Bladecatcher/Observe EEE Recordings/2015 EP Review

  Bladecatcher  are  a  solo  project  from  Colorado  that  plays  a  very  primitive  and  slamming  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2015  ep  "Observe"  which  was  released  by  EEE  Recordings.

  A  very  dark  and  primitive  death  metal  sound  starts  off  the  ep  along  with  some  growling  vocals  and  the  music  has  more  of  a  lo-fi  approach  to  death  metal  while  there  are  a  great  amount  of  slam  elements  present  on  the  recording  and  after  awhile  the  music  brings  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

  On  the  other  tracks  the  music  starts  adding  in  more  of  a  brutal  sound  along  with  some  guttural  growls  and  the  guitar  riffs  can  be  melodic  and  technical  at  times  and  there  are  also  some  programmed  blast  beats  in  the  faster  sections  of  the  recording  and the  songs  also  always  remain  true  to  a  very  heavy  death  metal  sound.

  Bladecatcher  plays  a  style  of  slam  death  metal  that  is  still  brutal  but  in  more  of  a  lo-fi  and  primitive  direction  than  most  bands  of  this  genre,  the  production  sounds  very  powerful  while  the  lyrics cover  mythology  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Bladecatcher  are  a  very  great  sounding  primitive,  slam  death  metal  project  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Disemboweling  The  Moon  Goddess".  8  out  of  10.    

Mellevon Interview

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

We took a bit of a break over the Christmas holidays, but we’ve since started playing gigs around town again. We’re actually scheduled to open for 36 Crazyfists on their Montreal tour date, which we’re super stoked about. They’ve been one of my favourite bands for years. We’ve also been working on more new music. We don’t have anything definitive yet, but there are plenty of great ideas floating around.

2. A few months back, you released a new album. How would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording, and how does it differ from your previous release?

We try to emphasize melody and catchiness in our compositions over sheer heaviness, and I think that’s a little more obvious on Solace. Chaos Reigns had some fun moments, but overall it’s a slower, gloomier and more dissonant record. The songs on Solace are generally much more upbeat and poppy. We’ve also improved as both musicians and songwriters since our first record. The songs on Solace are more interesting instrumentally, and I think most of them hit a lot harder than our earlier material.

3. Originally the band started out more as an 'industrial nu-metal' band but have evolved into an 'industrial melodic death metal band', what was the decision behind going into this musical direction?

We never made a conscious decision to change our style. We’ve always had fun mixing unexpected sounds into our music, and I feel that any change that happens comes naturally. Melodic death metal elements have always been present in our music. I think they’re just more obvious on this release due to the more complex, fast-paced instrumentation. It’s also worth mentioning that we underwent a lineup change between our first album and the new one. Our new members, Red (vocals) and Colin (drums), definitely brought some new sonic elements to the table. I think a big part of why our new material sounds different is due to their presence.

4. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the new album?

The lyrics on Solace generally revolve around coping (and failing to cope) with pain and anguish. Some of the lyrics take inspiration from classic literature (Acrasia, These Bloody Days) and horror movies (Fracture), but most of them are inspired by our own experiences. Overall, it’s a much more honest record than our first, lyrically.

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

It doesn’t mean anything. I came up with it when I was fifteen and I thought it sounded cool. The other members liked it, so it stuck.

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

We’ve been told that we’re very tight and have a unique sound when we play live. I generally don’t jump around too much, as I prefer to focus on my playing, but Red and Stefan (bass) are full of energy onstage. Red runs into the crowd all the time, and he’s done things like jump off tables and smash equipment before.
We’ve played great shows in large venues, but our most memorable shows so far were probably the ones we played in smaller places, simply because of how chaotic they were. One in particular stands out. It was our friend’s party, and he invited us and a few other local bands to play in his basement. We had forty sweaty people crammed into his basement moshing and screaming along with us. There was beer and chips flying everywhere. It was nuts!

7. Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

Once we’ve saved up a little money, one of our first priorities is to tour the country. Unfortunately, it might be a little while until we can manage that. I’m in quite a bit of debt due to the band already, and Red and I are the only members with steady jobs at the moment.

8. On the new album, you had a few guests. Can you tell us a little bit more about them and their contributions to the recording?

During the recording process, we found out that Björn Strid from Soilwork had some time off, and was offering to do session vocals for anyone who was interested. We’re all huge fans of his voice, so we got in contact with him right away. He sang the clean vocals on “The Quiet Light,” and he did an amazing job. It blew me away to hear the words that I wrote, sitting in the back of a classroom, sung by one of my idols!
The other guest, Les Godfrey, is a friend of mine. He used to play with the bands Tchort and The Illuminati. He runs his own business now, Godfrey Guitars, and builds beautiful custom guitars. He built mine, in fact, and you can hear it on every Mellevon song. Les listened to some pre-production demos back when we had just started recording, and he liked “Under Moss” so much that he insisted on playing a solo for it. Naturally, he did a fantastic job.

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

Being signed would definitely help us out with promotion, touring and getting our music to be heard by a broader audience, but I like the freedom and lack of obligations that comes with being unsigned as well. We would be interested if a label contacted us, but that hasn’t happened yet.

10. On a worldwide level, how has the feedback been to your music by fans of extreme metal?

We’re pretty obscure and don’t have much of an international fanbase, but I’ve found our music on Serbian and Russian metal blogs with tons of commentary. The reactions have been pretty standard. Everyone says we seem to mix a ridiculous amount of different styles together, and they either like it or they hate it.

11. Are any of the band members also involved with any other musical projects or bands these days?

I make a lot of music on my own, and I’m thinking of releasing some soon under another name. Colin also plays drums in a viking metal band called The Wild Hunt.

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

We’ll continue playing around with different styles, and I think you can expect better production and more intricate compositions from us in the future. We have literally dozens of song ideas floating around even now. We still need to figure out what material is worth developing, but when the time comes to release it, you can be sure that it’ll be our best work yet.

13. What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your newer music, and what are you listening to nowadays?

I personally listen to a lot more melodic death metal (Dark Tranquillity, Mors Principium Est), deathcore (Boris the Blade, Make Them Suffer) and pop music (t.A.T.u.) than I used to, and I think that helped shape my songwriting style a little; more melodic leads, more breakdowns, bigger choruses. Stefan listens to a lot of melodic death metal and thrash metal, Red mostly listens to metalcore, Chel (our keyboardist) has been on an electronic music binge, and Colin mostly listens to progressive metal.

14. What are some of your non musical interests?

We all play a lot of video games. Stefan is a bit of a cinephile, and he’s always telling me about the obscure foreign films he’s been watching. Chel is currently studying to become a machinist, and she’s also a wonderfully talented artist. I do quite a bit of writing.

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

Metal bands need to continue expanding their comfort zones and explore new territory, rather than let themselves be restrained by subgenre conventions. Labels should change to accommodate the music, not the other way around. The world is full of cookie-cutter black/thrash/death bands, and it’s boring. We need to break more rules and really let our hearts sing, no matter how strange the results might be.

Thanks

Mindfall Interview

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

- Mindfall is founded in 2014. We have very experienced guys in the band, so we are here for real. No bullshit!

2.Recently you have released an ep, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?

