Thursday, July 6, 2017

Hexenklad/Spirit Of The Stone/CDN Records/2017 CD Review


  Hexenklad  are  a  band from  Ontario,  Canada that  plays  a  melodic mixture  of  black  and  folk metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album "Spirit  Of  The  Stone"  which  will  be  released  on  July  28th  by  CDN  Records.

  A  very  fast  and  epic  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  while  black  metal  screams  and  melodic  guitar  leads  are  added  onto  the  recording  a  few  seconds  later  along  with  the  songs  also  bringing  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

  Clean  singing  can  also  be  heard  at  times  while t he  keyboards  also gives  the  songs  a  more  epic  atmosphere  and  after  awhile  acoustic  guitars  and  folk  instruments  are  also  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  some  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  fast  riffs  also  bring  in  a  decent  amount  of  tremolo  picking  while  spoken  word  parts  are  also  used  briefly  and  they  close  the  album  with  a  very  tribal  and  shamanistic  sounding  instrumental.

  Hexenklad  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  folk  and  melodic  black  metal  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Magick  and  Ancient  Pagan  Religions  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Hexankald  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic  mixture  of  black  and  folk  metal  and  if  you  are a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "In  This  Life  Or  The  Next"  "Returned"  and  "Path  To  Ruin".  8  out  of  10. 

facebook.com/hexenklad/

Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Zornheym/Where Hatred Dwells And Darkness Reigns/Non Serviam Records/2017 CD Review


  Zornheym  are  a  band  from  Sweden  that  plays  a  symphonic form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review of  their  2017  album  "Where  Hatred  Dwells  And  Darkness  Reigns"  which  will  be  released  in  September  by  Non  Serviam  Records.

  A  very  sci-fi  orientated  sound  starts  off  the album  along  with  some  heavy  and  melodic  riffing  a  few  seconds  later  which  also mixes  in  with  the  symphonic  side  of  the  recording  and  after  awhile  deep  yet  grim  black  metal vocals  are  added  onto  the  recording  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats can  be  heard.

  When  guitar solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in a  very  melodic  fashion  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  there  are  also  a  couple  of  brief  instrumentals  which  also  introduces  acoustic  guitars  onto  the  recording  and  one  track  also  adds  in  a  touch  of  oriental  music  along  with  a  brief  use  of  clean  vocals  and  spoken  word  samples  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  last  2  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic in  length.

  Zornheym  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  mostly  rooted  in symphonic  black  meta  while  also  mixing  in  some  influences  from  other  genres to  stand  out  a  bit  more,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  short  graphic  stories.

  In  my  opinion  Zornheym  are  a  very  great  sounding  symphonic  black  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE "The Opposed"  "Trifecta Of  Horrors"  and  "Hestia.  8  out of 10.

Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/zornheym
Twitter:: https://twitter.com/zornheym
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4eqbIWlJlGq95TC3t5HRYQ/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zornheym_official

   

 

Saturday, July 1, 2017

Ledge/Cold Hard Concrete/Translation Loss Records/Hibernation Release/2017 CD Review


  Ledge  are  a  solo  project  from  Chicago,  Illinois  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black,  sludge,  doom  metal,  power  violence  and  hardcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2017  album  "Cold  Hard  Concrete"  which  will  be  released in  August  as  a  joint  effort  between  Translation  Loss  records,  and  Hibernation  Release.

  Hardcore  style  riffing  and  angry  shouting  vocals  start  off  the  album  while  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  along  with  the  slower  sections  of  the  songs  being  very  heavily  influenced  by  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard.

  During  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  a  great  amount  of  black  metal,  power  violence  and  d  beat  elements  can  be  heard  while  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  spoken  word  parts  are  also used  briefly  and  one  track  also  adds  in  elements  of  harsh  noise  and  the  music  always  remains  brutal  with  no  solos  or  leads  ever  being  utilized.

