Crimfall/Amain/Metal Blade Records/2017 Full Length Review

  Crimfall  are  a  band  from  Finland  that  plays  a  symphonic  mixture  of  power,  folk,  viking  and  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Amain"  which  will  be  released  on  August  25th  by  Metal  Blade  Records.

  A  very  atmospheric  sounding  intro  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  spoken  word  arts  a  few  seconds  later  which  also  leads  to  stringed  and  folk  instruments  being  added  onto  the recording  along  with  some  drum  beats,  melodic  male  vocals  and  symphonic  elements  and  female  vocals  are  also  a  very  huge  part  of  the  songs.

  When  the   music  gets  heavy  it  still  mixes  in  with  the  folk  and  symphonic  side  of  the  recording  and  after  awhile  death  metal  growls  and  black  metal  screams  start  to  make  their  presence  known  and  the  riffs  also  use  a  great  amount  of  melody  while  the  solos  and  leads a re  also  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion.

  A  great  amount  of  power  metal  elements  can  be  heard  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to them  and  as  the  album  progresses  acoustic  guitars  are  added  onto some  of  the  songs  while  the  tracks  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  last  track  is  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Crimfall  plays  a  musical  style  that  power,  folk,  viking  and  melodic  black  metal  and  mixes  together  with  symphonic  elements  to  create  something  very  original,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Norse  Paganism,  War  and  Anti  Religion  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Crimfall  are a   very  great  sounding  mixture  of  power,  folk,  viking  and  melodic  black  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Last  Of  Stands"  "Ten  Winters  Apart  Part  4:  Dawn  Without  A  Sun"  "it's  A  Long  Road"  and  "Until  Falls  The  Rain".  8  out  of  10.

http://www.crimfall.com/site/
https://www.facebook.com/crimfall/
https://www.youtube.com/user/CrimfallOfficial



  

Rapheumets Well/Enders Door/Test Your Metal Records/2017 CD Review

  Rapheumets  Well  are  a  band  from  North  Carolina  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  progressive  and  symphonic  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Enders  Door"  which  was  released  by  test  Your  Metal  Records.

  Symphonic  sounding  keyboards  start  off  the  album and  operatic  choirs  are  also  used  briefly  along  with  some  elements  of  classical  music  and  they  also  mix  in  with  the  heavier  sections  of  the  music  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard.

  Vocals  are  a  mixture  of  death  metal  growls  and  black  metal  screams  while  all  of t he  musical  instruments  sounding  very  powerful  and  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  melody  along  with  female  vocals  also  being  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts,

 Some  tracks  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  spoken  word  parts  and  as  the  album  progresses  acoustic guitars  are  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  the  music  getting  progressive  at  times  and  some  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  while  some  of  the  leads  also  add  in  some  technical  touches  and  a  couple  of  tracks  are  instrumental.

  Rapheumets  Well  creates  another  recording  that  remains  true  to  the  progressive  and  symphonic  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  from  previous  releases,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  science  fiction  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Rapheumets  Well  and  if  yuo  are  a  fan  of  symphonic  and  progressive  black  and  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Traveler"  "Secrets  Of  The  Demigods"  "The  Diminished  Strategist"  and  "Unvieling  The  Sapiant".  8  out  of  10.

https://youtu.be/ kPym5DiG700 

Zornheym Interview

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

Zorn: Right now we are preparing for our first show at Motocultor Festival in France on the 18th of August and we have just started the promotion cycle for our debut album “Where Hatred Dwells and Darkness Reigns”. There is also some work left to do on our graphic novel that will be released as the comic book edition of the album, so yeah… we are staying busy to say the least!

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

Zorn: To begin with we have normal tuning on our guitars. Sverker Widgren (owner of Wing Studios where we recorded) created such a thick and heavy sound for our guitars so there was no need to tune them down. Personally, I feel that if you tune down a guitar it doesn’t really add anything in heaviness if the riffs themselves aren’t heavy already. We also have Deathbucker pickups from Lace pickups that helped us get a perfect mix of new and old with the tone as well. Even though we are a “Symphonic” band, the guitar takes up a lot of space on the album. The guitar is the strong stallion that’s pulling the carriage of the orchestra and the choir.

