Thursday, July 31, 2014

Azooma/A Hymn Of The Vicious Monster/Xtreem Music/2014 EP Review


  Azooma  are  a  band  from  Iran  that  plays  a  very  brutal  and  technical  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "A  Hymn  Of  The  Vicious  Monster"  which  was  released  in  2014  by  Xtreem  Music.

  A  dark  sounding  intro  along  with  acoustic  guitars  that  bring  in  a  Middle  Eastern  folk  music  sound  starts  off  the  ep  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  a  more  fast,  brutal  and  technical  death  metal  sound  along  with  a  mixture  of  growls  and  screams  and  the  band  also  brings  in  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  ep  have  a  sound  that  stands  out  on  their  own  and  they  also  add  a  decent  amount  of  melody  into  both  the  riffs  and  guitar  leads  and  a  good  portion  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  after  awhile  the  music  starts  going  for  more  of  a  progressive  death  metal  direction  while  also  remaining  brutal  and  the  same  time  and  you  can  also  hear  a  lot  of  early  90's  death  metal  influences  in  the  bands  musical  sound,.

  Melodic  vocals  and  clean  playing  can  be  heard  in  the  music  at  times  along  with  the  bass  guitars  becoming  a  lead  instrument  on  this  recording  and  the  band  also  adds  in  elements  of  jazz  music  into  their  brutal  and  technical  approach  to  death  metal  and  towards  the  end  middle  eastern  sounds and  tribal  drums  start  mixing  in  with  the  technical  death  metal  sound  while  they  take  over  on  the  outro

  Azooma  finds  the  perfect  balance  between  melody,  brutality  and  technicality  with  their  approach  to  death  metal  as  well  as  making  their  musical  style  sound  very  original,  the  production  has  a  very  professional  sound  while  the  lyrics  cover  philosophical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Azooma  are  a  very  great  sounding  progressive,  technical  and  brutal  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Self-Inflicted"  and  "Gyrocompass".  8  out  of  10.

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Act of Violence Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
1. Jesse: Well, we're the fucking mayhem, the sound of a crime scene, unprecedented evil. We kick ass bro..and if someone hurts your family or what not and you need to go on a killing spree for vengeance.. AOV is the kind of music you put on.. Haha.

2.Recently you have released your first album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the new recording?
2. Musical sound... It's heavy as fuck I know that for sure.. I guess if I have to put it in a box I'd say it's modern thrash metal mixed with death and groove metal. For sure yeah.. But the sound is unique though. We tell brutal tales of violence.. with all of our hearts

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with their music?
3. Roni: The subjects of the songs roughly come from real life situations more or less, but we try to find the right topics that goes with the mood of the songs. The main idea is still to keep the lyrics evil.
    Jesse:The same what Roni said... We keep it evil, but like... The way I see it when I'm writing down lyrics, I'm murdering the low life human shit stains in our world... For exsample the song "Suffer the Consequences".. there's a line that goes "no permission and you entered, you ended her adolescent life, but you didn't care and now you can never clean up the air". What I'm trying to say there is that I will cut a pedofiles throat open... and people can relate to that in a good, but in a fucking aggressive way.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Act of Violence'?
4. Roni: Theres no particular meaning behind the name, but the inspiration came from every event or someones doing you can imagine violent.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
5. Roni: I guess its safe to say in behalf of the band that THE best shows are yet to come and we are working on our live performance to be vibrant and entertaining to watch.
    Jesse: The best shows are YET to come indeed ! But it won't be clean.. It gets messy, I'm quite the charmer !

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
6. Jesse: Of course that's something that we want, but there's no plans.. We'll see what happens.. I mean we try.

7.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of extreme metal?
7. Roni: I dont think that the music has reached to a worldwide scale just yet, but the feedback has been really great this far.

8.Are the band members involved with any other musical projects or this a full time line up?
8. Jesse: Now I'm just speaking for myself, but I've been involved with this wicked, sort of gothic rockish hip-hop thing as long as I can remember. By the name of Jason Stone. I love everything I do musically.

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
9. Roni: We try to amend the music as a band and as an individual players so in the future it would sound more and more like us and as far as there is violence the will be topics for us write about.