  Ledge  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  black,  sludge,  and  doom  metal  and  mixes  them  with  hardcore  and  power  violence  to  create  a  sound  of  his  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  violent,  angry,  and  hateful themes.

  In  my  opinion  Ledge  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  black,  sludge,  doom  metal,  power  violence  and  hardcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  solo  project.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Blacked  Out"  "Fuck  Yourself"  and  "Contempt".  8  out  of  10.

Bandcamp

Tele S. Therion Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
TST was established in 2007 with the purpose of creating a variable ensemble dedicated to the esoteric side of the art of noise.

2.Recently you have released an album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented n the recording?
Michel Chion define the “acusma” as a “sensory phantasm”, consisting of a sound whose true source of emission is invisible. In this way “Luzifers Abschied” it’s a device for “ghostly” manifestation of sound masses.

3.You refer to your music as being 'acousmatic black metal, can you tell us a little bit more about this term?
Extended methods and unortodox practices of "sound fixation" and "sound reproducibility" to design the audible and the inaudible.

4.Can you tell us a little bit more about the concept behind the album and also the opera it is based upon?
It is a sort of transfiguration of the homonym score composed by Karlheinz Stockhausen, originally conceived for male chorus with mass bells, good friday clappers, organ/synth, tam-tam and seven trombones (live or tape), a caged wild black bird and a sack of coconuts.
“This opera cycle revolves around 3 archetype characters, Michael, Eve and Lucifer, and over the 29 hours each of these characters are introduced, come into conflict, face temptation and finally come into union“. – Ed Chang about the opera of Karlheinz Stockhausen –
“Luzifers Abschied” was originally composed on a commission to celebrate the 800th anniversary of St Francis of Assisi, and premiered in 1982 at the Assisi Cathedral where St Francis was baptized.A suggestive link with this sub-theme of the opera, not formally related, it is the hagiographycal essays of the saint, written by Andrea Armati, “Lo stregone di Assisi - Il volto negato di San Francesco” and “Le stimmate dello sciamano”.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Tele.S.Therion'?
Echemytia.

6.Has the band done any live shows yet? TST have done also rare public sound diffusion, but not to be intended as a music show. A public diffusion for loudspeacker orchestra and audience, is conceived as site-specific artwork, deliberately focused on the psycho-acoustic experience.
If you ask to the right people, someone could explain you better what it mean, unless he too is under the rule of silence.

7.In what part of the world is the band located in?
It is kept secret.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of black metal and other dark or underground forms of music?
“You may have immersed yourself in the blackest of metals for decades. You may feel you have embraced the sonic distillation of evil. You may have walked the deepest catacombs of black metal’s kingdom of fire and shadows, searching out the harshest creations by the most intimidating of the face painted disciples of darkness. Not one moment of all those years, searching in the black, has prepared you for Luzifers Abschied “ [...] “To listen to this album is to walk a path you have never taken before, to see sights you have never seen before, to step over the threshold” – ImperativePR -

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
Coming to know is a process of dynamic adaptation towards viable interpretations of experience. Act always so as to increase the total number of choices.

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 is a pragmatic relation with the studies of Luigi Russolo (a depth study about this author is the Luciano Chessa’s assay “Luigi Russolo Futurist - Noise, Visual Arts, and the Occult”), Edgard Varese and with many authors involved in the cultural framework called “last avantgarde” (circa 1950 – 1980), including: concrete, aniconic and non-objective visual artists, conceptual artists, and in the aural field, there are relations with the praxis of the electroacoustic and atonal music, sound art, non-idiomatic improvisation, metaphonic researches (including spontanous music and direct voices phenomenon), the first era of black, dark and doom metal (searching for the roots of these terms, for their sonic phenomenas, their thought-forms, before they became a music genre).

11.How would you describe your views on Occultism?
The acousmatic practices dealt into TST are focused on the mysterical degrees of the art of listening; the art of silence.

