Norse/The Divine Light Of The New Sun/Transcending Obscurity Records/2017 CD Review

  Australia's  Norse  have  returned  with  a  new  album  that  continues  the  melodic  style  of  blackened  death  metal  from  previous  releases  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "The  Divine  Light  Of The  New  Sun"  which  will  be  released  in  May  by  transcending  Obscurity  Records.

  A  very  heavy  yet  melodic guitar  sound  starts  off  the  album a long  with  some  drum  beats  a  few  seconds  later  and  a  few  seconds  later  black  metal  screams  along  with  atmospheric  sounds  start  to  make  their  presence  known  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the recording.

  When  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  the  songs  also  mix  in  a  great  amount  of  progressive  structures  along  with  the  music  also  bringing  in  a great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts  and  avant  garde  elements  while  always  remaining  heavy.

  On  this  recording  Norse  takes  their  melodic  style  of  blackened  death  metal  in  a  more  dissonant and  bleak  direction,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  misanthropy  and  escapism  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Norse  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  melodic  and  dissonant  blackened  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Supreme  Vertical  Ascent"  "The  Divine  Light  of  A  New  Sun"  "Sandarkan"  and  "Cyclic".  8  out  of  10.

METAL INJECTION VIDEO PREMIERE

DECIBEL MAGAZINE PREMIERE

NO CLEAN SINGING PREMIERE

LEGACY MAGAZINE PREMIERE

TOILET OV HELL PREMIERE

ECHOES AND DUST VIDEO PREMIERE

Sanatana Interview

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

Technically speaking ...

Sanatana is a conceptual project that we have created with my wife in 2016. Some friends of us and like-minded people from our circle, inspired by the Vedic worldview and the ancient culture, are the part of it.

The musical range of Sanatana is diverse and presented at once in several directions: metal and new age. This musical spectrum makes it possible to express all the meanings and sentiments embodied in Sanatana project.

2.Recently you have released a double album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?

This is a double album consisting of two parts:

BRAHMA - Vedic metal with clean vocals

VIDYA - Vedic New Age

BRAHMAVIDYA uses live authentic instruments from various ancient cultures that fill the music with mysteriousness and charm. Also the sound of mantras and prayers represented on the album has a mesmerizing effect. They are performed in the ancient Sanskrit language from The Upanishads and other Vedic scriptures  and recited by active priests of the Vedic tradition.

3.Your lyrics cover Vedism, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this eastern religion?

Vedism is not a religious system but rather a worldview and attitude to the world!

The word Veda means knowledge. The Vedic knowledge was used throughout the history of mankind. Starting from the Arabic numerals that the Arabs brought from India and that are nowadays (under the binary form) run the entire world of computer systems and it continues to be revealed through the modern science.

The Vedas contain all the science and knowledge (astronomy, mathematics, Ayurveda, Yoga, philosophy, psychology, art and spiritual knowledge).

We found a lot of interesting concepts in Eastern religions, as well as something appealing to us as we were discovering some parallels with Paganism etc; so we naturally decided to integrate this knowledge to our art.

Leo Tolstoy, Schopenhauer, Goethe, Herder, Hegel, Beethoven, Heine, Rodin, Einstein, Nehru, Gandhi. С.Lassen, E.Burnouf, Aurobindo Ghose, L.Vallée, S.Radhakrishnan, S. Lévi, Russell, Wordsworth, R. Rolland, W. Whitman, H. Hesse and many others drew inspiration and knowledge from the Vedas!

The Vedas are close to us as they were part of the pre-Christian culture common on the lands occupied by the Slavs. They had a Vedic culture in tune with the indian philosophy.

The Vedas are the oldest scriptures in the world, they are written in Sanskrit, the language that we use on our album. Sanskrit is the source of all the Indo-European language group, or as it is referred Aryan.

Aryans are those who makes the difference between the spirit and the matter. Herewith it doesn’t matter to what ethnic group they belong to. It’s a certain  type of consciousness, not an affiliation to a particular nation!

According to Vedas earlier there was a unique culture on the planet that was based on the laws of the universe!


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

Sanatana means eternity in Sanskrit!

Everybody is asking the eternal questions about the purpose of life and death, their meaning. Where we came from and who we are led by. These eternal questions come from the consciousness (I) which is also eternal by its nature!

As Faust told to Mephistopheles:

“When I say to the Moment flying;

Linger a while -- thou art so fair!”

We found that moment, long as eternity!

5.Has the band done any live shows or is this a studio project?

This is a studio project for now, but we are planning to perform some live shows in future.

6.The guitarist also has a background playing more of a pagan style of black metal, how would you compare paganism with the Vedic religion?

