Ov Lustra/Tempestas/Black Lion Records/2019 CD Review

  Ov  Lustra  are  a  band  from  Arizona  that  plays  a  symphonic  form  of  blackened  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2019  album  "Tempestas"  which  will  be  released  on  June  9th  by  Black  Lion  Records.

  A  very  cinematic  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  orchestral and symphonic  sounds  a  few  seconds  later  which  also  mixes  in  with  the  heavier  sections  of  the  music.  Vocals  bring  in  a  decent  mixture  of  both  death  metal  growls  and  black  metal  screams  while  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  melody.

  When  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  also  be  heard  while t he  solos  and  leads  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  style.  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  also  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  when  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  style.

  Clean  playing  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.  Choir  vocals  can  also  be  heard  in  some  parts  of  the  music  while  one  track  also  introduces  stringed  instruments  onto  the  recording  and  as  the  album  progresses  some  of t he  mid  tempo  sections  add  in  slam  style  breakdowns  and  the  last  4  tracks  are  orchestral  instrumentals.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics are  a  concept  album  involving  a  character known  as  'The  Speaker'  and  his  journey.

  In  my  opinion  Ov  Lustra  are  a  very  great  sounding  symphonic  blackened  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Ritual"  "The  Orator"  and  "Ov  Lustra".  8  out  of  10.

https://ovlustrablacklion.bandcamp.com/album/tempestas     

Orquilux Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the musical project?
1. Orquìlux is a duo band from Italy more specifically Abruzzo, Teramo, we combine emotional sound with folk, symphonic and metal, creating a "cinematic sound". We've been together for 3 years, we did different projects that's never showed up, the first one was "Hiraeth" a progressive metal/rock band & the other one "Nortia" Progressive Sci-fi Metal. we wasn't pleased with this two and after some time we decided to start again and name us "Orquìlux" an Atmospheric Black Metal band or as we prefer Cinematic Metal.

2.So far you have released an ep, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style you went for on the recording?
2. so yes for "the Sunset of my last breath" we wanted to figure a harmonious dream that goes from a peaceful spring to how the title say at "last breaths" of the life with all emotions flow inside the brain in the last seconds of life.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects you have explored so far with your music?
3. well, we try to describe the feeling of the song i mean, all album/ep have a story inside and can reach from sorrow to romantic topic, is all based on what the concept of the album/ep is

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Oqquilux'?
4. The Meaning of "Orquìlux" is Eyes of brightness. Orquì is from the spanish word "Orquìdea"= "Orchid" we take "Orquì" and make is meaning "Eyes".
lux is from latin and meaning "Light/bright" so we unite Orquìdea and lux to make = Orquìlux.
the ispiration behind that is to take everyone in this part of brightness, like a multi-feeling moment when you watch someone you maybe love( or things like that) and it's like every sounds/moments becomes harmonious and with a sense of peace and warm.

5.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the ep cover?
5. yes, the artwork is a image of how a last sunset can be in our life, immersed in a nature place with nothing else but only our monument that reflect every memory in the rays of the sun.

6.Currently there are only 2 members in the band, are you open to expanding the line up or do you prefer to work as a duo?
6. mmh for the part of composing we stay a duo couse we prefer it, but we are up to find a drummer for recording parts. (anyway we have other two members, two singer: a female one and a male one.)

7.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
7. well, some months ago we signed a contract with the label "This Winter Will Last Forever"
we are just waiting for finalize some important parts.

8.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black, folk and symphonic metal?
8. we received good and precious reviews from underground magazines/blog, i'm impressed how every review i read was so good, motivating and really helpful, i love reads how other people thinks about our music.

9.Are any of the band members currently involved with any other bands or musical projects these days?
9. only me the main composer, i have my solo-project "Aralus" that i'm starting to process when we finish this Debut album.

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

10. how i said at the previous answer, we are working on our debut album named "The Desire to vanish myself" a concept album based on a emotional trip with various sound influences.
for the upcomings albums we are probably trying to reach the "Cinematic experience" a great focused concepts both lyrically and audibly.

