PreEmptive Strike 0.1 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 ep?
JIM: We have just finished our new pure electronic CD(the 5th one) that will be released by the famous electronic label INFACTED RECORDINGS once again. But we will have a collaboration with the Polish old school black metal band BLACK ALTAR. This will be a hard, guitar-driven track that will surely interest the extreme metal fans that read this interview. Besides this we have done a cover of a well-known song of the power metal band SABATON!

2.Recently you have released a new ep, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?
JIM: Well our sound can be describe as dark electro with hard guitars and a combination of distorted industrial vocals and death/black metal growls! Note that we avoided using danceable beat (except on the last track that is a remix) even though we have drum programming. In the 2 exclusive tracks of the vinyl we used real drums including a blastbeat. Surely as a whole the mcd and the vinyl differ a lot of our 4 previous dark electro cds, but it is close to the remix mcd that we did last year with AD HOMINEM. On each of our last 2 cds we had a collaboration with an artist from the extreme metal scene or some guitar driven tracks. So the original PIERCE THEIR HUSK is taken from our 4th cd‘’TALOS’’ and one alternative version of INTERSTELLAR THREAT can be found on our 3rd cd :”THE KOSMOKRATOR’’.

3.This is the first recording to be released in the past 2 ½ years, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time frame?
JIM: During these 2 1/2 years we did a remix mcd for AD HOMINEM named SLAVES OF GODS TO THE GALLOWS but unfortunately their label (DARKER THAN BLACK) didn’t promote it as it should so many people thought that we were inactive during this period.

4.What are some of the themes and concepts you bring out with your musical sound?
JIM: Generally sci-fi themes that have to do with the sci-fi b movies of the 50s. So we have written about all the possible ways that aliens can invade the earth! With spaceships, with flying saucers armed with deathrates, with burried capsules that wait aeons to function again, as beings that have morbid plans to resurrect the dead on earth, as microorganisms, as plants, as insects mutations, as human replicants and with any possible way that these legendary movies have described! I could write many pages about my lyrics that have to do with alien invasion! My favorite of all is the battle of earthlings with alien insects about which I have written 3 tracks so far…. Apart from this, we have also written about horror themes and on our 2 latest cds about Greek mythology.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'PreEmptive Strike 01'?
George: A preemptive strike is a tactical military surprise attack with the aim to destroy the enemy’s ability to respond or retaliate. We chose it because it is fitting for the sci-fi themes our lyrics usually refer to. It was a cool and unusual name, memorable too, and noone had used it before so we went for it.

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?
JIM: The answer to this is very easy: We did 2 great shows in May of 2007 one in Edinburgh in the Dark City festival and later one show at the famous WAVE GOTHIC TREFFEN in Leipzig in front of 1500 people.

7. Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
JIM: Yes we have plans but first the organizers should book us to play....It is really sad that since 2007 we haven’t played outside Greece. Probably we have to find a tour manager or agency to book us for some shows abroad. So if a promoter is read this interview....We ask only for the tickets and the accommodation for 2 persons...

8. On the new album you had a few quests, can you tell us a little bit more about what they contributed to the ep?
Jim: Yes definitely, Niklas Kvarforth of Shining sung on some of our songs specifically on the vinyl.(PIERCE THEIR HUSK, THE WAR AGAINST THE BUGS, INSECT INTRUDE) Then Kristoffer Oustad and Eddie Risdal from the Norwegian Death metalers V28 contributed some vocals and guitars on our song INTERSTELLEAR THREAT. Then we did together with AGGREASH and Nephastus(ex BELPHEGOR,ex DEBAOUTCHERY ,ex ZOMBIE INC) from the German black/death industrial metal band LYFTHRASYR the song ‘’THE NEW ERA OF IMMORTALITY. Regarding the remixers, the guys from SKILTRON NV101 are members of the black metal bands ENSHADOWED and VULTURINE. Behind the remix from NYNE is PSY CON NYNE the guy that plays live guitars for SEPTIC FLESH when they tour worldwide. VIGILANTE is one of the biggest names in the industrial metal scene and finally the last remix is done in collaboration between the dark electro bands NANO INFECT and DEGENERATED SEQUENCES

9.The new ep was released by Sonic Hell Records, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?
Actually it is a sub label of the serious and elitist Polish black metal label ODIUM RECORDS. Shadow, its owner, has decided to establish Sonic hell in order to release more dark electro, industrial and ambient stuff. We made the start and we are hoping he does not regret it and releases cds from other bands too. His promotion work is the same as the one he does with his main label so his bands have worldwide promotion and distribution to the metal audience and fans.

10. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your newer recording by fans of harsh electronic music and extreme metal?
It is positive so far but it is still too early. I was afraid that this release possibly is too metal for the dark electro fans and too electronic for the extreme metal fans but we received very good reviews from both and we managed to enter the German electronic web charts - something that we didn’t expect! I think of course that the name of Niklas Kvarforth played its role ;)

11.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
This year we added a new member to the band (YIANNIS DESEQ) that contributes with synths and production aspects. He adds a ‘’more epic’’ touch to our sound so we will continue to release dark electro releases via INFACTED RECORDINGS and on each release we will have at least one collaboration with artists from the extreme metal scene. If we collect again a number of such collaborations we will gather them on a cd and possibly we will release it via a metal label as we did this year.

12. What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
Jim: Well I think that our sound is unique in general especially in our last 2 cds. Initially we were influenced by S.I.T.D., DECODED FEEDBACK, GOD MODULE but this is past now. But I can easily tell what I am listening to nowadays as I follow and buy new music in cds and vinyl continuously.
From the dark electro/ebm scene (that is 70% of my purchases) I like: FEINDFLUG, FUNKER VOGT, E-CRAFT ,TYSKE LUDDER, HEIMATAERDE, HOCICO, DECODED FEEDBACK, SUICIDE COMMANDO, FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY, FGFC 820. From the metal scene (that is the other 30% of my purchases) I like RED HARVEST (My favorite metal band ever), SUMMONING, RAMMSTEIN, FEAR FACTORY, ALESTORM, SEPTIC FLESH, EX DEO,SAMAEL, FINNTROLL, AMON AMARTH, MINISTRY,ROB ZOMBIE. Btw the best cd that I have listened to in 2014 so far is ‘’TITAN’’ by SEPTIC FLESH!
George :S.I.T.D,E-CRAFT,DECODED FEEDBACK.ASSEMBAGE 23,FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY from the dark electro/ebm scene and I also listen to various genres of metal and even trance/edm

13.What are some of your non musical interests?
Jim: For 20 years now I have had the same interests! I am into hard body building (which is where the nickname JIM ‘THE BLASTER’ originates) and I also playing football and I am really fanatic with my football team and with this sport in general. Besides sports I am always buying tons of CDs and vinyls and I watch sci-fi and horror films.
George:My hobbies are reading and comprtitive gaming

14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thank you very much for the interview. Even we have given tons of interviews to the printed or the web magazines that belong to the dark electro/ebm scene this is the first interview that we have done with a web magazine from the extreme metal scene so we are really glad about this. And we finish this interview with a statement: “Dark music is one, whether it is extreme metal or dark electro. That is a fact’’.


PREEMPTIVE STRIKE 0.1 
JIM THE BLASTER:VOCALS,LYRICS,DRUM PROGRAMMING,SAMPLES,SEQUENCES,ARRAGEMENTS
CRYON(GEORGE):SYNTH PROGRAMMING,SEQUENCES,ARRANGEMENTS
YIANNIS DSEQ:SYNTH PROGRAMMING,SEQUENCES,ARRAGEMENTS,PRODUCTION

