Wednesday, November 10, 2021

Nightshade Interview

 

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

Thomas: Nightshade was founded in 1998 and was active in the underground scene until about 2004 when it changed its name and style. Originally, we created a metal style that was much influenced by bands like Samael, The Kovenant, the use of tons and tons of electronic and synths to create soundscapes, also with classical influences. Then in 2019, about 15 years later actually, I came up with the idea to reactivate the band.

David: Wasn’t I the one who came up with the idea?? Hahaha. I think I was kind of hoping this would happen at some point. I’m still very fond of our first demo, “Andromeda’s Heart”, released in 1999. It has this youthful energy that we never really captured after that. I wanted to “celebrate” its 20th anniversary so I uploaded a remastered version of it on Bandcamp. It so happens that Thomas had secretly been working on new songs. When he came to me with these demos, I was blown away and felt the stars were aligning again.


2.In November you have a new album coming out, can you tell us a little bit about the musical style that you went for on the recording?

Thomas: We wanted to stay true to that original energy and style because it’s quite uncommon. At the same time, we wanted to make an album that reflected who we are today as musicians and also as individuals. It’s a sort of return to the origins and at the same time an evolution from the last 15+ years. For example, we rearranged Chopin’s Opus 23, something that was really hard to do, integrated samples of opera voices alongside David’s clean singing and used lots of guitar tracks, like around 10 or so. Eventually, we worked with Sebastian Has, who is also known for his work with Behemoth, to produce a very warm and natural, yet powerful sound.


3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band has explored so far with the music?

David: Right from the beginning of the band in 1998, there has been a “spacey” touch to our lyrics as well as many references to Greek, Roman and Christian mythologies. But they are roughly an imagery that allows us to dig into deeper themes. On Sounds of Dark Matter, we deal a lot with knowledge or rather the search for knowledge. “Set To Destroy The Heart Of The Sun” is about the feeling that all spirituality seems to be slowly dimming out in this world. “Pulsars 1.33” is about the desperate need for mankind to leave a legacy in the cosmos, though we’re bound to become extinct at some point. “A Call From Distant Skies” deals with how civilisations have turned towards the skies to try and explain everything that is happening down here, while at the same time trying to harness and conquer these stars.


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

Thomas: We were, and still are, huge fans of Summoning. Our band is named after their EP “Nightshade Forests”. Also, the song “A Call From Distant Skies” is our kind of tribute to the band.


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

The angels represent The Lamb opening the seven seals. It’s an illustration by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, a German painter from the 19th century. We gave it a “Nightshade” twist of course…. the background is a surreal vision of space with clouds, there is also  a dying sun behind mystic symbols alluding to songs like “Pulsars 1.33” or “A Call From Distant Skies”.


6.Currently there are only 2 members in the band, are you open to expanding the line up or do you prefer to remain a duo?

Thomas: The current line-up is working just fine. But you know… “Never say never” haha … we’ll see what happens, especially as we’re having more and more demand for playing live.


7. On the album you also done a 'Kovenant' cover, what was the decision behind doing your own version of one of their songs?

David: A lot of the composition for the album was done during the 2020 confinement. People having too much time on their hands, these “10 albums that had a huge impact on me” lists started to bloom on Social media and it made me realize how important Nexus Polaris was for me when it came out. It’s actually the main album that drove Nightshade lyrically into space. Since we were kind of paying tribute to our own past, I thought why not acknowledge the influence of Covenant/The Kovenant by covering one of their songs. “Chariots Of Thunder” was always one of my favourite tracks off Nexus Polaris so we had a go at it. Thomas was keen to work on this but he wanted to twist it, to make it stand a bit off. Hence the “acoustic almost flamenco” version, haha.


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

David: It would be a bit pretentious to state we aroused worldwide level reactions with Nightshade, hahah. We’ve been silent for more than 15 years so it’s hard to say how people will react to our sound today. We had many good reviews back in the day, most nodding to the freshness of this mix of orchestral, cold wave, thrash and industrial influences. The scene has evolved a lot since then and I feel there is a lot of space in today’s underground for experimentation, which is great. I hope we can squeeze in there.


