Atlas Entity Interview

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

Atlas Entity, a progressive metal band based out of the Tampa Bay Area in Florida, is my solo project that I created after my last band split up around 2015. Since then I’ve released a four-song EP titled Enceladus, and on June 14 I’m releasing my first 8-song full-length album, Beneath the Cosmic Silence. On both releases I play guitars, bass, keys, and do vocals. Each release features different session musicians including Samus Paulicelli on drums (Decrepit Birth, Devin Townsend) and guest solos by Rafael Trujillo (Obscura) and Mark Hawkins (LVM Trio, Devolved). Even if it does take a bit of time between releases, I intend to continue writing new material and featuring talented musicians that I’m inspired by and lucky enough to work with.

2.In June you have a full length coming out, musically how does it differ from the ep you had released in 2015?

Beneath the Cosmic Silence differs from my first EP as it focuses more on composition and atmosphere rather than raw brutality and technicality. Now of course there’s plenty of technical and heavy parts in the full length, but I feel like each song has its own organic flow that tells a story. I would definitely say that the new release is a much more relaxed approach to Atlas Entity and my writing style. Beneath the Cosmic Silence also has lyrics designed around stories originating the western US, ghosts, and a general appreciation of nature, rather than the concept-based space themes of Enceladus.

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 frame?

Life has been busy since then! Besides writing and recording music, I help run my family business and I also have a wonderful girlfriend and dog that I love spending time with and traveling with. Writing, recording, designing, and coordinating with companies and other musicians to create a full-length album takes an enormous amount of time, effort and money, especially when handling it on your own. At times it was hard to find the right balance between music, life, work, and everything else but in the end, it worked out and I ended up with a product that I’m truly proud of.

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects you explore with the newer music?

As I mentioned above, Beneath the Cosmic Silence has lyrics written about stories originating the western US, ghosts, and a general appreciation of nature. Over the past few years we have been traveling a lot and we’ve seen some amazing places out in the western United States that have really inspired me. I’ve always loved nature and I’m frequently out hiking in local state parks and wildlife preserves, but the towering mountains and plummeting gorges of the natural landscape out there provide such an amazing contrast to the swampy, humid, and relatively flat scenery that Florida provides.

5.On your previous ep you had explored space themes, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this topic?

I’ve always been interested in astronomy and in turn, science fiction. Anything from sci-fi books, comics, terrible B sci-fi movies, I’m all about it. I’m also a firm believer that we’re not alone in the universe – it is wayyy too large for us to be all alone here. I’d say that’s where most of the inspiration for Enceladus came from. Saturn’s moon, Enceladus, has an icy surface that’s about 20 miles thick. Due to its elliptical orbit around Saturn, the gravitational pull squeezes and flexes the moon enough that it can melt some of the ice underneath the surface. This means that there could be a giant sub-surface ocean that has existed there for millions, if not billions of years. If there’s liquid water, I’d bet that there’s some sort of life there.

6.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Atlas Entity'?

So the Atlas Entity is a planet-devouring cosmic being which is first introduced in the Enceladus EP. Enceladus is the first entry of a 3-part concept series about a group of space explorers that land a manned mission on Saturn’s moon Enceladus and (unfortunately) find sentient life below the frozen surface. The first EP scratches the surface of the story and the next two EPs will continue the saga. On the shirts available in our merch shop you can see an awesome depiction of the Atlas Entity.

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

The cover artwork is a photo I took in Grand Canyon National Park – what an experience that was. On the drive in, we’re going through a hot, arid, Arizona desert. Once we get into the park and start gaining elevation, it became colder and colder until we started seeing patches of white on the ground. Soon enough the temperature drops below 30*F and it starts snowing HARD. I couldn’t really feel my hands or my face at this point, but I managed to get a couple good pics before we had to leave. The album cover on Beneath the Cosmic Silence is one of them.

8.Originally the band started out as a solo project, what was the decision behind adding in other members?

The band still is a solo project. I write the majority of the material and then I’ll often work with session musicians to help fill in the gaps for drums and guest solos. I can play drums, but I don’t have the facilities to record at the quality I want, nor do I possess the skill that someone like Samus does.

