Desideria Interview

1. Can you tell us a little bit about the band for those that have never heard of you before?

Most of you can be sure never to have heard about us. We are from France in a city next to Germany where I was born. I met some years ago the female vocalist of Desideria, Mylène, because we worked together for a gothic fanzine. Then we looked for band members and there were recurring changes in the line-up until last year. Finally we are seven musicians now and the other members are Samuel and Julien on the guitars, Marc on the bass, Jérémie on the keyboards and Tim on the drums.

2.How would you describe your musical sound?

It’s more difficult to attribute one’s music to a particular music style if you are involved. There is not the distance that you need for. So I let reviewers and listeners decide about what we play. Most of them say we are a gothic metal band. Others say we are a symphonic black metal band. If I had to choose one label I would say a wild and symphonic dark metal band.

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the new release explores?

Most of the lyrics are about what goes in the knights’ minds when they face some circumstances as the loss of their love (“Island Of Death”) or the loss of their trust in human (“Wolf Cruelty Claw”) choosing the company of wolves. There are lyrics about knights who are in a sanctuary to save a girl who is the reincarnation of the goddess of wisdom. They have twelve hours to save her and must go through twelve houses and each house has its guardian who represents one sign of the zodiac. The song “Excalibur” has the most explicit lyrics for this concept. The others are “Another Dimension” and “Lightning Bolt”. And with “HellCorrespondence.com” there is one song about a girl you can contact at midnight if you want to send someone to hell. If you pull the string of a straw doll she has given to you she comes and drags your enemy to hell and your soul the day you die goes to hell too.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?

It took a long time before all members agreed with a name and that was Desideria. It was Mylène who had suggested the name. Desiderio is the Italian translation for “Desire”. Desire creates something dynamic in the life of each one of us. It’s something obsessional that dictates our acts and our thoughts. Because Mylène likes names such as Sirenia and Tristania she changed the last letter into an “a”.

5. Has the band had any opportunities to do a live show, if so what are some of the best gigs that the band has played so far and how would you describe your stage performance?

Yes we did some live shows with local bands. Some gigs were better than others but I wouldn’t describe anyone of them to be one of our best gigs. I think the best gigs will come. I hope so. With our new line-up we will see how we will perform together. Now it’s too early to say how we are but in the next months I could answer better this question.

6. Do you have any touring plans for the future?

When all the members meet again we will discuss about next gigs. But if they are it will be not before autumn.

7. Currently you are unsigned are you looking for a record label and if so what kind of label do you feel that would be a perfect fit for the band’s music?

Now it’s the first time we have really thought whether we should or not look for a label. We will discuss about this subject. Nothing is sure. If we do it we know that it will be difficult to find a label that could be ready to invest in a new band. The times are hard with this worldwide economic crisis. I feel there are not many labels that would fit with what we do. Most labels are focused in classic heavy metal and more in extreme metal.

8. On a worldwide level how has your music been received by metal fans?

On our myspace we have sometimes nice comments about our music that are very important for us and encourage us to continue. From the day we have released our music we know that we have to accept bad comments. Some metal listeners don’t like our music, some others like it. There is no music that everyone can enjoy.

9. Are there any side projects besides this band or is this a full time line-up?

Most of us have no time to have more than one band. Marc helps out in another band until he has its own bass player. Julien is setting up his own band in a more brutal death metal style.

10. What direction do you see the music heading into on future releases?

Up to now Samuel was after the departure of our former guitar player Cédric rather alone to compose soundtracks for Desideria. Now we will see what we will have when Marc and Julien contribute too. I think the music will keep the spirit of our first release and we will also have the one or other song in a different style than that we used to have.

11. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

At the beginning I imagined music close to Theatre Of Tragedy and The Sins of Thy Beloved with a fragile female voice opposed to mine. But I imagined it faster. With our main composer Samuel the music is going faster than I imagined and I love it. He and all the other members of Desideria listen to all kind of metal styles from the pioneers to the newest bands. We reproduce the metal sound but we are not conscious about influences when we are in a composition process. We know that we have influences but we don’t know from whom they come.

12. Does Paganism play a role in your music?

Most lyrics are about paganism in the way that I going about polytheistic religions. They talk about knights devoted to their goddess Athena from the Greek mythology in a battle against knights devoted to their god Odin from the Norse mythology. But legends that you find in them are twisted with other components that are imagined. These knights don’t use weapons like swords or axes but draw their fight technics from Cosmo energy. In “Excalibur” that is the mythical sword of King Arthur I talk about this sword like a gift from the goddess Athena to her most loyal knight and the shaping technique of this sword is now in his arms. All this to say that yes, paganism plays a role in the music but unlike other bands who portray Vikings in how they used to live their life as described in history books there are in these lyrics realities that had never been met and components out from fantasy or science-fiction.

13. Outside of music what are some of your interests?

I don’t have really other interests apart from manga where the stories of the lyrics come from. Mylène loves the literature of the XIXth century. Samuel loves to travel. Jérémie loves to walk in the forests. Tim enjoys to see friends. Marc loves to draw and Julien likes to go to concerts.

14. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?