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. Roni: the list of bands or musicans who have had an influence to us would be too long for us to write cos we all have our personal favorites etc.but the style of our music comes from various genres and we try to make it sound like     ours with a touch of groovy rhythms and brutal lyrics.
     Jesse: Exactly the same what Roni said, yes!

11.What are some of your non musical interests?
11. Jesse: Non musical interests... Pussy.. You know women in general haha.. BEER, whiskey and Chop Suey, I love that shit hahaha. These other fuckers like sports and that's why most of the time I don't know what the fuck they're talking about.

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
12. Jesse: FInal words... I'll strike you with a clishe! : This is just the beginning. "NO EIHĂ„ SE NY" ! AOV ! Thank you all!

Warlord U.K/We Die As One/Xtreem Music/2013 CD Review


  Warlord  U.K  are  a  band  from  the  United  Kingdom  that  plays  an  old  school  mixture  of  death  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  album  "We  Die  As  One"  which  was  released  by  Xtreem  Music.

  Dark  sounding  synths  start  off  the  album  giving  the  music  a  feeling  of  a  horror  movie  soundtrack  along  with  some  spoken  word  samples  and  after  the  intro  the  album  starts  going  into  a  more  heavy  death  metal  direction  along  with  some  growls  and  influences  from  thrash  which  leads  up  to  blast  beats  and  melody  being  added  into  the  bands  musical  style.

  After  awhile  the  band  starts  bringing  in  a  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  some  high  pitched  screams  and  spoken  word  samples  also  return  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording,  when  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  added  into  the  music  the  band  starts  having  a  more  80's  death/thrash  feeling  to  them.

  At  time s the  music  has  an  atmospheric  feeling  to  it  as  well  as  the  guitars  adding  in  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  on  this  recording  all  have  a  sound  that  stand  out  on  their  own  and  you  can  hear  a  ear  a  great  amount  of  influences   from  their  country  mates  throughout  this  recording  and  on  one  of  the  tracks  clean  playing  is  added  in  briefly  before  making  a  return  to  a  more  raw  and  heavy  direction  and  the  album  closes  with  an  atmospheric  sounding  outro  which  also  uses  a  small  amount  of  melodic  female  and  male  vocals.

  Warlord  U.K  sticks  to  an  English  style  of  mid  80's  to  early  90's  death  metal  throughout  the  recording  as  well  as  adding  in  a  good  amount  of  thrash   influences  as  well  as  still  sounding  heavy  after  all  of  these  years,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  fantasy  and  war  themes.    

  In  my  opinion  Warlord U.K  are  a  very  great  sounding  old  school  mixture  of  death  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Human  Inner  Core"  "Strength  Defeats  Decay"  and  "Knights  Of  The  Godless".  8  out  of  10.  

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Swashbuckle Interview



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

Admiral Nobeard:  We’ve been writing more songs for a new record as well as being fucking idiots and having as much fun as piratically possible.   We’re basically gearing up for the release of the EP as well as a small tour at the beginning of August.  Check our facebook bullshit for dates and updates and if you need a date, ladies.

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

AN:  It’s Swashbuckle.  Just faster, grindier, and more retarded than ever.  That’s basically the difference.  We write songs that we wanna write and listen to and that’s how it’s always been.  There are a lot more blastbeats and the tempos are through the roof.  

3.This is going to be the first release in 4 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on with the band during those years?

AN:  A few tours, some cruises, new member, being realistic as fuck.  We were all working and jamming with our other bands.  That’s pretty much it.  It’s not like we disappeared, we’ve just been busy at life.

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

AN:  Really? This question?   All the songs have to do with getting our degrees in Library Studies.  That and VCR repair.


5.I have noticed the band is labeled as 'pirate metal', can you tell us a little bit more about that tag and do you think pirates will ever be as well known in metal as the vikings or crusaders that have been  popping up in the scene over the years?

