Forbidden Rites/Pantheon Arcanum/GrimmDistribution/2018 CD Review

  Forbidden  Rites  are  a  band  with  members  from  Mexico  and  Cyrus  that  plays  a  melodic  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2018  album  "Pantheon  Arcanum"  which  will  be  released  on  November  7th  by  GrimmDistribution.

  A  very  fast  and  melodic  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  grim  black  metal  screams  as  well as  the  solos  and  leads  also  adding  in  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  the  music  is  heavily  rooted  in  the  90's  Swedish  style.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  the  music  also  adds  in  a  great  amount  of  death  metal  elements  along  with  the  songs  also  bringing  in    great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  as  the  album  progresses  acoustic  guitars  can  also  be heard  briefly  on  a  couple  of  tracks,  some  of  the  riffs  also  add  in  a  small  amount  of  thrash  influences  and  they  close  the  album  with  an  isntruemntal.

  Forbidden  Rites  plays  a  musical  style  that  goes  back  to  the  90's  era  of  Swedish  melodic  black  and  death  metal,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  secret  societies  and  ancestral  occult  knowledge.

  In  my  opinion  Forbidden  Rites  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  "Human  Mortuary  Landscapes"  "Judgement"  and  "The  Defeat  Of  Man  By  Man".  8  out  of  10.

https://grimmdistribution.bandcamp.com/album/030gd-forbidden-rites-pantheon-arcanum-2018 

Dyrnwyn Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
We are a Pagan Folk Metal band based in Rome, a bunch of friends with two common passions, Roman history and music.

2.Recently you have released your first full length, musically how does it differ from your previous ep and demo?
It is another world completely.  In the mean time as we were composing Sic Transit Gloria Mundi we grew up a lot both as musicians and as people. We learn to communicate and understand each other and this new found complicity and harmony between the members of the band brought us this album and we cannot be more proud of it!

3.Your lyrics cover Paganism and Ancient Roman History, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in these subjects?
We believe that if someone decide to play and compose folk metal he has to talk about his folkloric history and what greater history if not the one about Rome for us that were born and grew up here in the eternal city.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Dyrnwyn'?
This one is actually kind of funny story. We were at the beginning of our musical journey and the direction to take was really blurred and unsure.We all came from different music backgrounds and each of the name we picked represented more ourselves as single people then the band. We fought and we discussed for quiet a few days until exhausted we decided that the first who will propose a name, whatever it would have been, in the next few hours would be the official name. Let’s say that
we’re happy it wasn’t something silly ahahah Dyrnwyn is one of the thirteen tresure of England. Is a black sword which when wielded by a pure of heart will harness the power of fire to his favour but when wielded by someone unworthy it will burn him to ashes.


5.Can you tell us a little bit more abut the artwork that is presented on the album cover?
The name of the album is Sic Transit Gloria Mundi that translated it would be “and that’s how the glory of the world disappeared” . Based on this concept we worked with Gianmarco Colalongo in order to represent it on paper and we can all see the result of this process.

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?
The best show we did until now  are definitely the one with our brothers Atavicus in Rome and in Pescara. The atmosphere and the bond of friendship that binds us just made the concerts , pre, during and post a great experience all around.


7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?
Not yet but we’re starting to plan an italian tour really soon followed by some dates in europe, germany, swiss, austria etc.

8.The new album was released on 'Soundage Productions', how did you get in contact with this label?
Our bassist and founding member ,Ivan Cenerini , has a remarkable cd collection and some of them have been bought through the soundage distr

9.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your newer music by fans of pagan and folk metal?
It has been really really good. We’ve received some first reviews and are extremely good  8,5/10, plus everyone who listen to the album really enjoys it and send us compliments about it.

10.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?
Almost all of the band members are involved with other projects: Alessandro Mancini our guitarist and composer is currently on board of other two different projects , Drakens Orden (MelodicDeath) with whom is going to release a full lenght this month  and DragonhammeR (Power Metal) who recruited him as live guitarist.
Ivan Coppola our drummer is part of Ulfhednar  (Black Metal) with whom is taking part in a lot of concert here in Italy. The new found vocalist Thierry Vaccher is the singer of Manner (industrial metal) and Ivan Cenerini and Michelangelo Iacovella as well as Mauro Ricotta (former guitar) are composing for an original Atmospheric Black Metal project call AITA.

11.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
A balanced mix between Black Metal, Atmospheric Black Metal and Classic Pagan Folk .

12.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?
Here we need to make a brief list: Falkenbach, Manegarm, Moonsorrow, Draugr, Svartsot, Kawir, Istapp, Saor, Romuvos, Skyforger etc etc…
Nowadays they are pretty much the same with some occasional discoveries but in the same field as the one mentioned before.

