Stortregn/Evocation Of Light/Non Serviam Records/2019 Vinyl Re-Issue

  Stortregn  are  a  band  from  Switzerland  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  melodic  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  album  "Evocation  of  Light"  which  will  be  re-issued  in  September  of  2019  by Non  Serviam.

 Classical  guitar  playing  starts  off  the  album  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavier  and  melodic  musical  direction.  When  the  music  speeds  up  a  decent  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats  can  be  heard  along  with  the  vocals  being  a  mixture  of  death  metal  growls  and  black  metal  screams.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  also  hear  a  decent  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  style. Classical  guitars  also  make  a  return  on  later  tracks  as  well  as  some  songs  also  adding  in  whispered  vocals  and  as  the  album  progresses  a  brief  instrumental  is  added  onto  the  recording,  the  closing  track  is  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  On  this  recording  Stortregn  played  a  style  of  melodic  black/death  metal  that  was  very  influenced  by  the  Swedish bands  of  the  genre.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  sadness  and  desolation  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Stortregn  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  melodic  black  and  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  re-issue.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Inner  Black  Flame"  "Negative  Theology"  and  "The  Call".  8  out  of  10.

Bandcamp: https://non-serviam-records.bandcamp.com/album/evocation-of-light

   

  

Anifernyen/Augur/Ethereal Sound Works/2019 CD Review

  Anifernyen  are  a  band  from  Portugal  that  plays  a  melodic  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2019  album  "Augur"  which  will  be  released  in  September  by  Ethereal  Sound  Works.

  A  very  apocalyptic  sounding  intro starts  off  the  album  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavier  and  melodic  musical  direction  while  the  vocals  are  in  between  death  metal  growls  and  black  metal  screams.  When  the  music  speeds  up a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats  can  also  be  heard  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  also  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  the  faster  riffing  also  brings  in  a  decent  amount  of  tremolo  picking.  one  track  also  introduces  clean  playing  onto  the  recording  as  well  as  some  tracks  also  adding  in  a  small  amount  of  whispered  vocals  and  when  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  also  done  in  a  very  melodic  style.

  Anifernyen  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  the  melodic  styles  of  black  and  death  metal  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  apocalyptic  and  end  times  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Anifernyen  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  "Augur"  "Emissary"  "Foreshadowing"  and  "Deadite".  8  out  of  10.

https://www.facebook.com/anifernyen/

https://anifernyen.bandcamp.com/      

Ades Numen/War/Another Side Records/2019 CD Review

  Ades  Numen  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays a  symphonic  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2019  album  "War"  which  was  released  by  Another  Side  Records.

  A  very  dark  sounding  intro  starts  off  the  album  which  also  introduces  symphonic  elements  onto  the  recording  which  also  mixes  in  with  the  heavier  sections  of  the  music.  The  riffs  also  use  a  great  amount  of  melody  along  with  the  vocals  also  adding  in  a  great  amount  of  death  metal  growls.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  also  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  use  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats,  Elements  of  black  metal  can  also  be  heard  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  and  the  songs  also  bring  in a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

  The  faster  riffs  also  add  in  a  decent  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  as  the  album  progresses  a  brief  use  of  grim  black  metal  vocals  can  also  be  heard  and  on  track  also  adds  in  a  small  amount  of  operatic  elements  and  spoken  word  parts.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  war,  darkness  and  mythological  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Ades  Numen  are  a  very  great  sounding  symphonic  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  "War"  "Breath  Of  Phobetor"  "Medusa"  and  "Ades  Numen".  8  out  of  10, 

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Fausttophel/Wings/Another Side Records Records/2019 Single Review

  Ukraine's  Fausttophel  have  returned  with  a  new  song  which  continues  their  melodic  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2019  single  "Wings"  which  was  released  by  Another  Side  Records.

  Clean  playing  starts  off  the  song  along with  some  keyboards  a  few  seconds  later  that  are  also  mixed  in  with  the  heavy  parts  before  going  into  a  very  fast  musical  direction  which  also   uses  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats.  Vocals  are  mostly  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them,  spoken  word  parts  can  also  be heard  briefly  as  well  as  some  death  metal  growls  also  being  utilized  at  times  and  when  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  style.