DISCOGRAPHY
LETHAL DEFENCE SYSTEMS cd 2006(INFACTED RECORDINGS)
EXTINCTION REPROGRAMMED cd 2008(INFACTED RECORDINGS EUROPE-COP INTERNATIONAL USA)
THE KOSMOKRATOR cd 2010 EUROPEAN VERSION(INFACTED RECORDINGS)
THE KOSMOKRATOR cd 2010 USA VERSION(METROPOLIS)
T.A.L.O.S cd 2012 EUROPEAN VERSION(INFACTED RECORDINGS)
T.A.L.O.S cd 2012 USA VERSION(METROPOLIS)
AD HOMINEM:SLAVES OF GOD TO THE GALLOWS THE PREEMPTIVE STRIKE 0.1 REWORKS mcd digipack 2013(DARKER THAN BLACK
PIERCE THEIR HUSK 7'' Vinyl 2014 (SONIC HELL/ODIUM RECORDS)
PIERCE THEIR HUSK mcd digipack 2014 (SONIC HELL/ODIUM RECORDS)

https://www.facebook.com/PreEmptiveStrike0.1/

Saille/Eldritch/Code666/2014 CD Review

  Saille  are  a  band  from  Belgium  that  plays  a  very  symphonic  and  melodic  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Eldritch"  which  will  be  released  in  November  by  Code666.

  A  very  dark,  atmospheric  and  ambient  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  heavy  and  melodic  riffing  a  few  seconds  later  which  leads  up  to  come  death  metal  growls  before  speeding  up,  adding  in  blast  beats  and  high   pitched  screams  which  in  return  takes  the  recording  into  more  of  a  symphonic  black  metal  direction.

  There  is  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  throughout  the  recording  and  the  keyboards  bring  in  some  elements  that  have  not  been  done  on  a  symphonic  black  metal  recording  since  the  days  of  Limbonic  Art  and  Tartaros  and  when  solos  and  leads  are  added  onto  the  album  they  bring  more  of  a  melodic  black  metal  dimension  to  the  bands  compositions  as  well  as  some  melodic  clean  singing  being  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording.

  Clean  playing  is  added  onto  some  of  the  tracks  at  times  as  well  as  some  of  the  heavier  parts  bringing  in  a  death  metal  influence  and  after  awhile  spoken  word  parts  are  added  into  certain  sections  of  a  few  songs  along  with  a  good  amount  of  the  tracks  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  album  always  has  a  dark  atmosphere  being  evoked  throughout  the  recording.

  Saille  plays  a  very  epic  and  symphonic  style  of  melodic  black  metal  on  this  recording  that  goes  back  to  the  90's  era  of  the  genre  and  they  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  darkness  that  has  not  been  present  in  this  genre  for  years,  the  production  sound s very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Occultism,  Paganism  and  the  writings  of  H.P  Lovecraft  and  Edgar  Allan  Poe.

  In  my  opinion  Saille  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic  and  symphonic  black  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Walpurgis"  "The  Great  God  Pan"  "Eater  of  Worlds"  adn  "Dagon".  8  out of  10.

www.saille.be     

  

Mandatory/Catharsis/2014 CD Review

  Mandatory  are  a  band  from  Austria  that  plays  a  very  melodic  form  of  blackened  death  metal  with  touches  of  thrash  and  progressive  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2014  album  "Catharsis".

  A  very  modern  sounding  and  melodic  thrash  metal  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  aggressive  vocals  bordering  on  death  metal  and  after  a  couple  of  minutes  spoken  word  parts  are  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  some  guitar  solos  and  leads  that  display  a  very  melodic  and  old  school  style  of  metal  being  added  into  the  bands  modern  approach  to  metal.

  After  awhile  the  music  starts  adding  in  more  melodic  elements  of  Swedish  black  and  death  metal  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  along  with clean  singing  vocals  being  mixed  in  with  the  more  extreme  parts  at  times  and  on  some  of  the  later  tracks  the  band  starts  utilizing  more  blast  beats  along  with  a  small  amount  of  clean  playing  and  after  awhile  more  progressive  metal  influences  and  a  small  amount  of  synths  become  a  part  of  the  album.

