Frozen Dawn/Those Of the Cursed Light/Xtreem Music/2014 CD Review

    Frozen  Dawn  are  a  band  from  Spain  that  plays  a  melodic  form  of  black/death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Those  of  the Cursed  Light"  which  was  released  by  Xtreem  Music.

  The  album  starts  out  with  the  sounds  of  wind  along  with  acoustic  guitars  before  going  into  a  fast  and  melodic  black  metal  direction  as  well  as  adding  in  blast  beats  and  then  the  grim  vocals  start  to  kick  in  and  the  band  also  brings  in  a  mixture  of  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the guitars  and  vocals  are  also  by  death  metal.

  When  we  get  more  into  the  album  solos  and  leads  are  added  into  the  music  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  band  go  back  to  the  90's  Swedish  melodic  black  metal  sound  while  also  having  a  more  modern  feeling  to  it  and  at  times you  can  hear elements  of  thrash  metal  in  the  recording,  as  the  album  progresses  clean  sections  are  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording.

  With  this  album  Frozen  Dawn  go  back  to  the  90's  melodic  Swedish  black  metal  sound  while  also  being  heavily  influenced  by  death  metal  and  newer  Satyricon  to  create  their  own  sound  as  well  as  updating  the  genre  a  bit.

  Song  lyrics  cover  darkness  and  winter  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording.

  In  my  opinion  Frozen  Dawn  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic  black/death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Blackened  March"  "Nocturnal  Sacrifice"  "The  Triumph  Of  God  Frost"  and  "Eternal  Frost".  8  out  of  10.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWRz5zT0ZPQ

Cradle Of Filth/Total Fucking Darkness/Mordgrimm/2014 2LP Review

  Cradle  of  Filth  are  a  band  from  the  United  Kingdom  that  are  probably  the  most  famous  band  when  it  comes  to  symphonic  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  double  album  "Total  Fucking  Darkness"  which  was  released  by  Mordgrimm  Records  and  is  all  demo  tracks  for  the  early  90's.

  The  album  starts  out  with  symphonic  keyboards  and  a  few  seconds  alter  the  music  goes  into  a  faster  and  heavier  direction  along  with  a  mixture  of  death  and  black  metal  vocals  as  well  as  some  blast  beats  and  powerful  sounding  bass  guitars.

  As  the  album  progresses  a  mixture  of  slow  and  fast  parts  are  added  into  the  music  along  with  some  melody  and  solos  and  the  music  also  retains  its  symphonic  elements  an d the  band  brings  in  more  death  metal  influences  and  mixes  it  in  with  black  metal  and  this  sounds  nothing  like  the  Cradle  of  Filth  of  modern  days  and  at  times  you  can  hear  traces  of  thrash  and  doom  metal  in  the  recording  and  they  also bring  in  a  few  instrumentals  at  times.

  With  this  album  Cradle  of  Filth  have  a  very  different  sound  than  what  they  have  these  days  with  the  music  being  in  a  more  melodic  black/death  metal  direction  while  still  having  a  good  amount  of  symphonic  elements  and  their  early  stuff  shows  why  they  where  once  respected  in  black  metal  before  going  into  a  more  commercial  direction  in  the  later  years  and  alienating t heir  old  audience  for  the  more  trendy  audience  they  have  these  days.

  Song  lyrics  cover  Satanism  and  occultism  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  more  raw  and  demo  sound  to  it  while  you  can  still  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording  along  with  some  of  the  songs  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  recording  from  Cradle  of  Filth  and  if  you  are  interested  in  hearing  them  in  their  more  earlier  sound,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Black  Goddess  Arises"  "Unbridled  At  Dark"  "Devil  Mayfair  (Advocatus  Diaboli)"  and  "The  Raping  of  Faith".  8  out  of  10.

http://www.facebook.com/cradleoffilth

 

Hazarder/Hesperian Death Horse/The Electric Wizard EP/PMK Records/2014 Split Review

  This  is  a  review  of  a  split  ep  between  Croatia's Hazarder  and  Hesperian  Death  Horse  with  the  recording  being  called  "The  Electric  Wizard  EP"  and  released  by  PMK  Records  in  the  year  of  2014  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  Hazarder  a  band  that  plays  a  mixture  of  sludge,  stoner  and  doom  metal.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  off  with  a  very  heavy  and  dark  doom  metal  sound  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sounding  very  powerful  and  a  minute  later  death/doom  metal  growls  are  added  into  the  music  and  towards  the  end  drones  are  added  into  their  side  of  the  recording.