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?
11. our inspiration grow with band like xanthochroid,alcest,arstidir,ulvesang,agalloch,aquilus,opeth,two steps from hell and some Soundtracks from Final Fantasy games and many other. i've listening some various artist like cinematic,black/progressive metal,prog rock,pop,jazz and folk.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?
12. some of mine non musical interests is art,photography,bodybuilding,videogames and the long walk in nature and i spend most of my free time with my girlfriend. Drake(the second composer) spend his time on writing poetry or story or just spend his time with videogames is a good chef too.

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

13. Thanks for the interview and the support you give to us, we hope the people will like our future albums and ideas and have an opportunity to discover our music!.

https://www.facebook.com/Orquilux/

Orquilux/The Sunset Of My Last Breath/2019 EP Review

  Orquilux  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  a  symphonic  mixture  of  black  and  folk  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2019  ep  "The  Sunset  Of  My  Last  Breath".

  Nature  sounds  start  off  the  ep  along  with  some  acoustic  guitars  a  few  seconds  later  which  also  bring  elements  of  folk  into  the  music.  When  synths  are  utilized  they  give  the  songs  more  of  a  symphonic  feeling  as  well  as  some  stringed  instruments  also  being  utilized  in  some  parts  of  the  recording.

  The  folk  and  symphonic  elements  are  also  mixed  in  with  the  heavier  sections  of  the  songs  throughout  the  recording.  Some  of  the  tracks  are  instrumentals  while  one  song  also  introduces  clean  vocals  into  the  music  along  with  some  death  metal  growls  and  black  metal  screams  also  being  utilized  at  times.

  A  great  portion  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  as  well  as  the  music  also  adding  orchestra  touches  and  Irish  flutes  into  some  parts  of  the  recording,  the  music  mostly  sticks  to  either  a  slow  or  mid  tempo  direction.  The  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  nature  and  memory  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Orquilux  are  a  very  great  sounding  symphonic  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  "Tempered  by  A  Tormenting  Memory"  and  "A  Land,  A  River,  That  Goes  With  Us".  8  out  of  10.

https://orquilux.bandcamp.com/releases

Wykan/Brigid: Of The Night/2019 EP Review

  Wykan  are  a  band  from  Montreal,  Quebec,  Canada  that  has  had  music  reviewed  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  mixture  of  black,  psychedelic  doom  metal,  stoner  rock  and  heavy  blues  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2019  ep  "Brigid:  Of  the  Night"  which  will  be  released  in  June.

  Clean  guitars  start  off  the  ep  while  the  solos  and  leads  add  in  touches  of  blues  rock  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.  The  riffs  also  add  in  a  great  amount  of  melody  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  high  pitched  black  metal screams  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sound  very  powerful.

  Elements  of  doom  metal  can  also  be  heard  in  the  slower  sections  of  the  songs  while  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  use  a  decent  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats.  The  music  also  adds  in  a  good  amount  of  stoner  rock  touches  and  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  growls  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording.

  On  this  recording  Wykan  remains  true  to  their  mixture  lack,  psychedelic  doom  metal,  stoner  rock  and  heavy  blues  from t heir  previous  release.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  Celtic  Paganism  and  Mythology.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Wykan  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  lack,  psychedelic  doom  metal,  stoner  rock  and  heavy  blues,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Breo  Saighead".  8  out  of  10.

http://bravewords.com/news/exclusive-wykan-premieres-breo-saighead-triple-goddess-single   

Ontborg Interview

BAND: ONTBORG
(Antworten von Ontborg)


1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
Our Band is called Ontborg and an all the members are based in South Tyrol, which is situated in the North of Italy. Three of us were part of “Voices Of Decay” for 20 years, and after the split-up we decided to found this new band to take a different direction. Harald on bass guitar completes the lineup, he played with Graveworm for many years and is the same age as we are, so the band chemistry works fantastically.