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

Thomas: It’s a bit early to say as “Sounds of Dark Matter'' is just being released now. But we’ll certainly stick to what makes our music different: a blend of orchestrations with industrial/Dark Wave feel and some thrashy influences! … and we’ll certainly explore new frontiers.


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?

Thomas: Part of my influences come from classic metal bands like Iron Maiden, etc… when I was a teenager. After that, there was the new wave of BM in the late 90’s and 2000’s that had a huge influence on me musically and personally. In the last 10 years I’ve been listening to so many things that I just couldn’t pick one. I’m also revisiting some bands, like I ‘m having a blast re-listening to Morbid Angel’s discography at the moment and following some new bands on bandcamp.

David: Having taken a very wee part in the composition, I can only speak about vocals and lyrical inspiration… I mentioned The Kovenant and I guess this is still something that lingers in my mind, at least lyrically. Vocally, I’d say you can hear I’ve listened to a lot of “Gothenburg death metal” in the past, though I don’t really listen to these bands anymore. I’ve grown up with thrash metal and that’s also a big influence, as well as a lot of atmospheric black metal, like Summoning, Winterfylleth, Negura Bunget, old Arcturus… Lyrically, I’m heavily inspired by Romantic and Symbolist artists, including painters. Hence the numerous references to Greek, Germanic or Christian mythologies.


11.How would you describe your views on Satanism and Occultism?

David : As far as I’m concerned, I don’t care much for Satanism as an oppositional system to Christianism. That being said, the serpent is a constant figure in our lyrics, used to embody both the idea of lie but also the thirst for knowledge. The Promethean figure is central in our universe. And Christianism forged the image of Satan from the Promethean myths, as the opposer of God, the one who offers mankind knowledge as a way to challenge God(s).

Thomas : I bought Anthon LaVey’s Satanic Bible back in the days. It had quite an influence on me on several fronts, like “good” or “bad” can have very different meanings compared to what society wants us to think. But today I feel more inspired by occultism. As a matter of fact, much of our current image as a band is based on mystic symbols. Together with the lyrics, it creates many ways in which you can discover our music.


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

Thomas: we’re really grateful to ADifferentShadeOfBlackMetalZine and your readers for the support. We’re trying to share back as much as we can so please follow us on social media and check out our 2 videos for the album!

David: Yup, thanks a lot for choosing Nightshade to travel through time and space!

 


Tuesday, November 9, 2021

Morgul Blade Interview

 


1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording of the new album? 

We are about halfway done writing our follow up album, and are beginning to plan tours and shows now that the world is returning to pre 2020 form. 


2.You have a new album coming out in November, musically how does it differ form your previous ep? 

More Melody. More Harmonies. Just a general MORE of what was captured on the EP


3.A lot of your lyrics are inspired by the writings of J.R.R Tolkien, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in his work and also do you have any interest in other fantasy authors? 

I read a lot of fantasy. I love Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson, Patrick 

Rothfuss, Joe Abercrombie, Tad Williams among many others. But I love Tolkien because he was truly the master and progenitor of the modern genre.


4.You also cover history and folklore with your lyrics, which historical topics and era's of folklore do you cover? 

I love European and American folklore. I’ve taken college classes on both. Also I’m well versed on in depth eastern and western cultural history, namely medieval and ancient militaries. Swords are cooler then most things.


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

The Morgul Blade is the dagger the witch king uses to turn people into ringwraiths. So basically its the essence of evil forged into a blade. Sounds like a pretty good name of a heavy metal band to me.


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

Its titled “the Dark Magi” and was painted by my dear friend “Wyrmwalk” he is local to Philadelphia like ourselves. He was inspired by the works of Gerald Brom. It is meant to exemplify the title of the record in a metaphorical way.


7.What are some of the best shows that has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance? 

We have not played shows as a band yet, but they are coming soon, we have some cool surprises up our sleeve. 


8.Do you have any show plans for the remainder of 2021 or 2022? 

Tours, and the recording of our follow up Album. 


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

The reception has been so great and supportive, we never expected to reach the heights that we have. We are on peoples most anticipated albums of 2021 lists and hope to also be on their “Best of 2021” as well!


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

The new stuff we have been writing is a little darker, and less heroic, we also have been working our love for 80s Los Angeles bands into some of our riffs (Dokken, Ratt, ETC)


11.What are you listening to nowadays? 

