Antipope/Rex Mundi/Moribund Records/2022 Full Length Review

 

  Finland's  Antipope  have  returned  with  a  new  recording  which  shows  the  music  going  for  more  of  a  melodic  and  progressive  mixture  of  black,  doom  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2022  album  "Rex  Mundi"  which  will  be  released  on  October  28th  by  Moribund  Records.

  A  very  epic  sounding  synth  orientated  intro  starts  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  heavier  direction  while  also  introducing  melodic  guitar  solos  and  leads  onto  the  recording.  Elements  of  doom  metal  can  also b e  hear d in  the  slower  sections  of  the  songs  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can b e  heard.

  Melodies  are  also added  into  a  lot  of t he  guitar  riffing  while  the  vocals  bring  in  a  mixture  of  first  wave  style  black  metal  screams  and  power  metal  style  singing.  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  also  hear  a  decent  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  all  of t he  musical  instruments  also  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  At  times  the  music  also  gets  very  progressive  sounding  along  with  the  songs  also  adding  in  a  decent  amount  of  clean  playing.  Some  of  the  tracks  are  also  very  long  and  epic  in  length  as  well  as  some  death  metal  growls  also  being  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  a  concept  album  based  upon  the  Albigensian  Crusade  and  Cathar  Wars  in t he  1200's.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Antipope  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  melodic  and  progressive  black,  death,  doom,  power  and  heavy  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Rex  Mundi  Aeternum"  "Glory  Of  Slaughter"  "Twilight  of  The  Grey  Gods"  and  "Hell  On  Earth".  8  out  of  10.

    

        

In The Woods... Interview

 

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

Nils: Covid happened. And James split. Which led us to Bernt taking over the microphone. We had already recorded lots of the songs, and Bernt got "thrown into it". We received vocals pretty quickly, and we were amazed. It was like In The Woods… became more ITW than ever before. And thats where we are at.

2.You have a new album coming out in November, musically how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

Nils: Good question. ITW have always progressed, not "stopped" in one type of style etc… But you know, making music it should be about making what you like, not about what you think others will like. And thats what we do, and have in the past.

3.The band was broken up for 14 years, what was the cause of the split and the decision to reform?

Nils: I was not in the band when they split, but Anders had an injury where he thought he never could perform again. And then he found out he could. He then had an "awakening", where he got a clear vision that he had to start up ITW again in honour of Oddvar AM. I also knew Oddvar, and i know he would have wanted ITW to continue.

Kåre: Well, I joined the band in 2015, but these stories have come up a few times over the years in conversations with both Anders Kobro and former members. I think the easiest way to explain the split back in the early 2000s was that each character of the band was floating their own way, wanting to explore other things in life, while the opportunity still was there.

4.After the release of the first full length in the 90's you stopped using the black metal screams and harsh vocals but they have returned on your current releases, what was the decision behind bringing back this vocal approach?

Nils: What suits the songs should be used vocally i think. Bernt can do all sorts of things, and so he use it where it fits in. He probably have the best answer to it.

I scream and growl myself, and being in a metalband, it is a cool thing to add. Personally i listen to bands that use both clean/growl and shrieks. I love stuff that is more than "one style", both musically and vocally.

Kåre: As Nils stated above, its about what suits the songs and not what we need or should use. With the former vocalist James Fogarty and current vocalist Bernt Fjellestad, the screams and harsh vocals comes more naturally than the original singer. Also they can do it without hurting their throat.

5.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer release and also how would you describe your progress as songwriters over the years?

Bernt Fjellestad: Most of the topics are totally random. They cover everything from the political wiev to more....carnal desires. I was given full freedom over the lyrics and what to sing so I experimented a lot with different styles. Personally I (Bernt Fjellestad) were not that involved in the songwriting due to most of the songs were completed when I joined. We are already writing together new material as we speak by the way.

