Dark Reverence/2018 Promo Review

  Dark  Reverence  are  a  duo  from  New  Jersey  that  plays  a  mixture  of  goth,  ambient  and  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2018  promo.

  Heavy  yet  melodic  riffing  starts  off  the  promo  along  with  some  grim  black  metal  screams  a  few  seconds  later  while  the  music  also  brings  in  a  great  amount  of  programmed  beats  as  well  as  the  female  vocals  also  mixing  goth  elements  onto  the  recording  and  the  music  also  incorporates  a  great  amount  of  synths.

  A  decent  amount  of  melody  can  also  be  heard  in  the  guitar  riffing  while  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats  can  also  be  heard  during  the  faster  sections  of  the  music  along  with  the  synths  also  adding  in  elements  of  dark  ambient  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them as  well  as  a brief  use  of  clean  playing.

  Dark  Revernece  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  black  metal,  dark  ambient  and  goth  rock  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  while  the  lyrics  cover  darkness  and  occultism  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Dark  Reverence  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  black  metal,  dark  ambient  and  goth  rock  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  duo.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Let  Me  Be  Myself  Again".  8  out  of  10.

https://www.facebook.com/darkreverenceband/
  

Lowered/Self Titled/Throne Records/2018 Full Length Review

  Lowered  are  a  band  from  Portland,  Oregon  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black,  death,  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  titled  2018  album  which  was  released  by  Throne  Records.

  Dark  soundscapes  along  with  some  melodic  riffing  starts  off  the  album  before  adding  in  some  slow  and  heavy  riffs  which  also  bring  in  the  heaviness  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  while  all  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  vocals  are  mostly  angry  black  metal  screams.

  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  dark  yet  melodic  style  while  blast  beats  can  also  be  heard  in  the  faster  sections  of  the  music  along  with  the  music  also  mixing  in  a  great  amount  of  death  metal  elements  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  music  also  mixes  in  a  great  amount  of  dissonant  structures.

  Lowered  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  black,  death,  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Lowered  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  black,  death,  sludge  and  doom  metal  and if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Unreal"  and  "Call  Of  The  Moon".  8  out  of  10.

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N (46)/[BOLT]/(Nameless Release)/Midira Records/2018 Full Length Review

  [BOLT]  are  a  band  from  Germany  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  on  this  recording  teams  up  with  Germany's  N (46)    plays  an  instrumental  mixture  of  black,  drone  and  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  a  nameless  release  that was  released  by  Midira  Records.

  Atmospheric  sounding  drones  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  slow  and  heavy  doom  metal  riffing  a  few  seconds  later  while  all  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  as  well  as  all  of  the  music  being  instrumental  and  the  guitar  leads  are  also  done  in  a  very  melodic  style.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  the  music  also  mixes  in  a  decent  amount  of  black  metal  elements  along  with  the  music  also  capturing  an  improvised  atmosphere  as  well  as  some  songs  also  adding  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  playing  and  all  of  the  music  sticks  to  a  very  slow  direction.

  [BOLT]  and  team  up  together  and  mixes  black,  drone  and  doom  metal  together  while  keeping  everything  instrumental  and  mixing  their  different  styles  together  and  the  production  sounds  very  dark.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  collaboration  between  N (46)  and  [BOLT]  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  drone,  black  and  doom  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  8  out  of  10.

https://n-bolt.bandcamp.com/

Haiku Funeral/Decadent Luminosity/Aesthetic Death/2018 Double Album Review

  Haiku  Funeral  are  a  band  from  France  that  has  had  an  album  reviewed  before  in  this  zine  and  on  this  recording  plays  a  mixture  of  blackened  industrial  and  ritualistic  satanic  ambient  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2018  double  album  "Decadent  Luminosity"  which  was  released  by  Aesthetic  Death.

  Atmospheric  soundscapes  start  off  the  first  side  of  album  while  some  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length   along  with  the  music  also  mixing  in  a  great  amount  of  industrial  elements  as  well  as  the  vocals  being  mostly  done  in  a  very  grim  black  metal  style  and  synths  are  also  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording.