AN:  Running Wild has been around since the late 70s/Early 80s, so the pirate thing has been around much longer than the Viking fad. Sure, while only few select bands have tackled piracy, everyone and their mother writes about fucking vikings.  
We’re pirate metal in the sense that we have lyrical themes that relate to piracy.  Musically we’re a fucking crossover band who plays fast aggressive jams and we don’t give a fuck about key tars. Also, I don’t give a fuck if pirates are ever as overused and abused as the viking theme.  If it comes to that, good. Great.  Graynd. Wonderful. Who gives a flying fuck.


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?

AN:  The best shows we’ve played are all the ones where there’s no one in the crowd, or where we’re opening up for your favorite band and you’re extremely butt-hurt that we’re on the bill and wasting your precious time as you sit up front against the barricade texting your shithead friends.  Those always make for the best stage banter.
As for our stage performance, we kinda focus on not fucking up royally and having the best time we can possibly have.  Even if it’s at your expense.


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

AN:  We’ll be doing a short run with Nekrogoblikon and Rainbowdragoneyes from August 3rd to August 17th.  We’re hitting the north east US as well as a few shows in Canada, check our facebook page for details.

8.The new ep is going to be released on 'Get This Right Records', how did you get in contact with this label and how would you compare working with them to the other labels that you have been a part of in the past?

AN:  I’ve known Dave and John who run Get This Right Records for years.  They’re cool dudes chillin’, so I asked if they’d be interested in putting out the EP.  They said ‘FUCK YEAH!’ So now we’re releasing our 4 song bastard for all you muzak haters out there.  It’s not as serious as dealing with an entity like Nuclear Blast, but they still maintain a professional attitude and have been putting in the work to prove it.  Overall, I’m pretty satisfied with their results so far.

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your newer material by fans of death and thrash metal?

AN:  I have no idea.  The record comes out on August 5th.  I guess we’ll see the results then.   I’m sure if you were a fan of us before, you’ll like it.  If you fucking hated us before, you’ll probably fucking hate this. It’s 50/50.

10.What is going on with the other musical projects these days that some of the band members are involved with?

AN:  Legendary Pirate King Eric “The” Brown is still making wacky chiptune jams for Rainbowdragoneyes and does touring to chiptune communities as well as jaded metal kids.  Commodore Redrum and my other band Bottomfeeder are also releasing a full length record on Get This Right Records in the fall.  So fans of hardcore/metal will enjoy that hopefully.  My other band Helcaraxe is working on a new record now all about the Wheel of Time books, so that should be utterly nerdy, and I’ll be working on solo music as well as a new project in the following months.  If you follow Swashbuckle on facebook, you’ll be updated with all our on-going shit.

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

AN:  Once we finish writing and demoing songs, you can expect us to go record another full-length.  I’m not making promises or setting a time frame for it. When it’s done it’ll be fucking done and ready to go.  So show some fucking patience and you’ll get it when the gettin’s good, ya hear?!

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?

AN:  Paramore, Lana Del Ray, and N.W.A. have had a huge influence on this new EP.  You can totally hear it in all the tracks.  As for what we’ve been listening to lately, Hall and Oates.  Only Hall and Oates.

13.What are some of your non musical interests?

AN:  We’re a band full of fucking nerds, so obviously video games, comic books and Magic: The Gathering.  If you want to try and beat us at a show, best bring your A game.  We come bearing decks, dweebs.

14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
AN:  The only final thoughts I have involve John Tardy.  Other than that, check out the new ep entitled We Hate The Sea EP and come check us out on tour with Nekrogoblikon fromAugust 3rd through August 17th.  After that, send us love letters so we can make The Notebook 2: Gosling Harder.

Methedras 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?

Yep the new album, called System Subversion, has been recorded beginning of 2014, but not yet released as we're still searching a good label who'd like to print and distribute it (if interested pls contact our management, The Flaming Arts). We further realized a depraved scaring videoclip for the first album's song, Subversion, filmed in an old dismissed psychiatric institute near the Milan area where none should spent the night, believe me! you can check out a teaser of the video, widely spread few days ago, directly on our online pages. Then the band embarked into an Europen tour supporting great acts like the US thrash long-living legends Hirax, American young killer-combo Bonded By Blood and Chilean old-school thrash veterans Nuclear. This tour has been really a great one, letting us to play in such countries like Portugal, Spain and France, where we've never been before, full of crazy metalheads who hung out with us every single night after the shows.. and most of all, during this fifteen incredible days of touring along half Europe and driving for almost 10,000 kilometers, all the involved bands helped to create a strong and lasting friendship which will be the real legacy for such a memorable life's experience.