6.A lot of your lyrics over the years have also covered Paganism themes, can you tell us a little bit more about what this path means to you?

Anders: Back in the days we where hugely influenced by nature, philosophy and norse culture/mythology. So obviously we where in a realm of paganism. We called our music in early days Pagan Metal. 

7.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork tha tis presented on the new album cover? Kåre: Max Winter did the artwork, he also did Pure and Cease the Day. Max likes to read the lyrics for the album and sit down and start with a sketch. This one turned out very different from previous ones, and is done in a different type of style compared to the two earlier ones. It is up to each one of us to say what it means and gives, but you can see that all hope is out, but if you try to focus on the smaller things and leave the big picture out of things for a while, somewhere in the vast, there is hope. 

8.In the 90's when you first came out you where very different from the rest of the Norwegian scene and there seemed to be mixed reviews back then, do you feel you where ahead of your time and also influenced the newer bands that started stretching the black and pagan metal genres into different musical territories?

Kåre: Well as a music fan I must say that HEart of The Ages was ahead of time, the structure in the songs and the brilliant mystique that lies all over the record. They way vocals where switched between very harsh screaming and then to the soft beautiful voice. You can see this in In The Woods… today and many other bands. I think In The Woods… have influenced other bands to go a little more out of those typical border lines you find in metal genres, which can get to a point where it gets boring. Some bands do it very very well, and all honor to them. For us its again, to make a song we want to make. 

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

Nils: Our two recent ones actually (Cosmic Void London and Summer dying loud in Poland). We have fun. We like what we do. And we function in our dysfunction haha.

Kåre: Well thats a hard question for me to answer, because all the shows I’ve played with this band has had their own little things that I want to remember. Some crowds are wild, some are quiet, but never boring. The two last one we had where phenomenal and ranks up there with the absolute best ones. I always say that I really want to go back to Greece to play. On stage we try to have fun, and try to mend our energy and adrenalin with the crowds energy and adrenalin. 

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

Nils: European tour in March/April i think/hope. We hope to play as much as we can. We are back on Redback promotion, and are eager to play…

11.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your newer music by your long time fans?

Nils: Only positive reaction i guess. There will always be the ones that wants the old stuff, but you cant bring back the past like that, and we as a band want to progress, not copy what has been…

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

Nils: Kåre is writing new music for his solo moniker KAS, and me and Anders have an album with My solo moniker Drivdal.

We all have the love for music, we breathe it, and cant simply stop making it.

Kåre: Yes I’m working on the follow up to my first album under the alias KAS. Other than that, its about time to sit down and write some new In The Woods… songs for the next album. 

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

Nils: We evolve together, so its hard to say really. But we progress, and we play ball musically, and so we try to mold the songs together to make it better.

14.What are some of the bands or musical styles the band members are currently listening to nowadays?

Nils: I listen a lot to Wormwood, Tribulation and Witchery. Also i listen to Edge of Sanity, as always. Fucking brilliant. I think Bernt actually worked with Dan on some musical project of his.

Kåre: On repeat the last weeks has been Guy Clark and I just discovered a brilliant band when we played in London.. Make A Change… Kill Yourself. Brilliant band! 

Bernt: Nowadays I listen to a lot of synthwave and folk music, but I always come back to good ol’ Edge Of Sanity, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Amorphis and, of course, Judas Priest.

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

Nils: Just want to Thank you so much for showing interest in us, it means a great deal to us…

Kåre: Cheers for your time! Album pre-orders are available at the links below:

World (physical): https://soulsellerrecords.bandcamp.com 

Americas (physical): http://soulsellerrecords.aisamerch.com

Digital: https://orcd.co/diversum 

One Leg One Eye/And Take The Black Worm With Me/Nyaah Records/2022 Full Length Review

 

    One  Leg  One  Eye  are  a  solo  project  from  Ireland  that  plays  a  lo-fi  mixture  of  black  metal, e experimental,  drone,  ambient,  folk  and  musique  concrete  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2022  album  "And  Take  The  Black  Worm  With  Me"  which  will  be  released  on  October  27th  by  Nyaah  Records.