2.Recently you have released your first full length, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style you went for on the recording?
With this album we would like to pay homage to the sound of the albums we grew up with. We wanted to record a straightforward album, with the spirit of bands like dismember, benediction and dissection. Besides the rawness we tried to keep the songs melodic at the same time, so we think it`s a mix between old school death metal and blackened melodies.

3.The band formed out of the ashes of 'Voices Of Decay', what was the decision behind breaking up the band and forming a new one?
We all felt it was time for change in every way after this long time. We wanted to purify the sound, going back to our roots and restart with new energy and passion.

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects you have explored so far with the music?
Most of the lyrics don‘t have a special story or background, the focus by writing the lyrics was more set on how they translate the dark feeling and atmosphere of the song.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Ontborg'?
Ontborg is an imaginary name, composed by two swedish words: “ont” means pain and “borg” means castle. The idea behind that, was to convey the feeling of gloom.

6.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?
The cover artwork was created by the very talented Juanjo Castellano from Spain. Figuring out how creating the cover was a matter of minutes. We send him 3 covers we liked, mentioned things we don’t like in general on covers, and he came back with that awesome painting! We changed nothing, it was just perfect for our music and he nailed our taste right away.

7.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
To be honest, with Ontborg we didn`t play any show until now. With Voices Of Decay we were on stage for many times and we had a lot of shows to remember. Now we decided to record the album first. On the release day of the album we have our first gig, after that some shows are already confirmed and we are looking forward to perform our songs live on stage. We think we are, like with Voices Of Decay, a very energetic band on stage.

8.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
As said before, some gigs are already confirmed, like the “Rock im Ring” Festival in Italy with Bands like Enter Shikari, Eskimo Callboy and Rise Of The Northstar. We ware looking forward to play as much as possible, maybe there will also be the possibility to do a small tour.

9.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
For this album we didn`t look for a records label. We wanted to do all by our self. But for the next album it would be interesting and maybe there will be the possibility if this album is well received.

10.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of melodic black and death metal?
We're getting the first reviews these days, so we are very curious how our sound will be received in the different countries. We must to remember that we are playing a kind of death metal sound that was popular 20 years ago, so we can't say what the reactions will be.

11.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
We have no concrete plans for the next release at this moment. For sure we will stay true to this old school sound, but still try to improve the songwriting and not to repeat ourselves.

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?
Our influences are clear to hear, Unleashed, Dismember, Necrophobic, Entombed, Dissection, all the great bands with a Scandinavian sound and unique spirit from the late nineties. Beside these influences every band member hears very different sounds today.

13.What are some of your non musical interests?
Also the non-musical interests of the band members are very different. Lukas runs a recording studio besides his work, Christoph writes books, and Harald is self-employed.


14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thanks for the interview and interest, and we are looking forward to see some of you somewhere live in front of the stage!

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Atlas Entity/Beneath The Cosmic Silence/2019 Full Length Review

  Atlas  Entity  are  a  duo  from  Florida  that  plays  a  very  progressive,  technical  and  melodic  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2019  album  "Beneath  the  Cosmic  Silence"  which  will  be  released  in  June.

  Nature  orientated  soundscapes  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  acoustic  guitars  a  few  seconds  later.  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  style  while  all  of  the musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  blast  beats  are  also  brought  into  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs.

  Elements  of  prog  metal  can  also  be  heard  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  along  with  the  vocals  bringing  in  a  mixture  of  death  metal  growls  and  black  metal  screams.  Clean  vocals  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  while  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

  At  times  the  music  also  gets  very  technical  sounding  while  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  melody.  A  couple  of  the  songs  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  music  also  adds  in  some  early  Opeth  and  In  Flames  influences  but  done  in  a  more  modern  style  and  as  the  album  progresses  a  small  amount  of  whispered  vocals  can  also  be  heard.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  nature  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Atlas  Entity  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic,  technical  and  progressive  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  duo.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "In  The  Shadow  of  The  Mountain  Pt.  1"  "Visions  Of  Gold"  and  "Celestial  Noise". 8  out  of  10.

www.atlasentity.com 
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atlasentity.bandcamp.com
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Atlas Entity Youtube Channel

  

Decision To Hate Interview

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

Thogarma: After the recording we split up due to internal problems with each other (extreme music for extreme people, what can I say...?) By 2017, we'd solved all the inconsistencies, played some reunion shows and finally released the long awaited "Anti-Human Art" at the end of 2018.