  On  this  track Fausttophel remains  true  to  their melodic  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  from  previous  releases.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  track  from  Fausttophel  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  melodic  black  and  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  single.  8  out  of  10.

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[ BOLT]/Lavas Magmas/dunk! records/2019 Split Album Review

  This  is  a  review  of  a  split  album  between  Germany's  [ BOLT ]  and  Lavas  Magmas  which  was  released  by  dunk!  records  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  [ BOLT ]   who  move  from  a  blackened  drone  doom  metal  style  to  more  of  an  instrumental  ambient  drone  style  with  their  track

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  some  atmospheric  sounding  drones  while  their  track  is  also  over  10  minutes  in  length.  All  of  the  music  is  instrumental  along  with  some  elements  of  ambient  being  added  into  some  parts  of  the  song  and  the  track  also  avoids  the  black  and  doom  metal  influences  of  previous  releases.

  Next  up  is  Lavas  Magmas  a  solo  project  that  plays  a  mixture  of  noise  and  industrial.

  His  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  some  atmospheric  sounding  drones  while  field  recordings  can  also  be  heard  in  the  background.  his  track  is  all  instrumental  along  with  the  track  being  over  10  minutes  in  length  and  the  song  also  adds  in  elements  of  noise  and  industrial  and  the  music  also  gets  more  diverse  as  the  song  progresses.

  On  the  closing  track  [ BOLT ]   and  Lavas  Magmas  team  up  together  and  mix  both  of  their  very  different  style  together.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  some  atmospheric  sounding  drones  while  the  track  is  over  20  minutes  in  length  and  an  instrumental.  Field  recordings  can  also  be  heard  at  times  along  with  some  elements  of  ambient  and  as  the  tracks  progresses  the  music  also  starts  adding  in  elements  of  black  and  doom  metal.

  In  conclusion  i  feel  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  and  would  recommend  it  to  all  fans  of  black,  doom  metal,  drone,  noise,  experimental  and  ambient.  8  out  of  10.

https://www.facebook.com/wearebolt/
https://wearebolt.bandcamp.com
www.lavasmagmas.bandcamp.com
                 

Wallowing Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
T. This is a tough question to answer as we have tried so hard to keep the band somewhat of a mystery and an enigma. I think it's also an incredibly difficult given the nature of our band and music. I think aside from that we are an extreme metal band based in the south of the UK, it's best if we let the album speak for itself here.

2.In September you have your first full length coming out, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style you went for on the recording?
T. This isn't only our first full length but our first recording entirely, bar an incredibly DIY live single track demo we put together with the help of our mate Sam. I think the beauty of that is, that there's no real style there whatsoever! Musically we write what we want to write and to play, and try not to box ourselves into genre or any other confining ideas, which is why you will find when listening to the record that (we like to think) the music is constantly changing and evolving to the overall themes within the piece. At heart we are entirely a prog band.


3.Your lyrics cover both science fiction and political themes, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in those subjects?

T. What we tried to do with Planet Loss as a full piece, was try to highlight the current state of the planet through the use of Sci-fi metaphors and imagery as, if you really look at current world affairs it's ironic how close we are to your classic sci-fi dystopian tale. We have the oppressive, power-driven overlords (some even trying to build sky high monolithic walls), a huge imbalance of wealth and conflict of the people interests spanning the globe, a society so reliant on technology it's actually making us ill. Not to mention this is all happens in a reality where it is supposedly easier to give a huge chunk of the population a pill for their problems and send them on their way rather than work with them, despite the hollow numbness we experience thereafter.

Every so often you'll find a piece of media that does a great job of highlighting the issues half of us don’t even see. George Orwell's 1984 is a great example of this, and in more recent years as does the TV show black mirror. It's incredibly important in this day and age to keep your eyes open, read between the lines and think for yourself. Media such as those we have named do an incredible job of making this point and in a dream world hopefully people will see our album in a similar light.