TORPOR-ANCIENT TALES EP

BAAZLVAAT-THE HIGHER POWER

TYRANTS RISE-CERES

DUNGEON SERPENT-WORLD OF SORROWS

ANCIENT MASTERY-THE CHOSEN ONE

BAT MAGIC-FEAST OF BLOOD

LAMP OF MURMUUR-SUBMISSION AND SLAVERY

MALOKARPATAN-KRUPINSKE OHNE


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

Thanks and hails for taking time to speak with us, we hope you all enjoy the album.




https://www.facebook.com/MorgulBladeHM

Monday, November 8, 2021

Moonscar/Blood Moon/Supreme Music Creations/2021 CD Review

 


  Moonscar  are  a  solo  project  from  Greece  that  plays  a  very  atmospheric,  gothic  and  symphonic  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  her  2021  album  "Blood  Moon"  which  was  released  by  Supreme  Music  Creations.


  Clean  playing  starts  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  very  fast  musical  direction  which  also  utilizes  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats.  Symphonic  sounding  synths  are  also  mixed  in  with  the  heavier  sections  of  the  songs  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  high  pitched  black  metal  screams.


  A  lot  of t he  music  is  also  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  mid  90's  era  while  the  music  also  has  its  atmospheric  moments.  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  also  done  in  a  very  melodic  style  along  with  the  songs  also  adding  in  a  decent  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.


  A  couple  of  the  tracks  are  also  very  long  and  epic  in  length  as  well  as  the riffs  also  adding  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody,  elements  of  gothic  metal  can  also  be  heard  at  times  and  clear  male  vocals  can  also  be  heard  briefly  as  the  album  progresses.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes  with  some  inspirations  from  the  writings  of  Edgar  Allan  Poe. 


  In  my  opinion  Moonscar  are  a  very  great  sounding  atmospheric,  gothic  and  symphonic  black  metal  solo  project  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Blood  Moon"  and  "Abyssal  Eclipse".  8  out  of  10.


https://moonscargr.bandcamp.com/releases
https://www.facebook.com/moonscargr/

https://open.spotify.com/artist/2y58FC7p1TWvkuXQDJsWzr?si=CWXj_L0jRBSl9-9cQ3XdIQ&nd=1   

Saturday, November 6, 2021

W.E.B/Colosseum/Metal Blade Records/2021 CD Review

 


  W.E.B  are  a  band  from  Greece  that  has  had  music  reviewed  before  in this  zine  and  plays  a  symphonic  mixture  of  black  and  gothic  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2021  album  "Colosseum"  which  will  be  released  on  November  19th  by  Metal  Blade  Records. 


  Symphonic  elements  start  off  the  album  and  also  mixes  in  with  the  heavier  sections  of  the  songs  while  blast  beats  can  also  be  heard  when  the  music  speeds  up.  Vocals  are  mostly  grim  black  metal  screams  along  with  some  choirs  also  being  utilized  at  times  and  the  riffs  also  add  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody.


  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  also  hear  a  decent  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  also  done  in  a  very  melodic  style.  Elements  of  gothic  metal  can  also  be  heard  during  the  slower  sections  of  the  songs  along  with  a  couple  of  the  tracks  also  introducing  spoken  word  parts  onto  the  recording.


  Operatic  female  vocals  can  also  be  heard  briefly  and  as  the  album  progresses  a  brief  use  of  ethnic  style  instruments,  tribal  percussion  and  acoustic  guitars  can  also  be  heard  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  also  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  as  well  as  some  songs  also  adding  in  death  metal  growls.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Satanism,  Luciferian,  Occultism,  Darkness,  Violence  and  Philosophical  themes.


  In  my  pinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  W.E.B  and  if  you  are  a f an  of  symphonic  black  and  gothic  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Dark  Web"  "Pentalpha"  "Necrology"  and  "Exaudi  Luciferi".  8  out  of  10.


Bandcamp
Facebook

    


       

Thursday, November 4, 2021

Orbital Soul System/Eternal Voyage/2021 Full Length Review

 


  Orbital  Soul  System  are  a  solo  project  from  Russia  that  plays  a  very  progressive,  melodic  and  cosmic  mixture  of  black,  doom  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  self  released  2021  album  "Eternal  Voyage".


