Saturday, December 24, 2011

Reign Of Vengeance/XMas Tunes


  Reign  Of  Vengeance  are  a  band  from  Arizona  that  has  had  their  previous  album  reviewed  as  well  as being  interviewed  by  this  zine  that  mixes  brutal  and  traditional  death  metal  with  death/grind  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  XMas  Covers.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with   a  good  amount  of  blast  beats  being  thrown  in,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  is  coming  out  of  the  guitars.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  brutal  death  metal  riffs,  while  the  lead  guitars  are very  technical  and  melodic  sounding  death  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads.

  Vocals  are mostly  deep  death  metal  growls  with  some  angry  shouts  being  thrown  in,  while  the  lyrics  cover  XMas  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong  and  powerful  sound  to  it.

  In  my  opinion  Reign  Of  Vengeance  do  good  covers  of  xmas  tunes  and  while  I  dont  care  for  this holiday,  I  still  feel  the  songs  are  very  good  brutal  death  metal  songs.  RECOMMENDED.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Prey For Nothing Interview


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

We just finished a gigantic tribute to our favorite band, Death. It's been 10 years since Chuck Schulinder, the man behind Death's legacy, passed away, so it was fitting to make a tribute show in his memory, especially in a place like Israel, where Death never got to perform. We actually managed to pull 25 Death songs in a 3 hours concert, so we're pretty proud. Other than that – we're working on a massive concert here in Israel to celebrate our new album's release, with a lot of guests from the Israeli metal scene. Hopefully we'll manage to arrange some European tours until the summer.

2. How would you describe the musical sound of the new album and how it
differs from previous recordings?

We took a heavier and more technical approach this time, more than our debut album "Violence Divine". I don't know if we meant it to be heavier and more complex, but as the musical work progressed, we found that we blend more 'Death Metal' in our specific style, including blast-beats and tremolo pickings that we didn't use before. But the main and aware choice that influenced our album's music was the choice to record this album at Hertz Studios, in Poland. Hertz Studios were responsible for the leading polish Death Metal albums in the last years, so we knew it's going to be heavier by far.
But even when we're pushing ourselves to heavier directions, we are not going to leave out the melody, which plays such a big role in our music.

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explore
with the new release?

While "Violence Divine" was much more political and touched many subjects relating to ideas such as human relationships and perspective of oneself, "Against All Good And Evil" drifted from the political point, away to the more philosophical approach. Even if we are dealing with existentialistic concepts, some ideas like special events that took place in the recent years, or certain behavioral fashions are also approached, like how easily we, as a society, tend to follow technological trends, or consume media's garbage.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?

At first, when Yaniv (guitars) came up with the name "Prey For Nothing", it was actually spelled as "Pray". But our good friend Yuval Kramer, from Amseffer, who played with us at our mere beginning, suggested the play of words, putting an E instead of the A. the meaning behind that play of words is that we, as metal-heads and self-thinkers (not always the same sadly), are standing at the top of the existentialistic food chain, like lone predators, the Tyrannosauruses of modern society. Prey for nothing and predators to all.

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

We work very hard to play as best as we can, and deliver an exciting performance live on stage. We played together with Paradise Lost, Aborted and Finntroll among others, all were great shows – but I think the best show was Helleluja metalfest 2009 – an amazing crowd of almost 2000 people – all screaming the words with us. That was purely unbelievable.

6. Are there any touring plans for the new release?

As for today, not yet I'm afraid. We are still looking for the best opportunity to tour this summer, and hopefully we'll reach the European shores before the end of 2012 for some musical metal slamming.

7. On a worldwide level how has your new album been recieved by metal fans?

It's too early to tell, I think. So far the reviews were quite complimenting. Some critics find our music hard to digest, mainly because it sits right between Progressive metal and Death metal. The progressive metal critics find it too extreme and hard to listen, while the more extreme metal lovers find it sometimes too complex or intense musically. But I guess the majority can understand how we mix the two different styles into one musical brand.

8. Are there any other projects besides this band or is this a full time
line-up?

We are all committed to Prey For Nothing 100%, but since we don't really have much place to tour here in Israel, we all can find the time to work on several other projects. Yaniv Aboudy plays guitar with the heavy metal band Metal Scent. Iftah plays drums for the stoner rock band called Pig. Tal actually have another full time fledged band, a groove metal unit called Vipress. I'm mostly working behind the scene, writing lyrics for bands like Amaseffer and Reign Of The Artchitect, and I give a good shouting here and there.

9. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?

I guess we can go on two directions from here without changing our musical integrity. We can either become more melodic and catchy, or more complex and progressive. I guess we'll do them both, since "Against All Good And Evil" is more complex and more melodic than "Violence Divine" – so choosing both paths seem natural to me.

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

The most obvious influence is Death, but we are all love bands like At The Gates, Arch Enemy, Carcass, Testament and Megadeth. We also cherish bands like Symphony X and Dream Theater – for the musical complexity, and their style and methods gave winds to our technical sails. Currently I listen mostly to Gama Bomb, a lovely and funny Irish Thrash metal  band. I am a thrash metal junkie, and to discover bands like Gama Bomb, Hexen and the like are a real treat to me, when I give pause to my Powermad and Forced Entry albums.
Another good albums I recently listened to are Vader – Welcome To The Morbid Reich, Machine Head – Unto The Locust and of course Symphony X – Iconoclast.