- We think it goes to "melodic death metal" category. But there's so many dimensions in it, so everybody should listen to the songs and form their own opinion. Anyhow Mindfall's music can be described as aggressive and melodic like heavy metal should be in its purest form.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

- The lyrics are about how our vocalist Juha sees life and world around him. Lyrics include stories about a modern man being a piece of shit, because of all the greed and lust for money. Sad stories of real life.

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

- Juha: "My friend and I had a hangover and I was thinking of the name for the band. At first I came up with something like "Deadfall" or "Shadowfall" and other shitty names like these. When my friend came up with the idea of "Mindfall", I was like "hell yeah, that's it!". The name Mindfall describes how sooner or later we all lose our mind and consciousness. Thank you very much for the idea Arska!

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

- Our best show has to be our latest one when we supported Catamenia in our hometown Oulu in march 2015. Our stage performance can be described as immersive and intensive and we want to give our best every single time. Rock like Fuck!

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

- We have no touring plans for the near future, but hopefully we will have more shows coming up this spring and summer. We'll let you know!

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

- Actually we are currently looking for a label. We are starting to send promo packages to multiple labels soon. We sure hope something comes up!

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

- It has been really good and encouraging so far!

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 off?

- Mindfall is main priority to every member of the band! But something to mention… our drummer Jari is recording with Henrik Klingenberg (Sonata Arctica's keyboardist) to Klingenberg's second solo album. Jari also played drums to the first solo album.

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

- There has been some discussion that we'll start to record our first full length album next fall. We have plenty of new songs written already and they are more aggressive and technical than the previous songs yet still very melodic. We played couple of our new songs in our latest gig and audience seemed to love them.

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?

- At The Gates, Death, Metallica, Sentenced, Poisonblack, Pantera, Rage Against The Machine, … Punch of different kind of styles/bands. Nowadays we listen to the same music that we have listened last 20 years. In our hometown Oulu, there's plenty of really good metal bands so you can find fresh and asskicking metal music all the time.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?

- Boxing, gym, drinking beer on saturdays.

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


- Like vocalist Juha always says: "It really brightens up my day to realise that eventually I will lose my mind and die."

Mellevon/Solace/2014 CD Review

  Mellevon  are  a  band  from  Montreal,  Quebec,  Canada  that  plays  a  mixture  of  industrial  and  melodic  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2014  album  "Solace".

  Atmospheric  sounding  synths  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  programmed  beats  and  they  also  mix  in  the  heavy  guitars  in  with  the  synth  parts  as  well  as  utilizing  a  great  amount  of  melodic  guitar  leads  throughout  the  recording  and  the riffs  also  use  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  when  vocals  are  added into t he  music  they  are  death  metal  growls.

  Elements of  modern  metal  can  be  heard  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  along  with  high  pitched  screams  being  added  into  some  parts  of  the  tracks  and  you  can  also  hear  a  lot  of  clean  singing  female  vocals  throughout  the  recording  and  as  the  album  progresses  more  elements  of  industrial  and  electronic  music  are  added  onto  the  recording.

  Clean  singing  male  vocals  along  with  spoken  word  parts  can  be  heard  on  some  of  the  tracks  while  some  of  the  high  pitched  screams  also  bring  in  a  black  metal  influence  at  times  while  some  of  the  later  songs  uses  clean  playing  before  making  a  return  back  to  a  heavier  direction  and  the  synths  also  get  more  symphonic  on  the  later  tracks  while  one  song  brings  in  annoying  nu  metal  style  raps  which  are  only  used  for  a  few  seconds.

  Mellovon  takes  a  melodic  style  of  melodic  death  metal  and  mixes  it  with  industrial  and  symphonic  music  as  well  as  adding  in  a  touch  of  black  and  nu  metal  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Mellevon  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  melodic  death  metal  and  industrial  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Mists  Of  April"  "Fracture"  "Left  behind"  and  "The  Quiet  Light".  8  out  of  10.

       

   

  

Biopsy Interview

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

A:  The band comprises of the three of us, Shomeresh on vocals, Akshay on guitars and Keshav on drums. We met during college and started jamming out to random stuff, before we decided to start making our own music. Over time, we kept exploring and drifting through the different genres of metal, slowly escalating to heavier music. Eventually, we reached Brutal Death and realized that this was the music which we enjoyed playing the most.


2. You have a new ep coming out this year, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?
A: The sound is pretty much the result of all our vastly diverse, individual musical influences. Brutal death metal proved to be a focal point of sorts for us as a band, a genre that we all thoroughly enjoyed listening to and composing music of.


3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
A: Lyrically our tracks are rather intricate and comprehensive. When we started the band and decided on a name, we made a conscious effort to link our lyrics to our band’s name making them both relevant. Our lyrics are narratives written from the perspective of a deranged surgeon (as our album art suggests). A quick read through the lyrics of any one of our tracks will give you much more insight regarding the same.


4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Biopsy'?
A: We actually went through a couple of names before ‘Biopsy’, but none of them seemed to fit right. As we shifted through the genres, we felt the need to have a band name that exemplifies the music we create, something that resonates with our tracks and lyrics. As mentioned above, our lyrical theme is that of a deranged surgeon and hence for our band the name ‘Biopsy’ fit like a glove.


5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
A:  We’re still a rather inexperienced band in this regard, having not played a single track from our EP live, so we cannot really do complete justice to this question. The last time we went live we were playing a different genre of music altogether.


6. Do you have any touring or show plans once the ep is released?
A: Touring and playing shows will be hard seeing as we're all in different places at the moment. But if somehow we land up in the same place, we'd love to play a gig!


7. The band is from India, do you feel that the metal scene in your country has gotten a lot more stronger over the years?
A: Yes the metal scene here has improved, but it still has a long way to go. It seems like it picks up for a few months and then suddenly dies for the next few. On the positive side though, bands are playing shows outside the country, which is really nice, and there seems to be a lot of new faces at gigs every time. So it would be fair to say that the ‘scene’ has gotten stronger over the years.


8. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by the fans of brutal death metal that have heard it so far?
A: The few reviews we got so far, we were very happy to read. It felt really good to have our music acknowledged and unanimously appreciated. We're looking forward to more reviews!


9. When can we expect a full length album and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
A: Again since we're not going to be in the same place, it’s going to be a little more challenging to continue making music. But we've decided to try exchanging stuff over the internet and see how it goes. We'd like to have a single and another EP before we release a full length.


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?
A: Brutal death metal is a niche genre but there are so many different styles inside the genre itself. Everything from Dying Fetus to Defeated Sanity has had an influence on the kind of music we played on the EP. But metal is the only common ground in our musical preferences. Other than that we listen to everything from Classic Rock to Drum N Bass.


11. What are some of your non musical interests?
A: Apart from music we've all got our personal hobbies and interests, which range from playing sports and computer games along with the usual youthful debauchery.


12. Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
A: We'd like to thank everyone that made this possible. The EP is something we really wanted ever since we started out, and was our main focus. We're glad it’s finally out. We'd especially like to thank our families and close friends who have supported us in spite of not listening to metal. We’d also like to thank Ashwin Kulkarni for recording our music, Kunal Choksi for getting it out there and finally you, for this interview!