  Cosmic  sounding  synths  start  off  the  album  and  also  mixes  in  with  the  heavier  sections  of  the  music  at  times.  The  music  also  gets  very  progressive  sounding  at  times  while  the  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  also  done  in  a  very  melodic  style  and  the  vocals  also  add  in  a  decent  amount  of  death  metal  growls.


  Elements  of  doom  metal  can  also  be  heard  in  the  slower  sections  of  the  songs  while  the  clear  vocals  also  add  in  a  mixture  of  robotic  and  normal  singing.  Most  of  the  tracks  are  also  very  long  and  epic  in  length  along  with  one  song  also  introducing  programmed  beats  into  the  music  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  also  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.


  Influences  of  melodic  black  emtal a re  also  utilized quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  along  with  some  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats  also  being  added  into  the  faster  sections  of  the  music  when  it  is  brought  onto  the  album  as  well  as  the  closing  song  also  being  an  instrumental.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the lyrics  cover  space,  science  and  cosmos  themes.


   In  my  opinion  Orbital  Soul  System  are  a  very  great  sounding  cosmic,  melodic  and  progressive  mixture  of  black,  doom  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  solo  project.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Into  The  Sun"  "Fear  The  Rain"  and  "Predator".  8  out  of  10.  


  https://orbitalsoulsystem.bandcamp.com

https://www.facebook.com/Orbitalsoulsystemofficial/
https://open.spotify.com/album/6GAd8pgJ30hpR7A3PCPCzY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qv63HKwH6p4&ab_channel=SymphonicBlackMetalPromotion

Monday, November 1, 2021

Snaum Interview

 

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


 


We’re Snaum, a two-piece band from Warsaw, Poland. I (Xypus) write all the music and handle production stuff, and Hewan is doing all the vocals and visual performance side that you will see in the video we’ll be releasing soon. 


 


2.Recently you have released an ep, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style that you went for on the recoridng?


 


We play a quite experimental mix of black metal, sludge and industrial music. We didn’t aim for any specific genre, we just write music we love and want to listen to ourselves, drawing from many sources of inspiration. When people listen to what we play, they usually are like ‘WTF is this’ and then we know we’re doing things right :) While I don’t think it’s possible to be 100% unique and original, I like to think that we stand out of the crowd at least a little bit. We have blast beats, super low guitar tunings, dirty synths, black metal shrieks, long, mournful drones and dreamy, trip-hop passages so definitely you need to have an open mind to like what we have to offer.


 


3.The band also avoids the use of traditional lyrics or songwriting, can you tell us a little bit more about this concept?


 


The traditional song structure with verse and chorus is sometimes limiting and predictable, and we wanted to just do whatever we want. We wanted our songs to be little stories told with sound only, they have distinct intros, main parts and outros that operate with different intensity and emotion. As to the lyrics, when we were writing the songs Hewan recorded some vocals with no words, you know, just to establish the lines and so on, then we tried to fit some lyrics in them but we didn’t know if they should be in Polish or in English or perhaps in some other language and suddenly we realized that we don’t actually need them. With extreme music it’s usually really hard to understand what the singer is screaming or growling about, and when you check out the lyrics, they’re often just disappointing because let’s be honest, it takes a special kind of talent to know how to work with words and not many people have it. Besides that, without lyrics you can attach any meaning to the song that you want, it can be about whatever you want it to be. It fits the idea of telling a story with sound instead of words, evoking emotions and images that are very personal to the listener. And Hewan says that having no words to stick to allows him to express better whatever he wants to express with his voice so it works for everyone.


 


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


 


It’s just a made up word. We’ve had a very long list of names we came up with because we’ve had a very strict set of criteria it had to fit - it had to be easy to pronounce and to remember, it had to be original (or at least not used by everyone and their mother already) and it had to not be cliche. Then we were twisting and bending all we had on the list until we settled for Snaum. I bet it does mean something somewhere but it is enigmatic and has this slightly malevolent sound to it which is exactly what we were going for.