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

The new songs are literally more aggressive, faster and well-balanced, rather than our past stuff, offering to the listeners a varied mix of modern heavy thrash-core, spiced with the usual band-trademark death influences, which gave to the music something darker and groovier. Let me say we've been able to put together ten real killer songs which are composing the brand new album, foreseen to be released by the end of this year.


3.This is the first album to be released in 5 years, can you tell us a little bit more about the gap?

Well you're right, we took 5 years to realize System Subversion since 2009, when we released our previous album Katarsis under the Punishment 18 Records flag. I must be honest and tell you we're a slow band regarding the creative side of our music, this process is hard and long as in the Methedras style, but we believe to finally get the point using this as our standard.. most of all since we didn't have any contract or agreement forcing us to speed up our timeline, we decided to take the right amount of time to arrange everything in the perfect way, at least how we consider it in our vision, leaving nothing to the case.
On the top of all of this, please consider in the meanwhile we had to deal also with several line-up changes on the rhythm guitar, a rehearsal room moving and a couple of new births in the singer's and lead guitarist's families.. not bad at all that considering!


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

The lyrics are all written by Claudio, the singer, and are mainly about experiences he directly lives on his own skin everyday.. so we can consider 'em a kind of belief-extensions directly coming from his mind, outlining how he's used to analyze such political, cultural and lifetime subjects, viewed through his eyes and deformed by his apparent pessimism and nihilism, which instead lead to, if focused to a deeper level, an unwavering and immovable faith in the humankind and his capacity to always resurrect from his foundation, no matter how bad have been his actions, like a phoenix who recursively arises from its own ashes after being dead.


5.The band has been around since 1996, what is it that keeps you motivated to create music after all of these years?

Wow we really don't know ahaha, just kiddin.. I think we all are nowadays old fuckin dreamers who still cannot, or simply dont want to, accept their "institutionalized" lives as the Matrix, being also called society or welfare, would try to impose us. We're still here after 18 unrelenting years, because we've still something to shout out to the world.. we cannot still accept it, on how They would like us to see it.. we strongly still believe there's something more significant under the surface, more important and fate-related rather than "getting a job, a family, a fucking big television, a washing machine, a car, a compact disc..."


6.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name Methedras?

Oh this is the always-present question: the name of the band comes from the J. R. R. Tolkien masterpiece Lord Of The Rings, where it means the last peak of a group of mountains in the northern territories, a kind of pseudo-god who conveys concepts of pride, supremacy and solitude, which perfectly suited the average band's mood at the time of conception.


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

Our stage performances are absolutely hot and professional.. dont take me bad or self-centered, is's pretty two decades we've been playing around and we do know our job.. moreover we've a great sound tech who's able to solve every issue and pull a blast of a sound out of even the worst crappy mixer or sound board.. could tell about lots of great shows supporting big names around Europe, but I prefer to remember those more intimate and personal gigs which constantly give me the strength to continue over and over.. in example few years ago we met a guy in the south if Italy who got in love with us in such a way during a gig that he decided at the end of the show to follow us the day after for another one leaving in the night and travelling more than 150 kilometers alone.. or remember a special fan of ours, a disabled guy forced to live on a wheelchair, who tries to attend our shows every time he’s able to find someone who can take care of him with transport and logistic, he’s name is Samu, we simply love and respect him for his great and incredible passion for life!


8.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new release?

Yeah of course, as said before, we did an European tour in April/May with Hirax, BBB and Nuclear already presenting the new songs live and announcing the forecoming of the new album later during the year.. we're now engaged in a couple of imminent summer fests to officially present System Subversion, Metal Crowd in Belarus on 16th of August, headlined by Hate, and Malta Death Fest in Malta on 6th of September with our bros Hour Of Penance hadlining.. moreover during the next fall, we should take also part to the "Sentencing Europe Tour", supposed to happen end of November and beginning of December, and directly supporting the mighty US thrash-death maniacs Solstice from Florida, for the first time appearing in Europe.