  A  great  amount  of  programmed  and  militant  beats  are  also  used  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  along  with  some  melodic  chants  also  being  used  briefly  as  well  as  a  brief  use  of  stringed  instruments,  some  tracks  also  add  in  whispered  style  vocals  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  female  vocals  and  spoken  word  parts  and  when  percussion  is  utilized  briefly  it  adds  in  more  of  a  shamanistic  atmosphere  and  the  closing  track  also  adds  in  elements  of  Indian  ethnic  music.

  Ritualistic  percussion's  start  off  the  second  sound  of  the  album  along  with  some  clear  yet  chanting  vocals   while  spoken  word  parts  are  also  added  into  some  parts  of  the  music  and  they  also  sound  very  demonic  at  times  as  well  as  some  of  the  tracks  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Ambient  style  synths  and  ritualistic  soundscapes  are  also  a  very  huge  part  of  the  second  half  of  the  album  while  grim  whispers  are  also  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  the  music  also  getting  very  experimental  and  avant  garde  at  times  and  one  of  the  tracks  is  an  instrumental.

  With  this  double  album  Haiku  Funeral  brings  out  2  different  sides  of  their  musical  style  with  the  first  side  being  blackened  industrial  and  the  second  side  ritualistic satanic  ambient,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  while  the  lyrics  cover  Satanism,  Eastern/Western  Occultism,  Rituals  and  Darkness  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Haiku  Funeral  an  if  you  are  a  fan  of  black  metal,  industrial,  experimental,  ritual  and  dark  ambient,  you  should  check  out  this  double  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Scientia  Intra  Satana"  "Dreaming  Kali  In  The  Temple  Of  Fire"  "Lacerate  The  Light"  and  "Endlessly".  8  out  of  10.

https://www.facebook.com/haikufuneral/

  

Yerusalem/The Sublime/Debember Morti Productions/2019 CD Review

  Yerusalem  are  a  duo  from  France  that  consists  of  a  member  of  Blut  Aus  Nord  and  plays  a  mixture  of  black  metal,  industrial,  post  punk,  new  wave,  electronica,  and  goth  rock  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  album  "The  Sublime"which  will  be  released  in  2019  by  Debembur  Morti  Productions.

  Atmospheric  soundscapes  start  off  the  album  before  adding  in  some  melodic  guitar  leads  and  programmed  beats  while  the  clean  vocals  gives  the  music  more  of  a  post  punk  feeling  along  with  the  music  also  getting  very  avant  garde  and  experimental  at  times  and  the  heavy  riffs  also  add  in  touches  of  early  90's  industrial  metal.

  Elements  of  goth  rock.  psychedelia,  new  wave,  electronica  and  dreamgaze  can  also  be  heard  at  times  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  along  with  the  songs  also  adding  in  a  great  amount  of  synths  as  well  as  one  of  the  tracks  being  an  instrumental  and  some  of  the  riffing  also  adds  in  structures  of  mid  90's  to  early  2000's  era  experimental  black  metal  and  all  of  the  music  sticks  to  a  slower  direction.

  Yerasalem  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  industrial,  new  wave,  electronica,  post  punk,  goth  rock  and  black  metal  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  esoteric and  philosophical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Yeraalem  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  industrial,  new  wave,  electronica,  post  punk,  goth  rock  and  black  metal  and  if  you  are  looking for  something  very  original,  you  should  check  out  this  duo.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Sublime"  "Joyless"  and  "Reverso".  8  out  of  10. 

https://www.facebook.com/Yeruselemprojekt/

Goblinsmoker Interview

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



Hey, we’re a black metal influenced doom band from Durham in the North East of England. We look to make music with big riffs while telling a story, creating an atmosphere within the music that complements the story telling element.



2. You have an ep coming out in December, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style you went for on this recording?



I’ve seen someone recently describe it’s as ‘the venom of black metal blended with the warm amplifier riff worship of doom.’ Which I feel pretty much nails what we initially set out to do. Classic doom riffs, drowning in fuzz and throwing in the seething bleakness of black metal.