13.What are some of your non musical interests?
Kick boxing, MMA, Historical re-enacment, D&D, Hiking, Trekking in nature and DRINKING ahahahah

14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
We hope to be able to bring this album everywhere and play as many live show as possible especially out of italy. But to do so we need to ask everyone of you a favor, be curious of new music, give a chance to small names because they might surprise you and if you can, support them as you can. We play and compose our music for all of you out there because we want to connect with you in some way, conveying our emotion and ourselves into our songs and nothing give us more happiness then knowing that you’re there headbanging in your car or at home or down the stage listening to us!

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Fordomth/I.N.D.N.S.L.E/Endless Winter Records/2018 CD Review

  Fordomth  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black,  sludge  and  funeral  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2018  album  "I.N.D.N.S.L.E"  which  will  be  released  in  November  by  Endless  Winter  Records.

  Tragic  sounding  keyboards  start  off  the  album  which  also  mixes  in  with  the  heavier  sections  of  the  music  at  times  before  adding  in  some  clean  playing  while  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  along  with  the  riffs  also  bringing  in  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sound  very  powerful.

  Vocals  bring  in  a  mixture  of  clean  singing,  guttural  death  metal  growls  and  black  metal screams  while  the  slower  sections  of  the  songs  are  very  heavily  rooted  in  funeral  doom  metal  along  with  the  solos  and  leads  being  done  in  a  very  melodic  style  as  well  as  one  track  also  introducing  spoken  word  parts  onto  the  recording  and  they  also  give  the  music  more  of  a  poetic  atmosphere,  all  of the  music  sticks  to  a  slower  direction  and  also  captures  the  heaviness  of  sludge  metal  and  as  the  album   progresses  slide  guitars  and  stringed  instruments  can  also  be  heard  briefly.

  Forndomth  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  black,  sludge  and  funeral  doom  metal  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  a  concept  album  covering  based  upon  eternal  damnation,  developed  under  it's  satanic  perspectives.

  In  my  opinion  Forndomth  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  black,  sludge  and  funeral  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Chapter  II  Abyss  Of  Hell"  and  "Chapter  V  I.N.D.S.L.E".  8  out  of  10.

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http://endless-winter.org/
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Omega Point Interview

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

I’m in the middle of promoting the album of course. I’m also trying to write new stuff, however the musical direction my writing is taking at the moment is a bit different from OMEGA POINT’s stuff. It’s more along the lines of “epic” and less “black metal”, you could say. So that’s why I don’t know if the next album will be an OMEGA POINT album or maybe some kind of solo record or even another project album.

2.So far you have released 2 albums this year, how do both of them differ musically?

The first album “The Descent” has a much rawer sound to it, it’s kinda more black metal than “Isolation”, you could say. You could say that I’ve explored a new sound for me with the first album and that I’ve taken it to the next step with “Isolation”. The second album is much more coherent than the first one. On the first one, I’ve had 3 singers and 2 bassists and no coherent lyrical concept, only outlines. On “Isolation” however, we don’t have such a mixture, we have Jonathan as the main singer, Maxi as the lyricist, Chris on drums and me doing the rest.
Also, what could explain the musical differences as well is that I’ve written “The Descent” in the middle of a personal, emotional crisis and “Isolation” is part of my recovery process. It still deals with a lot of the same moods, however the direction the music is taking is much clearer than on the first album.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects you have explored on both of the recordings?

OMEGA POINT deals with emotions such as despair, hate, anger and sadness. Like I’ve said before, I’ve let the people writing lyrics for the first album most of their freedom, thus creating an interesting mixture of impressions of their darker sides. It deals with thoughts about suicide, taking farewell and emotional issues.
The second album “Isolation” is more of a story. It’s about a protagonist whose friend has killed himself and who now must face different dark and negative emotions. Still fighting against those, his emotional state slowly gets worse and in the he has to face the same problems his friend has faced.

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

Well, it’s kinda weird to explain to be honest. But I’ll try. In the end, when everything collapses – talking in a broader sense - it ultimately means that everything will be nullified. Meaning that for example all of humanities achievements, all the big accomplishments as well as all our personal problems and goals will be for nothing. That may seem like an interesting thought from the perspective of someone who’s feeling suicidal, to be honest, because it kind of gives you a feeling of security. Everybody has to die and, in the end, when mankind, earth or even the universe is on the breach of collapse, it won’t matter what you have done – or not done.
That’s at least how I’ve looked at this topic from time to time. This of course isn’t fully congruent with the spiritual belief of the “Omega Point”, where everything in the universe is spiraling towards a final point of unification.
The original idea for this name is based on the lyrics for the song “At Omega Point”, which is written by Thomas Jahnke from Sadistic Sacrament.

5.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the album?