9.The new release was self released, are you open to working with another record label again in the future?

Yes for sure.. we dont have just self-released System Subversion, we simply recorded and produced it because we wanted to keep any creative process under a strict control and we wanted it exactly as it has actually come.. but we'd like to now find a good label seriously interested in printing, distributing and promoting it.. we want it to be spread out there in the best way, this step is only a pre-release promo campaign run, nothing more nothing less.


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

Well at the moment is too much early to anaylize any kind of feedback, the new album is still in a pre-release step, and has been kick started literally few days ago, so the time spent has been really too short in order to reply to this question.. what I can say is that a couple of reviews already arrived and they seem to be very optimistic and enthusiastic.. the most part, pretty everyone, of media and music biz related people in Italy who have had the possibility to listen to it, tell this is our best album, with killing, fast and very exciting songs in the name and spirit of the best thrash-death metal around, worldwide speaking... so let's see what will happen in the nearly future and how many positive feedback will come in!


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

Yep we have Daniele, the drummer, involved in many other bands and side projects, like Anticlockwise, prog heavy, Penthagon, prog thrash, and Fosch, black metal.. furthermore we have, since a year, a side guitar player, named Dani, who is fulfilling all the guitar duties on behalf of Eros, our official guitar player and author of the most songs of our entire production, lastly busy due to his job and father committments.. Dani also plays in different other bands, the most relevant of them is Thunderage, prog hard rock.


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

Ten years ago we imagined Methedras still on the road betting to gain a place on stage just a step behind heavy metal legends like Testament, Overkill, Exodus, Destruction, Entombed, Dismember, The Haunted, Onslaught and many others.. well, we won that bet ‘cause we really did it, and all of them teached us the real meaning of the music we love: blood, sweat and passion, ever! we learned that lesson (in violence ahahah) and we kept it as a way of life, everyday, on and off the stage.. so, openly speaking, within ten years from now, we'd love to imagine the same thing but at an even bigger level.. let's dream again for such a long time and who knows? maybe we'll win also this one ;)


13.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?

I think our influences are everything is rock and heavy, ‘cause our background is right that.. We love thrash and death metal, of course, but we also do listen from hard rock to grind and brutal, we have no kind of musical prejudice, for example we're actually attracted by the industrial side of some of the new stuff written.. we are in "experimental mode on" right now, and cannot say at the moment where this will end up, for us it’s enough to be free to create, without mental chains.. by the way let me say everything that comes from the american bay-area of the early '80s, being inspired by such big bands like Testament, Megadeth, Exodus, Slayer and many others, then we grew year by year opening our minds to a more specific North-European death metal attitude, trying to mix in our sound these two different and typical metal stream.


14.What are some of your non musical interests?

Good one this one: we all have several other interests outside the metal musical scene.. personally speaking, I like IT, photography and video-making and most of all travelling around the world, in particular to the South-Est Asia and Center-America.. other band members love football, cooking (and drinking a lot too!!) and martial-arts competitions, being also professional instructors and former agonists.


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

Thanks so much for this interview and your time to read it, we hope to see you all at our next live events truly supporting what is the most important thing: the real metal attitude.. we exist because of you, thank to all of you out there!!



Band email: contact@methedras.com
Management: jon@theflamingarts.eu

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Phobiatic/Fragments Of Flagrancy/Unundeux/2014 CD Review


  Phobiatic  are  a  band  from  Germany  that  plays  a  very  brutal  and  technical  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Fragments  Of  Flagtancy"  which  was  released  by  Unundeux.

  A  very  technical  and  brutal  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  fast  riffs,  guitar  leads,  blast  beats  and  deep  growls  and  they  also  bring  in  a  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  they  demonstrate  a  great  amount  of  talent  and  skills  on  their  instruments.