3. The main person in the band has previous experience in other bands, what is it that you feel that you are able to do different with this band that you were not able to do in previous groups?

Zorn: This band I built from scratch. When the foundation for the band was built I was lucky and found great people that shared the same vision. I think a difference with this band is that we are looking more outside of the box, we have pretty much smashed the box and rebuilt that whole idea. There is so much focused creativity pulling in the same direction. It makes the music and the ideas around the concept very powerful and more focused than I have ever experienced before.

4. The lyrics on the album have a concept to them, can you tell us a little bit more about the songwriting?

Zorn: The story takes place at an asylum called Zornheim - Where Hatred Dwells and Darkness Reigns, and each song tells the story of ones of the inmates that is imprisoned there. The physical version of the album also includes each inmates’ medical record written by the head doctor Dr. Bettelheim.

Regarding the songwriting, I started mostly with writing the guitar riffs, even though with “The Opposed” I wrote the cello theme on an old keyboard with a cello sound. Then I recorded and arranged the songs in my home studio. I met up with Angst and did drum arrangements with him in the rehearsal room and later he recorded the drums. Once I got the rehearsal drums from him I did small adjustments with the guitars and the orchestra as well. When Bendler joined the band, me and him started working on the vocals together, sending ideas back and forth and then Scucca came with some vocal input before we recorded it with Sverker Widgren at Wing Studios. Once the foundation of the songs were done I sent over the orchestral score to Scucca and he arranged the ideas so that they would work and then wrote it down as notation for the string orchestra and the choir. Since each song contains over 300 channels on the album, the songwriting process was more complicated than just meet up a few guys and jam in a rehearsal room.

5. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Zornheym'?

Zorn: Zornheym was my stage name when I was in Dark Funeral. The former German lead singer of Dark Funeral, Nachtgarm, came up with it. It is german and it means “home of anger”. The more I started to hear people calling me that, the more I liked the sound of it and when I started to plan to form this band I found myself with a concept that pretty much tells a story about a “home of anger”. So simply using that name felt natural. The story takes place in Germany so we decided to name the asylum “Zornheim” and the band “Zornheym” and I decided to shorten my name to Zorn, because that’s what people usually called me anyway.

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

Zorn: That’s a really hard question to answers since we have not played any shows so far, haha… Our debut show is on the 18th of August in France on the Motocultor Festival. We are playing together with bands like Bloodbath, Opeth and Candlemass, in other words we are super psyched and honoured for having this opportunity for our debut show!

7. Do you have any touring or show plans once the album is released?

Zorn: Besides Motocultor, nothing is booked yet. However plans are slowly taking form. The best thing you can do if you want to see Zornheym play in your city is to contact your local promoters and make sure that they understand that there is a demand for Zornheym in your area.

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

Zorn: We have only released two digital singles and our first show is on a 20.000+ festival, I can not believe how extremely well people have greeted us. Thank you!

I think that it is really hard to break through the white noise surrounding music today. I’m getting the feeling that our extremely thought through concept is helping us with that though, but only time will tell. So far, so good!

9.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are a part of?

Zorn: My other band/studio project, Aktiv Dödshjälp, might enter the studio later this year. I have almost all the songs done and I have a recording line up as well. I hope we can do it because the songs are really cool. I know that Bendler has just added a ton of great songs onto Spotify recently, and him and Facebreaker are slowly putting a new album together. Angst’s Diabolical are recording pre-productions for their next album. Scucca’s other band, Encrowned, has some killer songs in production for their debut too.

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

Zorn: I see us diving deeper into the concept that we started with “Where Hatred Dwells and Darkness Reigns” and using more and more real instruments. Our music can basically travel where the concept takes us since we are a band driven by our concept. I look forward to creating more epic symphonic compositions though!

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?