3. The lyrics have a concept involving the Toad King, can you tell us a little bit more about the songwriting?



The concept centres on the story of the Toad King, the discontented ruler of the goblins and their forest home. I’ve always been a big fan of storytelling in music and we’ve had so much fun working on the concept. Also, for whatever reason, I find it much easier to write lyrics that may have emotions personal to me thrown in, but they are hidden amongst the storytelling. As we have fleshed out the concept, it’s aided us writing the music. Kind of like ‘what would you expect a song to sound like that is about a big pissed off toad, sitting in a smoke filled forest.’



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



The name itself really came from the concept. I had basics of the concept and the first song wrote a while before the name was settled on. The name just felt like a natural choice. The Toad King, cast out by his own kind, has found himself on the goblin throne in the forest. The goblins are in awe of him and willingly sacrifice themselves to be smoked by their king. This goblin smoke helping the king escape his resentment. The Toad King is the goblinsmoker.



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



The guy who did the art has done such a good job of capturing what we were after. He’s nailed it. It was important the art set the tone for the concept as it’s the first thing people are likely to see, before they’ve heard the music. As this record is the start of the story and the introduction to the Toad King, we wanted the main guy front and centre smoking those goblin subjects. We’ll be developing the art with the story.



6. Originally the band was a solo project what was the decision behind expanding into a duo?



After a number of years playing in a band that broke down I (Adam – vocals, guitars, bass) decided to set myself a goal of writing a record alone. I can be a bit of a lone wolf and find it easier working alone than with other people, so it felt like a natural thing to do. I can’t play drums for shit and initially was going to pay for a session drum to drum on the tracks. After talking about the concept with Calum (drums) who I’ve known for years, he was really into it. He also happened to play drums and is the nicest, most chilled out guy so it felt totally right to bring him on board.



7. The ep is going to be released through 'Sludgelord Records', how did you get in contact with this label?



Sludgelord Records actually were the only label I contacted about doing the record. I contacted them quite early on with the concept and asked if they’d be up for hearing the music once it’s done. I’d known of Sludgelord for a long time through their steady supply of good music through the blog. Knowing they had a label, it was something I really wanted to release on. Luckily, months later I sent over the finished tracks and they agreed to release it. I was naturally really pleased and proud they’d taken it on, felt like the ideal home for the record.



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



The response has been insane. Like, way over and above what we expected. Sludgelord Records sold out of their allocation of tapes in 24 hours off the back of a 20 second clip of music. A week and a half later we have sold out of all our tapes after one track being released. When I first start writing this, sat in my living room, I never expected it’d get such a reaction. And to think, we were only initially going to do a run of half the amount of tapes we have sold, and were concerned we’d struggle to sell them.



9. When can we expect a full length and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?



We are aiming to do what we have been jokingly calling ‘The Toad Tape Trilogy’. Basically telling the story of the Toad King over three tape releases. We have this first release that kind of introduces the setting with the first song and the final track, ‘Time to Ride’, having the King learn of an upcoming war and his need to ride into battle. This will be where the second release picks up. We want to do three different colour tapes across the three parts of the story, having the artwork develop and the main colours of the art match the tapes. As you’d be able to see the main colour theme of this one being green. Once the three are done, we’d like to release them all as set, either in a presentation box together, or possibly even on vinyl if we are in a position to do so.

We also have our first shows slotted in for next year, so we are currently on bringing a bassist into the fold, so we can replicate the records sound live.



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?



As we’ve previously mentioned, doom and black metal has been a big influence on our sound and what we are trying to do. Not that our musical interests are limited to that. I (Adam) am a big fan of Rush and feel some of their harder riffs are a big influence, along with their story telling. In terms of records that have come out this year, there have been some great albums, probably my personal favourite being Transcanadian Anger by Dopethrone.



11. What are some of your non musical interests?



We are both really into good beer from micro breweries. We are in a pretty good spot for it up here, with breweries like Wylam, so we have invested plenty of time indulging the love good ale while developing the concept. I guess the dream is to get into a position where we have someone brew us a Goblinsmoker ale.



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



Toad King, worship him.

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Fordomth Interview

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

The band was born in 2013 from the need to create a project around and inside the concept of  damnation, which the first concrete manifestation is I.N.D.N.S.L.E..
The main idea came from the mind of Gianluca, which plays bass on the full length and now the guitar with the current line-up. Following this idea few specific musician, also friends, already into extreme music scene, were recruited to make Fordomth real. In these past years the band had quite a singular background concerning line-up changes. Long story short Gianluca and Gabriele are the only former members still in the band, which consist in a four pieces now.