  Mandatory  takes  a  very  modern  style  of  thrash  metal  and  mixes  it  in  with  the  more  melodic  and  heavy  sides  of  black  and  death  metal along  with  a  touch  of  prog  metal  to  create  their  musical  style  and  while  this  is  not  something  I  regularly  listen  to,  I  still  feel  the  band  is  very  good  for  what  they  are  trying  to  achieve,  the  production  sounds  very  powerful  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  real  life  themes  along  with  a  3  part  concept  being  presented  on  the  recording.

  In  my  opinion  Mandatory  are  a  very  decent  and  melodic  sounding  mixture  of  black,  death,  thrash  and  prog  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "End  Of  Watch"  "Emperor"  "For  the  World  To  See"  and  "Blueprint".  7/5  out  of  10.

VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahGb2nUl8_I
BUY: http://mandatory.bandcamp.com/ (Special Edition with additional material)
BUY: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MLO5COC/ref=dm_ws_sp_ps_dp
BUY: https://itunes.apple.com/at/album/catharsis/id907852861
FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/mandatorymetal

     

Ashes Of Moon/The Darkness Where The Past Lay Sleeping/WormHoleDeath Records/2014 CD Review

  Ashes  Of  Moon  are  a  band  from  Austria  that  plays  a  melodic  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "The  Darkness  Where  the  past  Lay  Sleeping"  which  was  released  by  WormHoleDeath  Records.

  A  very  heavy  and  melodic  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  powerful  sounding  bass  guitars  and  traditional  metal  elements  before  adding  in  some  grim  black  metal  vocals  and  after  awhile  solos,  leads  and  death  metal  growls  start  mixing  in  with  the  black  metal  elements  and  you  can  also  hear  a  bit  of  more  modern  style  of  metal  in  the  bands  musical  style  at  times.

  Clean  playing  and  acoustic  guitars  can  be  heard  at  time s on  some  of  the  tracks  and  they  also  add  a  gothic  feeling  to  the  bands  musical  sound  when t he  spoken  word  parts  are  utilized  as  well  as  adding  in  a  bit  of  the  early  90's  goth  metal  style  and  as  the  album  progresses  you  can  hear  elements  of  progressive  rock  being  added  into  the  bands  musical  style

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats  being  utilized  at  times  as  well  as  a  perfect  balance  between  both  clean  and  heavy  parts  and  the  slower  sections  also  bring  in   a  very  melodic  doom/death  metal  sound  at  times  and  on e of  the  later  tracks  shows  the  band  adding  in  a  few  seconds  of  clean  singing.  

  Ashes  of  Moon  plays  a  style  of  melodic  black/death  metal  that is  more  closer  to  the  90's  era  of  these  2  styles  as  well  as  bringing  in  some  elements  of  gothic,  doom,  progressive  and  a  touch  of  modern  metal  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark,  poetic,  and  philosophical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Ashes  Of  Moon  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  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Black  Coffin"  "The  Dark  He  Invoked"  "In  the  End"  and  "Wind".  8  out  of  10.

http://youtu.be/maPbUP-mPzA          

Hortus Animae 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?
Summer hasn’t been a very active period for the band, but still we started rehearsing for the upcoming gigs, we hope to start our live activity this coming winter 2014/2015, and these rehearsals are also important because we welcomed new members in our line-up and they look forward to playing gigs as much as we do.
We also started writing new material but I can’t tell more about it right now.

2.In March you had released a new album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from your previous material?
“Secular Music” is contemporarily our most violent and most progressive album to date. Everything is more emphasized than on the previous albums, violence is more violence, melody is more melody and so on ahah; let’s say that we had a different songwriting approach in this record, we didn’t jam in the rehearsal room following the old school method, we individually wrote our parts and then we met a few times to put all pieces together. And it worked! Really well. In fact I think “Secular Music” is also our most focused album ever. Probably this album is a bit less symphonic or gothic than the previous ones, but still it contains these elements, let’s say they are not predominant but still are shades that make up the whole picture.