First I want to thank you for your effort in this preparation of this interview. And then to the few metal saints who have read this interview since we are still quite unknown.

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Desideria/End The Curse/2011 CD Review

  Desideria are a band from France that plays a mixture of black, death, pagan, folk, gothic and traditional metal and this is a review of their self released 2011 album "End The Curse".

Drums range from slow, mid paced to fast drumming with a good amount of blast beats, while the synths bring a very dark, gothic and atmospheric sound to the music, as for the bass playing it has a very dark tone with riffs that follow the riffing that is coming out of the guitars.

Rhythm guitars range from slow, mid paced to fast riffing that combines death, gothic, black, folk and traditional metal together with a good amount of melody being thrown in the music, while the lead guitars are very melodic heavy metal guitar solos that have a very traditional and classic metal feel to them, as for the acoustic guitars which are only used briefly they being a very dark and medieval folk music sound to the music.

Vocals range from deep death metal growls, high pitched black metal screams, clean singing male and female vocals with some occasional spoken word passages, while the lyrics touch on mythology, as for the production it has a very dark, heavy and powerful sound to it.

In my opinion Desideria are a very good melodic black/death/gothic/folk metal band and if you are looking for a band that mixes these styles together, you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Dragon Bravest Blizzard" "Island of Death" and "Excalibur". RECOMMENDED BUY.

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Planks/The Darkest Of Grays Solicit To Fail/Southern Lord Records/2011 CD Review

 Planks are a band from Germany that mixes crust/punk noise rock, black metal and black'n' roll together and this is a review of their 2011 album The Darkest Of Grays Solicit To Fail" which was released by Southern Lord Records.

Drums range from slow, mid paced to fast drumming with a good amount of blast beats being thrown in, while the bass playing has a very heavy and strong tone with a lot of powerful sounding riffs that are very noisy and distorted, as for the synths which are only utilized briefly they bring a very dark avant garde edge to the music.

Rhythm guitars range from slow, mid paced to fast riffs that combine influences from crust/punk, noise rock, black metal and black 'n' roll  to create a sound that is very original sounding and on the instrumental there is some soft and slow playing, while the lead guitars when they are utilized they are very dark, distorted and melodic sounding.

Vocals are a mixture of crust/hardcore style yells and screams that are also heavily influenced by black metal with some occasional spoken word passages and samples, while the lyrics cover everyday and hateful themes, as for the production it has a very heavy and raw sound to it while still being professional enough to the point where you can hear all of the musical instruments.

In my opinion Planks are a very good and original band that combines sludge with noise rock, crust/punk, black metal and black'n' roll together and if you are looking for a band that combines these styles together, you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Sacred And Secret" "The Dead Return To War" "A Casket City" and "Into The Nothingness Within". RECOMMENDED BUY.

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Sinstorm/Self Titled/2011 CD Review

Sinstorm are a band from California that has been interviewed as well as had their previous e.p reviewed by this zine with a style that I would describe as melodic black/death with some symphonic elements and this is a review of their self titled and self released 2011 album.

Drums range from slow, mid paced to fast drumming with a great amount of blast beats being used at times, while the bass playing is kind of mixed down low in the mix and seems to follow the riffing that is coming out of the guitars, and on some songs there are symphonic elements but not much in the way to over dominate the music with some dark keyboard effects.

Rhythm guitars range from low, mid paced to fast melodic black metal riffs that are also heavily influenced by death metal, while the lead guitars are very melodic and chaotic sounding black/death metal guitar solos that also utilize a lot of skill, as for  the acoustic guitars when they are utilized they bring another dark dimension to the music.

Vocals are all high pitched black metal screams mixed in with some deep death metal growls and on one song there is a spoken word ritualistic passage, while the lyrics cover Heathenism, Occultism, killing, hatred and death, as for the production it sounds very heavy and professional for a self released album.

In my opinion this is another great release from Sinstorm and if where a fan of their previous recordings, you will not be disappointed.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "CelestialExtinction" "Transcending Dimension" "Storms Of The Heretic Millennium" and "Trooper" which is an Iron Maiden cover. RECOMMENDED BUY.

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Suidakra/Book Of Dowth/AFM Records/2011 CD Review

  Suidakra are a band from Germany that mixes melodic black metal with folk music and this is a review of their 2011 album "Book Of Dowth" which was released by AFM Records.

Drums range from slow, mid paced to fast with a great amount of brutal blast beats, while the keyboards are very atmospheric and symphonic with some pagan sounding flutes being utilized at times, as for the bass playing it is kind of mixed down low in the mix and seems to follow the riffs that are coming out of the guitars.

Rhythm guitars range from slow, mid paced to fast melodic black/death metal riffs that are also influenced by traditional metal, while the lead guitars are very melodic sounding heavy metal guitar solos, as for the acoustic guitars when they are utilized they use finger picking and full chords to bring a folk music feel to the music.

Vocals are mostly high pitched black metal screams that are also influenced by melodic death metal in the growls with a good amount of clean singing male and female vocals being thrown in at times and the occasional spoken word passages, while the lyrics cover Celtic Paganism and Fantasy, as for the production it has a very powerful and professional sound to it.