4.You also mentioned some inspiration from George Orwell, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in his works?

T. We enjoy a lot of Sci-fi literature such as the works of H.G Wells, Phillip K. Dick and James Herbert (The City is one of the best graphic novels of all time), but Orwell's ability to draw parallels between his writing and real-world political, social and economic issues was definitely an inspiration when writing Planet Loss. "1984" is a powerful piece of literature which resonates with us on several levels and we think that comes across in the lyrics and story we present.


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

T. Planet Loss is a sentimental album to us for many reasons, but one of the biggest is because of how much truth there is behind the music. As we have said before, this album was made to highlight human errors that have failed society and the world in general, a world that we are a part of and have had to endure as much as anyone else. All of the topics we highlight on the album are things that have affected us as people, and in order to put that across effectively whilst writing the initial drafts for what eventually would become Planet Loss, our minds had to "wallow" in some horrible memories and experiences, so the name seemed natural from the start.

6.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?
T. The artwork is a piece we commissioned from Luke Oram. His work has always stood out to us for his attention to detail, unique use of colour, contrast and overall style. Not to mention he has worked on cover art for some incredible bands such as Monolithian, Human Future, Iron Eagle & his own  band Atomck to name a few.
The idea behind the cover was to create an image with huge scale to mirror the music, whilst detailing the overall themes behind the story. The foreground shows a group of “Lizard Men” patrolling human slaves, whilst an evil overlord kind of figure looks down over the loading bay of his ship to see hoards of human slaves lined up by these ominous gigantic droid/robotic figures. The “overlord” has two curious, childlike and dependent droids on either side of him in a kind of metaphor to our views on the UK government. There are several metaphors within the piece which mimic metaphors within the music itself.
There is a real retro vibe to the piece which we really appreciate, from the Giger influenced spaceship-interior to the use of colour.

7.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
T. We were fortunate enough to be a part of Cardiff Psych & Noise Fest alongside Ohhms, Cattle & Part Chimp as our first ever show, which was a great opportunity and awesome time  Although admittedly a daunting first ever show, we feel like it went incredibly well! Since then we have been lucky enough to play Dreadfest 2019 alongside WormRot, Rotten Sound - FukPig as well as Creeping Death Fest alongside BONG, & Riffmas Fest in Brighton alongside bands such as Telepathy and Diesel King. We have been very fortunate for a band with limited music and media available!



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

J. We’ll be doing a run of shows around the album launch. Exact dates & locations still to be confirmed, but we’ll be announcing them as soon as possible. We’ll be looking at sorting out more dates for 2020, obviously, too.

9.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of underground metal?

J. It’s hard to tell on a worldwide level, yet. We put out a demo for Phosgene a few months ago, and it got a great reception - and things have been going down really well live… but only a select few have heard the album for now - so it’s hard to get an idea of what the reaction will be outside of that!

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
T. Musically we are keeping that door wide open. We aren't ones to pigeon-hole ourselves and despite having some rough ideas for new music in the works, there's no telling which direction it'll take just yet. It will be heavy, it will be disgusting and 100% as out there as “Planet Loss”, but we aren't going in with any specific ideas for a specific sound. We are a band who 100% like to feel things out naturally and let our emotion do the talking, so it's all very dependent on where we are in our lives at that specific point. It's real exciting as we are just as clueless as everyone else.


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?
T. Our influences are incredibly varied but all tend to stem from heavier music. Although saying that, the main ideas behind "Planet Loss" were inspired by Rush's "2112". We wanted to create an album that was, at heart, a prog concept album but executed through our own medium. Bands such as Haasts Eagled and Space Witch also had a personal influence on me when playing with initial ideas for the record.

We all spend a lot of time playing and running events in the UK Heavy Scene, so naturally we love bands such as Torpor, Opium Lord, Pet Brick, Grim Existence, Calligram, Monolithian & Geist to name a few.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?
T. Hooning cars, eating beans, creating art and spending time (drinking beers) with loved ones.