We found pagan roots in Eastern teachings (and that’s the case, the roots are all there), it have seemed to us as a much more constructive and clear idea. We’ve accepted it, I don’t see any contradiction, but on the contrary, paganism became more meaningful and extended to me!

7.The compilation was released on 'Rising Moon Records', can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

RISING MOON PRODUCTION is a young company founded by the organizers of the Ragnard Rock Festival. It’s not only a label, but also a booking agency.

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

All the feedbacks I’ve got so far are good, people are interested in.

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

We will stay faithful to the established musical tradition!

But I can tell you that for sure there will be some transformations.

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?

The spectrum of our musical tastes is very broad and diverse: from ethnic folk to heavy metal. Today we can listen in a jumble ambient, jazz, rock, metal, Vedic ragas, Downtempo, etc.


11.What are some of your non musical interests?

Yoga, Meditation, Vegetarianism. And I love working with video and 3D graphics, but for the moment I’m not good enough.

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

Become yourself a change maker for values that you would like to see in this world!

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A Lie Nation Interview

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

We are an extreme metal band of five from Finland. Musically we lie somewhere between black and death metal, with a touch of originality. There's a lot of influences from other genres as well, while black and death are certainly the most dominant ones. We have melodic elements to our songs, and often tend to be guitar riff oriented. Hooks should be present in our music. Lyrics often cover the negative mindscapes of a human being, from extreme aggression to humbling self-destruction.



2.So far you have released 2 ep's how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on both of the recordings and also how do they differ from each other?

The first ep, Human Waves, from 2015 had a strong melodic death metal sound to it. The songs on it have quite the similar structure, while also sounding somewhat different to each other. There are lots of mellow, atmospheric parts that progress into a more aggressive tone. The material on Human Waves span from the year 2009 to 2014, so it really was a compilation of the stuff produced since the conception of the band.


Second ep, Begin Hate, is more aggressive and is balanced more towards melodic black metal. There is rock-like straightforwardness and not that many mellow parts. All the songs were written after Human Waves, except the last song that was written in 2012. We wanted to sound organic, dark and rough and I think we achieved it quite well. There certainly is a misanthropic and aggressive theme to the ep.


Sounds wise a big difference between the two ep's is that Begin Hate is much more together and cohere than Human Waves. Begin Hate leans more towards black metal and Human Waves more towards death metal. Begin Hate presents a more evolved A Lie Nation. Both of these records have been fully produced, mixed and mastered by the band so there has been some technical progression as well.



3.The band has been around since 2009 but waited until 2015 to release any music, can you tell us a little bit more about the first 6 years?

We got formed by a fusion of two garage bands that played mostly cover songs. At first, that is what we did, we played cover songs for pastime. After a while it became evident that there was some songwriting skill to the band and original songs were taken to playlist. It took a long time for us to take it up to a more professional level and the Finnish mentality of belittling oneself and pessimism were very much present. There were a few internet-demos during those years, which are really not worth mentioning.



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

Misanthropy in its different forms is what we are, while sometimes wondering into more social and political criticism. The negative aspects and phenomena dished out by the human species. Self-hatred and depression. Acts of violence. Occasionally just painting an apocalyptic picture whose meaning is left up for interpretation.



5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'A Lie Nation'?

It's a simple wordplay from alienation to a lie nation. It reflects the misanthropy and distrust to powers that be. We had to come up for a name for our first gig, and it was our vocalists suggestion to call us A Lie Nation.



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

It is hard to point out a single best show, I don't think we have yet played a bad show. Sometimes it might start slow, but the crowd warms up towards the end. Last December we had a great gig at a two day festival called “Turpajuhulat”, which roughly translates to “fight party”. There were many other underground metal bands playing and it was fully organized by a local band. A good quote I overheard from some conversation “it’s great to come and see the smaller bands play, because they still look like they enjoy what they do”, and that pretty much summed up the whole atmosphere.


Our stage presence tends to be energetic, but honest. If the crowd is not in it, we're neither. We never use any backing tracks, and in that sense we’re maybe a bit old fashioned, but I think that it’s also part of the honest stage appearance. It is just us with nothing to cover our performance. Sometimes I see bands that have even clean guitar parts come out of a backing track and that is something we would never do. Fuck ups are a part of the whole live experience, you rehearse to minimize the amount, but there’s always going to be some.



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

None of us does this for a living, so touring is out of the picture for now. We want to do as many shows as possible. A few should be coming along in Finland.



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

Mostly positive. We have been described as fresh and energetic and our arrangements have been called intriguing. Some had slight problems with the mellow parts on our first ep and the brief clean vocals, also on the first one, were not a success among others. It seems to be agreed that we are not an easy band to put in a category, but this has been seen as a positive thing. There’s some indication that the second ep might divide opinions more, because of the lyrics and increased aggressiveness in sound.