9. Currently the band us unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?

I’ve received some interest from a few smaller labels, but no offers or anything that would meet the needs of Atlas Entity. I wouldn’t say that I’m actively looking for a label, but I’d be glad to entertain any offers that could lend success to the project.

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

So far, the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive – especially from overseas fans. Atlas Entity is based in the US, so it’s very interesting to me that the majority of purchases and pre-orders come from other countries like the UK, Canada, Russia, Germany, and Portugal. I absolutely love being able to send the music I make to people all over the world.

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

The writing continues – as it always will! I think next up I’m going to finish up a single or maybe another EP along the same lines as the first EP. I have a couple of new ideas that I’m piecing together but I’m also looking to continue the Enceladus story.

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?

Enceladus was heavily inspired by bands like Between the Buried and Me, The Helix Nebula, Ne Obliviscaris, Arsis, and more. During the writing process of Beneath the Cosmic Silence, I was listening to a lot of black metal/folk metal – especially bands like Falls of Rauros, Agalloch, and Celephaïs. If you haven’t heard Monad by Celephaïs, do yourself a favor and give that a listen through. More recently I’ve been listening to these awesome bands and albums on heavy rotation: Wide Eyes – Paradoxica, The Omnific – The Mind’s Eye, Obscura – Diluvium, Andy James – Arrival, Devin Townsend – Empath, and (wild card, also not new) Queensryche – Operation Mindcrime.

13.What are some of your non-musical interests?

Some of my non-musical interests include (in no particular order): hiking, travel, drawing/painting, photography, video games, doing cool stuff with my girlfriend, playing with my dog, and recently I’ve become really interested in house plants, ha.

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

I’d just like to say thanks again for having me and thanks to everyone who’s purchased or listened to Atlas Entity. Atlas Entity is my labor of love and I while it may take a bit of time between releases, I intend to keep writing and putting new music out there. Thank you, thank you, and thank you.

www.atlasentity.com

atlasentity.bandcamp.com

STREAM Beneath the Cosmic Silence:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gntj_1KyYJY&t=5s

Relinquished/Addictivities (Part I.)/NRT Records/2019 Full Length Review

 Relinquished  are  a  band  from  Austria  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  very  melodic  and  progressive  form  of  blackened  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2019  album  "Addictivities  (Part  I.)"  which  was  released  by  NRT  Records.

  Clean  playing  starts  off  the  album  and  also  gives  the  music  more  of  a  progressive  feeling  along  with  a  brief  use  of  whispered  vocals.  A  couple  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  while  the  vocals  bring  in  a  mixture  of  black  emtal  screams  and  death  metal  growls  and  the  riffs  also  use  a  decent  amount  of  melody.

  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.  Clean  playing  is  also  utilized  on  some  of  the  later  tracks  as  well  as  one  song  also  introducing  spoken  word  parts  onto  the  recording.

  When  the  music  speeds  up  blast  beats  and  tremolo  picking  can  also  be  heard  as  well  as  one  of  the  tracks  being  an  instrumental  which  also  introduces  synths  onto  the  recording  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  decent  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  a  concept  album  based  upon  a  drug  addict  protagonist  named  Daniel  and  his  struggles  with  addiction.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Relinquished  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  melodic  and  progressive blackened  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Expectations"  "Damaged  For  Good"  and  "Void  Of  My  Ashen  Soul".  8  out  of  10.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVSnl-f96RI&feature=youtu.be

  

Sigil/Demonstration MMXIX/Funeral Trance/2019 Demo Review

  Sigil  are  a  band  from  Calgary,  Alberta,  Canada  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black,  death  and  sludge  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2019  demo  "Demonstration  MMXIX"  which  will  be  released  on  July  15th  by  Funeral  Trance.

  A  very  dark  and  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  demo  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.  The  vocals  bring  in  more  of  a  hardcore  and  sludge  style  as w ell  as  adding  in  a  few  growls  at  times  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  black  metal  style  tremolo  picking  can  be  heard.

  During  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  along  with  the  songs  also  bringing  in  a  decent  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.  Elements  of  post  metal  can  also  be  heard  in  the  bands  musical  style  and  the  guitar  leads  have  more  of  a  dissonant  approach  to  them.