Biopsy Bandcamp - https://transcendingobscurityindia.bandcamp.com/album/fractals-of-derangement-brutal-death-metal

Biopsy Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/biopsyband

Transcending Obscurity - https://www.facebook.com/transcendingobscurity

Mindfall/Post Apocalyptic Grind/2015 EP Review

  Mindfall  are  a  band  from  Finland  that  plays  a  melodic  form  of  death  metal  with  some  elements  of  thrash  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released 2015  ep  "Post  Apocalyptic  Grind".

  A  very  fast  and  melodic  death  metal  sound  starts  off  the  ep  along  with  some  blast  beats  and  growls  and  the  music  also  brings  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  as  well  as  a  great  amount  of  influences  from  the  90's  and  you  can  hear  both  Swedish  and  Finnish  style  death  metal  in  the  bands  musical  style.

  On  the  other  tracks  the  band  starts  mixing  in  thrash  influences  into  their  melodic  death  metal  style  and  it  also  gives  the  music  more  of  an  old  school  vibe  and  when  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  also  remain  true  to  a  melodic  musical  direction  and  on  the  last  track  a  brief  use  of  clean  playing  finds  its  way  onto  the  recording  and  the  vocals  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  screams.

  Mindfall  plays  a  style  of  melodic  death  metal  that  is  very  old  school  and  is  related  more  to  the  90's  style  of  the  genre  and  they  also  mix  in  a  heavy  dose  of  thrash  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  violent  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Mindfall  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic  death  metal  band  with  elements  of  thrash  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Slashed  Tongues"  and  "Shadows  Grow  Deep".  8  out  of  10.

   

Ad Nauseam Interview

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

Ad Nauseam comes from Italy and is formed by four guys who play together since 2003. The band is just the progression of a musical path started a decade before under the name Death Heaven. At a certain point, we acknowledged that there were too many differences with the past both in our music and concept, so we decided to change the moniker in Ad Nauseam.
Even if it happened few years ago, and even if the band worked hard every single week of its existence, no many things happened after that, except very sporadic live shows and the release of "Nihil Quam Vacuitas Ordinatum Est" CD.


2.You have an album coming out during the end of march, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?

I must start by saying I don't like to talk about our music. Out task is to compose and record, the rest should be up to someone else.
Furthermore, I don't want to unveil too much of the release or give my personal point of view, which may be rather different from yours. I prefer anyone will listen to the album, make his own reasoning and develop his own point of view.
I can say our music is deeply rooted in that particular style of technical death metal which can boast Ulcerate and Gorguts among its leading exponents. Our songs have a variety of riffs, so that they're pretty complex but, at the same time, straightforward and aggressive. Also, intense atmosphere and power are well balanced. I don't think anyone could object this.


3.The band worked on the album for 5 years, do you feel putting all these years in creating the music made the album sound a lot more powerful?

Not at all. This has nothing to do with the power of the music.
We spent all these years just trying to create an album which could satisfy ourselves first of all, considering any single detail.
To write music is a process which usually takes time, and frequently happens that, after a while, you may be disappointed by what you've composed. We experimented this in the past, and this was the first thing we wanted to avoid by releasing our debut album. Almost all the songs included in "Nihil Quam Vacuitas Ordinatum Est" have been deconstructed and re-arranged more than once, until we found its perfect equilibrium.
Even the recording deserved a lot of time, 'cause we wanted a very natural and original sound.
We live in an epoch when everyone is rushing. Opposite to that, we took our time to look after every aspect of the album with patience. Now, the same shall be done by the listener, if he wants to descend deeply in our universe.


4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

Most of our lyrics are nothing but visions and considerations about the chaos, considered in its primordial acceptation. Chaos not seen as a mere form of confusion and random disposition of things, but a stream which follow some laws at at certain level.


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

I'm glad to answer to this question, expecially if you guess it's related to an Ulcerate song from "Of Fracture and Failure". Well, it doesn't.
Ad Nauseam is Latin for "until the nausea", and reflects pretty well both musically and conceptually the style and philosophy of the band. Only after few months we noticed the homonymy with Ulcerate's song, and we didn't care too much, to be honest.


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

It's hard to answer, since we played only four gigs with the name Ad Nauseam, the most important of them being the first one, opening right for Ulcerate during their 2012 European Tour.


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

We'd expect to increase our live performance, of course. We're in contact with some bands to plan few shows during 2015, in Italy as well as abroad.


8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death metal that have heard it so far?

I haven't heard many of them by now. Ad Nauseam still belongs to the underground and its name started to be spread right in these days, thank to the hard promotion which Lavadome Productions is doing for the album release. I expect the album will be appreciate by all the fans of extreme metal, for example Hate Eternal, Internecine, Deathspell Omega, Morbid Angel, Gorguts and Ulcerate.


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

We'll continue developing our style, but it's almost impossible to say which direction we'll take. We've already experimented new solutions with a couple of new songs we're working on, but it's too early to talk about. Probably, we'll give more weight to the emotions than the technical aspect.


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?

Our interest in music in general is very wide, in fact we listen many different genres, not only metal. Everything which can communicate us strong emotions is worth listening, the list is very long.
In the last days I listened to Portal and Infester a lot.


11.Does occultism play any role in your music?

No, we've never been attracted too much by that, even if some of us are and were very influenced by Black Metal.


12.What are some of your non musical interests?

Each member of Ad Nauseam has a number of interests, even if music is absolutely the main one.
Hand brewed beers is the most common interest we've and the closest to metal music, hahaha. Apart that, among us there's one is mad for electronics, one for astronomy...

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

Thanks for your time and support. Thanks also to Jan and Lavadome Prods for his neverending help and trust in Ad Nauseam.
"Nihil Quam Vacuitas Ordinatum Est" will be released in CD and digital form on the 31st of March. Shirt will be available soon after.
www.lavadome.org

House Of Atreus Interview

Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording of the new album?
Currently, we are getting into shape to start playing gigs after a long 3 months in the studio. It's nice to get back into rehearsal mode after such a long break. We haven't played outside the studio in quite a bit, so when the opportunity presents itself, we should be ready. Falling apart onstage is losing an erection.

You have your first full length coming out in May, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?
You will hear more or less the same galloping riffs, drums, and drunk with power vocals for a lot of this album, but you will notice our other influences creeping in a lot more. A few of the songs are a lot more melodic, and we tried to use slower stints in the songs to offset faster choruses and verses, and build them into plateaus. It’s a different approach to our immediate explosive entrances, but I feel if that kind of thing is done with every song, its like double bass and blasts for an entire album, it can get a bit old when it’s done exclusively, and I usually reach for some Evoken or Skepticism when I get blasted out. I like a little multiplicity on full lengths, because they seem to hang in my stereo a bit longer.

The lyrics on the new album cover Greek Mythology and tales of war, can you tell us a little bit more about how you got interested in these topics?
 I've had an interest in Greek mythology for quite some time, and it took less effort for me to ascertain then to paint a new world, when too many of the same exist already. There's more murder, rape, war, sabotage, and cannibalism then any metal album could trump. The entire story of the House of Atreus stretches into many sub-stories, and there is a plethora of material to manipulate and retell. Of course, I don't follow just the accounts of these cursed few, but other events from the Oresteia, Homer's Odyssey, Iliad, etc. I appreciate the fact I can be as graphic as desired in depicting the abuse of humanity without the pesky consequences of cleaning up any blood when I’m finished.