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

There will probably be some higher tempos in the future and maybe just a hint more progressiveness. Of course we will try to evolve as much as possible, but we will stay in the domains of black and death metal. There’s already a lot of material for consideration for the next release.



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?

A common influence for us all has been the first albums of Children Of Bodom and Kalmah, the late 90's stuff. That’s what we listened as teenagers. Although in lesser quantities, we are also no strangers to rock, blues or jazz. Nowadays, in the fields of metal music, anything goes from Insomnium to Arckanum. Few of us are more into death and the others much more into black metal. Batushka has been appearing a lot on our playlists lately.


11.What are some of your non musical interests?

Gym, nature, alcohol, nicotine.



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

The new ep “Begin Hate” is out 5th of April, check it out if you find us interesting. You can reach us through any of our pages, but the most active one is our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/alienationofficial/. Let us know what you thought of the ep, even if you think it sucks.


We stand behind what we do and every release is an expression of ourselves. If we were a company and would do this for profit we would be the shittiest business on the planet. There is nothing but will and yearning to do music that keeps us going.

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Blood of Angels Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?

Currently, we are focused on promoting and getting the word out for our upcoming EP release “Rise of the Fallen Gods.”  I have also began writing a song for a side project I plan on releasing later this year.  I have also been writing new songs for the next Blood of Angels release which will be a full album.

2.You have an upcoming out in the springtime, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?

I would describe the musical sound as being heavily influenced by the Swedish melodic death metal bands.   I have been a fan of that sound since I first heard it back in 95’ when I went to Sweden for the first time.  I heard bands like At the Gates, Dark Tranquility, and In Flames.  I couldn’t understand why these bands weren’t dominating the metal scene around the world.

3.Your lyrics cover Norse Mythology, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this topic?

Although I don’t look it, my grandfather immigrated to the United States from Norway in the late 1940’s.  From the time, I was in my early teenage years, I have always been fascinated with Scandinavian history.  I know they already are many great bands who have tackled the subject.   I wanted to do my own twist on it.  We will be moving on to different subjects in upcoming releases.  Blood of Angels isn’t about just one thing as a band.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Blood Of Angels'?

There isn’t really any concrete meaning behind the name Blood of Angels.  It probably comes from my disdain for organized religion.  I feel it is a cool name for an extreme metal band.

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

We have not played any shows yet.  So far, we have been a studio project.  In my former band Foreshadow, I really have a lot of great memories from our South American tour.  The shows that stood out the most was the Calarca Metal Fest, and the show we played in Paute, Ecuador. The Calarca Metal Fest was in an awesome theater that was filled with high energy metal heads singing all the songs with us.  In Paute, while we played, I witnessed two simultaneous circle pits.  There was not a person at the Our stage show isn’t very theatrical.  It is about us as musicians making the show by using the empty space on the stage, and connecting with as many fans as possible. 

6.Do you have any touring or show plans once the ep is released?
Not after this one, I got a side project in mind that I would like to do and have released this year.  We will be spending 2018 recording the full length second Blood of Angels album.  After that is released, we look forward to doing a lot of festival shows in as many places around the world as possible.

7.The ep is coming out on 'Hollywood Collective', can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

The owner of the label Steven Veninga is a longtime friend of mine.  He used to be the booking agent for a club in Gainesville, FL called the Backstage Lounge. I used to play there regularly with my former band a lot.  He made the big move a couple of years ago, to Hollywood and we have stayed in touch.  Just over a year ago, he called me telling me he was going to start a label and asked if I was interested in joining it.  Without hesitation, I said yes.  Hollywood Collective has many other awesome punk and metal bands like General Bastard and Circus of Power.

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

So far, the reviews have been awesome, and I feel a lot of fans of black and death metal music who have heard what we do really like it.  Most radio stations, magazine, and blogs we have submitted to has been very supportive.

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

Michael Stewart (Blood of Angels Bassist) currently has a band called Neverbroken that is awesome.

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

I got a lot of big plans for future albums.  They will tackle different subjects and themes.  I don’t want to give away what they are at this moment.  Musically, no matter what we do, it will undoubtedly be metal.

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?

Growing up, Iron Maiden and Slayer are my two biggest influences.  I always thought if I could combine Slayers aggression with Iron Maiden’s beautiful melodies it would be something awesome.   As it is evident, I am largely influenced by the Swedish melodic death metal bands.  I mostly listen to the same bands that influence me.  I have also been on a George Gershwin kick lately, and I have been listening to a lot of American jazz.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?

