Inferno"  which  was  released  by  Witches  Brew.

    A  very  heavy  sound  along  with  melodic  guitar  leads  start  off  the  album  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  and  when the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  some  of  the  riffing  is  heavily  influenced  by  thrash  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  high  pitched  screams.

  A  great  amount  of  NWOBHM  elements  can  be  heard  in  both  the  riffs  and  leads  and  clean  guitars  can  also  be  heard  at  times  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  later  songs  add  in  touches  of  blues  and  70's  hard  rock  along  with  a  great  portion  of  the  tracks  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

 Back  up  shouts  are  also  used  at  times  and  some  of  the  faster  riffing  uses  tremolo  picking  while  also  adding  in  speeds  metal  influences  as  the  album  progresses  and  clean  playing  is  also added  onto  a  later  track  while  some  of  the  vocals  add  in  a  touch  of  death  metal  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  diversity.

  The  Evil  Dead  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  the  melodic  black/death  metal  style  while  also  adding  in  influences  of  thrash,  speed  metal,  NWOBHM  and  classic  rock  to  create  something very  original,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Occultism,  Darkness,  and  Insanity  themes.

  In  my  opinion  The  Evil  Dead  are  a very  great  sounding  melodic  mixture  of  black,  death,  speed, thrash  metal,  NWOBHM,  and  classic  rock  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Electric  Evil  Revisited"  "They  Live!"  "Songs  Of  The  Hunt"  and  "Chariots  Of  The  Gods".  8  out  of  10.

https://witchesbrewthrashes.bandcamp.com/album/earth-inferno?utm_source=Promo%2BList&utm_campaign=7c131e81a8-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_01_31&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b7d3bffdfc-7c131e81a8-159719745   

Katharos/Exuvian Heraldry/Sliptrick Records/2017 CD Review

  Katharos  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  a  symphonic  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Exuvian  Heraldry"  which  will  be  released  in  March  by  Sliptrick  Records.

  Tragic  sounding  keyboards  start  off  the  album  and  after  awhile  they  go  into  a  heavier  direction  while  also  retaining  the  symphonic  elements  and  clean  playing  can  also  be  heard  at  times  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard.

  Death  metal  growls  re  also  utilized  at  times  and  the  riffs  also  use  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  a  few  tracks  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  when  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  also  done  in  a  very  melodic  style  and  the  fast  riffs  also  use  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  one  track  also  brings  in  a  brief  use  of  melodic  chanting.

  Katharos  plays a  style  of  black  metal  that  is  very  symphonic  in  the  mid  90's  style  while  also  adding  in  touches  of  death  metal  which  also  makes  the  music  stand  out  a  lot  more,  the  production   sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  a  mixture  of  Italian  and  English  and  cover  Anti  Christianity,  Gnosticism,  and  Phenomenology  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Katharos  are  a very  great  sounding  symphonic  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  "Thy  Fortress  Of  Regret"  "Schaktet"  and  "Awakening  Of  The  Converted".  8  out  of 10.

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