Originally the band was known as 'Ashened', what as the decision behind the name change and also the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'House Of Atreus'?
A lot of the material for Ashened ended up as our first HoA demo. At the time I needed something to get me started doing self recordings at home with pro-tools and recording devices. I had this huge over sized PA and mixer in my basement I had planned on using for some projects with friends, but I used it to fuck my ears up and piss my neighbors off on occasion instead. When I had gotten enough material together I decided at the time I just wasn't getting the sound right, so I asked help from a friend. We decided to record this material and write a couple more songs together. When we started tossing around lyrical idea’s we landed on House of Atreus do to our interests in the literature.
The beginning the band was a solo project, what was the decision behind hiring a full time lineup?
We had friends come in to do some solos, leads and things of that nature for our recordings. It wasn’t until we were asked about doing some one off shows that I started thinking about getting a band going. I had been in so many at that point, I was used to the idea of never doing one again because of experiences I've had. I was pretty elated when the friends I had in successful bands expressed interest in pursuing the project. Playing live isn't for everyone, and since the original intent behind the project was studio only, I went through a change of incumbents.

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

We will be ready to play shows by mid spring, so we've had to turn down a couple shows while we get warmed up again. As far as touring, there would have to be a significant desire from those who enjoy our music to consider anything like that, as there are too many variables that can affect our personal lives if it isn't planned adequately. I imagine it could be exciting, and I think we have plans to do one at some point. We’re always available for weekend shows for the most part. It really comes down to the support. That’s not to say we wouldn't lose money to play with bands like Speedwolf, Midnight, Ares Kingdom.

On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death metal?

We were surprised at first about our light connection with fans in Ireland, but it made sense after thinking about our association with Into the Void records. Anthony McGee who writes for the Metal Ireland site turned me on to some great music after we had done an interview a couple years ago. It is cool that people from another world who appreciate the same music you do, are curious about HoA, and it’s humbling. Aside from that, we haven’t had much interaction on a global level thus far.

I know that some of the other band members are involved with some black metal bands, do any of the band members have any interest in some of the more satanic and occult stuff that some of those bands are into?
Of course, we all support satanism in music. Satanism is a practice like any other, and comes in all levels of seriousness. I have seen Maledicere’s rituals on stage, as well as Masshu and Hohl lose the pupils of their eyes during their sets. I think we all have a healthy respect for its value in music, and it can really add a great vibe on stage when it’s done correctly. I should also add that the world of satanism is pretty ambiguous, in that there’s an awful lot of bullshit out there. When you reach a certain amount of experience, it’s pretty easy to detect authenticity when it’s exposed. I personally don’t hold anything (un)sacred in that regard, but the respect between myself and those I know in that community is very mutual.

Where do you see the band heading to musically during the future?
I suppose it’s important to have a trajectory, but I can’t really map the course without more data. If you’re going to play the most demanding music for the most authentic of fans, you have to expect half the people out there might hate you. In that light, it’s hard to generate plans aside from the things that are within your control. That’s a reality in all forms of entertainment, I suppose. We will certainly keep writing, and we will probably do another demo or EP later this year.

What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
Right now I’m listening to the 25 albums I bought from DDR and ITV over the last couple weeks. I got all sorts of new stuff (and old), of course I grabbed some current roster from DDR; Horrendous, Emptiness, Swallowed, Crypt Sermon. But I snagged some other gems, Mega Slaughter, The chasm, Absu, Symphony of Grief, Question, Spearhead, and an airport backpack-splitting load more.

What are some of your non musical interests?
I travel the country in my work, so occasionally I’ll ask a band I like to crash a practice or drink a few beers with a label owner. If I have time, I’ll see a show or drop by record stores and get a look at their wares. Honestly, for people like me, it would be fucking cool to have an archive site for metal shows, even basement shit going on, so when I get finished with work and sighing at Applebee’s patrons, well, you get it. I also enjoy trying new breweries in different states; I’m surprised I can get back to my hotel sometimes, especially when I visit Colorado.
www.darkdescentrecords.com 

Other Eyes Wide/Chapters/WormHoleDeath Records/2015 CD Review

  Other  Eyes  Wide  are  a  band  from  England  that has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  mixture  of  extreme  metal,  alternative  and  hard  rock  with  some  death  metal  elements  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "Chapters"  which  was  released  by  WormHoleDeath  Records.

  A very  distorted  and  modern  metal  sound  starts  off  the  album  and  after  the  intro  it  starts  getting  more  powerful  while  also  adding  in  death  metal  growls,  high  pitched  screams  and  a  touch  of  alternative  and  you  can  also  hear  a  lot  of  melody  and  clean  singing  in  the  bands  musical  style  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Clean  playing  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  a  few  ballads  while  some  of  the  heavier  parts  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  spoken  word  parts  at  times  while  some  of  the  screams  also  add  a  touch  of  black  metal  into  the  bands  musical  style  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  either  a  slow  or  mid  paced  musical  direction.

  Other  Eyes  Wide  creates  another  album  that  borrows  him  the  more  mainstream  sides  of  metal,  rock  and  alternative  but  also  add  in  some  groove  and  death  metal  elements  along  with  a  touch  of  black  metal  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own  on  this  recording,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  real  life  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  decent  sounding  recording  from  Other  Eyes  Wide  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  enjoy  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Broken  Path"  "Hidden  Strength"  "E.C"  and  "Live".  7/5  out  of  10.

  

Cognizance/Inceptum/2014 EP Review

  Cognizance  are  a  band  from  the  United  Kingdom  that  plays  a  very  technical  and  melodic  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2014  ep  "inceptum".

  A  very  heavy  and  melodic  death/thrash  sound  starts  off  the  ep  along  with  some  growling  vocals,  screams  and  blast  beats  and  a  few  seconds  alter  technical  guitar  leads  become  a  part  of  the  recording  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

  You  can  hear  a  lot  of  early  90's  death  metal  and  thrash  influences  in  the  bands  musical  style  but  done  in  more  of  a  modern  fashion  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  demonstrate  a  great  amount  of  talent  and  skill  and  the  second  song  gets  a  bit  more  brutal  while  also  being  very  melodic  and  technical  at  the  same  time.

  Cognizance  takes  both  the  melodic  and  technical  sides  of  death  metal  and  adds  in  a  touch  of  thrash  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  philosophical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Cognizance  are  a  very  great  sounding  technical  and  melodic  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "The Succession  Of  Flesh".  8  out  of  10.    

House Of Atreus/The Spear And The Ichor That Follows/Dark Descent Records/2015 CD Review

    House  Of  Atreus  are  a  band  from Minnesota  that  plays  a  melodic  form  of  death  metal  and  this is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "The  Spear  And  The  Ichor  That  Follows"  which  will  be  released  in  May  by  Dark  Descent  Records.

