Sunday, March 29, 2020

Wolfheart/Wolves Of Karelia/Napalm Records/2020 Full Length Review


  Wolfheart  are  a  band  from  Finland  that  has  had  music  reviewed  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  melodic  mixture  of  black,  doom  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2020  album  "Wolves  Of  Karelia"  which  will  be  released  in  April  by  Napalm  Records.

  A  very  heavy  and  melodic  sound  starts  off  the  album  while  the  slower  sections  of  the  music  also  bring  in  elements  of  doom  metal.  When  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  while  the  vocals  bring  in  a  mixture  of  death  metal  growls  and  blackened  metal  screams.

  Symphonic  elements  can  also  be  heard  at  times  while  the  songs  also  add  in  a  decent  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  also  done  in  a  very  melodic  style  along  with  one  track  also  introducing  clean  playing  onto  the  recording.

  Tremolo  picking  can  also  be  heard  in  some  of  the  faster  riffing   along  with  the  music  also  having  its  atmospheric  and  melancholic  moments  as  well  as  a  couple  of  tracks  being  long  and  epic  in  length.  As  the  album  progresses  a  brief  use  of  classical,  acoustic  guitars  and  stringed  instruments  can  also  be  heard  on  a  couple  of  tracks  and  one  of  the  songs  is  also  an  instrumental.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while the  lyrics  cover  winter,  nature,  apocalypse,  wolves,  warriors,  bloodshed,  battle  and  melancholy  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Wolfheart  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  enjoy  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Hail  Of  Steel"  "The  Hammer"  and  "Ashes".  8  out  of  10.

FACEBOOK
INSTAGRAM

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Inherently Lost Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
Originally started as a side project with the members from Torso Murder/Orwellian(Mark), Khai/All In(Joe) and Psyclosarin(Ian). Took a couple years but we finally got the debut Ep done.

2.Recently you have released an ep, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical styles you went for on the recording?
Really we were just trying to be as original sounding as possibly with still letting our individual influeces shine through. Noreen brought in all the clean vocals with the symphonic metal singing sound on parts; Mark added a melodic death metal and blackmetal feel; Joe added groove and melodic metal guitars; with Ian showing his blackmetal and death metal blast beats pounding away.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band has explored so far with the music?
The title track Our Last Midnight is about the rise of machines to the point the eliminate all humans that they see as a virus. The breakdown in this song is pretty epic. Overall the songs are a pre-apocalyptic warning.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Inherently Lost'?
After a year of jamming together in between our other projects started some hard brain storming. I was reading a lot about Sigmund Freud's theorys about how humans Inherently know how to do things straight out of the womb. Mixed with other days thinking about humans being programmed to consume and then bam! Narrated like the begining of a scifi movie "In an world filled with endless consumption, there is no wonder why, We are all Inherently Lost" just popped in my head.

5.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the ep cover?
The artwork was inspired by images of the nebulus galaxy's that NASA released. With the Inherently Lost (IL) symbol. Being a metal band we were looking for different imagery versus the normal doom and gloom metal ideas.

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance? 7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
With being a side project we only managed few shows last year together in Inherently Lost. However once this Covid-19 pandemic calms down we are getting on track for a string of dates hopefully.

8.The ep was released on 'Entwined Recordings', can you tell us a little bit more about this label?
Entwined Recordings is Mark's independant record label and music production studio. Since there is no need for Major labels these days; Orginally only a recording studio, he decided to fully dive in to music marketing with the same name. They had a couple releases with different bands over the years, one of which included Joe's old band Khai.

9.On the ep you also did a cover of Cradle Of Filth's "Nymphatamine", what was the decision behind doing your own version of one of their songs?
The main drive was that it was dark, heavy, and 50/50 on clean/heavy vocals. Along with never hearing anyone else covering, it was the perfect song for us.

10.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of symphonic, black and death metal?
Pretty positive so far. You'll always have metal "elitists" that hate anything the isnt a carbon copy of a specific scene. You know the type "Its not kvlt, I hate clean vocals, I hate keyboards, etc." We are not playing music for them. We are playing for ouselves.

11.When can we expect a full length and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
We are going to record 1 more Ep then follow it up with a full length. We are still continuing to evolve, right now it feels we are in the post-black metal, melodic death metal area. I can see some doom type riffage in our near future.

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?
Influences? Really too many to list but to just pick a handful; Epica, Lacuna Coil, Gojira, Heaven Shall Burn, Cradle of Filth, & Dimmu Borgir.
We are listening to new releases by Lacuna Coil, In This Moment, Code Orange, Heaven Shall Burn, Tool, Insomnium, and Cattle Decapitation

13.What are some of your non musical interests?
Traveling, Craft Beer, Wine, Mortal Kombat, Scifi,Horror shows and Art Museums

14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
If your reading this and enjoy our music, follow us on any social media and leave a comment saying hello.