 


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


 


The artwork was done by Maëlle Cadoret, a very talented French artist. I found her by accident on the internet, contacted her, she loved our music and prepared some artworks for us to choose from. They were all great so it was a very difficult decision. The one you can see on the EP cover conveys similar emotions to our music I think and it depicts something that is being constructed, much like our band that really took a long time to find its identity.


 


6.Currently there are only 2 members in the band, are you open to expanding the line up or do you prefer to remain a duo?


 


This is a difficult one. I am not very good at collaborating with others because I really don’t like to compromise when it comes to my ideas and actually I haven’t met a lot of people whose ideas I’d really like. Hewan is an exception here because he doesn’t really mind me being the tyrant, or at least that’s what he says haha :) Sometimes I feel like I could really use someone else to contribute to the music because you’re not always inspired of course, but it would have to be someone really special and I have yet to find such a person. I have tried several times to collaborate but I was always disappointed. So for now I think we’ll remain a duo, perhaps we’ll hire some studio musicians to record some parts in the future but that’s it. Especially that we don’t plan to do live shows so there’s no real need for a full setup.


 


7.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?


 


Well we’ve had some proposals and we have reached out to some labels but after consideration we decided that we don’t really need a label. If we were a touring band things would’ve probably been different but for an underground studio project a label is just an unnecessary complication. We’ve reached out to some more experienced people for advice (shout out to Ryan Schutte from Pound, check them out!) and we decided to just handle everything ourselves.


 


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


 


It’s difficult to say at this point, ask us in six months. The people we have shown our music to usually liked it so that’s a good omen :)


 


9.Do the band members also have experience working with other bands or musical projects?


 


Yes, we have both been in bands before, but those were the typical metal acts and it was a long time ago and actually nothing to write home about :) We’re both over 40 and we know exactly what we want now so Snaum is probably the most important and serious musical endeavour of our lives, at least so far.


 


10.Where can we expect a full length and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?


 


As to the full length - I’m not sure if there will ever be one, I’d much rather release smaller albums but with more meaningful content, especially that we’re sticking to the digital format. But of course nothing is set in stone. Right now we’re fully focused on getting ‘selfmadeself’ out and we’re not really thinking about new music, there’s just some loose ideas floating in the air. If anything, our next release is probably going to be more extreme in every meaning - more blast beats, more harsh synth noise and more mellow, droney parts. Who knows, maybe we’ll do some hip hop as well haha :)


 


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?


 


Over the years we have listened to all kinds of music - from classic stuff like Metallica to some weird drone shit like Sunn O))), with things like folk or trip-hop in between. As to where I get my musical ideas from - I just pick stuff from very random places, from Neurosis and Godflesh to Massive Attack and Ani DiFranco, to some suggestions Spotify gives me haha :) 


 


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


 


Check out our music, have an open mind and be kind to each other, the world has enough of evil shit going on :)

https://snaum.bandcamp.com/releases

https://www.facebook.com/snaum.official

Sunday, October 31, 2021

Helgarden/Rise Of The Beast/Brutal Records/2021 CD Review

 


  Hellgarden  are  a  band  from  Chile  that  plays  a  symphonic  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2021  album  "Rise  Of  The  Beast"  which  will  be  released  in  December  by  Brutal  Records.


  A  very  dark  and  cinematic  sounding  intro  starts  off  the  album  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavier  and  melodic  musical  direction.  Vocals  are  mostly  grim  sounding  black  metal  screams  while  the  keyboards  also  give  the  songs  more  of  a  symphonic  feeling  along  with  the  music  also  mixing  in  a  great  amount  of  90's  influences.


  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  also  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  add  in  a  decent  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats.  The  vocals  also  have  their  deeper  moments  along  with  the  songs  also  adding  in  a  decent  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.


 Some  tracks  also  bringing  in  a  small  amount  of  spoken  words  and  melodic  vocals  along  with  some  classical  guitars  and  clean  playing  also  being  utilized  briefly  and  as  the  album  progresses  a  brief  use  of  operatic  female  vocals  can  also  be  heard.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover   Satanism, Occultism  and  Darkness  themes.


  In  my  opinion  Hellgarden  are  a  very  great  sounding  symphonic  black  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Blackwolf"  "When  Witches  Burn"  and  "The  Lat  Dance  in  The  Mist".  8  out  of  10.


https://youtu.be/nlQRqdjm__M