Xanthochroid/Of Erthe And Axen Act I/Erethe And Axen Records/2017 CD Review

  Xanthochroid  are  a  band  from  Lake  Forest,  California  that  plays  a  musical  style  they  refer  to  as  'cinematic  black  metal'  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2017  album  "Of  Erthe  And  Axen  Act  I"  which  will  be  released  on  August  22nd.

  Neo-classical  style  keyboards  and  instruments  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  symphonic  elements  while  also  adding  in  the  atmosphere  of  an  epic  fantasy  movie  and  when  acoustic  guitars  are  utilized  they  bring  in  elements  of  folk  music  and  melodic  singing  is  also  used  at  times.

  Female  vocals  are  also  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  after  awhile  the  music  also  goes  into  more  of  a  heavy  and  melodic  direction  along  with  some  of  the  tracks  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  they  also  mix  the  heavy  and  symphonic  elements  together  and  the  guitar  leads  also  use  a  great  amount  of  melody.

  After  awhile  grim  black  metal  screams  start  to  make  their  presence  known  along  with  a  few  death  metal  growls  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  the  acoustic  guitars  also  gives  the  songs  a  more  progressive  edge  at  times  and  there  is  a  mixture  of  both  heavy  and  acoustic  tracks.

  Xanthochroid  plays  a  musical  style  that  mixes  symphonic  black  metal  with  folk  music  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  their  own  self  created  lore  and  fantasy.

  In  my  opinion  Xanthochroid  are  a  very  great  sounding  cinematic  black  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "To  Higher  Climes  Where  Few Might  Stand"  "The  Sound  Of  Hunger  Rises"  and  "The  Sound  Which  Has  No  Name".  8  out of  10.

https://youtu.be/H1focj2-KD4

Owlcrusher/Self Titled/Seeing Red Records/2017 CD Review

  Owlcrusher  are  a  band  from  Northern  Ireland  that  plays  a  blackened  mixture  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of t heir  self  titled  2017  album  which  was  released  by  Seeing  Red  Records.

  Atmospheric  sounding  drones  along  with  some  ambient  soundscapes  start  off  the  album before  going  into  more  of  a  heavier  sludge  and  doom  metal  direction  as  well  as  introducing  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  onto  the  recording  while  the  guitar  riffing  also  utilizes  a  great  amount  of  dark  sounding  melodies.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording h ave  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  death  metal  growls  are  also  utilized  at  times  along  with  melodic  chants  and  singing  also  being  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  when  guitar  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  dark  yet  melodic  fashion  and  all  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  a  very  slow  musical  direction.

  Owlcrusher  plays  a  musical  style  that  mixes  sludge  and  doom  metal  with  a  black  metal  vocal  approach  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  mental  illness,  alcohol  abuse,  tragedy  and  abstract  existential fear  themes.

  In  my opinion  Owlcrusher  are  a  very  great  sounding  blackened  mixture  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  if you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Feeble  preacher".  8  out of  10.

https://seeingredrecords.bandcamp.com/album/owlcrusher-owlcrusher

Syn Ze Sase Tri/Zaul Mos/Code666/2017 CD Review

  Syn  Ze  Sase  Tri  are  a  band  from  Romania  that  plays  a  very  symphonic  form  of  pagan black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Zaul  Mos"  which  will  be  released  in  September  by  Code666.

  Symphonic  synths  and  folk  instruments  start  off  the  album  and  they  also  mix  in  with  the  heavier  and  melodic  sections  of  the  music  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  grim  yet  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  along  with  some  death  metal  growls  and  whispered  vocals  can  also  be  heard  briefly.

  At  times spoken  word  parts  can  be  heard  along  with  a  brief  use  of  power  metal  style  vocals 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  while  the  fast  riffs  also  use  a  great  amount of  tremolo  picking.

  When  guitar  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  and  as  the  album  progresses  elements  of  folk  metal  and  pagan  vocals  are  also  added  onto  the  recording  while  a  later  track  also  brings  in  a  small  amount  of  acoustic  guitars and  female  vocals  and  only  one  of  the  songs  is  very  long  an d epic  in  length.

  Syn  Ze  Sase  Tri  plays  a  style  of  pagan  black  metal  that  is  very  symphonic  while  also  mixing  in  a  decent  amount  of  folk  elements  to  create  a sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Ancient  Dacian  Legends.