  Facebook
 Instagram
Twitter

Consumer/Self Titled/Fresh Outbreak Records/Mother Ship/Impeto Records/Boned Factory/Nut Records/2020 EP Review


  Consumer  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black,  sludge  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2020  ep  which  will  be  released  in  April  as  a  joint  effort  between  Mother  Ship,  Boned  Factory,  Fresh  Outbreak,  Impeto  and  Nut  Records.

  A  very  slow  and  heavy  sludge  metal  sound  starts  off  the  ep  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  also  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.  Death  metal  growls  are  also  used  quite  a  bit  on  the  tracks  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  also  be  heard.

  Black  metal  screams  are  also  utilized  at  times  while  tremolo  picking  can  also  be  heard  in  some  of  the  faster  riffing.  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  also  hear  a  decent  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  all  of  the  tracks  also  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length,  all  of  the  music  also  sticks  to  a  heavier  direction.

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

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

Facebook
Instagram
E-mail
Bandcamp  

Friday, March 20, 2020

Golden Blood/Cum, Coke & Blasphemy/Witching Hour Productions/2020 EP Review


  Golden  Blood  is  a  solo  project  from  Austria  that  plays  a  melodic  mixture  of  black,  thrash  metal  and  punk  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2020  ep  "Cum,  Coke  &  Blasphemy"  which  will  be  released  on  March  30th  by  Witching  Hour  Productions.

  A  very  dark  and  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  ep  along  with  some  melodic  guitar  leads  a  few  seconds  later  while  the  riffs  also  use  a  great  amount  of  melody.  Elements  of  thrash  metal  can  also  be  heard  in  the  guitar  riffing  along  with  the  vocals  being  mostly  angry  sounding  black  metal  screams.

  The  songs  also  add  in  a  great  amount  of  Swedish  influences  while  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats  can  also  be  heard  during  the  faster  sections  of  the  music.  Keyboards  can  also  be  heard  in  the  background  briefly  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  also  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  At  times  the  music  also  captures  the  raw  energy  of  punk  rock  as  well  the  recording  having  a  lot  of  roots  in  the  80's  and  90's  era  but  keeping  it  modern  at  the  same  time,  clean  vocals can  also  be  heard  briefly  on  a  couple  of  songs.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  darkness,  blasphemy  and  drug  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Golden  Blood  is  a  very  great  sounding  melodic  mixture  of  black,  thrash  metal  and  punk  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  solo  project.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Cum,  Coke  &  Blasphemy"  and  "Empress  Of  The  Unholy  Reich".  8  out  of  10.

https://witchinghourproductions.bandcamp.com/album/cum-coke-blasphemy    

Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Inherently Lost/Our Last Midnight/Entwined Recordings/2020 EP Review



  Inherently  Lost  are  a  band  from  Ohio  that  plays  a  very  melodic  and  symphonic  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2020  ep  "Our  Last  Midnight"  which  will  be  released  on  Entwined  Recordings.

  Symphonic  sounding  keyboards  start  off  the  ep  and  also  mixes  in  with  the  heavier  sections  of  the  music  while  spoken  word  parts  can  also  be  heard  at  times.  Clean  female  vocals  are  also  utilized  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  while  also  bringing  in  a  touch  of  gothic  metal  and  the  riffs  also  add  in  a  good  amount  of  melody.

  When  aggressive  vocals  are utilized  they  also  introduce  elements  of  black  and  death  metal  onto  the  recording  while  a  slight  industrial  influence  can  also  be  heard at  times.  All  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them while  one  track  also  introduces  clean  playing  onto  the  recording  and  as  the  ep  progresses  blast  beats  can  also  be  heard  briefly  on  a  couple  of  tracks.

 Most  of  the  music  focuses  more  on  a  slow  or  mid  tempo  style  and  they  also  bring  in  a  cover  of  Cradle  Of  Filth's  "Nymphetamine"  as  well  as  all  of  the  musical  instruments  also  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.  The  production  sounds  very  dark  while  the  lyrics  cover  apocalyptic  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Inherently  Lost  are  a  very  decent  symphonic  melodic  and  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  "Requiem  For  The  Lost  (Dream)"  "Senseless  Sacrifice"  and  "Carnage  Of  Your  Sins".  7/5  out  of  10.

1. Facebook
2. Instagram
3. Twitter    

V:XII Interview


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

V.XII was created in 2018 and was initially meant to be music for a new Deadwood album. But early on it became quite clear that this was something I wanted to have a moniker of its own, and a project that I will be able to invest more time in than Deadwood. The music itself is a mix of Death Industrial, Ambient, Doom and Black Metal with emphasis on Death Industrial. I have been involved in multiple bands and projects during my years in the sonic arts. Ranging prom primitive Black Metal in Blodulv and Doom/Death in Culted to more experimental industrial sounds in Keplers Odd and Black Ambient/Death Industrial in Deadwood to name a few. And V:XII is a combination of all.

2.Recently you have released a new album, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style you went for on the recording?