  Water  sounds  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  ambient  style  synths  and  guitar  orientated  drones  a  few  seconds  later.  High  pitched  black  emtal s creams  can  be  heard  briefly  while  most of  the  tracks  are  also  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  a  couple  of  tracks also  adds  in  Irish  folk  music  style  clear  vocals.

  At  times  the  music  also  gets  very  experimental,  avant  garde  and  lo-fi  sounding  while  one  track  also  adds  in  a  brief  use  of  harsh  noises.  All  of  the  songs  on  the  album  also  have  a  very  different  sound  to  them  along  with a  couple  of  tracks  also  adding  in  a  brief  use  of  clean  playing,  whole  album  also  sticks  to  a  slower  musical  direction.as  well  as  some  folk  instruments  also  being  utilized  at  times   and  one  song  is  also  an  instrumental 

  One  Leg  One  Eye  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  black  metal,  experimental,  drone,  ambient,  folk  and  musique  concrete  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  his  own.  The  production  sounds  very  dark  and  lo-fi  while  the  lyrics  cover   light  and  dark  themes.     

  In  my  opinion  One  Leg  one  Eye  is  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  black  metal, e experimental,  ambient,  folk  and  misuque  concrete  and  if  you  are  a f an  of  these  musical genres,  you  should  check  out  this  solo  project.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Glistering  She  Emerges"  and  "Only  The  Diceys".  8  out  of  10.

  https://nyahhrecords.bandcamp.com/     

Clamoris Interview

 

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

We are a Symphonic/Melodic Death Metal band from Finland. We play around with utilizing classical music in an extreme metal setting. We are somewhat prone to shredding.

We started out as a sort of passion side project to channel some of the more elaborate and challenging stuff that we could come up with but have since then morphed into an actual band, consisting of five dudes.

We are releasing our debut album called Opus Limbonica on October 28th.

2.In October you have your first full length coming out, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style that you went for on the recording?

Opus Limbonica is our take on how to utilize classical music in a metal setting. It's not a new discovery that these two go surprisingly well together.

In our album we're exploring the possibilities of this combination from different angles. Some of it is within the realm of heroic power metal. Some of it is straight up shred. Some of it is symphonic. Some of it utilizes black metal as a foundation.

We wanted to be as versatile as we could, while keeping the core idea the same throughout. We wanted to make something where the focus is foremost on quality songwriting.

3.In 2018 you had released a single but where mostly silent until 2022, can you tell us a little bit more about what was going on during this time frame?

Actually the release from 2018 is really just a demo that we put together to see how our stuff works in practice before we get to recording the actual album.

We promoted it in no way whatsoever. It was our intention all along to start making more noise of ourselves once we have the album ready for release.

We took the intervening years polishing and trying out different things with our material until we felt we were reasonably happy with what we've got.

Due to the situation with Covid we felt it'd be a good frame to take our sweet time exploring the possibilities of our style.

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

Immortality, chaos, deception and art itself are examples of some of the topics touched on in Opus Limbonica. Horror in general is a definite influence in our presentation overall.

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

Clamoris translates to a multitude of things, but among them 'roar of thunder' is the one that inspired the band name.

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

The artwork was made by Roberto Toderico. When sharing his work on his social medias, he tagged it with "Halloween" and I reckon that's a fairly good word to use to summarize the album cover in one sentence, albeit we weren't exactly thinking about that when coming up with the album art concept, nor did we know we'd end up releasing the album so close to Halloween.. but yeah like mentioned earlier, the album's influenced by horror and the cover art signals that.

7.Has the band done any live shows or open to the idea?

So far we haven't played live but we are open to the idea and are currently looking into it.