This artwork was made by Danko Designs specifically for this album. You can of course interpret it in different ways. It could for example resemble a person that has hanged himself, though you cannot see the rope. It might be a metaphor for an “inner death”, the loss of your will to live. Of course, you can also interpret it as a person that is rising “into the light”, as in “rising to heaven”. But of course, you can interpret it in any way you want.

6.I have read that this is a studio project and your looking for a live line up to do some shows, how has that been working out so far?

That hasn’t been working out that well, to be honest. The singer Jonathan and me moving away hasn’t made trying to find a line up easier, which is why that is put on hold for the moment. I’m concentrating on song writing again now and I’m looking for another project I can take part in at my new center of life.

7.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?

I have looked for labels in the past but I’ve decided to stay unsigned for now. This project still is kind of small and for most big labels, you have to buy yourself in to get a deal if you’re smaller. If there are labels interested though I will always reconsider because label support makes promotion and selling your music much easier.

8.What are some of the other bands or musical projects that the musicians that played on the recordings are a part of?

Starting off with the most known bands, Chris Dovas is currently the touring drummer for Vital Remains and the regular drummer for the Symphonic Metal Band Seven Spires. Maxi, who has also written the lyrics for “Isolation”, is creating a concept album himself right now under the name of “Quiet Observer”, and the first album consisted of musicians by the bands Sektor and Sadistic Sacrament.

9.Where do you see yourself heading into as a musician in the future?

I want to continue with OMEGA POINT or some other personal projects for sure. Due to my affinity for covering, I could also see myself joining a touring band or another new band as a regular member.
I’m right now studying Sound And Music Production at the University Of Applied Sciences in Darmstadt, Germany, so producing other bands will also be coming up.

10.What are some of the bands or musical projects that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

At the moment, I like listening to bands like Myrkur, ColdWorld, Tantara, MaYan, Guilt Machine or Pain Of Salvation. Some of my evergreens are Wintersun, Coroner or Vektor.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

I love watching anime, other than that my life is pretty music-centered, I just love producing sounds, doing covers for my YouTube-Channel and making music in general. Sometimes I also like to code.

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

Yeah, thanks for the interview and the interesting questions. Of course I would be honoured if the people reading this would check out the album (https://open.spotify.com/album/37wdjT3nq0UsCbcoyU5IkU?si=qqtxIui4T5-6no5jBUrQdg).

Other than that, stay safe and stay creative, people. Hit me up if you need any second opinion on your music or some kind of production advice, or you just want to make a collaboration cover for YouTube - you can find my website here (http://ristridi.de)

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Neos Gheron/Potius Nihil, Potius Desultus/Masked Dead Records/2018 CD Review

  Neos  Gheron  are  a  duo  from  Italy  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black  metal  and  dungeon  synth  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2018  album  "Potius  Nihil,  Potius  Desultus"  which  was  released  by  Masked  Dead  Records.

  A  very  epic  synth  sound  starts  off  the  album  and  also  captures  the  atmosphere  of  a  fantasy  fil  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  grim  black  metal  screams  along  with  some  battle  sounds  also  being  added  into  the  background  at  times  as  well  as  the  music  also  mixing  in  elements  of  dungeon  and  neo-classical.

  Some  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  while  no  traditional  instruments  are  ever  utilized  in  any  of  the  songs  along  with  the  songs  bringing  in  a  variety  of  many  different  sounding  keys  as  well  as  some  soundscapes  also  being  used  at  times  and  the  music  also  has  its  symphonic  moments,  background  voices  can  also  be  heard  briefly  and  as  the  album  progresses  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  clean  vocals  and  some  tracks  also  add  in  programmed  drum  beats.

  Neos  Gheron  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  black  metal  and  dungeon  synth  and  mixes  it  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own, the  production  sounds  very  dark  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Italian  and  cover  medieval  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Neos  Gheron  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  black  metal  and  dungeon  synth  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  duo.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Potius  Nihil...  Potius  Deseltus  (Act.  I)  Ars  Falsarum Imaginium  Extintarum  (Act.  II)"  and  "Subdecti  Nostras  Memorias  Nequitunt  Laedere Inferiores".  8  out  of  10.

https://maskedeadrecords.bandcamp.com/album/potius-nihil-potius-deseltus

  

Marsh Dweller/Wanderer/Eihwaz Recordings/2018 CD Review

  Marsh  Dweller  are  a  solo  project  from  Pennsylvania  that  has  had  music  reviewed  before  in  this  zine  and  on  this  recording  moves  way  from  his  melodic  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  to  go  into  more  of  a  sludge/post  metal  direction  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2016  album  "Wanderer"  which  was  released  by  Eihwaz  Recordings.

  Distorted  noises  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  heavier  post  metal  direction  while  the  vocals  bring  in a  mixture  of  growls  and  screams  along  with  the  solos  and  leads  being  done  in  a  very  melodic  style  as  well  as  the  slower  riffing  being  very  heavily  rooted  in  sludge  metal.