11. Outside of music what are some of your interests?

I'm a fan of good ol' table top RPG's, but mostly the regulars. Good movies, good books and good TV shows. A Game Of Thrones was the best thing ever happened to everything that have a screen, and I bet the new 'Dark Knight Rises' movie will blow my mind to pieces.

12. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?

Keep things metal and say hell no to politics. Never judge a band just by their place of origin, and metal-heads world-wide are all much like brothers to me then any other orthodox Jew who sits in Jerusalem and get fat from my tax money, even (and maybe especially) if their from Iran, Turkey, Egypt or any other place that has some kind of political feud with the country I'm coming from. Keep things metal and Iron Up!

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Prey For Nothing/Against All Good And Evil/Massacre Records/2011 CD Review



  Prey  For  Nothing  are  a  band  from  Isreal  that  plays  a  mixture  of  melodic  death  metal  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2011  album  "Against  All  Good  And  Evil"  which  was  released  by  Massacre  Records.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  drumming  with  not  much  in  the  way  of  fast  playing  or  blast  beats,  while  the  bass  playing  playing  has  a  very  strong  and  powerful  sound  with  riffing  that  dominates  throughout  the  recording,  as  for  the  synths  which  are  only  utilized  briefly  on  a  couple  of  songs  they  bring  a  symphonic  element  to  the  music.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow  to  mid  paced  riffing  that  combines  thrash  metal  with  melodic,  technical  and  progressive  death  metal  with  a  small  amount  of  clean  singing  being used  on  a  couple  of   songs,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  melodic,  technical  and  progressive  metal  style  guitar  solos  and  leads,  as  for  the  acoustic  guitars  when  they  are  utilized  they  use  finger  picking  and  full  chords  to  enhance  the  darkness  of  the  music.

   Vocals  are  a  mixture  of  thrash/death  style  growls  with  a  small  amount  of  rough  clean  singing  being  utilized  on  one  song,  while  the  lyrics  cover  everyday  themes,  with  a  touch  of  spirituality,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  to  it.

  In  my  opinion  Prey  For  Nothing  are  a  very  good  sounding  progressive,  melodic  death  metal  band  with  a  thrash  edge  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  style,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECEMMONDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Treachery"  "Buried  By  The  Light"  "Technocrat"  and  "Against  All  Evil".  RECEMMONDED  BUY.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Kambrium Interview

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

Many thinks are happening right now, but actually we are planning our next live gigs. In 2012 we want to present our "Shadowpath" as much people as possible! Furthermore we are doing some interviews.

2. How would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the new
album?

The musical sound on "Shadowpath" is very important to keep the different emotions alive. With it you can express complex feelings, so the listener is even more able to feel what the musicians want to say!
In our opinion, a good musical captures the audience in a mental way, thats what we want to do with "Shadowpath"!

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores
with the new release/
The album is full of myths. We love the stories about Egyptian gods and their fights. In addition, we like the complexity of the Greek myths. Everything finds its place on the album. It would simply make no sense to write funny songs about something men and women. For us the music is most important!

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?

The Kambrium was the era in which the diversity of life began. We transpose that variety into our songs to make all different kinds of emotions "visible" for the listener .

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and
how would you describe your stage performance/

We remember fondly the shows on the "Waldbrand Festival 2008 and 2011" or "Herbststurm Festival 2011" back. The energy exchange between the audience and us was tremendous. The best shows are those shows where the people have as much fun as we do. The best way to describe our stage performance is to write down an excerpt from our song "Thanatos": on stage we are an "overwhelming brutal force".

6. Do you have any touring plans for the new release?
We are still planning our next gigs, so maybe we will be able to to a little tour in 2012!

7. On a worldwide level how has your music been recieved by melodic
death metal fans?

The resonance so far is very good! We initially did not expect that the world would give us so much attention, but we look forward to every honest opinion, whether it's good or bad.

8. Are there any projects besides this band or is this a full time line-up?
Our bass player Martin plays in a Brutal Death Metal band called "Sariel". They have recorded their demo recently. Everyone who is into Death metal should give it a try.

9. What direction do you see the music heading into on future releases?

Jan is already writing new songs. The Musical Parts will be even more powerfull! The demos for each new sound fragment already sound promising! Shadowpath won't be a "One Hit Wonder"!

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

There are many musical styles which have influenced us. For example Gothic-, Power-, Folk-, or Death Metal. It is difficult to name bands, but you can say that we all grew up with bands like Ensiferum, Wintersun, Metallica, Tenacious D, Immortal, Beethoven, Nightwish, In Flames, or Hammerfall. We all listen to these diefferent styles of music.

11. What role does mythology play in your music and how would you
describe your views on this topic?

Mythology plays an important role in our music. It is the mental "door-opener" to all listeners of us. Many people know or even like all these egyptian myths, and we give them the possibility to hear it with atmospheric music around it. All these myths are timeless. Many of them have a morality, to which the reader can always rely.


12. Outside of music what are some of your interests?

Each of us loves movies. Jan for example, is almost every second week in cinema. Karsten likes riding motorcycles. Martin often goes to concerts and likes to party. Fabien plays poker or videogames. Julian likes to draw comis and is very interested in politics.


13. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?
We are looking forward to see you guys on stage soon! Have a nice day!