In my opinion Suidakra are a very good melodic folk/black/death metal band and if you are a fan of bands that mix these styles together, you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Battle-Ciarns" "Mag Mell" "Balor" and "Stone Of Seven Suns". RECOMMENDED BUY.

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Hyperborean Interview

by Magnus Persson/ Vocalist of Hyperborean

1. Can you tell us a little bit about the band for those that have never heard of you before?
1 We are from Sweden, we formed 11 years ago so we've been around for a while although the band has not always been active it was on hold for some years before we decided to go and record The Spirit of Warfare. Our music has quite a few influences, I see most people are defining us as melodic black metal and I guess that fits, although I would hesitate to fully use the black metal moniker as we do incorporate elements from other genres such as Thrash metal for example.

2. How would you describe the musical sound of the new album and how does it differ from previous releases?
2 A mixture of different extreme metal genres, mostly from black metal. The album differs quite allot from our early demos, they were more melodic in nature and had allot of focus on keyboards. The sound of The Spirit of Warfare is harsher, although there still is allot of melodic parts mixed in there. The music is more guitar driven and riff oriented than our previous works. The songs are also generally longer and have more of an epic atmosphere to them.

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the new release explores?
3 The overlapping lyrical theme is warfare ( obviously ). Mostly focusing on world war 1. Most of the songs deal with that time period in one way or another. Weapon Mankind is about the preface leading up to the war. Killing Grounds is about the trench warfare and the fevers that plagued the soldiers. Viper and The last stand.. deals with the battle of Thermopylae and are the only songs about pre modern warfare. A new Sun rises deals with the aftermath of the war and the intellectual despair that followed it in a combination of a lost faith in mankind after the atrocities she produced during the war, and also sense of spiritual emptiness left behind by philosophers and scientists that challenged and in some ways discarded religion. The sick man of Europe is about the war torn former Yugoslavian nations leading up to world war 1 and ending with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo in 1914, an event that triggered ( although its important to point our that it didnt cause ) the great war.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?
4 Hyperborea is an ancient greek word describing a mythological extreme north. A Hyperborean would then be a inhabitant of said north. We thought it fit well as most of our early material focused on norse mythology, it would probably have been more logical to pick a name derived from old Norse instead of old Greek, but what can you do, sometimes things doesn't make perfect sense.

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and wow would you describe your stage performance?
5 We don't have a full lineup so playing live isn't an option right now, so I guess we are a studio band at the moment, that might change in future though. We did play some live gigs early on but those were years ago so that's not really relevant today.

6. Do you have any touring plans for the new release?
6 No

7. On a worldwide level how has your music been received by melodic black metal fans?
7 Well the album has just been released so its hard to tell at this point, but the reactions so far seems good.

8. Are there any other projects besides this band or is this a full time line up?
8 Hyperborean is our main priority, there are some small projects here and there but nothing of importance.

9. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?
9 The lyrical approach wont deal as much with war as I am kind of feed up writing about that subject at the moment. Misery will be the main theme musically so the lyrics will follow on that subject and then there will be some other underlying themes as well( do not worry, there will be no suicidal teenage angst crap ) Also most of the songs on Spirit were written five or six years ago so the next batch of songs we write will probably reflect that.

10. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
10 as for musical influences you would have to ask Andreas our guitarist. Personally I mainly listen to older bands like Emperor, old Satyricon, Dissection, Taake and also some classical stuff mixed in there as well, I like Dvorcak.

11. Does Occultism or Paganism play any role in your music?
11 Not really, our first demos focused on norse mythology but we have moved away from that as I find it kind of boring to always write lyrics on the same theme, I would say our world view is more rational in nature, Darwin before Crowley so to speak.

12. Outside of music, what are some of your interests?
12 I read allot of books about history and that's mainly how I find subjects to write lyrics about for Hyperborean.

13. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?
13 Thanks for this interview, keep up the good work with the zine and keep promoting the underground!
















13. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?

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Hyperborean/The Spirit Of Warfare/Abyss Records/2011 CD Review

  Hyperborean are a band from Sweden that plays a very melodic style of black metal and this is a review of their 2011 album "The Spirit Of Warfare" which was released by Abyss Records.

Drums range from slow, mid paced to fast drumming with a good amount of blast beats, while the bass playing has a strong and somewhat powerful tone with riffs that follow the riffing that is coming out of the guitars, as for the keyboards when they are utilized briefly they bring a very tragic feel to the music.

Rhythm guitars range from slow, mid paced to fast melodic black metal riffs that are also technical at times with some thrash death and traditional metal influences, while the lead guitars are very melodic, progressive and technical metal guitar solos, as for the acoustic guitars when they are utilized they use finger picking and full chords to bring another element of war to the music.

Vocals are very high pitched black metal screams with some occasional deep death metal grows, while the lyrics cover Lovecraft style themes and war as for the production it has a very dark and heavy sound to it.

In my opinion Hyperborean are very good melodic black metal band, and if you are a fan of t his style you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Chanelling The Spirit Of Warfare" "Viper" and "The Sick Man Of Europe". RECOMMENDED BUY.

http://www.myspace.com/hyperboreanofficial