Outside of music I am a big kid in a lot of ways.  I can normally be found hanging out at Disney World and Universal Studios in Orlando.  I am a big movie fan.  I am a huge Star Wars nerd.  I have read a lot of the books, and currently I am reading the new Star Wars cannon.  I enjoy going to comic-cons, I am also really into art, especially the French impressionist era with Van Gogh, Monet, and Gauguin.

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

I think we covered everything.  You can check on the latest news on our website  http://www.bloodofangels.net.  I have hearing and chatting with anyone from around the world.  You could do that on our social pages facebook.com/bloodofangels1, twitter.com/bloodofangels1, and our  Number One Music Page.  http://www.numberonemusic.com/bloodofangels.

Odious/Skin Age/The Leaders/2015 CD Review

  Odious  are  a  band  from  Egypt  that  plays  a  symphonic  mixture  of  black  death,  and  middle  eastern folk  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of their  2015  album  "Skin  Age"  which  was  released  by  the  Leaders.

  Symphonic  and  classical  elements  start  off  the  album  and  also  mixes  in  with  the  heavier  sections  of  the  music  where  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  while t he  vocals  are  a  mixture  of  death  metal  growls  and  black  metal  screams.

  Elements  of  middle  eastern  and  oriental  folk  music  are  used  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  along  with  the  songs  also  bringing  in  a  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  there  is  also a   good use  of  operatic  female  and  male  vocals  on  some  of  the  tracks  and  when  guitar  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  and  spoken  word  parts  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  when  percussion  is  utilized  it  gives  the  songs  more  of  a  tribal  and  ritualistic  feeling  along  with  touches  of  world  music.

  Odious  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  symphonic  black  metal  and  mixes  it  with  death  metal  and  middle  eastern/folk  music  to  create  something  very  original,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  mystery  and  war  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Odious  are  a  very  great  sounding  symphonic  mixture  of  black,  death  and  middle  eastern  folk  metal  and  if  you  are  looking  for  something  original,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Crown  of  Centuries"  "AlZar"  and  "hot  Blood  Flames".  8  out  of  10.

https://odiousband.bandcamp.com/releases

Entropia Invictus/Human Pantocrator/M & O Music/2017 CD Review

  Entropia  Invictus  are  a  band  from  France  that  plays  a  symphonic  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Human  Pantocrator"  which  was  released  by  M  &  O  Music.

 A  very  heavy  and  melodic  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  symphonic  elements  and  blast  beats  while  the  vocals  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  black  metal  screams  and  death  metal  growls  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while t he  solos  and  leads  also  use  a  great  amount  of  melody.

  Ethnic  style  folk  and  traditional  stringed  instruments  can  be  heard  in  the  music  briefly  and  elements  of  classical  can  also  be  heard  in  the  symphonic  sections  of  the  songs  and  some  of  the  tracks  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  spoken  word  parts  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  tribal  style  percussion's  and  operatic  male  and  female  vocals  as  the  album  progresses  and  some  of  the  fast  riffs  also  bring  in  a  decent  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  classical  guitars  are  added  onto  the  last  track.

  Entropia  Invictus  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  while  the  lyrics  cover  futurism  and  anti  religion  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Entropia  Invictus  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  "I  Will  Overcome"  "In  The  Attic"  "Tree  Of  Creation"  and  "Among  Us".  8  out  of  10.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI1kiFiC_kg&feature=youtu.be&utm_source=sendinblue&utm_campaign=ENTROPIA_INVICTUS__Human_Pantocrator_EN&utm_medium=email 

A Lie Nation/Begin Hate/Inverse Records/2017 EP Review

  A  Lie  Nation  are  a  band  from  Finland  that  plays  a  melodic  form  of  blackened  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  ep  "Begin  Hate"  which  was  released  by  Inverse  Records.

  A  very  heavy  guitar  sound  starts  off  ep  along  with  some  grim  black  metal  screams  a  few  seconds  later  and  back  up  gang  shouts  can  also  be  heard  at  times  while  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats  and  the  solos  and  leads  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  the  riffs  also  using  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  elements  of  death  metal  can  also  be  heard  in  the  bands  musical  style  along with  a  few  growls  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts and  acoustic  guitars  are  added  onto  the  last  track.

  A  Lie  Nation  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  melodic  black  metal  while  a  great  amount  of  death  metal  influences  can  be  heard,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  misanthropy,  hate,  and  yearning  of  nonexistence  themes.

  In  my  opinion  A  Lie  Nation  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic  blackened  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Rot  Of  The  Spirit"  and  "A  Burn  Afar".  8  out  of  10.

https://youtu.be/ghNkztlf0uQ