  A  very  dark  and  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  melodic  guitar  leads  a  few  seconds  alter  before  adding  in  some  death  metal  growls  and  the  music  is  a  lot  more  closer  to  the  90's  style  of  death  metal  but  with  a  more  modern  production  while  some  of  the  solos  bring  an  80's  metal  feeling  to  the  recording  at  times.

  Throughout  the  recording  there  is  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  you  can  also  hear  a  touch  of  black  metal  in  the  bands  musical  style  at  times  and  some  of  the  tracks  are  also  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  also  incorporate  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats  at  times  and  a  couple  of  the  later  tracks  also  brings  in  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  samples  before  making  a  return  back  to  a  melodic  death  metal  sound  and  the  band  also  avoids  using  any  clean  or  soft  parts  in  any  of  the  songs  while  one  track  near  the  end  brings  in  a  brief  use  of  black  metla  screams.

  House  Of  Atreus  plays  a  style  of  death  metal  that  is  very  melodic  and  heavily  rooted  in  the  90's  and  also  adds  in  a  touch  of  black  metal  at  times,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Greek  tragedies  and  tales  of  war.

  In  my  opinion  House  Of  Atreus  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Messenger  of  A  Shaken  Host"  "Heir  To  The  Crown  Of  Sodom"  and  "The  River  Black"  8  out  of  10.

    

Ad Nauseam/Nihil Quam Vacuitas Ordinatum East/Lavadome Productions/2015 CD Review

  Ad  Nauseam  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  a  very  technical  and  brutal  form  of  death  metal  along  with  a  touch  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "Nihil  Quam  Vacuitas  Ordinatum"  which  will  be  released  on  March  31st  by  Lavadome  Productions.

  Dark  sounding  synths  start  off  the  album  and  a  few  seconds  later  the  music  starts  going  into  more  of  a  technical  and  progressive  death  metal  direction  that  incorporates  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats,  growls  and  screams  and  the  solos  and  leads  the  band  uses  also  demonstrate  a  great  amount  of  talent  and  skill.

  A  good  portion  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  black  metal  screams  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  after  awhile  the  music  starts  mixing  in  more  of  a  brutal  death  metal  style  and  some  of  the  later  tracks  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  avant  garde  jazz  elements  which  also  gives  the  songs  more  of  an  original  style.

  Throughout the  recording  there  is  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  some  of  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  playing  at  times  and  there  are  also  a  few  tracks  that  bring  in  small  doses  of  classical  music  elements  along  with  a  touch  of  experimental  and  all  of  the  songs  bring  in  an  original  style  of  death  metal.

  Ad  Nauseam  plays  a  style  of  death  metal  that  mixes  the  brutal,  technical  and  progressive  styles  of  the  genre  together  and  they  also  add  in  a  touch  of  black  metal,  jazz  and  classical  music  to  create  something  very  original,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  philosophical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Ad  Nauseam  are  a  very  great  sounding  technical  and  progressive  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Key  To  Timeless  Laws"  "Terror  Haze"  and  "The  Black  Veil  Of   Original  Flaw".  8  out  of  10.

  

Satyrasis Interview

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

In the two months since we released, we have been mostly occupied with getting the music out to as many people as possible.  Since we released it for free, the goal is to just get it to people who might enjoy it.  Other than that, just catching up with all the other aspects of life we pushed aside in order to make time for ...Of The Dead (which, after 7 years of pushing aside other projects, adds up to a lot of stuff!).

2.In January you had released a new album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

It is completely different from anything we have done in the past.  In terms of musical pursuit, it's almost like we are a new band.  It's been fascinating to read the album reviews because we still aren't really sure how to categorize it, genre-wise.  I mean, on a song by song basis, some are easier to describe than others, but some of the songs have more in common with feature film sound design than they do with thrash metal.

3.This is the first album to be released in 7 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time frame?

Oh man, what a question to answer!  This album is a Do-It-Yourself project through and through.  The fact that we do everything long distance over the internet (exchanging session files and demos and such) made the entire process much more complicated.   I would guess that if we had to make another album like ...Of The Dead, we could probably do it in only one year.  Much of the 7 years was spent developing a functional infrastructure which could effectively handle the development of ideas.

The entire album was recorded in just one 30 hour session, including setup and break down.  We wanted the best studio and engineer possible, but when you consider just getting to the studio takes 15 hours for one of the members and then factor in everyone's schedule, you realize something extreme needs to happen.  While recording, we played all the songs live one right after the other, ending up with only like 3 takes of each.  I have never been more tired in my life than after that session!

The thing is, though, we were able to pull that off because we had done it so many times before.  That's part of what took us 7 years.  The final take of the album you hear is the FIFTH time we recorded it in full.  That doesn't include demoing of individual songs or riffs.  For fun, we created a track of all the different demos put together. The result is like an audio equivalent of the fossil record.  It's pretty neat!  You can hear an example here: https://soundcloud.com/satyrasis/satyrachronology Every repeat of the riff is from a totally different session.

We licensed the album under a creative commons license (so people can do whatever they want with it, including distribute freely and remix).  We are going to host (on the satyrasis.com website) the complete multitrack files for the album, so that someone will be able to download the pro tools session and individually pick through all the sounds and samples used.  We were very, very meticulous about naming all the little clips, so if someone is poking around and finds a sound they like, they will be able to figure out how to track it down from the file name.  Since almost all of the songs have over 100 tracks, we figured people might find it cool to poke around just to see how deep the rabbit hole goes.   Some tracks, like Waltz, for example, have all 100 tracks firing at once!

It's not that we are perfectionists or something, quite the opposite actually.  We just know what we want in terms of sound and scope.  Although we tried very hard to get the album out years sooner, we just didn't achieve what we were looking for until we had developed the ideas to the point you hear on the release.

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?

Life stages, subservience, war, existentialism, epistemology.

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

No meaning, just letters we thought went well together.  Some people think it is from the word 'satyriasis' which, interestingly enough, it isn't.

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

Definitely Ogrefest.  We have been organizing a metal festival for the last 9 years, and it has been a really fun time every year.  We only play once or twice a year (do to living 800 miles apart 11 months of the year), so every show is something to look forward to.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?
While we did a national (US) tour for the first album back in 2008, we don't have any plans to tour for this one.

As for shows, it will probably be a while yet before one of those, but you never can say for sure one way or the other.

8.On the new album you had done a Rush cover, what was the decision behind doing your own version of one of their songs?

We enjoy playing other people's songs as a means of gelling as a musical unit.  On the once or twice a year that we play together, we usually procrastinate by playing Old Man's Child, or Carnivore covers instead of practicing.  We know the  Satyrasis material well enough, and have practiced it to the point that we can pretty confidently play a show without having practiced as a group for months prior (and, in fact, the last few shows have been like this).

9.The new album was released on Seventh Door Records, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

Seventh Door Records is our own imprint, which we own and manage.

10.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your newer music by fans of extreme metal?

Extremely good.  We can barely believe how strongly positive some of the feedback has been, both from fans and from reviewers.  We have been working on the album for so long, we weren't sure what the reaction to it would be, to be honest.  I think we know that some people would really dig it, although at times throughout ...Of The Dead it can be pretty strange (not to mention unrelenting) enough that I could see plenty of reason for people to not really getting what we are going after.  The only negative feedback any of us have heard has been along the lines of "it's too complicated to keep up with", which, if you don't like that kind of music.... why are you listening to Satyrasis in the first place?