  High  pitched  screams  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  small  amounts  of  melodies  being  added  into  their  musical  sound  at  times  and  there  is  also  a  good  balance  between  brutality  and  technicality  and  they  keep  there  songs  very  short  with  the  average  one  being  over  3  minutes  and  they  calm  down  a  bit  on  the  5th  track  and  add  some  progressive  elements  into  their  musical  sound  before  returning  back  to  a  brutal  direction  on  the  following  tracks  as  well  as  adding  in  an  old  school  death  metal  influence  and  they  close  the  album  with  an  instrumental.

  Phobiatic  play  a  very  brutal  style  of  technical death  metal  and  while  there  is  not  much  in  the  way  of  originality  present  on  the  recording  the  musicians  still  show  a  great  amount  and  skill  throughout  all  of  the  songs,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  violent  and  philosophical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Phobiatic  are  a  very  decent  sounding  brutal  and  technical  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Downward  Spiral"  "House  In  Cleveland"  "Suitable  Method"  and  "Metropolis  (Of  The  Dead)".  7/5  out  of  10.     

Swashbuckle/We Hate The Sea/Get This Right Records/2014 EP Review


  Swashbuckle  are  a  band  from  New  Jersey  that  plays  a  mixture  of  death  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  ep  "We  Hate  The  Sea"  which  will  be  released  in  August  by  Get  This  Right  Records.

  A  very  old  school  thrash  metal  sound  starts  off  the  ep  along  with  some  aggressive  screams  and  growls  that  are  closer  to  early   death  metal  and  they  also  add  in  blast  beats  and  synths  and  they  also  bring  in  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  On  the  second  track  the  music  starts  getting  a  lot  more  heavier  with  the  sound  of  mid  80's  death  metal  but  still  a  lot  more  closer  to  thrash  and  they  also  bring  in  back  up  gang  shouts  and  the  energy  of  punk  rock  and  crossover  and  the  only  thing  modern  about  their  sound  is  the  way  the  music  is  produced..  

  Swashbuckle  play  a  very  fast  and  aggressive  form  of  thrash  that  also  has  the  heaviness,  growls  and  screams  of  early  death  metal  and  they  always  manage  to  keep  everything  sound  heavy,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  pirates  and  humorous  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Swashbuckle  are  a  very  great  sounding  death/thrash  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE    "Beer  Goggles"  and  "Slaughter  Upon  International  Waters".  8  out  of  10.

   

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Methedras/System Subversion/2014 CD Review


  Methedras  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  a  mixture  of  death  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2014  album  "System  Subversion".

  Dark  sounding  synths  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  more  heavy  progressive  metal  direction  along  with  some  death  metal  growls  and  the  music  starts  to  speed  up  a  bit  along  with  some  blast  beats  and  the  slow  parts  bring  in  elements  of  groove  along  with  the  band  bringing  in  a  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

  Vocals  combine  groove  and  death  metal  together  and  they  also  have  a  melodic  tone  to  them  at  times  and  the  band  has  a  more  modern  day  thrash  sound  to  them  and  the  leads  and  solos  they  use  are  in  a  melodic  and  technical  direction  while  they  also  have  their  aggressive  old  school  thrash  metal  moments  and  after  awhile  traces  of  electronic  music  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording.

  You  can  hear  quite  a  bit  of  the  early  90's  death/thrash  metal  in  the  bands  musical  style  and  as  the  album  progresses  the  bass  guitars  start  dominating  certain  sections  of  the  songs  along  with  some  high  pitched  screams  that  are  closer  to  the  more  aggressive  side  of  thrash  and  there  is  a  great  amount  of  diversity  to  be  heard  in  the  bands  musical  sound.

  Methedras  creates  a  very  interesting  sounding  with  their  music  combining  both  old  school  and  modern  thrash  together  as  well  as  bringing  the  melody  of  groove  metal  and  the  heaviness  of  death  metal  into  their  musical  sound,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  political  and  real  life  situations.

  In  my  opinion  Methedras  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  death,  thrash  and  groove  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Subversion"  "Deathocracy"  "Shit  happens"  and  "Blood,  Oil,  &  Vengeance".  8  out  of  10.