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

  In  my  opinion  Sigil  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  black,  sludge,  death  metal  and  hardcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "EEldritch".  8  out  of  10.

http://sigilcalgary.bandcamp.com/album/demonstration-mmxix 

    

Alkhimya/Emergrence/Sleaszy Rider Records/2019 CD Review

  Alkhimya  are  a  band  from  France  that  plays  a  melodic  and  atmospheric  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2019  album  "Emergence"  which  was  released  by  Sleaszy  Rider  Records.

  A  very  hard  and  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  album  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.  When  keyboards  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  atmospheric  style  and  the  vocals  are  in  between  death  metal  growls  and  black  metal  screams and  the  riffs  also  add  in  a  great  amount  of  melody.

  During  the  faster  sections  of  the  music  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  style.  Female  vocals  are  also  added  onto  some  of  the  tracks  as  well  as  the  songs  also  adding  in  a  decent  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

  A  couple  of  tracks  also  introduces  acoustic  guitars  onto  the  recording  along  with  the  keyboards  also  adding  in  a  variety  of  many  different  sounding  keys  on  later  songs  and  spoken  word  parts  can  also  be  heard  briefly.  The  music  also  brings  in  a  decent  mixture  of  both  old  school  and  modern  influences  and  as  the  album  progresses  an  instrumental is  added  onto  the  recording  and  a  couple  of  the  tracks  are  long  and  epic  in  length.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  philosophical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Alkhimya  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic  and  atmospheric  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  "Odysse"  "Fallen"  "Dark  Messiah"  and  "New  Era".  8  out  of  10.   

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Needless Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
Needless are from Hungary, we play death metal, with a melodic mixture of thrash and black elements. If you like ferocious vocals, ghostly screams and technical riffs along with energetic pace, Needless is for you.

2.Recently you have released your first full length, musically how does it differ from your previous demo and ep?
Perhaps we did more experiments with our melodic side. We tried out some ideas which related to genres like melodic or even progressive death metal. We tried to create a strong atmosphere and mood on our new record along with the usual ferocious and aggressive patterns which are our "brand".

3.The band has been around since 2004 but so far have only put out 3 releases, can you tell us a little bit more about the 4 to 6 year gaps in between releases?
In the first ten years Needless was only a home project, did by friend, for our own pleasure. We did not take the whole band seriously until 2014. From that point Needless started to evolve as an active underground formation here in Hungary. We started to do more serious gigs alongside with Nervosa, or Nuclear, and we came up with our first EP called The Dark Spirit of Ages. After it's release the band had several personal swaps, but we manage to outlive that difficult time. The friendship lasted through all these years, and an incredibly talented guitarist joined us. His name is Botond Fogl, and he also was an old friend of the band. So we can tell that Needless is like a huge family right now.

4.The lyrics on the new album cover different myths, philosophies and religions, can you tell us which mythologies, philosophies ore religious views you explore with your music?
I, as a songwriter have different inspirations regarding the lyrical side of Needless. What is important for me the most is the visions and symbolism. I use stories, myths, and legends as symbols to hide a more profane, moral message to the listeners. I use biblical themes (Babel) alongside with characters and gods from african, mesopotamian, and european ancient folklore, and tales. Or sometimes I have thoughts about criticism of religion and other deceptive and harmful human abstract constructions for example religious wars, or inquisition. The lyrics of Sky Burial stands out a little from Heresy. That song tells a tale about transmigration, and would like to capture a man's hopes about a better afterlife (or not).

 5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Needless'?
Needless is a symbol for all of those things and persons who are neglected, unnecessary, expendable, worthless. These are all the lives which are and was victims of human history. The band tells their sad, and nihilistic story and sing about their legacy.

6.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?
It was made by a german artist Maximiliam Wagner. He is mostly into black metal. We saw his works in a page regarding And Justice for Art and were completely blown away. The image visually fulfills our music completely. It is infernal, mystical, and otherworldly. Something you can dwell deep into.

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?
Our best show so far was before Dew-Scented and Flotsam and Jetsam. It was an awesome show we did 3 years ago. On the stage we try to be as heavy as possible, and we feel honesty as a very important factor in our career, and we try to communicate this on stage as well.