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

Musically, the three of us have been going really different directions in what we listen to and are interested in.  Of course, this is good for the band, because when we get together to write something, these outside influences generally add a lot of maturity to the final sound.  I think songs like "Waltz for a Marionette" and "In Ruins" are an accurate description of some realms we may revisit again.  You have to keep in perspective that although the album was released now in 2015, we were finished with about 95% of the arrangements by the end of 2009, and the rest of the time has been spent trying to achieve the sound we were going for.  That is to say, if we sat down today to write something, it would probably be a lot different than what is on ...Of The Dead, if for no other reason than it has been years since some of those ideas on ...Of The Dead were formed.

12.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Many bands were specifically influential on the record, to name just a few: Type O Negative, Rush, Frank Zappa, Janelle Monae, Cinnamon Chasers, Goblin, Acid Bath, Gösta Berlings Saga, Camel, Insect Warfare, Crowbar, Steely Dan.  Right now, here are the 5 things we are listening to:

Dave:
Horrendous - Ecdysis
Joe Jackson - Look Sharp!
Fear Factory - Obsolete
Sex Heaven - Hot Hooks EP
Al Di Meola - Elegant Gypsy

Matt:
Strapping Young Lad - City
Gustav Mahler - Symphony No. 6
Deceased - Surreal Overdose
Artie Shaw - Live at the Blue Room / In the Cafe Rouge
Jerry Reed - The Unbelievable Guitar and Voice of

Dimitri:
Adventure - Lesser Known
Philip Glass - Aguas de Amazonia
Cinnamon Chasers - Dreams and Machines
Wisp - NRTHNDR
Noisia - Split The Atom

13.What are some of your non musical interests?

Currently, we are all in our last year of Grad School for various things (geographical/geospatial information and data management, mathematics, speech pathology, linguistics).  We have plenty of side interests, ranging from listening to world war 2 lectures and computer programming, to things like playing hockey and hours long games of Risk.

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

The album is freely available at satyrasis.com as a 320 MP3, but also as lossless WAV or FLAC.  There you can find instrumental versions of the album, as well as Guitar Pro tabs of every song, a professionally typeset lyric booklet with illustrations.  You can also stream at

https://soundcloud.com/satyrasis
http://www.youtube.com/user/Satyrasis
http://satyrasis.bandcamp.com/

Recuil Morbide Interview

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

Johan :
We recorded the album in 2013, but the release is late because we had many problems and changes in our private lifes. That's why we decided to wait for the good time. Then, we didn't want to have an album without be sure to be ready for gigs. However we performed few times last year, so that we could play new songs to test them and practice them. So, when we decided that we were ready, we had to wait the right time with the label schedule. It was a long time but now we are boosted and glad to see it in stores !

2.Recently you have released a new album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

Johan :
I think ''Morbid Collection'' gives more emotions than the previous albums, it's more varied and melodic. But it's always brutal, isn't it ? ...well it's more complete.
What has changed is that Will (Guitar) was able to perfectly integrate the band since his arrival in 2011, just before Only Hate Left. He had signed and co-written few songs from Morbid Collection with Marc et they did a huge work for guitars harmonys. Everybody gave an opinion for the production and nothing was done without inspection. And, more the songs went straight more we were excited by what we've done. Jérôme had improved his vocals and Sylvain did a over-performance. We are proud of that work,  and the sound that Kohle (Kohlekeller Studio) done.

3.This is the first album to be released in 4 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time period?

Johan:
After Only Hate Left release we did many gigs and a tour with Withdrawn, that remains it was so excellent. We started writing process for Morbid Collection in 2012 and went in studio in May 2013. First we would like to release it at the end of 2013 but, the previous events in the first answer made that all compromise. And here we are in 2015 !!

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?

Johan:
Jérôme has written all the lyrics. It peaks about different frustration's feelings, nevrosis and perversions of the human. Only poetry so ... Some of the lyrics made me laugh, because, if most of them speak about personnal feelings, others are totally crazy ! :-D

5.I know that the bands name means 'Morbid Collection' in French, why did you pick this name for the band?

Johan:
I don't know why this shitty name has been chosen, i was not in the band at this time. It's true that most of the strangers, don't understand it and they can't pronounce it, but what is important is that they have great hears to listen to our music.
There's so many metal band with unpronounceable or unreadable names ... So ...
We called this album Morbid Collection to do a kind of eponym album. We think it suit very well with the actual musical band's identity. So now the strangers are able to understand the name of the band.

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

Johan:
We try to give the best of ourselves for each gigs, for 50 or 500 fans. We give energic shows always with smile because we hate bands that wince from the beginning until the end. We don't earn money with music, so if we drive so much to play it's to have fun ! We laugh on the road but that's on stage that we have more pleasure so we give everything. And people love that !!!
For sure we have been better one day or another, but one of the best show we did was the opening for Behemoth in 2013. We were at ''home'', we were great, and people were fantastic. But i think about other gigs and memory remains many stuff and i hope that the best will arrive soon.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?

Johan:
Now we are ready, we start to confirm dates, the next are in April (4th and 5th in France), some will follow. Also, we hope to find a manager to help us to develop the band in european strategy.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of brutal death metal?

Johan:
It's tough to know because Great Dane Records only start to develop himself worldwide. Regarding what we could see on Facebook, i know we have fan in the world, we hope that the new album will confirm. We aslo have a lot of pinky fans with a snout, little pigs ...?... probably because of "pigs" vocals from Jérôme :-)

9.Are any of the band members also involved with any other musical projects or bands these days?

Johan :
No. All the members had played in different bands before, but now, we concentrate on Recueil Morbide, family, and personnal work. I would like to work in studio projects, without many serious, only to have fun and create, but without enough time i shift it to the future but not sure to do it one day ...

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

Johan:
We'll see, of what the future is done, but we will continue to have pleasure as possible.


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?

Johan :
We listen to different stuff but there's no common references in the band.
Personally, i love Tool, Mastodon, Katatonia, Aerosmith, Klone, Gojira, Down, The Haunted, Delta Saints...  At the moment, i mostly listen to the last Evergrey's album. I find it wonderful. I listen to a few Extreme Metal, however, sometimes listening to Benighted or Napalm Death, suit me well. But, i prefer mostly melody and groove.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?

Johan :
My life, my passion and my work link to music and live show. I appreciate the Art and I like watching sports on TV (more easy to be sit than runnning). I have to raise my children, and do some work at home ... There's no enough time left to find interests.

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

Johan:
Thanx for the interview.
Support your local scene. Every actors need it, promoters and artists.
Thanx to all who have listen to our new album and support us.
And when we'll be close to you, come and take a beer with us, it will be pleasure.

Biopsy/Fractals Of Derangement/TranscendFractals Of Derangementing Obscurity India Distribution/2015 EP Review

   Biopsy  are  a  band  from  India  that  plays  a  very  brutal  form  of  gore/death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  ep  "Fractals  Of  Derangement"  in  April  by  Transcending  Obscurity  India  Distribution.