3.The band was broken up for 7 years (2006-2013), what was the cause of the split and also the decision to reform?
As a matter of fact we never decided to split-up, it just happened, each one of us got caught by personal happenings, etc. So we started rehearsing less and less till the point that it was clear we wouldn’t be doing music together, at least for a while. Then in 2012 we started meeting more often, due to the release of the “Funeral Nation MMXII” compilation album, we could feel in the air we wanted Hortus Animae to be alive again, also our drummer Grom was writing me mails telling me we should reform, the compilation was obtaining a great response from press and public, our fans were still there waiting for us and asking for our return, so shortly after we decided to start our band activities again and in 2013 we started writing the material that has then ended up on “Secular Music”.

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?
The inspiration comes from life itself, from everything that surrounds us. Obviously everyone (and especially) artists have always said they’re living in odd and difficult times, and I am no exception in this regard. Of course, like any other artist I filter everything through the prism of my personality, rework, and create according to my beliefs, my interests, obviously my madness and quirks. The album contains different themse related to the apocalypse, which concept is as old as the world, nothing new. But the point is this philosophy of Creation, Preservation and Destruction which focuses more on destruction in this very album, but not only. After destruction comes a rebirth. For some people the apocalypse has already arrived, they’re abandoned to themselves, alone, with only ruins around - sometimes each one of us may feel that way; there are those who are afraid of this day, let’s say in the "traditional" way, there is the anger of those who feel that we are the cause of our evil, there is a rebellion against all this... Sometimes the result is giving up, sometimes a quiet awareness, maybe some light of hope. Taking cue from all this, I indulged myself and gathered ideas from my a bit twisted imagination, perhaps, and also from ancient forgotten spiritualities, in this period reborn – speaking of that whole cycle I mentioned before. In short, it is difficult to explain where and how lyrics come from. It is a process that is all a mystery, sometimes also to myself!

5.I know that the band’s name means 'garden of the soul' in Latin, how does this name fit in with your musical sound?
Our music always has represented, both musically and lyrically, a vast spectrum of human feelings. So we see Hortus Animae, the garden of the Soul, as a place where all souls rest, in peace, torment or even both, plus all the feelings in between.

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?
We’ve never been too active in the live front, yet we played really cool gigs in company of bands like Napalm Death, Lacuna Coil and Ancient (among others) and these three I mentioned definitely have been the best ones so far. In particular the gig with Ancient, cause we met the one who then became Hortus Animae’s drummer, Grom, that at the time was Ancient’s drummer.
We are right now working on our future shows, trying to manage something that won’t leave our audience indifferent, but as said before I can’t tell much more about it right now as everything is still a work in progress.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
Not yet, but once we get ready to start we’ll start managing the more gigs we can, trying to reach the more places possible.

8.On the new album you had done a Jethro Tull cover, what was the decision behind doing your own version of one of their songs?
It is a tribute to a great band, and to our origins, even a little to our parents... You cannot start something new without looking at the roots. Then, as you know, we’ve always enjoyed doing covers. We like to take important songs for our musical growth and make them our own. It seems that so far we have always managed it well, with our bizarre and personal interpretations of Mayhem (still clamorous to this day the way we mixed them with il Balletto di Bronzo and Mike Oldfield), Queen and Dead Can Dance. "Aqualung" by Jethro Tull is no exception.

9.The new album was released on Flicknife Records, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?
Flicknife Records is a British label, they exist since the 80’s and they produced albums of bands like Hawkind, for example. Many have been surprised for we signed to a rock label, in fact we are their first metal band, but when the time came to choose a record company to support “Secular Music”, theirs seemed to be the best offer. So, well, it represented a challenge for both band and label, but we definitely love challenges, so here we go.

10.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your newer material by fans of extreme metal?
The feedback has been great, from both press and public, the album received and is still receiving great reviews, our fans write us enthusiastic messages for Hortus Animae’s new sound (well, it isn’t exactly a new sound, it’s an up-to-date version of what our sound has always been). Everything is proceeding really well.