I wanted to combine the elements of Death Industrial music with the atmosphere of Doom and Black Metal. Using a more beat oriented and structured approach to the tracks then I had done before. Without losing the atmosphere and intensity that I achieved in other projects before V:XII.

3.You are also involved with a few other musical projects, how does the music you do with 'V:XII' differ from the stuff you do with your other bands or groups?

V:XII is, as stated above a more structured and beat oriented creation then my previous efforts doing Death Industrial type of music. Something I think Deadwood lost along the way. And its not by any means Metal based music like Culted even if it draws some influence from genres like Doom and Black. So, it is a whole other entity. This will be my go-to project when doing solo albums from now on.

4.Some of your lyrics touch on Occultism, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this topic?

I have always been inspired by the occult and the symbolism that comes with it. In my youth I was experimenting with different types and branches of systems out there. Today not so much. But it keeps being a big influence on lyrics be it figurative or not.

5.You also have a few runes on your bandcamp page, how would you describe your interest in runology?

As mentioned above, that was one of the branches that I explored in my youth and it had a deep impact on me. Today its more it is more of a lyrical inspiration then anything else.

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

I had Max Winter (Teratogen) to do the artwork. He usually does designs for metal bands, but I think he did a great job with the layout. I sent him my tracks and the lyrics. And I let him come up with his interpretation of the music. The only part I played was to let him know my preferences and ideas. But he had, creative control over the layout.

7.With this project you record everything by yourself but also have experience working with other musicians, how would you compare the two?

It a whole other thing when one has complete control and don’t have to compromise about anything. Both has its pros and cons though. When recording with other people you get a direct feedback about what you need to re-work and record again, so you always have the opinions of others to fall back on. Good or bad.
But when you have 100% control and no one else’s opinion to take into consideration you get everything exactly the way you want. You can’t blame no one, but yourself if it doesn’t sound good. There´s a lot more pressure to perform at a higher level, there´s nowhere to hide. It´s just you.

8.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of underground metal, experimental, noise and ambient?

The Rom, Rune and Ruin album was just released so I have yet to get proper feedback on that album. But in my opinion, it’s one of my best albums up to date, so I’m very eager to get some proper reviews. But other than that, I think I have had a good response in general for most of my albums. Reviews have been positive for both Culted and Deadwood in the past. Sure, there are always some people that dislike what you do but that’s inevitable. I create music that I myself want to listen to and its an outlet for me. If you don’t like it, don’t listen to it.

9.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that you are a part of?

Culted is working on a new album, if things go according to plan it will be done in summer 2020. I will be recording vocals in the next fem months.

I have started to work on a new V:XII album but it’s on hold until the Culted album is done.

Deadwood is on ice but will most likely be an outlet for more Black Ambient music in the future.

Aum Arrhythmia is working on a new album, but I have no idea when that one will be finished.


10.Where do you see yourself heading into as a musician during the future?

Only time will tell.

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?
Too many to bands and genre´s to give you a list but here are three bands that have had a huge impact on me over the years:
Darkthrone
Tool
Brighter Death Now

Some of the records that I have been listening to the last few days are:
Kjellvandertonbruket – Doom Country
Blut Aus Nord-Hallucinogen
Wolfbrigade-The Enemy: Reality
Trepaneringsritualen-Kainskult
Human Impact-S/T

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

I’m good, thanks!

Descent Into Maelstrom/Iconoclasm/Club Inferno Ent,/2020 CD Review


  Descent  Into  Maelstrom  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  has  had  music  reviewed  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  very  melodic  and  progressive  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2020  album  "Iconoclasm"  which  will  be  released  on  March  25th  by  Club  Inferno  Ent. .

  Acoustic  guitar  playing  starts  off  the  album  while  folk  instruments  can  also  be  heard  briefly  before  going  into  a  heavier  direction.  Vocals  are  a  mixture  of  blackened  metal  screams  and  death  metal  growls  while  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats.

  The  riffs  also  utilize  a  great  amount  of  melody  while  the  tracks  also  add  in  a  decent  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.  At  times  the  music  also  gets  very  progressive  sounding  along  with  the  solos  and  leads  also  being  done  in  a  very  melodic  style  as  well  as  the  songs  also  bringing  in  a  decent  mixture  of  both  old  school  and  modern  influences.

 There  are also  two  instrumental  tracks  presented  on  the  recording  along  with  a  couple  of  the  songs  also  being  long  and  epic  in  length.  As  the  album  progresses  a  brief  use  of  synths  can  also  be  heard  and  acoustic  guitars  also  return  in  some  parts  of  the  music.  spoken  word  parts  can  also  be  heard  briefly  on  the  closing  song.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  life,  death,  consciousness  and  dram  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Descent  Into  Maelstrom  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  melodic  and  progressive  black  and  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Misanthrope"  "Forgotten  Wisdom"  and  "The  Portal  Of  The  Elsewhere".  8  out  of  10.

 http://facebook.com/descentintomaelstromband