    

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Almost Human/0/2014 EP Review


  Almost  Human  are  a  band  from  Switzerland  that  plays  a  mixture  of  death,  thrash  and  modern  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2014  ep  "0".

  Electronic  music  sounds  start  off  the  ep  along  with  some  melodic  clean  singing  vocals  before  adding  in  some  heavy  guitars  which  leads  to  a  more  groove  metal  style  direction  which  leads  up  to  some  aggressive  vocals  which  use  both  growls  and  screams  and  the  band  also  adds  in  some  nu,  modern  and  alternative  metal  elements  into  their  musical  sound.

  The  guitar  riffing  brings  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody  into  the  songs  and  after  awhile  blast  beats  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  some  clean  playing  being  utilized  at  times  and  as  the  ep  progresses  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts  are  brought  into the  music  briefly  before  returning  back  to  a  heavier  direction.

  Almost  Human  plays  a  very  modern  and  mainstream  form  of  extreme  metal  that  brings  in  some  of  the  death  metal  heaviness  to  give  it  an  edge  and  while  it  is  not  a  style  I  listen  to  on  a  regular  basis  I  feel  this  band  is  good  at  what  they  are  doing,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  scientific  and  philosophical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Almost  Human  are  a  very  decent  sounding  mixture  of  modern,  thrash  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Morning  Star"  and  "Each  Of  Us".  7  out  of  10.    

  

Bloody Harvest/Abstinence Syndrome/Metal Scrap Records/2014 CD Review


  Bloody  Harvest  are  a  band  from  Ukraine  that  plays  an  old  school  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Abstinence  Syndrome"  which  was  released  by  Metal  Scrap  Records.

  An  early  90's  style  death  metal  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  powerful  sounding  bass  guitars  and  then  the  music  starts  adding  in  blast  beats  and  growls  and  they  also  add  in  some  brutality  at  times  and  after  awhile  the  band  starts  adding  in  some  dark  sounding  melodies  and  guitar  leads.

  High  pitched  screams  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  there  are  also  some  riffs  that  bring  a  thrash  metal  feeling  to  the  music  and  the  band  also  brings  in  a  great  mixture  of  East  Coast,  Florida  and  Swedish  death  metal  elements  into  their  musical  sound  and  they  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  raw  aggression  into  all  of  the  songs  that  are  present  on  the  recording  and  the  last  track  also  sees  the  band  adding  in  some  slam  death  metal  elements.

  Bloody  Harvest  remains  true  to  an  old  school  death  metal  direction  from  beginning  to  end  of  the  album  and  while  there  is  no  originality  in  their  music  they  still  show  that  they  knew  their  death  metal  very  well,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Bloody  Harvest  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  "Pandemia"  "Smile  Of  The  Beast"  and  "The  Last  Revelation".  8  out  of  10.        

Act Of Violence/Self Titled/Inverse Record/2014 CD Review

 
  Act  Of  Violence  are  a  band  from  Finland  that  plays  a  modern  day  form  of  thrash  metal  with  elements  of  death  and  groove  metal    and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2014  album  which  was  released  by  Inverse  Records.

  An  intro  with  clean  playing  starts  off  the  album  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  a  more  modern  and  heavy  sounding  thrash  metal  direction  along  with  some  aggressive  vocals  and  some  old  school  thrash  metal  elements  and  the  band  also  uses  some  growls  and  screams  that  border  on  death  metal  along  with  some  blast  beats.

  You  can  also  hear  a  good  amount  of  melody  in  the  bands  musical  sound  and  the  lead  guitars  are  very  aggressive  sounding  80's  extreme  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads  along  with  elements  of  groove  metal  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  along  with  a  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  as  the  album  progresses  back  up  gang  shouts  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  which  also  bring  in  a  hardcore  influence..  .

  Act  Of  Violence  takes  a  very  modern  day  style  of  thrash  and  mixes  with  the  more  old  school  variation  of  this  genre  along  with  element s of  groove  metal  and  hardcore  as  well  as  the  heaviness  of  death  metal  to  create  the  sound  that is  present  on  this  recording,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  violent  and  hateful  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Act  of  Violence  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  thrash,  groove,  death  metal  and  hardcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Crack  of  Dawn"  "S.O.B"  "Unprecedented  Evil"  and  "Act  Of  Violence".  8  out  of  10.  