11.What is going on with some of the other musical projects or bands these days that some of the band members are involved with?
Yes, we all have side projects. I am involved in my own solo project Martyr Lucifer and in the international act Space Mirrors, the first being a goth rock/metal project and the latter being devoted to a heavy-oriented space rock sound. Bless has an acoustic project called Nashville & Backbones, Hypnos has a Tarantino-inspired band called The Gangstar and Grom is the drummer of the rock band Testing Tomorrow. As you can see we all also like to experiment far from the metal fields. In our ranks we also have MG Desmadre from the brutal death metal band Crawling Chaos and Ecnerual from the black metal bands Profezia and Mourning Mist.

12.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
We really cannot say. Till now we’ve always created music trying to go beyond boundaries, and it’s what we’ll keep doing also in the future. We didn't have an aim, or at least we could say the aim was to play our music free from categorization. And it looks like we succeeded somehow. So we’ll keep doing what we always did, hoping our muses stay by our side and hoping to offer the people albums they enjoy listening to, while they are surprised of what they're hearing ahah

13.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
We all listen to a lot of different music, we are extremely open-minded persons. The albums I’ve been listening the most during this 2014 have been Behemoth’s “The Satanist”, Tiamat’s “The Scarred People”, Lana Del Rey’s “Ultraviolence”, Hellhammer’s “Demon Entrails”, Nagaarum’s “Rabies Lyssa”, Symptoms of Sickness’ “S/T” and Cradle of Filth’s reissue of “Total Fucking Darkness”, this says it all!
But if I have to say names of bands that inspired the music of “Secular Music”, I don’t know, really. We never think of playing something like this or that band, we just do what we are willing to do. In hindsight, I would say that you can hear a hint of King Crimson in a few songs, but in any case it’s nothing more than one of the nuances that make up the overall sound of the album.

14.How would you describe your views on Occultism?
It is a rather complex talk, but surely interesting. In general occultism was meant to be a knowledge destined to a closed circle of people. Let's say hidden from the majority. I am also interested in the Veda knowledge. And it is said there (and in fact we can see it now) that the knowledge that was for hundreds and thousands of years closed to the majority of people now is opened. It is a so cold drop of Satya Yuga inside Kali Yuga, that we are entering now. So occult (as a term) is not existing anymore. Everyone can have whatever knowledge he wants, the real question is if people (at least the majority) want it.
Instead cheap occultism is just a pentagram on the floor and a mysterious look, and it all remained in the past, with teenager times.

15.What are some of your non musical interests?
Hmmm interests are many, I enjoy horse-riding, not as a sport but just for the soul... In general I enjoy nature and being outdoors, animals - for how banal it sounds, but it is so. As each person I like a good book and an interesting movie, then the tastes are already another topic! As said before I am interested in Veda, and it includes a large amount of topics, from food till the certain lifestyle. I love travelling and experiment different food of the world (but only vegetarian). But in fact I think you can find a little of it all in my lyrics - as I think it is for every artist.

16.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
We have “Secualr Music” and “Godless Years” out there, people give it a chance and you won’t regret. They contain litanies able to obsess, stalk and haunt your thoughts, your souls, your nights.

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Sylvatica Interview

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

We are a melodic death metal band, with inspirations from primarily Nordic folk music and Black metal. We started out in 2009, as more of a folk/black project, but the band has developed way beyond that, and we now try to bring many other elements into our music as well. Our upcoming CD ‘Evil Seeds’ is just around the corner, and we are blown away by the positive feedback!

2.You have a new album coming out in July, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the new album and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

It’s a journey through many of the different sounds that metal has to offer, but without giving up the Sylvatica sound. We’ve always tried to make our songs varied and interesting, but this album is way more diverse than our previous material. This is a good thing.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the new album?

In our lyrics we write stories about many different things, and take inspiration from-also-many different things, such as: Heaven & Hell, Nature, Norse Mythology etc.

4.On the earlier recordings the music was written in Danish but on the new album the lyrics are written in English, what was the decision behind writing in this language for the new recording?

We felt that the Danish language had a certain, sort of, silliness to it, with the way we wrote our lyrics. And we wanted a bit more serious tone on this album, English was the better fit.

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

It means ‘of the forest’.  There is a lot of forest in this part of the world, and many of the themes in our lyrics also involve forests and nature. It was a great fit.