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
T. Just thanks for taking the time to put these questions together. We enjoyed answering them. We hope you enjoy the record

https://www.facebook.com/wallowingnoise

Ov Lustra Interview

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

Of course! We’ve been a 3 piece (Myself, Tyler, and Ryan) for just about our entire time as a band. (Drummers have been hard for us to come by, minus a few talented studio musicians) We started in early 2017 with the main intent being that we felt our local scene was lacking in the specific style we aim for, so we sought out to change that.



2.Recently you have released a new mini album, musically how does it differ from your previous full length?

I’d say it’s a good bit different while still keeping to our roots. We got a lot of “deathcore” comparison on our first album, which wasn’t the intent lol, but this new release hasn’t seen as much of that, so we’re happy. The orchestration is much more epic this time around (thanks to Francesco from Fleshgod Apocalypse), the riffs and progressions are catchier (in our opinions), and the song structures are a little more mature than our first album.



3.The lyrics on both of the recordings have a concept to them, can you tell us a little bit more about the story that you cover on both albums?

To keep it as short as I can, our music has revolved around this story that Tyler (who is an English major) has been writing since we formed the band. Our first album begins with our main character, Oranys, waking in a field on an almost Earth-like wilderness planet, with no other intelligent life. This place is a purgatory of sorts known as “Ov Lustra”. Oranys was exiled here as a punishment, along with his loved one, Azure, who actually ends up dying. Oranys first has no memories or recollection of who or where he is, and the journey across Ov Lustra that follows is what our first album entails. His search for answers, which brings back his memories and details what he must do next. This new release, Tempestas, follows directly after the first album, detailing our characters feelings of loss/rage after recovering his memories and recalling the reason for his exile and Azure’s death, as well as his route for escape from Ov Lustra. It’s a rather in depth story that Tyler is actually writing entire books about, so I don’t want to give away too much right here.



4.Originally the band was known as 'Sun Speaker', what was the cause of the name change and also the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Ov Lustra'?

We received a cease & desist letter from an artist who trademarked the Sun Speaker name after our first album released. We did what we could to try to retain the name, but did not succeed. So, we decided to try to keep things somewhat familiar to our followers and went with “Ov Lustra” because it was the title of our first album and an important location in our concept story.



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

The artwork on the new cover was perfect for this release as we wanted to try to give a glimpse into what we envisioned some of the landscape of Ov Lustra would look like.



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?

Well, due to our struggle with finding live drummers, we have actually only performed live once as a group, however, it was a great show and we had amazing support from our local scene. We do have plans of making more live appearances though.



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

At the moment, no. But, we are in talks with a new drummer, so that could change soon.



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

We’ve actually gotten a better reaction than we initially anticipated when we started, which is amazing and humbling. We’ve received mostly all positive feedback, with the exception of a few haters, but that’s all good with us. We just like creating music for those that care to listen.



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

I’m glad you ask. We toned down some of our “deathcore” elements in Tempestas in favor of more blackened progressions and riffs. Moving forward we plan to further move our sound to a more black metal focus, while still retaining some of the death metal riffs and such we are known for at the moment.



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?

Overall, I’d say our biggest influences for this group have been Behemoth, The Black Dahlia Murder, Fleshgod Apocalypse, and Fallujah. I’ve been on a major Dark Funeral/Hate binge the last couple months though



11.Does Occultism play any role in your music?

To a degree, yes. It’s not apparent at face value, but a lot of the detail/premise behind our story is our own fictional rendition of Christianity’s early history. We put our own spin on the creation of man, Adam and Eve, God, and more. We do so in a VERY cryptic way, which honestly only reading the actual story would make more noticeable. However, we do plan to eventually publish these stories, so there is hope yet to discover our secrets yourself!



12.What are some of your non musical interests?

Outside of the band, Im also an audio engineer and graphic designer. Music is part of my daily life. But when I need a break I work on designing stuff, photography, and the like; which is actually my day job. I’m just an overall creative person.



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

I’d just like to let any readers know how grateful we are for the support we have received thus far. You all have been so good to us and we hope to keep pushing out music you will enjoy.

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