  Have  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  while  atmospheric  sounding  synths  can  also  be  heard  at  times  along  with  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats  being  utilized  when  the  music  speeds  up  as  well  as  some  clean  playing  also  being  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording,  a  small  amount  of  black  metal  screams  and  clear  vocals  can  also  be  heard  briefly  and  at  times  the  music  gets  very  atmospheric  and  also  adds  in  a  small  amount  of  synths  and  as  the  album  progresses  a  brief  use  of  female  vocals  can  also  be  heard.

  On  this  recording  Marsh  Dweller  moves  way  from  his  melodic  style  of  black/death  metal  and  goes  into  more  of  an  atmospheric  and  post/sludge  metal  direction,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  a  concept  album  following  the  wanderer.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Marsh Dweller  and  while  some  black  and  death  metal  fans  will  not  like  the  new  style,  I  can  see  this  album  winning  a  fan  base  among  fans  of  sludge  and  post  metal.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Wander  I"  and  "Fall".  8  out of  10.

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Myopic Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording of the new album?

Aside from everything involved in putting the album out, we’ve been working hard to make sure we nail everything live, playing some shows, and working on new material.

2.In November you have a new album coming out, what are some of the things the band done different musically on this recording that you were not able to do on previous releases?

Clean singing. Something like half the vocals on this record are are sung (more or less) clean. Adding clean vocals wasn’t something we really set out to do, as much as it was something the songs we were writing were calling for.  We also spent time working out a conceptual soundscape through and between songs.

3.This is your first release in 4 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time span?

Working, traveling and moving. Our hardest problem for a while was making time for the band through all the different changes from work scheduling and vacation planning. We try to play gigs fairly regularly and spent a lot of time writing and working on the music on this album.

4.In the beginning the band played more of a death metal style but over the years have evolved more in a black, sludge or post metal direction, what was the decision behind the musical change?

We never really set out to play a particular style, so we’ve moved with our musical interests and our development as songwriters. Our music has been getting more complex through the years and so that often prompts changes in tone and aesthetic. We’ve always followed a more linear, narrative approach rather than a cyclical structure. It’s also hard to only write dark-sounding music, it’s nice to be adding more melody and colors to our palate.

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

Derived from the word “Myopia” meaning nearsightedness, in a literal sense, or lack of foresight, long term plans. We (most likely) chose it because it sounded cool, but it’s since become sort of a representation of the band’s unwillingness to define itself. We write what we want to hear.

6.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?

The front cover is inspired by the lyrics and concept for the song Pillars of Time. The album follows a man wandering through a deserted world, having visions and memories of the past. It’s not entirely clear what killed the population and left the world barren, only hinted at in places. In Pillars of Time he finds these great monuments to an ancient civilization, still standing because of their great size.  The back cover is based on the lyrics to Resting Place and the conclusion of this story. The art was done by Casey Drogin, who also used to be in the band before Myopic released anything.

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?

Within the last year we played with Thantifaxath at Atlas Brew Works in DC, that was a great show and a great venue, especially since we work in the beer industry as well. After the release of Crawling Mountain Apogee we played a Grimoire Showcase at Metro Gallery in Baltimore. It’s always nice to play with all the talent on our label. In 2016 we played Shadow Woods Metal Festival with a ton of amazing bands. The whole weekend was incredibly fun. Our stage performance is all about playing as tight and perfect as we can while still putting as much energy and emotion in as possible. We’ve been working on making the set a cohesive whole as well, a lot of consideration goes into song order and how one song flows into the next.

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

We’re in the process of stringing together a small tour this winter with At the Graves.

9.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black, sludge and post metal?

Actually worldwide our biggest fan base might be in Russia. A few years ago we somehow found that a Russian torrenting website had stolen our EP ‘Vacuous’, uploading for download on their website, and even watermarking our album artwork. Shortly after, we had our biggest spike of listens ever on our bandcamp.

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

We’re a band that likes to change and go in new directions, it’s hard to predict, but I think we’ll see a continuation of our favorite aspects of this album as well as branching out and trying new things.

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?

We tend to play with a lot of different genre blends based in blackened atmosphere and post-rock energy. Some influences over the past two years have been: Yob, Gojira, Meshuggah, ISIS, Emperor, High On Fire, The Chasm, Immortal...

12.What are some of your non musical interests?

We all have visual art hobbies as well, photography, design, painting. We homebrew beer, mead, and wine, and play Starcraft 2 as a team.

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

We hope our listeners enjoy the album and all the work put into it. We put a lot of thought into the track order and presentation, and hope people will listen to the whole album. It’s somewhat of a concept album, so it’s best experienced that way, as an album, and not just a collection of separate songs, which seems to be getting less common these days, and if you live around the Washington, DC area, come and see us live!

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