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?

We’ve played a lot of great shows over the past years, the ‘Mjød and Metal Tour’ (Mead and Metal Tour) for example, had some great ones. But the credit has to go to the fans, and the people in the crowd in general. When the crowd is having a blast, we are having a blast.

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

To be announced.


8.The new album is coming out on Gateway Music, can you tell us a little bit more about this record label?

Gateway Music is not really a record label. It is a distribution firm which will be helping us with physical and digital distribution. They are setting up a web-shop for us. We will post the link to the shop on our facebook page very soon.


9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of melodic death, black and folk metal?

The feedback on the title track from our upcoming album “Evil Seeds” has been very positive. So we are looking forward to unveiling a track more on youtube soon. Our old stuff is a tad more folk inspired than our new material, and the feedback from the folk metal fans have been great in the past. The new album is going in a more “finish melodic metal” direction, so we are looking forward to hearing what people think.

10.What is going on with the other bands or musical projects that some of the band members are involved with these days?

Horned Almighty is just about to release their 5th full-length album “World of Tombs”, and Satanic Assault Division is planning on hitting the studio soon to record their second full-length album. So things are going pretty well.

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

It is hard to say. Usually we just write something we think sounds cool and then suddenly we have been going in a different direction without even noticing it. We are all very happy with the style we have right now on Evil Seeds, so let’s see what happens next time.

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?

Bands such as Wintersun and Kalmah have been great sources of inspiration on this album. Also more heavy bands such as Behemoth have influenced our songwriting. We are all listening to many different styles of metal and it all influences the writing process.

13.How would you describe your views on Paganism?

I don’t really have an opinion regarding that. I guess it’s okay. I like nature.

14.What are some of your non musical interests?

I like skiing but unfortunately the conditions for that is very poor here in Denmark. I also like fishing and nature in general.

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

Thank you for reading and thank you for the interview! Remember to stay tuned on our facebook-page, Evil Seeds is available on our web shop from the 1st July.

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Sidious/Revealed In Profane Splendour/Kaotoxin Records/2014 CD Review

  Sidious  are  a  band  from  the  United  Kingdom  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  mixture  of  symphonic  black  metal,  death  metal  and  deathcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Revealed  In  Profane  Splendour"  which  will  be  released  in  November  by  Kaotoxin  Records.

  Far  sound  effects  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  drums  that  leads  to  more  of  a  heavy  blackened  metal  sound  and  a  few  seconds  later  symphonic  elements  start  to  kick  in  along  with  the  music  adding  in  more  fast  parts,  blast  beats  and  a  mixture  of  black  metal  screams  and  death  metal  growls.

  You  can  hear  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  throughout  the  recording  along  with  a  great  amount  of  melody  which  is  also  a  strong  part  of  the  recording  when  solos  and  leads  are  finally  added  in  along  with  some  of  the  slower  sections  bringing  in  more  of  a  deathcore  style  to  the  bands  musical  style.

  As  the  album  progresses  the  music  gets  more  technical  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  band  also  brings  in  a  few  very  long  and  epic  in  length  tracks  which  also  sees  the  band  also  adding  grim  sounding  spoken  word  parts  and  clean  playing  into  the  music  briefly  and  a  couple  of  the  later  songs  sees  the  band  adding  in  a  small  amount  of  melodic  chants  and  clean  singing  while  the  main  focus  remains  mostly  on  a  brutal blackened  death  metal  sound.  

  Sidious  creates  another  album  that  takes  the  symphonic  and  melodic  sides  of  black  metal  and  combines  it  with  the  brutality  and  technical  parts  of  death  metal  and  deathcore  to  create  some  music  that  has  a  variety  of  many  different  extreme  metal  styles  being  mixed  together,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark,  blasphemous  and  occult  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Sidious  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  enjoy  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Sacrilegious  Majesty"  "Annihilation  Of  Abhorent  Credeance"  and  "Paragon,  Bringer  Ov  Light".  8  out  of  10.      

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