8.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?
We will hit several stages in Hungary from the beginning of this autumn. We are trying to get contacts from abroad as well, especially from the neighbor countries.

9.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
We received a few interests from labels, from smaller ones up to some serious offers. However due to mostly financial reasons, we weren't in a status to accept any of them.

10.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of death, black and thrash metal?
In a nutshell we have positive feedback from all around the world. We got feedbacks and appraisals from countries like Indonesia, USA, Taiwan ect. This is the most surreal and awesome thing what the band experienced so far. We are very happy about Heresy right now.

 11.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
Right now we cannot wait to hit the road for a smaller tour, and we are collecting the thoughts and ideas for our new record already. Musically? It is hard to tell yet. We would like to go deeper into that cave we mined with Heresy. Perhaps trying out more progressive and epic stuff on our next record, but time will tell.

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?
We have influenced a lot from the extreme metal music of the nineties. Mostly death and thrash metal. We love the millennial era also: the progressive and melodic works from the 2000's. Right now we listen to all kinds of music. And it's always changing from time to time. For example right now I can't stop listening to Deceased... and Vektor, our guitarists however are both into Queen, and who knows what kind of music comes next.

13.What are some of your non musical interests?
We all love video games and cold beer.

14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Go and listen to our latest work Heresy, we hope you'll all enjoy it, and we also hope to meet you folks live. And at last but not least we would like to thank you all your support with this interview. Cheers from Hungary!

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Stozhar/Holodom Bitv V Obyatya Zimy/Stygian Crypt Productions/2019 CD Review

  Stozhar  are  a  band  from  Russia  that  plays  folk  metal  and  this  is  a  review of  their  2019  album  "Holodom  Bitv  V  Obyatya  Zimy"  which  was  released  by  Stygian  Crypt  Productions.

  Folk  instruments  start  off  the  album  which  also  mixes  in  with  the  heavier  sections  of  the  music  along  with  a  brief  use  of  battle  sounds.  Vocals  bring  in  more  of  a  death  metal  style  as  well  as  the  faster  sections  of  the  music  also  bringing  in  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  black  metal  influences.

  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  style  while  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.  Clean  vocals  are  also  utilized  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  and  a  great  portion  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Synths  can  also  be  heard  briefly  along  with  some  female  vocals  also  being  added  into  some  parts  of  the  music  as  well  as  some  fast  tremolo  picking  also  being  utilized  at  times  and  the  riffs  also  add  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Russian  and  cover  Slavic  Paganism,  Patriotism  and  Battle  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Stozhar  are  a  very  great  sounding  folk  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Yarost"  "Nochi  Horovod"  and  "Pamyat".  8  out  of  10.

http://stozhar-band.ml/   

Needless/Heresy/2019 Full Length Review

  Needless  are  a  band  from  Hungary  that  plays  a  melodic  mixture  of  black,  death  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2019  album  "Heresy".

  Classical  guitar  playing  starts  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  heavier  musical  direction  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  style.  When  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  along  with  the  riffs  also  adding  in  a  great  amount  of  melody.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  the  vocals  are  mixture  of  death  metal  growls  and  screams  that  also  introduce  elements  of  black  metal  onto the  recording.  Throughout  the  album  you  can  also  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts. 

  At  times  the  music  also  has  its  atmospheric  moments  along  with  the  music  also  being  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  90's  as  well  as  having  some  more  modern  influences  and  as  the  album  progresses  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts  and  synths  can  also  be  heard  and  at  times  the  vocals  also  capture  the  semi  melodic  side  of  thrash.

 As  the  album  progresses  acoustic  guitars  can  also  be  heard  briefly  as  well  as  the  closing  track  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  also  introduces  whispered  vocals  onto  the  recording.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  different  myths,  philosophies  and  religious  beliefs,  to  show  the  marrow  of  humanity's  true  nature  and  it's  place  in  the  world.

  In  my  opinion  Needless  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic  mixture  of  black,  death  and  thrash  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Babel's  Fall"  "Marked  By  A  Black  Sigil"  and  "Sky  Burial".  8  out  of  10.

https://youtu.be/OD2tytLdNfY

https://needlessofficial.bandcamp.com/