2.Towards the end of 2018 you had also released a new album, musically how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

Thogarma: Our early stuff was simple Thrash/ Death Metal with a blackened feeling, mostly in the vocals. For me it was the past; the others create the music and I do my madness within the lyrics and vocals. Finally Tim and i are on guitars nowadays, complementing us perfectly, writing the riffs we love. Our drummer is much more involved in the songwriting too as it is standard in common bands I think. He´s a great piano player next to his drum warfare which is helping us a lot creating new songs or regarding the great concept of our actual album.

3.This was also your first release since 2006, can you tell us a little bit more about what was going on during that time frame?

Thogarma: We played a lot of gigs in Germany, Czech Republic, Netherlands... We haven´t released anything in around ten years because we had many line-up changes. I´m not sure if can remember the names of all the guitarists that we have worn out. I don't want to remember some of them either. So the old or remaining guitarist had to train someone new all the time, the writing of new songs usually remained completely on the sidelines... There was a time we were standing there without guitarist... After all I decided to play second but constantly remaining guitar which changed the songwriting a lot too. Luckily we have Tim with us for a very long time now, Matthias on bass and I hope this line-up will be eternal.

4.The new album is a concept album, can you tell us a little bit more about the songwriting?

Cassiel: As Thogarma already told the songwriting process took a long time about 10 years or more due to the numerous line up changes. So a lot of songs developed over that period and there was no concept in the beginning of the recording process. Every song stood for their own and due to the numerous influences of the different songwriters every song has its own character. When we started the recording process I had the idea to frame the songs with classical piano pieces which I wrote specifically for the songs based upon the starting or ending guitar riffs. I think this makes the album outstanding at this time in the present metal scene because no one tried this so far to my knowledge.

5.A lot of the newer lyrics where also inspired by the writings of Dante and The Occult, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in those topics?

Cassiel: Well when i wrote the piano songs we had nine piano pieces and nine metal songs. I thought this was quite a funny thing because it reminded me of the divine comedy of Dante and his nine circles of hell. It was just an accident and not planned at this time. A very diabolical accident if you ask me. The nine circles of hell on the other hand stand for the human mortal sins and when I read Thogarmas lyrics I realized that a lot of these mortal sins are reflected in his lyrics. So thematically the piano pieces represents the nine circles of hell with the human mortal sins and built contemporaneous the bridge between Dante and the lyrics of the songs.

6.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Decision To Hate'?

Thogarma: Name is program. Everything revolves around the theme of hatred towards humanity. It was an old friend´s idea, he was our webmaster and sadly past away a few years ago.

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

Cassiel: The artwork is a painting of Gustave Doré of his Paradise Lost cycle. It shows Lucifer shortly after his banishment from heaven. Doré also created a lot of paintings about Dantes Divine Comedy. I sent the band numerous paintings of Doré from the Divine Comedy but neither of  them was totally satisfying. So we decided to take the Doré painting of the Paradise Lost cycle. I think it fits thematically perfect to the lyrics and the music of the album and especially to the piano pieces.

8.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?

Thogarma: The Open Hell Fest in Czech Republic together with Dissection and many more in 2005 were great in front of thousands of people, would love to play that one again with todays line-up. In my opinion we had a better sound than Dissection, the sound engineer has known us from a mini tour with Dark Storm (CZ) before... Many great and crazy gigs. Different stage performances, from professional to a bloody massacre using needles, knives and barbed wire. Total dedication, total consecration!!!

9.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

Thogarma: Due to our job situation (we all are fukking slaves...) we concentrate on shows, touring for weeks is impossible. We were a bit late to apply for open air shows in 2019, doing some gigs in halls and smaller locations and attack in 2020 in open fields.