  Song  lyrics  cover  occult  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  dark  and  heavy  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  their  side  of  the  split.

  In  my  opinion  Hazarder  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  sludge,  stoner  and  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  

  Next  up  is  Hesparian  Death  Horse  which  continues  their  mixture  of  black,  post,  sludge  and  doom  metal.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  off  with  clean  playing  and  experimental  sounds  and  after  a  couple  of  minutes  the  music  gets  a  lot  more  heavy  along  with  some  black  metal  screams  while  also  having  a  good  amount  of  melody  and  drones  and  after  awhile  they  bring  in  a  mixture  of  clean  and  heavy  parts  and  towards  the  end  blast  beats  are  added  into  the  music.

  Song  lyrics  cover  occult  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  dark  and  heavy  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  their  side  of  the  recording  along  with  their  only  song  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  track  from  Hesperian  Death  Horse  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  blackened  post  sludge,  you  should  check  out  their  side  of  the  split.

  In  conclusion  I  feel  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  and  I  would  recommend  it  to  all  fans  of  black,  sludge  and  doom  metal.  8  out  of  10.

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Hesperian Death Horse/Mrtav/Play The Assassin Records/2013 CD Review

  Hesperian  Death  Horse  are  a  band  from  Croatia  that  plays  a  mixture  of  post  black,  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  album  "Mrtav"  which  was  released  by  Play  The  Assassin  Records.

  The  album  starts  out  with  atmospheric sounding  drones  and  clean  playing  which  takes  the  recording  into  a  post  rock  direction  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  after  a  couple  of  minutes  the  album  goes  into  a  heavier  direction  along  with  some  grim  black  metal  vocals  shortly  after  that  which  also  evolve  into  sludge  style  screams  while  also  mixing  in  the  blackened  elements.

  As  the  album  progresses  melody  is  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  elements  of  ambient  and  experimental  music  and  on  one  of  the  tracks  they  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats  while  the  guitars  remain  in  a  slower  and  heavier  direction  and  after  awhile  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  added  into  the  music  as  well  as  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts.

  With  this  album  Hesperian  Death  Horse stick  to  mostly  a  post  sludge  metal  direction  while  also  being  heavily  influenced  by  black  metal  and  they  are  also  not  afraid  to  melodic,  dark  and  experimental  at  the  same  time  while  mostly  remaining  heavy.

  Song  lyrics  cover  are  in  4  different  parts  and  cover  dark  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  dark  and  heavy  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musicla  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording  as  well  as  the  songs  beign  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  In  my  opinion  Hesperian  Death  Horse  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  black,  post,  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Heriotza  (Part  1:  Kraljevi)"  and  "Morte(Part  4:  Oftar)".  8  out  of  10.

https://hesperiandeathhorse.bandcamp.com/

Fuoco Fatuo/The Viper Slithers In The Ashes of What Remains/Caligari Records/2014 Cassette Review

  Fuoco  Fatuo  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black  metal,  doom  and  sludge  and  this  is  a  review  of their  2014  cassette  "The  Viper  Slithers  In  The  Ashes  Of  What  Remains"  which  was  released  by  Caligari  Records.

  The  cassette  starts  out  with  dark  sound  effects  and  after  a  couple  of  minutes  the  music  goes  into  an  early  90's  doom/death  metal  sound  along  with  some  growls  and  after  awhile  dark  soudning  melodies  make  their  way  into  the  recording.