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

So far the reception has been fairly good. Given the amount of layers and sheer volume of notes in our music we anticipated that our music might not be everyones cup of tea, nor did we aim to please everyone, but we have managed to gain some recognition and fans already, so the reaction hasn't been bad at all.

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

Our vocalist/bassists - Nikos - and drummers - Toms - other band, Wolftopia, put out their debut last year and has since then done a few gigs in Finland. Our other guitarists - Samulis - other band Extinction in Progress put out their debut earlier this year and has done pretty much the same, a few gigs in Finland.

Obviously the World situation the past couple years has limited the options for them as it has for everyone.

Besides that it's unkown what the guys are scheming for the future. We'll have to wait and see.

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

The next album is already quite far in the writing process. The best way I can describe the future stuff is that if you took every song of the first album, put them in a melting pot and used the resulting goo to create a new album.

It is at the same time very much the same, but also refactored to create something that's very different. That's all I dare say at this stage.

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?

Personally, my roots are largely in black metal and classical music. On founding this band, I saw a chance to experiment with combining extreme metal and classical and that's what the band is mainly about.

When writing the material I tried to tackle this core idea from different angles, and researched the music of the likes of Wintersun, Children of Bodom and Symphony X for inspiration on how to pull it off and I guess that shows in our material.

You could say these three bands are rather looked up to within our ranks all in all.

Some of the bands I listen to these days, and for a while now, include: The Kovenant, Obtained Enslavement, Sigh, Korn & Symphony X. I also enjoy listening to a number of classical composers, especially J.S. Bach.

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

Thank you for having me. If you want to check out some wild and ambitious stuff, Opus Limbonica should be for you. The album will be out on 28th October.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clamoris 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clamorisband 
Bandcamp: https://clamoris.bandcamp.com 

Memories Of A Lost Soul 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 replaced the rhythm section of bass and drums because it was slowing us down.

I'm not just talking about speed of performance but also the scarce time they could devote to the band, later during the pandemic time we recorded these pieces and I finished the recording studio so that we could record quickly in the future as well, since many of the problems in the past depended on the slow recording methods. Now we have landed in the My Kingdom Music family and we are very happy with this new beginning.

2.You have a new album coming out october, musically how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

Honestly it's still related to the past as concept and music, it's a new beginning but continues from the previous speech, compared to the past we are favoring violence in the songs, just to wake up.

3.Since 2004 there has only been 2 albums released, can you tell us a little bit more about the long wait in between releases?

As I explained to you before this is due to the slow recording studios in our country, our always busy former sound engineer is to blame for this, as well as some lineup changes that have obviously slowed us down, but the lineup now is stable and works better than ever and we boast our own recording studio.

4.A lot of the lyrics on the new album cover horror and science fiction themes, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in these topics? 

I have always been a lover since I was a boy of this, both of Lovecraft and Asimov and other writers, with time and movies the passion has increased, of course the texts are affected, in Memories there is this horror and despair typical of these atmospheres, with some examples in our days and also related to everyday life.

5.What if the meaning and ispiration behind the name Memories of a lost soul?

This not many people know, actually besides being precisely a collection of my memoirs, it is also the final manuscript in the video game alone in the dark, one of the first games based on Lovecraft's world.

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

The artwork is by our drummer who is also a professional working graphic designer, the idea started with me and then we developed it together.

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

 Among the most important festivals I would say Agglutination Metal Fest, some dates with Vision Divine, Rotting Christ and Grave.

I always try to communicate through looks and gestures what's going on in the piece, in general I aspire to a very theatrical performance.

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

We have the record presentation in Palermo, some dates between Sicily and Calabria never fail, being from the deep south unfortunately it is often difficult to move, even economically speaking.

9.On worldwide level, how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black, death, and gothic metal?

Let's say we are neither death black nor gothic in fact, the sound has evolved over time into a kind of dark and progressive soundtrack, consequently true fans, loyal to one current, I don't know how they can see us, we believe in general that we make beautiful music, beyond any genre.