  In  my  opinion  Syn  Ze  Sase  Tri  are  a  very  great  sounding  symphonic  pagan/black  metal band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Tarimu  De  Lumina"  "De-a  Dreapta  Omului"  "Urzeala  Ceriului"  and  "In  Pintecu  Pamntuliu".  8  out  of  10.

 http://www.metalunderground.com/news/details.cfm?newsid=136662

Uhtcearu/For Darkness To Subside/2017 Full Length Review

  Uhtcearu  are  a  band  from  Wisconsin  that plays  a  melodic  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2017  album  From  Darkness  To  Subside".

  Blast  beats  and  fast  tremolo  picking  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  melodic  guitar  leads  a  few  seconds  later  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to them  and  the  vocals  also  use  both  black  metal  screams  and  death  metal  growls  and  you can  also  hear  a  lot  of  melody  in  the riffs.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and fast  parts  while  some  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  acoustic  guitars  are  also  added  on  a  few  tracks  along  with  a  brief  use  of  wood  burning  sounds  and  they  also  give  the  genre  a  more  modern  approach  and  as  the  album  progresses  a  brief  use  of  piano's  can  be  heard and  one  of  the  tracks  is  an  instrumental.

  Uhtcearu  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  melodic  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  dark  and  philosophical themes.

  In  my  opinion  Uhtcearu  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  "Burning  Effigy"  "May  Spirits  Guide  Us  Through"  and  "Tower  Of  Silence".  8  out  of  10.

https://uhtcearu.bandcamp.com/album/for-darkness-to-subside

Gloomy Grim/Fuck The World, War Is War!/Symbol Of Domination Productions/Murdher Records/2017 CD Compilation Review

  Finland's  Gloomy  Grim have  returned  with  a  album  that  is  in  the  symphonic  black  metal  style  while  also  being  a collection  of  songs  they  have  released  over  the  years and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  compilation  album "Fuck  The  World,  War  Is  War!"  which  was  released  as  a  joint  effort  between  Symbol Of  Domination  Productions  and  Murdher  Records.

  Symphonic  sounding  keyboards  start  off  the  compilation  along  with  some  grim  black  metal  screams  a  few  seconds  later  and  after  awhile  heavy  guitar  riffs  start  to  make  their  presence  known  and  they  also  mix  in  with  the  symphonic  sections  of  the  music  while  the riffs  also  use  a  decent  amount  of  melody.

  One  of  the  tracks  is  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  when  guitar  leads  are finally  added  into  the  songs  they  give  the  music  more  of  an  old  school  metal  feeling  while  also having  their  melodic  moments  and  female  vocals  along  with  spoken  word  parts  are  also  used  briefly  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  either  a  slow  or  mid  paced  musical  direction.

  With  this  compilation  Gloomy  Grim  brings  in  a  mixture  of  both  new  and  old  material  which  is  all  in  a  symphonic  black  metal  style,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Satanism,  War,  Anti  Christianity,  Darkness,  Death,  and  Horror  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  a  very great  sounding  collection  from  Gloomy  Grim and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  check  out  this  compilation.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Written  In  Blood"  "Asylum"  and  "Blood".  8  out  of  10.

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Legacy Of Emptiness Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
Sure thing! This is Kjell-Ivar speaking btw!The origin can be traced back to late 1995 when Eddie (guitar,vocals) and I (bass) figured out that we should start a band just for the hell of it. There were no plans or clear visions behind it other than to drink Vargtass and have fun. We chose the name 'Permafrost' as it was the coldest and grimmest name we could think of.
Later on, Øyvind joined on keyboards and we took a more symphonic direction and also changed name to 'Ancestral Legacy'. People came and went but the core of the three of us remained. Little other than a few demos happened so we left the band for dead in the early 2000's. Eddie continued with an entire new crew in a bit different direction and kept the name 'Ancestral Legacy'.
10 years or so later the three of us once more found ourselves playing and enjoying it again and here we are with our second album after the reformation.

2.You have a new album coming out in June, 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?
I would say the sound is quite similar as it is still the same receipt we used on the previous album. Once again we left the mix and mastering in the hands of Dan Swanö. He has been one of the most important persons for the band. First as a huge source of inspiration when we started out in the 90's and now as the man making sure we sound like we know what the hell we are doing.
When it comes to the songwriting I think we have matured a bit in the sense that the atmosphere and melodies are even stronger now. I am also very pleased withe the vocal arrangements on this album. We worked really hard on those and it was worth going the extra mile.

3.This is the first album to be released since 2011, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time span?
We've been to hell and back!
We started the work on 'Over The Past' late 2012 and then the misfortunes came hurdling against us. In that time all three of us have been hospitalized with different crap. Car accidents, cancer, fractures, emergency eye surgery, stroke, etc.. but we made it through and the result is 'Over The Past'. A quite fitting album title, don't you think?