  When  the  cassette  goes  into  other  songs the  band  sticks  mostly  to  a  doom/death  metal  direction  while  also  bringing  in  elements  of  sludge  and  black  metal  which  can  be  heard  mostly  in  the  mid  paced  parts  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording.
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  With  this  recording  Fucoco  Fatuo  go  for  more  of  the  early  90's  doom/death  metal  sound  while  still having  some  small  amounts  of  black  metal  and  sludge  and  they  create  a  sound  that  is  very  heavy,  dark  and  old  school,  with  this  cassette.

  Song  lyrics  cover  darkness  and  desolation  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  heavy,  dark  and  old  school  sound  along  with  all  of  the  songs  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Fuoco  Fatuo  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  old  school  doom/death  metal  with element s of  black  metal  and  sludge,  you  should  check  out  this  cassette.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Ancestral  Devouring  Anxiety"  and  "Eternal  Transcendence  Into  Nothingness".  8/5  out  of  10.

 http://caligarirecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-viper-slithers-in-the-ashes-of-what-remains 

Chain Of Dogs Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?

Well, quite a lot actually: we have four new band members, only two of the original members are left. The music will change in a way, we have added some other instruments and we have a female band member again: a permanent vocalist who also plays some folk instruments.
Our label, Witches Brew, made a restart a while back and provided us with the opportunity to release a new full-length compilation CD. Where also planning to release a new vinyl EP this summer and we're booking a lot of new gigs. Among them are several festivals of which Metaldays in Slovenia is the biggest.


2.How would you describe your musical sound for those that have yet to hear the music?

It's a form folk metal based on thrash metal instead of the more standard viking or power metal influences. There is also a big dose of punk and some black metal. The folk influences range from Irish Celtic through Finnish to Balkan or even medieval.
Basically we put in any music we like, as long as it's fast or heavy, and mix that with folk. Our music is fast and energetic, and also pretty blunt and raw. We don't try to make "pretty and shiny" epic folk metal and we're not a pagan metal band.


3.Can you tell us a little bit more about the compilation album that you have just released?

Over the past couple of years we self-released a demo and a couple EP's and one full length through Witches Brew. This album gives a pretty good view of what Chain of Dogs have been up to since the beginning. There's the songs from the EPs plus some demo-tracks, unreleased remixed tracks of the full length and a short song from a recording session we never used.


4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

The part of our lyrics that's in the Limburgian dialect (which some people might confuse with Dutch or German) is mostly about the history, myths & sagas from our region, although from a different viewpoint than more traditional music from around here. Another important part and the main topic of our English lyrics is based on dark fantasy and horror, think of werewolves and the gruesome things you can do to hobbits!


5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Chain of Dogs'?

"Chain of Dogs" is an event in one of the books of fantasy author Steven Erikson. He writes a pretty raw and dark form of fantasy that appeals to the roughness we like to have in our music. The lyrics from songs like Blood Follows and Bridgeburners are directly based on his work.


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?

One of the highlights was definitely the Black Trolls Over Europe Tour we did in 2011 with bands like Suidakra and Waylander, especially Black Troll Winterfest and the date in Prague was cool. We also had some great regional gigs such as Skullyfest in Geleen or the smaller festivals we organised ourselves in Fenix in Sittard. The Sodom Metal Nights are always great gigs to play. We've had a couple of great gigs with Heidevolk too throughout the Netherlands.
Our stage performance is mostly very raw and energetic, with a touch of horror-fun. We don't try to reproduce the things you can do in a studio but try to build a powerful gig where people can have a party in the pit.


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

Of course! Very soon (March 22) we're going to celebrate the release of our cd. Furthermore we're looking forward to our gig at Metaldays in Slovenia.
We've just started booking more shows for the time to come as we wanted to focus on getting our new lineup ready to destroy! Nothing has been confirmed as yet but there's a lot in the pipeline.


8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of folk metal and thrash?

Up to now it's been very difficult to get into contact with people overseas, but we're getting there. In general, people are skeptical at first because of the mix of styles we use. Our deliberate lack of "Pagan" gives some doubt to the more basic folk-metal fans while the thrash-oriented side of our audience are usually a bit disturbed when they see our mandolin, flute and violin...
But once people have been listening for more than 1.5 minute they have a hard time standing still and weird things start to happen, like conga lines through a wall of death or square dancers in a circle pit.
No need to say that both the folk-lovers and thrashers are mostly positively surprised.