  Horror  movie  samples  start  off  the  ep  along  with  some  spoken  word  samples  before  going  into  a  very  brutal  death  metal  direction  that  uses  a  great  amount  of  guttural  growls  and  you  can  also  hear  a  small  amount  of  melody  in  the  bands  musical  style  at  times  and  the  music  also  brings  in  elements  of  both  slam  and  old  school  death  metal.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  cam  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  you  can  hear  the  American  death  metal  influence  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  and  they  also  bring  in  a  bit  of  that  annoying  deathcore  style  vocal  at  times  while  the  brutality  and  talent  make  up  for  it.

  Biopsy  creates  a  very  brutal  style  of  guttural  death  metal  that  is  very  heavily  influenced  by  the  American  bands  of  the  same  style  and  while  the  music  is  not  very  original  I  still  feel  the  band  is  good  at  what  they  do,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  gore  and  horror  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Biopsy  are  a  very  decent  sounding  brutal  and  guttural  gore/death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Genesis"  and  "Fractals  Of  Derangement".  7  out  of  10.        

Psychopathologist Interview

 1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
1.Hi, we're playing a mix of black, thrash death, etc. substantially more experiments, initially formed with the idea  of playing pure old school death in the spirit of Morbid Angel or death, but as you can see it all went a bit differently,somehow we try to keep the atmosphere of the old school.

2.In December you had released a demo, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?
2.The sound came out raw, not to say that dirty, but rather sloppy, probably some atmosphere of madness and dirty operating conditions went through the recording,everything was really quite depressing that, coupled with the death metal riffing and thrash speed gave a rather interesting result, recording was something like this: we wrote vocals and guitar, studio called difficult surroundings consist of different frankly crap - furniture broken, broken amps, constantly beside me the way was beaten to the top beer cans trash can, even it was strange that there were no rats or something hehehe.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

3.About the lyrics is hard to say, because firstly they have not paramount in the first place the quality of music, melody, rhytm, etc. but say a few words -Initially, all written in the genre hateful imaginary massacre, just to have fun there, but the further the social and so became part of the text does not wear only gore nature, emerged  largely zombie society themes, infirmity before policy, drugs use and other dark side of life.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Psychopathologist'?
4.Yes, in general it's just a tribute to one of our most Beloved groups - Carcass, when we chose the name I sat and listened to the first album of Carcass and reached song with this name, then thought, hey yes it is not quite bad and sounds, actually took as a temporary working title, but it is well stuck.

5.Currently there are only 2 members in the band, are you planning on expanding the line up in the future or do you chose to remain a duo?
5.In fact, we tried to look for other musicians, but it is in nothing resulted, now the situation is that people do not remember the roots of heavy metal music and want to play it only for the sake of ... For example, to pickup a girl and that's my personal opinion that this is little more than a full essence of all these fashion trends,where the group pays more attention to image than music, full membership at the time the answer is reached, but the session musicians on what that period time

6.On the demo you had done covers of Darkthrone and Haemorrhage, what was the decision behind during your own version of their songs?
6.Hehe, the main difference that played all for a couple of tones above the rest is again a tribute to our idols, we played not only their songs, but decided that under our style will suit this mix more than others, because it is still two extremes - Goregrind and Blackened Death, well, in the end, it Darkthrone, as much as possible
they are not to love?

7.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death metal, thrash and grind?
7.On my personal surprise welcomed us very friendly, despite all the flaws when recording a demo for more supported us probably thrash fans, although I do not really aware of this theme, but the fact is that a very pleasant listening on (probably hehheh)

8.Are any of the band members also involved with any other musical projects?
8.Yes, Otis participates in Black Metal project Scolopendra Cingulata, Autopsy holds just a nameless black / ambient project.

9.When can we expect a full length album and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
9.At the moment, the album is already out on the Novosibirsk label NitroAtmosfericum Records, and believe me, if you liked the demo, the album is by no means impossible miss, there will be overwritten with the demo songs, as well as many new fast, grind songs, will not be disappointed at the moment with the session musicians is A new program, including live performances, I should say that the style is very different, the material will be released within the EP, by genre Sludge Death Doom, Upon completion of this project is likely to continue in the spirit of the old order Old School Death

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?
10.Musical genres? Oh, everything is not so easy, we do not listen to heavy music only, you need to leave space for all, otherwise nothing interesting will come out, and you will have a wide field for experimentation, I personally do reject any or genre framework, if a group or album, go to the hearing and sound good, then it
already cool, though whether Synth-pop or Noisecore, at the moment listening to a lot, from the same Carcass and other fathers and the masters, praise them, such as to in the case of Otis-and ZAZ (French chanson), John Coltrane, ELP, but I like it now fond of electronic music and the sound of the garage, but about the good old school Florida, Swedish etc. Death Metal-and no one has forgotten and often relistening.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?
11.Autopsy: Gnosis, collecting CD, so I am a historian on the Middle Ages and especially Scandinavia theme, I can not mention my addiction to knifes and guns,  it's fun, so I love outside of rehearsals and our team just go play pool, drink a beer, but not in the noisy company hehe.
   Art: I like to watch old movies 60s, such as "Eight and a half", "Eclipse," "Today, Tomorrow, the day after tomorrow." I love classic horror movies with Boris Karlov, Vincent Price, Barbara Steele. I also really like the old science fiction, French philosophers of the first half of the twentieth century. Realism
and writers bit generation.

12.Before we wrap yp this interview, do you he any final words or thoughts?
12.Listen to all, order our album, always stay to his own opinion and do not kill underground.

Countless Skies Interview

Interview answered by James Pratt (Lead Guitar)

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
We're a melodic death metal band from the UK (Hertfordshire area). We've just released our debut EP and have started playing gigs across England.

2.A few months back you had released an ep, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?
It's melodic death metal. There will always be elements of other genres in our songs, though, as we all listen to an array of different music (I get slated by the other members for having Drake on my phone!). Comparing it to the demo we recorded as Hatespire; this EP is definitely more melodic, emotional, on another level. We're really proud of it.

3.The band was an a hiatus for a few years, what was the cause of the split and also the decision to reform?
It was my fault, really. I was at uni and had to finish my course, so a full-time band in another area of the country was out of the question. We're all good mates anyway; so once we were all back living locally, everything just fell into place pretty easily.

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
That's really Ross' area. The lyrics for the EP are kind of personal, character-based pieces. Penance is a song about regret, and Reverence about contemplation. It reminds me a little of the story of Siddhartha Gautama becoming enlightened. I can speak about Everlast, as I wrote those. It's kind of a preaching about neglect and thoughtlessness using a few different situations.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Countless Skies'?
Our name comes from the Be'lakor song of the same name. Anyone who hasn't heard the album it's from, Stone's Reach, needs to stop what they're doing and listen. It's a real masterpiece.

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
The first gig we played after our EP launch was at The Castle Tavern in Luton. It's one of those intimate venues. We had a few mates there so that always helps, and the rest of the crowd seemed to react really well to our set. We really just get up and play, and try to have a good time.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
Yeah, we have a few this year. We're playing at an all day event in Sheffield next month, that'll be our furthest gig from home! Also, we're back at The Castle Tavern in Luton on the 28th March for the 'Metal to the Masses' competition. The winner gets to play Bloodstock, which we'd kill for. We've been to the festival loads, in fact I'm pretty sure Ross has been to every BOA since 2006 (making this his 10th in a row). I think our Facebook or Bandsintown is the best place to see our upcoming gigs.

