Zombie Inc/Homo Gusticus/Massacre Records/2013 CD Review

  Zombie  Inc  are  a  band  from  Austria  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  with  a  musical style  that  I  would  describe  as  being  old  school  gore/death  metal  with  some  grindcore  indluences  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  album  "Homo  Gusticus"  which  was  released  by  Massacre  Records.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  some  blast  beats  being  utilized  at  times,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  strong  and  powerful  sound  with  heavy  riffing  that  dominates  throughout  the  recording.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  old  school  death  metal  riffs  that  use  some  dark  sounding  melodies  and  grindcore  and  thrash  influences,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  old  school  sounding  death  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads  that  utilize  some  melody  at  times.

  Vocals  are  all  deep  death  metal  growls  with  some  samples  being  utilized  at  times,  while  the  lyrics cover  gore,  anti  religion  and  porno  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Zombie  Inc  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  enjoy  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Rocking  Dead"  "Cum  Undone"  "Yeshua  Syndrome"  and  "All  Corpses  Are  Bastards".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

Rotting Empire/Sui Generes/Rebirth The Metal Productions/2013 CD Review

  Rotting  Empire  are  a  band  from  Germany  that  plays  a  very  old  school  form  of  death  metal  with  grindcore  influences  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  album  "Sui  Generes"  which  was  released  by  Rebirth  The  Metal  Productions.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  some  blast  beats  being  utilized  at  times,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  are  coming  out  of  the  guitars  and  at  times  they  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  old  school  death  metal  riffs  that  are  very  heavy  and  utilize  grindcore  and  thrash  influences  along  with  some  melodic  parts  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  old  school  and  melodic  sounding  death  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads,  as  for  the  acoustic  guitars  when  they  are  utilized  they  use  finger  picking  and  full chords  to  add  some  more  classic  metal  elements  to  the  recording.

  Vocals  range  from  deep  death  metal  growls  to  high  pitched  screams  as  well  as  a  brief  use  of  clean  singing  and  spoken  word  parts,  while  the  lyrics  cover   dark,  heavy  metal  and  violent  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  old  school  sound  to  it  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on t his  recording.

  In  my  opinion  Rotting  Empire  are  a  very  great  sounding  old  school  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "In  This  Cold  Life"  "No  Core"  "Nailed  To  The  Cross"  and  "Who's  To  Blame"  which  is  a  Sacred  Reich  cover.  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

Alea Jacta/The Empire Will Fall/Necromance Records/2013 EP Review

 
Alea  Jacta  are  a  band  from  Spain  that  plays  a  mixture  of  melodic  death  metal,  thrash  and  metalcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  ep  "The  Empire  Will  Fall"  which  was  released  by  Necromance  Records.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  not  much  in t he  way  of  blast  beats,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  are  coming  out  of the  guitars.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  riffs  that  combine  melodic  death  metal  with  thrash  and  metalcore  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  melodic  sounding  death/thrash  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads,  as  for  the  acoustic  guitars  they  are  only  used  on  the  last  song  and  they  use  finger  picking  and  full c hords  to  add  some  darkness  to  the  recording.

  Vocals  range  from  hardcore  style  yell,  deep  death  metal  growls,  high  pitched  screams  and  some  samples  as  well  as  a  brief  use  of  clean  singing,  while  the  lyrics  cover  everyday  and   political  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  to  it.

  In  my  opinion  Alea  Jacta  are  a  very  great  sounding  hybrid  of  melodic  death  metal,  metalcore  and  thrash  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Way"  and  "Wake  Up".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

Quest Of Aidance/Misanthropic Propaganda/Pulverised Records/2013 CD Review

  Quest  Of  Aidance  are  a  band  from  Sweden  that  has  been  featured  before  in this  zine with  a  musical  style  that  I  would  describe  as  being  symphonic  death/grind and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  album  "Misanthropic  Propaganda  which  was  released  by  Pulverised  Records.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  a  great  amount  of  brutal  sounding  blast  beats  being  thrown  into  the  music,  while  the  synths  bring  a  very  dark, atmospheric  and  symphonic  sound  to  the  recording  and  at  times  they  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  riffs  that  combine  brutal  death metal  with  grindcore  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own  along with  a  great  amount  of  melody  being  thrown  into  the  riffing,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  melodic  sounding  death  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads  that  utilize  some  technical  elements  at  times,  as  for  the  acoustic  and  classical  guitars  when  they  are  utilized  they  use  finger  picking  to  add  some  darkness  to  the  recording.

  Vocals  range  from  deep  death  metal  growls  to  high  pitched  grindcore  screams  as  well  as  some  spoken  word  samples,  while  the  lyrics  cover  Science  Fiction themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  to  it  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  recording  from  Quest  Of  Aidance  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  enjoy  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Seething  Voids"  "Anyx"  "Red  Dust"  and  "Sirian  Breed".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

Enemy Reign/Tormented To Oblivion/2013 CD Review

  Enemy  Reign  are  a  band  from  Denver,  Colorado  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  with  a  musical style  that  combines  brutal  death  metal  with  grindcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2013  remix  album  "Tormented  To  Oblivion".