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

We have started writing new songs for our upcoming EP. We expect to start recording the next full length around the beginning of 2015.
As far as the music itself is concerned; right now it is somewhat difficult to point to one direction. We hope the music will be rawer and grittier without losing the melodic element. A mix of unpolished Celtic folk and thrash metal will always be the basis of our music, but we'll probably explore some more influences like balkan folk or gypsy music.


10.What are some bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Our main influences are obviously thrash metal and various styles of folk music, with some polka and hummpa, quite a lot of punk and a bit of black metal.
We take some inspiration from classical music, also some country and blues.
This is basically the music we're listening to, but all band members have different preferences. For example, some members also regularly  listen to reggae, psychobilly or progressive rock/metal. Pretty much most existing music styles are acceptable except for R&B, Emo and breakcore.


11.What are some of your non musical interests?

This goes for the entire band: collecting toys like Playmobil & Lego, gaming, Carnival, barbecues and beer, epic movies, fantasy books, hanging around outside, either at a festival or in open nature, making campfires, hiking and hunting hobbits. Samana even likes sports.


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

Kloeëte, mie beer is leag (damn, my beer is empty).

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Helmsplitter 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?

 We have been pretty busy since recording the album.  We recently added a 2nd guitarist (Jason Grevas) to the lineup so we have been busy showing him the songs we usually play live.  We have also been working on writing new material for a split release that we are going to do with a bad ass New York grindcore band called The Communion. 

2.Recently you have released a new album, how would you describe the musical sound of the new recording and also how does it differ from your past releases?

I personally feel like this album is a bit more varied than our debut album (Storms of Genocide) was.  The reason for this is we had some older songs left over from our very earliest days as a band that we thought were too good to not release, so we reworked them a bit and decided to include them on this new album.  Most of those songs have a bit more of a southern sludge sound to them.  The rest of the material on the album is brand new and has a bit more of a evil black metal vibe.  We knew that this combination would make for an interesting album and that some people might accuse us of jumping from genre to genre too much, but we didn't care.  We knew we would be happy with it and our label (Horror Pain Gore Death Productions) was happy with it so I feel we did the right thing by including those older songs.  We arranged the song order in a way that i feel takes the listener on a pretty interesting ride because of the variety in the songs.

3.Can you tell us a little bit more about the lyrical topics that the band explores with the new release?

I wrote a few verses for "Aura of Suicide" that is inspired by the cluster migraines i used to suffer from.  Other than that Blakk wrote all of the lyrics.  He gets a lot of inspiration by watching documentaries about the dark side of reality.  He is fascinated with serial killers, war, torture, and various other topics.  The overall lyrical and visual theme to the album is pain, whether it be physical or emotional, and how every human has to go through it at some point in their lives. Pain is inevitable.  There is no escaping it.  Every member of the band has gone through dark and painful times, and we have all found ways to overcome these things so we wanted to reflect on that with this album.

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

Our drummer came up with the name Helmsplitter.  He actually got the idea from a video game that he likes, apparently in this game there is weapon called the Helmsplitter that will pretty much destroy anything.  We like to think that our music is pretty powerful and destructive so we thought it was a good fit.  Plus we just liked the way it sounded haha.

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

Some of the shows that stick out in my mind are when we opened for Rwake, they are one of my favorite bands and playing with them was an honor.  Same goes for the time we opened for Jucifer.  The cd release show for our first album was outstanding also, as was the show we just played with Against the Grain.  We have had quite a few shows that went very well and were a blast to play.  Of course we have played plenty of shows that sucked also.  You have to take the good with the bad i guess.  Our performances are usually pretty intense and full of energy, you have to be intense and full of energy to play this stuff!  There isn't a lot of flash or bells and whistles, we just get up there and let it rip.  Blakk doesn't do a lot of talking to the crowd and we don't do a lot to try and pump the crowd up or anything....we just perform our art as well as we can and hopefully the crowd enjoys it.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new release?