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

I know that those who play with me get involved in other projects often, but honestly that has never interested me, what matters is the presence in Memories for me.

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

I hope for more and more sharing, I am not interested in money, but I would like our music to reach everyone.

12.What are some of the bands or musical styles the nand members are currently listening this days?

Hypocrisy, Moonspell, Mgla, Dark tranquillity, In flames, Rotting christ, Septic flesh, Kalmah, Samael but also many others.

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

We also already have the writing of another future record ready, a remastering of Distorted Perceptionz, our first album, and much more... so we won't make our fans wait so long anymore, especially now with the possibility of recording us right away.

http://facebook.com/memoriesofalostsoulofficial 

In The Woods.../Diversum/Soulseller Records/2022 Full Length Review

 

  In  the  Woods...  are  a  band  from  Norway  that  has  a  history  that  goes  back  to  the  90's  and  on  this  recording  plays  a  mixture  of  progressive  rock  and  avant  garde  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2022  album  "Diversum"  which  will  be  released  in  November  by  Soulseller  Records.

  Atmospheric  sounding  keyboards  start  off  the  album  and  also  mixes  in  with  the  heavier  sections  of  the  songs  at  times.  Clear  pagan  vocals  are  also  a  very  huge  part  of  the  recording  along  with  the  music  also  bringing  in  more  of  an  avant  garde  approach  to  metal  and  black  metal  screams  and  growls  are  also  added  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording.

  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  also  done  in  a  very  melodic  style  while  a  great  portion  of  the  tracks  are  also  very  long  and  epic  in  length.  The  music  also  adds  in  a  great  amount  of  progressive  elements  along  with  one  song  also  adding  in  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts  and  one  song  also  introduces  clean  playing  onto  the  album.

  Most  of  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  more  modern  style  which  is  also  different  from  their  earlier  releases  as  well  as  being  aggressive  than  what  was  released  towards  the  end  of  the  90's  along  with  some  tracks  also  adding  in a  small  amount  of  acoustic  guitars,  one  song  also  adds  in  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts  and  most  of  the  music  also s ticks  to  either  a  slow  or  mid  tempo  direction.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Paganism,  Philosophy  and  Nature  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  In  The  Woods...  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  progressive  rock  and  avant  garde  black  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Coward's  Way"  "A  Wonderful  Crisis"  and  "Your  Dark".  8  out  of  10.

  

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Bones/Voimit/Disorder Recordings/2022 Full length Review

 

  Bones  are  a  band  from  Chicago,  Illinois  and  on  this  recording  goes  for  a  mixture  of  black,  sludge,  death,  thrash  metal  and  crust  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2022  album  "Vomit"  which  will b e  released  on  October  27th  by  Disorder  Recordings.

  A  very  dark  yet  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  album  while  the  riffs  also  add  in  a   great  amount  of  crust  and  thrash  metal  elements.  Vocals  are  mostly  death  metal  growls  along  with  some  black  metal  screams  also  being  utilized  at  times  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  also  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  The  slower  sections  of  the  songs  also  show  an  influence  of  sludge  metal  while  the  music  also  takes  an  80's  and  early  90's  style  and  also  makes  it  sound  more  modern.  Melodies  are  also  added  into  some  of  the  guitar  riffing  along  with  the  solos  and  leads  also  remaining  very  true  to  an  old  school  style.

 The  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  adding  in  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats  and  throughout  the  recording  you  can  also  hear  a  decent  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  they  close  the  album  with  a  cover  of  Van  Halen's  "She's  The  Woman". The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  zombies,  violence  and  evil  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Bones  and  if  you  are  a f an  of  black,  sludge,  death,  thrash  metal  and  crust,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Beware  of  Ghouls"  "Tower  of  Skulls"  and  "Bloodlust".  8  out  of  10.

  http://bones-chicago.bandcamp.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xGidFQtxhY