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  a  great  amount  of  brutal  sounding  blast  beats  being  thrown  into  the  music,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  are  coming  out  of  the  guitars and  at  times  they  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  riffs  that  combine  brutal  death  metal  with  grindcore  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own  along  with  some  melody  being  thrown  into  the  riffing  at  times  as  well  as  some  thrash  influences  as  well  as  a  brief  use  of  clean  playing,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  dark  sounding  death  metal  guitar solos  and  leads  that  utilize  some  melody  at  times.

  Vocals  range  from  deep  death  metal  growls  to  high  pitched  screams  with  some  hardcore  elements  being  utilized  at  times  as  well  as  some  spoken  word  samples,  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  violent  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy,  brutal  and  professional  sound  for  being  a self  released  recording  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on this  recording  in  addition  all  of  the  songs  are remix's.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Enemy  Reign  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  check  out  this  remix  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Make   Enemies"  "Seven  Deadly  Sinners"  "Forged  From  Suffering"  and  "Bathed  In  Flames".  RECOMMENDED  BUY. 

Mortal Form/The Reckoning/My Kingdom Music/2013 CD Review

  Mortal  Form  are  a  band  from  the  Netherlands  that  plays  a  very  heavy  and  melodic  form  of  death/thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  album  "The  Reckoning"  which  was  released  by  My  Kingdom  Music.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced,  to  fast  drumming  with  some  blast  beats  being  utilized  at  times,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  are  coming  out  of  the  guitars   and  at  times  they  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  riffs  that  combine  old  school  and  melodic  death  metal  with  thrash  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  melodic  sounding  death  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads.

  Vocals  are  all  deep  death  metal  growls,  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark,  violent  and  apocalyptic  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy,  modern  and  professional  sound  to  it  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording.

  In  my  opinion  Mortal  Form  are  a  very  great  sounding  heavy  and  melodic  death/thrash  metal  band  and if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Storm  Before  Calm"  "Apocalyptic  Aftermath"  "Miasma"  and  "Sinners  Repent".  RECOMMENDED  BUY. 

Faustinas/Dream Designer/2007 Demo Review

  Faustinas  are  a  band  from  Slovakia  that  plays  a  very  melodic  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2007  demo  "Dream  Designer".

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  not  much  in  the  way  of  blast  beats,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  are  coming  out  of the  guitars.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  melodic  death  metal  riffs  that  have  a  thrash  feeling  to  them  at  times  as  well  as  some  traditional  metal  elements  being  thrown  into  the  riffing  at  times  as  well  as  a  brief  use  of  soft  and  clean  playing,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  old  school  and  melodic  sounding  death/heavy  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads,  as  for  the  acoustic  guitars  they  are  only  used  on  the  last  song  briefly  and  they  use  finger  picking  to  add  more  classic  elements  to  the  recording.

  Vocals  are  mostly  deep  death  metal  growls  along  with  some  samples, while  the  lyrics  cover  philosophical  and  scientific  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  dark,  heavy,  raw  and  primitive  sound  to  it.  

  In  my  opinion  Faustinas  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  demo.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Dream  Designer"  and  "God  Complex".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

Perfecitizen/Promo MMXI Review

  Perfecitizen  are  a  band  from  the  Chezch  Republic  that  plays  a  very  heavy  and  brutal  form  of  death/grind  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2011  promo.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  a  great  amount  of  brutal  sounding  blast  beats  being  thrown   into t he  music, while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  strong  and  powerful  sound  with  heavy  and  diverse  riffing  that  dominates  throughout  the  recording,  as  for  the s ynths  which  are  only  used  briefly  they  bring  a  very  dark,  avant  garde  and  ambient  sound  to  the  recording.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow  to  mid  paced  riffs  that  combine  heavy  and  brutal  technical  death  metal  with  grindcore  to  create  a  sound  along  with  a  brief  use  of  clean  playing  of  their  own  and  there  are  little  to  no  guitar  solos  or  leads  present  on t his  recording.

  Vocals  range  from  deep  death  metal  growls  to  high  pitched  grindcore  screams  along  with  some  spoken  word  samples  and  different  types  of  vocals,  while  the  lyrics  cover  philosophical  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy,  brutal  and  professional  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on t his  recording.

  In  my  opinion  Perfecitizen  are  a  very  great  sounding  heavy,  brutal  and  technical  death/grind  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  prom.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Productivity".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.  

Shrill Whispers/Your Worst Fear/2012 EP Review

  Shrill  Whispers  where  a  band  from  the  Chezch  Republic  that  played  a  very  heavy  and  brutal  form  of  deathcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2012  ep  "Your  Worst  Fear".