We have a few shows around the midwest set up and are working on setting up a short east coast run.  Other life obligations make it hard for us to just jump in a van and tour for months, but we try do as much "weekend warrior" stuff as we can.  I think we will start hitting it pretty hard once our new guitarist has a sets worth of material down.....and he is a freaking beast of a guitarist so that won't be long from now.

7.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of extreme and underground metal?

The feedback from the underground metal world has been very positive.  Of course there is always going to be some people out there that aren't going to like what you do, you can't please everyone.  We try not to worry about it too much but we are only human and of course are going to pay attention to reviews and things like that,  and for the most part the feedback has been very positive.  Our first album got some great reviews and got us signed to Horror Pain Gore Death Productions so that was a success, and so far the reviews we have been getting for the new one have been great.  

8.What is going on with the other musical projects these days that a couple of the band members are involved with?

Nate, Lyndon, and myself are in another band called Obsidian Hammer.  It is a mix of sludge, doom, and crust punk.  Imagine Eyehategod and Bongzilla mixed with Discharge and you will be on the right track.  It is in its infancy but is off to a very good start.  We opened for Church of Misery for our first ever show, and have opening spots lined up for Spirit Caravan and D.R.I. so things are going well.  Blakk has been the mastermind behind Angelkill for around 20 years and he is still going.  It has pretty much turned into a one man band and I think he prefers it that way.  He is also involved with Mortuary Oath, as well as creating scores for video games and movies.  Our new guitarist Jason was involved with Through Terror and King of Clubs but they are both inactive now.

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

Helmsplitter has been going more and more into a dark, evil direction.  Future releases will be more focused on the black metal/grindcore side of things and will probably have less southern sludge parts.  There will still be slow sections but they will probably be more along the lines of Craft than Crowbar.  Some of the members we had in the past were pushing for more of the southern sound, which we are getting away from more and more.  That element will always be there but it is going to be less and less prominent as time goes on.

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?

Well the band that probably has had the biggest influence on us has been Soilent Green simply because i basically learned how to play and write music by hanging out with them and watching them practice and perform.  The way they have dramatic tempo and time signature changes really rubbed off on me.  I cant imagine how long the list would be if i were to start naming off bands that have influenced us.....we all are into so many different styles its nuts.  But as far as directly influencing what we are currently doing with Helmsplitter I would say black metal is the biggest influence right now.  We are all fans of a lot of the older Norwegian stuff like Mayhem, Darkthrone, Emperor, etc etc......Craft is a huge influence.....also grindcore like Pig Destroyer and Napalm Death....I could go on and on!  Personally I have been listening to mainly black metal like the bands i mentioned as well as a ton of sludge, doom, and stoner rock.  Eyehategod and Electric Wizard are pretty much always in my rotation of cds im listening too.

11.How would you describe your views on Occultism?

The occult is something i am somewhat fascinated with but I don't have an extensive knowledge or any really strong views/opinions of.  I am a very non-religious person and i think a part of me has always kinda lumped occultism in with religion.  Although I will say i have read some things about various cults or cult leaders that i do agree with.  For example i am pretty big believer in the whole "Do what thou will, that shall be the whole of the law" frame of mind.  I am not a fan of authority or laws of almost any kind so that mindset does appeal to me.  I don't really feel I am educated on the subject enough to elaborate much more however. 

12.What are some of your non musical interests?

My main non-musical interest is nature.  My family goes to the Canadian Border fishing every year and the beauty of that wilderness is awe inspiring.  Alone in the wilderness is one of the only places I truly find peace.  I used to be a video gamer and a reader as well.  However lately it has basically all been about music for me, with two bands going full time it is hard for me to make time for hardly any other hobbies or interests.  And that is fine with me, because I am basically obsessed with making music and there is nothing that makes me happier.  

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

I guess I would just like to say thank you to anyone who reads this and bothers to take the time to check out Helmsplitter, hopefully you like what you hear.  The best is yet to come from this band, our musical vision is becoming more clear and focused and the addition of Jason on 2nd guitar is really going to propel us to the next level I believe.  Also I would like to thank you guys for the interview! You can stream the whole album here: http://hpgd.bandcamp.com/album/enraptured-by-suffering