8.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
Right now we're not actively seeking a label. We're happy funding our own music and working to our own deadlines. That said, we're definitely open to the right deal, we're just very cautious about that sort of thing.

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of progressive and melodic death metal?
Feedback has been great, we've been sending EPs all over world. Something that amazed me was how well the clean vocals were received by fans of melodic death metal. I know not everybody encourages it in this context, but we had confidence in Phil's performance on the EP.

10.When can we expect a full length and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
We're working really hard to try and get an album out by the end of the year, and I'm pretty sure we can make that deadline. Right now we're still finding our own sound, and the music we're writing now is building on and evolving from what we did with the EP. We're always discovering new music so I'm sure we'll always be adding to our sound.

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?
Ross and I would always jam In Flames and Dark Tranquillity songs when we were starting out, we learned a lot from those bands. When writing the EP we were listening to a lot of the Finnish bands, like Insomnium and Omnium Gatherum. As for what we're listening to now, I can only really answer for myself. Right now (and I'm a little late to the party on this one) I'm really getting into Animals As Leaders. I'm definitely not saying that's where we're heading, but there's a lot to be learned from a guy like Tosin.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?
Wow, it's taken your question for me to realize I literally have no hobbies! My only real passion, other than music, is an unhealthy obsession with Apple products. Nathan is a professional lion-tamer, though. I might have made that up.

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Yeah, which Apple Watch should I buy?

Sinner's Moon Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
1. We are band from cetral Europe - Slovakia, from the town called Sered. Sixpack of young amateur musicians with a great eager for playing our music and conquer the world :D

2.You have an album coming out this year, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?
2. Well, before, we released just bunch of demo stuff which I recorded at home with former singer Andrea and some MIDI drums and keyboards. So for me and guys this was a great step forward also thanks to mr. Roland Grapow who took us into his studio for this great experience helped us in many many ways and also who made different but unique sound to our music.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
3. Mostly hope, some psychological themes and childhood dreaming...

4.The name of the album is 'Atlantis, does the band have an interest in lost continents or mythology?
4. Well, the name itself illustrate mystery and some hope that there is something great but yet unrevealed in our lives. But yes, there is an interest in mythology in some way.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Sinner's Moon'?
5. That´s a funny story behind this name. We were doing a musical power metal project  called CROSSDAWN in early days before Atlantis and everything....and we also attended some choir sesions at the time with former guitarist DRAGO, where we sang this song. There was something like "...you hear the sinner´s moan". And after that I was like, sinner´s moan with a little correction, that would be a fantastic name for a song. So we played with words a little and after a while Sinners Moon was created as a name for the song, later for the band :)

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?
L:6. Well I suppose the best show we had so far was the one we had last september. It was after our new singer Simona arrived to the band and we played live with czech black metal famous band called ROOT. This was a pretty awesome night for us all!
S:6. Every live performance is unique for me and also every single one is different, so I always try to put in something different, something new. I react to audience, to band members on stage, I try to get and give huge amount of energy so we "tune on the same frequency" and get on as much as we can. Of course, I bring a piece of myself on stage because I feel there as natural as I can be. When I am relaxed on stage I improvise and after that the performance starts to have the right mood.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released?
7. Yes we do! We are going to run some shows here in Sovakia also a few in Czech Republic and if we are lucky we will get some more around Slovakia. Since we are a pretty young band, we don´t have that big name which would take us to a different places. But we would like to take an opportunity for every live show we can :)

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of symphonic and extreme metal?
8. I think it is too early to talk about worldwide levels of any kind. But I think that people who know us by far, they pretty much like our music :)

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
9. We are hoping to release new stuff, new album pretty soon after Atlantis since it took me about 3 years to get this stuff together and things around it, so much to do, you know?  We would like to push our limits to the new horizons with some more agressive stuff, more Derick vocals, more symphonic elements and more everything in every aspect...that would be the idea I suppose

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?
L:10. To me It was mostly bands from Finland, especially Nightwish (a huge influence to me as a composer, which you probably would here on this album) Sonata Arctica and Children Of Bodom, then Epica, Helloween (I grew up on this stuff, so Roland Grapow is pretty much my guitar hero until now) and almost anything melodic that I like.
S:10. I was affected as a singer by a great names of metal universe such as R.J.Dio, Jorn Lande or Floor Jansen. I listen a lot to progressive metal stuff, mostly Dream Theater, Mastodon, Leprous, Devin Townsend, Opeth, Porcupine Tree, etc

11.What are some of your non musical interests?
L;11. PC gaming, listening music, watching good movies, spending time with close friends (sending Hello especially to Niki K), drinking good beer of course ;)
S:11. I do a lot of things with kids as a teacher, theater stuff mostly and I am also attending brass band here in Slovakia, which can be for some people pretty strange combination with the metal band I suppose :) I also like cooking, hiking etc.

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
L:12. Well guys, hold on to your dreams as much as you can, because without it you would be just another fish in the endless ocean of regrets that will come if you don´t try, for sure ;) take it seriously guys, and do what you wanna do now! And listen to our new cd :D cheers :)
S:12. Final words? Well yes I have. Listen to a good music, metal music, buy metal CD´s and support your favorite bands ;)

Psychopathologist/Clumsy Remains/Narcoleptica Productions/2014 Demo Review

  Psychopathologist  are  a  band  from  Russia  that  plays  an  old  school  mixture  of  death  metal,  grindcore  and  thrash  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  demo  "Clumsy  Remains"  which  was  released  by  Narcoleptica  Productions.

  A  very  heavy  and  melodic  sound  starts  off  the  demo  along  with  some  old  school  thrash  elements  and  after  awhile  the  music  speeds  up  and  adds  in  blast  beats,  grindcore  influences  and  high  pitched  screams  and  the  solos  and  leads  the  band  uses  gives  the  songs  more  of  an  old  school  death  metal  feeling.

  As  the  demo  progresses  the  songs  start  bringing  in  a  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  all  of  the  songs  sound  like  they  could  of  easily  been  recorded  and  released  during  the  mid  80's  or  early  90's  while  some  of  the  tracks  also  bring  in  a  touch  of  black  metal  while  some  of  the  later  songs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  the  modern  guttural  vocals  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  they  also  bring  in  an  instrumental  and  close  the  demo  with  covers  of  Darkthrone's  "Cromlech"  and  Haemorrhage's  "Excavating  The  Illiac  Fossa".

  Psychopathologist  plays  a  very  old  school  style  of  extreme  metal  that  mixes  death  metal,  grindcore  and  thrash  together,  the production  sounds  very  old  school  yet  powerful  at  the  same  time  while  the  lyrics  cover  gore,  pathology  and  society.

  In  my  opinion  Psychopathologist  are  a  very  great  sounding  old  school  mixture  of  death  metal,  grindcore  and  thrash  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Necrophilliac  Love"  and  "Autopsist".  8  out  of  10.