2.Recently you have released your first full length, can you tell us a little bit more bout the musical style you went for on this recording?

The common ground for the six former members was the same, consisting in Doom Metal and all its shades. In particular Funeral Doom Metal influenced by such bands as Catacombs, Ahab, Evoken, Thergothon and Longing for Dawn, to name few, were the foundation for I.N.D.N.S.L.E.. The many personal influences turned out in a very textural approach to the composition, making the result unique and even more precious thanks to the special featuring of Federica's violin in 'Interlude' and Salvatore's voice in the title-track.

3.The band has been around since 2013 but you waited until 2018 to play live shows or release an album, can you tell us a little bit more about the earlier years?

Concerning the gestation of Fordomth started in 2013, as we already mentioned, the past years were full of events, which were the reasons for the many line-up changes, not allowing the band to play live until now. Only in 2018 the line-up were consolidated to four members and for this reason our first release I.N.D.N.S.L.E. is, for now, not intended to be played live, still, we have many releases we're working on at the moment, which are also our current live sets.
About I.N.D.N.S.L.E. we're very pleased how the album turned out, so we decided it was due to release it in spite of everything.

4.The lyrics on the recording are a concept album, can you tell us a little bit more about the story you bring onto the album?

The theme is the Eternal Damnation, under its satanic and spiritual point of view.
The concept album follows the story of Lucifer’s damnation, from his fall from the heavens to his enthronement in hell. The very specific point of view consist in a first person empathy with Lucifer, who starts his path as bringer of light to culminate both in damnation and in bringing that aforementioned light into himself.

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

Fordomt means condemned in Norwegian language, so this word bears into itself the complete concept which around the band was born. We choose a Norwegian word both as a tribute to this country Black Metal scene, which always influenced us, also because we think Norway has an historical background that is closely bounded to the concept we want to express with the word Fordomt.


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

All the artworks were developed by View From The Coffin who perfectly caught from the first moment our spirit, so he provided an essential aspect to I.N.D.N.S.L.E. cover art, which mainly consist in the band logo, so the listener attention can be channeled more into music.


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

By now we decided to not play live very often to focus on the studio production, still our first live exhibition, Jettasangu Fest vol.1, was very significative for us, because both started the series of event branded by Tifone Crew, a D.I.Y. booking and promoting agency for extreme music which every member of the current line-up is involved into, also because it was the first and only live show played in a five pieces line-up. The extra member was Riccardo, guitarist and former member of Fordomth. He had to move to Budapest the day after the show, so it was a goodbye to our friend.

8.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?

No. We do not plan to play I.N.D.N.S.L.E. live at the moment.
Still we are planning to play several gigs and perhaps an Italian tour with our new current set.

9.The new album was released on 'Endless Winter Records', can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

Endless Winter Records was immediately interested in releasing I.N.D.N.S.L.E..
Gennady's great enthusiasm and professionalism were great resources for us from the first approach. We planned together how and when to release the album and everything was very fast and efficient. We are deeply honored to be part of the Endless Winter roster.

10.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black. sludge and funeral doom metal?

By now we received great approvals and support by everyone who listened to the album, especially from the ones who are into this musical panorama. This support made us even more motivated to keep up the good work and we're doing our best for the next releases.

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

First it’s appropriate to talk about what happened until now to better understand what will be in the future. The Funeral Doom style have been mixed with Sludge Doom and Black Metal by now, sometimes this last influence one is more prominent then the other ones, sometimes it’s the opposite. Still, during the composition process, we always want to stay true to our funereal intents. About the future, we will see.

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?

Despite some slight differences in music preferences and previous band experiences, we spontaneously found a synergy between us, also thanks to our common grounds which are bands like Primitive Man, Mgła, Wiegedood, Catacombs, Vermin Womb, Sargeist to name few.

13.What are some of your non musical interests?

We live our lives with the consciousness to follow our very own natures, that’s it.

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

We are deeply thankful to everyone out there supporting us and for those who keep their eyes peeled we’ll deliver some exciting news soon, thank you.

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