4.The band members have all worked with each other in 'Permafrost' and 'Ancestral Legacy', what was the decision behind leaving those groups and starting a new band?As I mentioned in the introduction it's more of an evolution than bands left behind. We're the same people and we're still both 'Permafrost' and *Ancestral Legacy' but those names are occupied by others today .

5.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?
We have a little of this and a little of that since we sometimes use lyrics from other masters in addition to those we write ourselves. The common ground for all the lyrics we use is the sense of despair, hopelessness and darkness of different kinds. It may be dark moments in the history (ex 'Angelmaker') or the inner darkness that we all carry and feel(ex 'Into The Eternal Pits Of Nothingness')
When I write lyrics I usually try to express the feelings I get and describe the images I see when listening to the music. It's some sort of a narrative in a way.

6.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Legacy Of Emptiness'?
It's the link between then and now. When we picked up the tread again in 2010 it was more meant as an isolated thing were the plan was to re-work and record our best moments from back in the days. Most of the songs were on the the Ancestral Legacy - demo 'Emptiness' and therefor the name 'Legacy of Emptiness'.
In addition to tell its own story the name also reflects the music very well in my opinion.

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?Easy question. The short story is; we don't play live. In this business one should never say never but I don't see LOE take to the stages in any foreseeable future due to several reasons. As a 3-piece we would have to have loads of music on tape or hire a bunch of other musicians to make it sound right. Either way feels wrong so we'll probably continue composing music with no regard to playing it live. In this way we don't have any limitations in the composing and can do exactly what we feel like.

8.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released?
See previous answer.


9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of symphonic black metal?
The feedback has been overwhelmingly good. We get lot's of messages, and comments from people about how much they like this and that song. Narcissic as we are we read and absorb every comment of that kind.

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?There are some ideas floating around for a next release but it's to early to say if it's going to be an EP or an album. We still have a couple of hidden treasures from the 90's that might be cleaned up a bit and presented for the public.  Anyways, the creativity is flowing pretty good again so hopefully it won't tak 6 years until next time.

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?
As one that grew up in the 80's it's impossible not to mention the classics as Maiden, Manowar, Helloween and Twisted Sister but as I evolved I discovered something far more aggressive and sinister and found myself with tapes of Slayer, Sepultura and Deicide.
But the bands that have influenced our sound the most came from the Swedish melodic DM-scene. Edge of Sanity, early In Flames, Flegma, Unanimated, At the Gates, Dissection and the list goes on..
I still listen a lot to all of the above but I really like discovering new music. The new wave of classic heavy metal has much interesting going on with bands like 'Eternal Champion' and 'Witchtower'. I also listen qute a bit to funeral doom these days so here's a shout out to the labelmates in 'Frowning'.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?
I do quite a bit of fishing. I prefer fly-fishing but anything goes really. Hiking in the woods and mountains never gets old.
I also do a lot of geeky stuff like cardgames and miniature wargaming. Whatever keeps you sane, right?


13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Support the underground! Without a living underground we're left with soulless glossy products aimed for mass consumption. Support the small and independent labels! They are the blood of our scene and keep the physical formats alive.


FACEBOOK

facebook.com/legacyofemptiness

Order/Stream New Album:
legacyofemptinessblacklion.ban dcamp.com/album/over-the-past

Hate Moon Interview

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

Tohmar- We're a Norse-Gael symphonic metal two piece from Pennsylvania. As proud Irish Americans we promote our heritage and culture through our music.

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

Tohmar- An aural romanticism of ancient norse-celtic fantasy.

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

Tohmar- I would prefer that the listener interpret the lyrical/thematic narrative as they choose.

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

Tohmar- I also prefer this be an abstraction that the listener can interpret as they wish.

5.Currently there are only 2 members in the band, are you open to expanding your line up or do you chose to remain a duo?

Tuathail- Hate Moon will remain a duo. Tohmar and I have a certain vision for this band where we don’t want outside influence to disturb it.

6.The album is coming out on 'Folkvangr Records' are you happy with the support that they have given you so far?

Tuathail- Yes, it has been quite a privilege and honor to be with Folkvangr.

7.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of symphonic black metal?

Tohmar- Until this album we have not released anything publicly/officially.
Tuathail- We did pass along demos to friends and they were always well received.  This is why we felt an album was due.

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

Tohmar- Longer and more complex compositions.

9.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?

Tohmar- Black/death metal, classical, goth, and music from video games.  Both in the the present and past.
Tuathail- For me black metal, experimental electronic and industrial music.


10.Does paganism play any role in your music?

Tohmar- No.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

Tuathail- Hiking and art.
Tohmar- Norse-Irish culture/heritage, video games, politics.

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

Tohmar- No.

Bandcamp