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

Thogarma: Black Metal labels are mourning that we aren´t 100% BM, Death Metal labels are crying that we aren´t old school; if we would sound exactly like all this fukking boring standard stuff with stolen riffs by the old heroes (mainly from Sweden) they would sign us. Woohoo. We won´t change, we won´t want to be restricted. If there would be a fair label, intolerant regarding lyrics but open minded musically, why not...

Cassiel: A lot of people are asking us about the label situation in the band. I think it is very funny because please tell me the benefit having a label in a band with the dimension of Decision to Hate?!? Labels always want to take influence in the process when a band is shaping a concept of a new record,  thematically, lyrically, musically. Without a label we are totally free in what we want to do. DTH doesnt stand for making a lot of money and becoming very famous. That is not our way creating new art.

11.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your newer music by fans of black and death metal?

Thogarma: We get more international attention since we have a bandcamp site, check out https://decisiontohate.bandcamp.com/
Should have gone this path before. At the moment we receive a lot of varying reviews for "Anti-Human Art" - With the large magazines, which expect that one places advertisements with them, the reviews are usually sobering. We don't pay for good reviews. Smaller underground magazines are much more concerned with the music and listen more closely, so there are other results that we can really be satisfied with. Conclusion: Fukk the commerce and support real underground!!!

12.Are any of the band members currently involved with any other bands or musical projects these days?

Cassiel: Currently i am the only member who is involved in other band activities. I play drums in a progressive-metal band called Steorrah and a Rock n Roll band called Psycho Dandys. I also create piano music alongside when i have the time for this. Maybe i will create more of this piano stuff in the future, we will see.

Thogarma: I concentrate only on DTH, need good ideas for my main band. Some people are asking and asking and asking... I won´t waste time and riffs for your crap. foad.

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

Thogarma: Actually we are writing the best songs we´ve ever had. We´ll never lose our Black Death Metal roots but "old school" is nothing but an apology for not having own ideas, sorry.

Cassiel: I think the music of DTH is becoming more and more sophisticated. Using the piano was a door to a new direction maybe. I dont know if we want to enlarge this classical piano direction we will see. But i think the new songs will definitely be more away from this „standard“ Black- and Death-Metal style to a point of looking across the edge of a plate.

14.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?

Thogarma: We all have grown up with classic Heavy, Thrash, Death and Black Metal. All the stuff I heard in my youth I am still worshipping now. Many years ago it was our drummer Cassiel who brought me closer to stuff like "Perdition City" from Ulver while I was still only into "Nattens Madrigal" just for example. Our path is open minded intolerant, haha! We have a trip-hop part in our song "I hate myself", somewhere between Arkhon Infaustus and Massive Attack... Crazy but working.

Cassiel: Personally i dont listen to heavy metal that much as i did in the past. I am a music teacher and as a result i got in contact with to a lot of other musical directions. Classical music, electronic music, new age music. I like ambient music very much. The „Blade Runner“ Soundtrack will always be one of my favourites. I think its very good for a band to get influences from other musical directions. Only listen to standard Death-Metal generates music that listens to standard Death-Metal. Its a circle you know. All these „Retro 60er and 70er“ stuff which is very famous at this time didn´t catch me so far along with these „Retro Black- and Death-Metal“ stuff. I like listening to the originals but no one needs 18 year old kids which are playing Black Sabbath or Darkthrone riffs in 2019.

15.What are some of your non musical interests?

Thogarma: All within the band are loving nature, we are hiking, mountaineering, doing other stuff there... I took all the pics in the booklet of our new album on my trips to the Alps and the Elbsandsteingebirge, Tim just returned some weeks ago from Saxonia too.

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

Thogarma: Clean the scene! Fukk all those good people bringing lactose intolerance instead of death worship into the wretched remains of our scene, thwarting concerts of great and real dedicated bands... Enter https://www.facebook.com/DecisionToHate for more information.
Thanks for your support and the well-considered questions! No compromise!

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