Zorn: To begin with what have influenced me while writing this album I would say these albums:

Dissection - Storm of the Light’s bane

Dimmu Borgir - Spiritual Black Dimensions

King Diamond - Voodoo

Blind Guardian - Nightfall in Middle-earth

Yngwie Malmsteen - Seventh Sign

Emperor - Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk

Hans Zimmer - Inception soundtrack

I don’t think we sound like any of these bands or artists exactly, but they have been a great inspiration for me while writing. When I’m listening to music at home, I only listen to the albums in my record collection, and then I would rather put on an album and let it play through. When I’m out I stream music via Spotify and then I more look for music or check out new albums. Recently I have been listening to the new Carach Angren album, Blaze new album, Bloodbath, Edge of Sanity and the new Rhapsody of Fire album. Sometimes I go into instrumental periods and just listen to soundtracks or classical music. Other times I am at the gym and just getting psyched up by Raised Fist.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?

Zorn: I like going to the movies and TV series. I also often find myself stuck watching different documentaries about historic events. I like to read a lot as well. Most of my time when I’m not working with music is invested in my 3 year old son and my girlfriend though.

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

Zorn: Thank you for your interest in Zornheym and thanks to you who took the time to check out the whole interview. Please check out our debut album “Where Hatred Dwells and Darkness Reigns”. If concept albums are your poison, dive into our concept and explore, it is a new angle on the approach to concept albums and I think you will like it! Check out our singles on youtube and if you want to help a hard working band, get the physical version of the album. Either way, thanks for taking the time to check us out. See you on the road!

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Fleurety/Inquietum/Aesthetic Death/2017 Compilation Review

  Fleurety  are  a  band  from  Norway  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  mixture  of  black  metal,  avant  garde  and  noise  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  compilation  album  "Inquietum"  which  will  be  released  on  August  21st  and  consists  of  the  many  7  inches  that  they  have  released  over  the  years.

  Harsh  noises  and  power  electronics  start  off  the  album  and  also  mix  in  with  the  heavier  riffing  which  also  leads  up  to  some  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  being  added  onto  the  recording  while  the  music  also  brings  in  a  great  amount  of  avant  garde  elements  and  you  can  also  hear  some  melody  in  the  guitar  riffing.

  When  the  music  speeds  up  a  decent  amount  of  blast  bets  can  be  heard  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  yet  progressive  fashion  and  acoustic  guitars  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  the  guitar  riffing  also  brings  in  a  decent  amount  of  tremolo  picking.

  Throughout  the  compilation  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  some  tracks  also  bring  in  synths  and  drones  along  with  some  psychedelic  elements  also  being  used  briefly  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them,  female  vocals  can  also be  heard  briefly as  the  album  progresses  and  some  of  the  songs  is  long  and  epic  in  length  and  also  utilizes  a  more  angry  vocal  approach  and  there  are  also  a  few  instrumentals.

  On  this  compilation  Fluerty  showcase  a  lot  of  their  material  that  was  released  over  the  years  which  shows  their  avant  garde  black  metal  style  getting  more  darker  and  experimental  than  what  was  presented  on  the  early  full lengths,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  weirdness,  dark  emotions  and  poetry  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  collection  from  Fluerty  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  avant  garde  black  metal,  experimental  and  noise,  you  should  check  out  this  compilation.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Descent  Into  Darkness"  "Summon  The  Beasts"  "It's  When  Your  Cold"  and  "Carnal  Nations".  8  out  of  10.

https://www.facebook.com/thetruefleurety/  

Kranheit/Saat Des Bosen/Metal Shop/2017 CD Review

  Krankheit  are  a  band  from  Austria  that  plays  a  mixture  of  dark  industrial  and  symphonic  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Saat  Des  Bosen"  which  was  released  by  Metal  Shop.

  Dark  soundscapes  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  radio  sounds  and  demonic  voices  which  leads  up  to  a  heavier  musical  direction  while  the  vocals  are  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  they  also  mix  the  symphonic  and  heavy  parts  together.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  songs  also bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  spoken  word  parts  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  the  music  also  mixes  in  a  great  amount  of  industrial  and  classical  music  elements

  Kranheit  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  symphonic  black  metal,  industrial  and  classical  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are written  in  their  native  tongue  and  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Kranheit  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  classical,  dark  industrial  and  symphonic  black  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Saat  Des  Bosen"  "Tanz  der  Zeit"  "Untergang"  and  "Requiem  Introitus".  8  out  of  10.

https://www.facebook.com/Krankheit.Band/

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