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  some  brutal  sounding  blast  beats being  utilized  at  times,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  are  coming  out  of  the  guitars.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid paced  to  fast  deathcore  riffs  that  are  very  heavy  and  brutal  sounding  with  some  melody  being  thrown  into  the  riffing  at  times,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  dark  and  technical  sounding  death  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads.

  Vocals  range  from  deep  death  metal  growls  to  high  pitched  screams  along  with  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  samples  and  pig  squeels,  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  violent  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound for  being  a  self  released  recording.

  In  my  opinion  Shrill  Whispers  where  a  very  great  sounding  heavy  and  brutal  deathcore  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Inside  Out"  and  "Your  Worst  Fear".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.   

Cranial Void/Existence/2013 EP Review

  Cranial  Void  are  a  band  from  Slovakia  that  plays  a  very  heavy  mixture  of  melodic  death  metal  of  deathcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2013  ep  "Existence".

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  some  blast  beats  being  utilized  at  times,  while  the  synths  which  are  only  used  briefly  bring  a  very  dark  and  atmospheric  sound  to  the  recording,  as  for  the  bass  playing  it  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  are  coming  out  of  the  guitars.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  riffs  that combine  melodic  death  metal  with  deathcore  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own  as  well  as  a  brief  use  of  clean  playing,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  melodic  and  technical  sounding  death metal  guitar  solos  and  leads,  as  for  the  acoustic  guitars  which  are  only  used  briefly  they  use  finger  picking  and  full  chords  to  enhance  the  dark  atmosphere  of  the  recording.

  Vocals  range  from  deep  death  metal  growls  to  high  pitched  screams,  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  for  being  a  self  released  recording.

  In  my  opinion  Cranial  Void  are  a  very  great  sounding  hybrid  of  melodic  death  metal  and  deathcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Sinister  Legacy"  and  "Ceased  Existence".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.    

Intractable Interview

Can you tell us a little bit about the band for those that have never heard of you before?
Hi guys! We are INTRACTABLE, a death- thrash-metal band from Switzerland. We formed back in 2006, and after a couple layout changes and a lot of songwriting, we went into the studio in summer 2012. Our debut album “Inner Decay” was finally released in December 2012.

How would you describe your musical sound?
As mentioned above it’s some kind of death- and thrash metal. But we have a lot of other influences in our songs.  It’s sometimes a little hard to define our music exactly. If you like fast, grooving, brutal and sometimes melodic metal-music with a raw vibe, chances are high that you like our music!


What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
Most of the lyrical content is social-critical stuff. About things that are going wrong in our society. Our drummer and singer Beni also likes to go into the dark abyss of the human soul and writes about that.

What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?
The term INTRACTABLE shows the characters and the personalities of the band members pretty good I think ;) We haven’t thought a lot about a band name in the beginning of the band. After we recorded the 2010 demo, we needed a name urgently. “Intractable” was the first one which was accepted by each band member, so we’ve chosen this one.


What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and how would you describe your stage performance?
There were a lot of great moments on stage, too much to name them all. It’s always the biggest fun part to play live, we absolutely love it. Our stage performance is pretty intense I would say. And it’s a little special for the audition because we have no usual front-man. Our drummer Beni is the vocalist too. It’s a very exhausting job live, but it works very well. And the people seem to enjoy it!


Do you have any touring plans for the future?
We have a couple of shows coming up in near future, and finally the first shows outside of Switzerland. But unfortunately not a real tour so far. If you want to help us and book us, contact us at info@intractable.ch ! ;)

Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label and if so what kind of label do you feel that would be a perfect fit for the music?
Prior the release of “Inner Decay” we’d tried to find a good record-label which supports us. But it’s pretty hard to get attention from the labels if you are a small unknown band, so we released it by ourselves. We are still hopefully a label will discover and support us in future.  Because doing everything by our own is very exhausting (promo-work ect.).


On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of extreme metal?
The feedback has been pretty good so far! We’ve got a lot of reviews about “Inner Decay”, and most people seem to enjoy it. This makes us a little proud and encourages us to give our best even more!

What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?
We’re currently writing new stuff for our second album. I’d say the songs are different to the ones on “Inner Decay”, but our trademark-style remains. I think it’s important to grow and develop the own style, otherwise it gets boring for the listener very quickly.

What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
We take our influences from all kinds of music. Each one of us listens to a big variety of music, so it’s very hard to tell where the influences directly come from. But this is a good thing, it creates a nice variety through the songs and rip-offs aren’t that obvious, haha ;)


Outside of music what are some of your interests?
There is no “outside of music” in INTRACTABLE! ;) Haha, no serious, we all do different things to in our freetime. Unfortunately mostly working in a real job, because it’s impossible to earn money in the metal-buissness. Each one of us has it’s own hobbys and activities outside the band, which is very important. For example, Dominik rides his motor-bike and I jump out of airplanes.



12. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?
Support the music that you love!
If you want to book us, hit us up at info@intractable.ch

Thanks a lot for the interview, it was a pleasure!


All questions answered by Markus Hospenthal, guitarist of Intractable and producer of “Inner Decay”.