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

Friday, June 30, 2017

Siberian/Through Ages Of Sleep/The Sign Records/2017 CD Review


  Siberian  are  a  band  from  Sweden  that  plays  a  very  blackened  and  progressive form  of  sludge  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Through  Ages  Of  Sleep"  which  was  released by The  Sign  Records.

  Powerful  bass  guitars  and  drum  beats  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  elements  of  Euroasian  music  a  few  seconds  later  which  are  also  done  in  more  of  a  metal  style  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  more  of  a  heavier  and  melodic  direction  along  with  some  screams  that  are  done  in  a  more  modern  post  black  metal  style.

  At  times  the  music  gets  very  progressive  along  with  the  heaviness  of  sludge  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats  can be  heard  and  when  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  dark  yet  melodic  fashion  and  some  tracks  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  playing  as  well  as  a  brief  use  of  melodic  vocals.

  Siberian  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  post  black,  sludge  and  progressive  metal  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  inner  struggles,  dystopian,  and  existentialism  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Siberian  are  a  very  great sounding  progressive  blackened  sludge  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TERACKS  INCLUDE  "Witness"  "Transcend"  and  "age  Of  Sleep".  8  out  of  10.

  http://www.metalinjection.net/av/new-music/art-metal-masters-siberian-explore-their-dreams-on-through-ages-of-sleep​

Breag Naofa/Cearo/2017 EP Review


  Breag  Naofa  are  a  band  from  Seattle,  Washington  that  plays  a mixture  of  black,  sludge,  and post  metal  and  this  is  a  review of  their  self  released  2017  ep  "Cearo".

  Nature  soundscapes  start  off  the  ep  along  with  some  clean  guitars  a  few  seconds  later  that  also  gives  the  songs  a touch  of  post  rock  and  after  awhile  melodic  guitar  leads  are  added  onto  the  recording which  also  leads  to  a  heavier  direction  along  with  the  riffs  also  bringing  in  a  great  amount  of  melody.

  After  awhile growls  and  screams  are  added  onto  the  recording  along  with  the  slow  riffs  being  heavily  influenced  by  sludge  and  doom  metal  while  some  screams  also  add  in  a  touch  of  black  metal  and  both  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  when  the  music  speeds up  a  small  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats  can  be  heard.

  Breag  Naofa  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  black,  sludge,  and  post  metal  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  how  religion  still  poisons  very  aspect  of  human  existence.

  In  my  opinion  Breag  Naofa  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  black,  sludge  and  post  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Phosphorus".  8  out  of  10.

 https://breagnaofa.bandcamp.com/

Thursday, June 29, 2017

Suns Of Sorath/Flowers Of The Lily/2017 Full Length Review


  Suns  Of  Sorath  are  a  band  from  Denver,  Colorado  that  plays  a progressive  and  melodic  mixture  of black  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2017  album  "Flowers  Of  The  Lily".

  Atmospheric  soundscapes  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  powerful  sounding  bass guitars  a  few  seconds  later  which  also  leads  up  to  a  more  heavier  and  melodic  musical  direction  a  few  seconds  later  and  after  awhile  grim  black  metal  screams  start  to  make  their  presence  known.

  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  along  with  the  music also  incorporating  a  great  amount  of  death  metal  influences  and  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  decent  amount  of blast  beats  can  be  heard.

  A  great  amount  of  prog  rock, classical  and  jazz  music  elements  can  be  heard  at  times  along  with  a  small  amount  of  pianos  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and fast  parts  while  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  acoustic  guitars  and  on  a  couple  of  tracks  also  has  a  small  amount  of  melodic  vocals  being  utilized  in  the  background.

  Suns  Of  Sorath  plays  a  style  of  blackened  death  metal  that  is  very  melodic  and  progressive  while  also  mixing  in  influences  from  other  genres,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  Satanism,  Astrological,  Spiritual  and  Occultism  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Suns  Of  Sorath  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic  and  progressive  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  "Until  The  Stars  Be  Numbered"  and  "Flowers  Of  The  Lily".  8  out  of  10. 

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