Grace Disgraced 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?

After we recorded the second album, we were invited to take part in compilation “Russian Death Metal” and we agreed with pleasure. Our new composition “She Smells Death” was included in this compilation and Grace Disgraced played as headliners on the presentation of this compilation in Krasnodar.
The most significant change is our drummer. We had to say Good-bye to Andrey Ischenko due to his merciless occupation with other projects and Arkona in particular. So we invited Vladimir Lyashkov, who is our current drummer. We had some rehearsals with him and he turned out to be a very skillful guy, which was later confirmed on our live shows. Nowadays we are working on our third album altogether, but it is yet another story.

2.Your new album was released at the end of April, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical direction the band has taken with the newer music and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

As you might have already noticed, the style and the mood of our new album is a bit different from “Enthrallment Traced”. Although you could see the same structure of the album, the same way of expression and the same approach to conception, but the compositions on the new album have become more complex and more monumental. They have become longer. Now there are more melodic and detached moments, more philosophy and more sadness. The music have become more severe. Not brutal, but cruel, cold, yet sophisticated. This album really expresses the state of our feelings now.


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

I always tried to express something human and touching with my lyrics – to explore human sufferings, the depths of our souls and minds. The second album is stick to some general female image, to different women’s hypostasis so to say. But you’re wrong if you think that’s it is some sort of soap opera. Vice versa, you will see quite usual things and phenomena, but from another angle. For example, what could be more common than natural ageing? But what could be more scarring at the same time, especially for women who are crazy about their beauty. I also give some freedom to my philosophical thoughts here in regards to creation and creativity, human motivation and fears, social disparity. So here are the main subjects, I suppose.

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

This strange combination means that to become disgraced you need first to be a grace. And what made me love these words is the endless variety of their literal interpretation. These were the main reasons why I chose this very name for my band in distant 2004.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?
The most remarkable live show was in August 2010 at Metal Heads’ Mission Festival in Crimea. And what makes me recall this gig with shivers is the unbearable heat on stage. The sun was shining right at our faces and we thought we were going to be burnt alive with it. But, fortunately, all went well and we managed to represent a decent performance. And what pleasure it was to be welcomed by our new fans near the stage after the show, who brought cool beer to us! Actually, I could say that that shows bring more impressions namely which are held out of our native city. As for our performance, there are nothing supernatural. We are metalheads just like you and we just try to give our music some energetic impulse during live shows, to put our souls into it while playing.

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

The presentation for this album took place on 7 June in Moscow, then we afforded to go to 2 weeks holiday and now we are busy booking some dates in September in Europe in order to support our new album there.


7.The last 3 releases where released on More Hate Productions, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

More Hate Productions is an iconic underground metal label in Russia. It is active for 15 years and it pleases metal fans with new releases on a regular base. The main course of More Hate is promotion of young and talented bands. They release only good stuff, what they would listen to as metal-lovers. So they do not chase commercial profit. I could say that this label is the true one. Moreover, Aleksandr Kantemirov, the label manager is very pleasant to work with!

8.Recently the band was a part of a compilation released by Darknagar Records, do you feel being a part of this album helped you gain more fans?

It was a real pleasure for us to take part in RUSSIAN DEATH METAL Compilation, the artwork and the management were at a very high level there. Yes, it helped us to find new fans and to promote our new work, as all the material, represented in the compilation was fresh at the time, i.e, it hadn’t been released somewhere else. The exclusiveness of material was the main demand to the bands. Some reviewers noted that Grace Disgraced was a pearl in this compilation and we are happy to realize this. What is more, we are happy to be a part of such a splendid release. The interest for this release was very high! By the way Grace Disgraced played as headliners on the compilation presentation in January 2014 in Krasnodar.

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

Right now we can feel the growing interest to our new material from all over the world. A lot of reviews have already appeared and the majority of them are positive. The greatest amount of reviews comes from Europe and we have received some orders from USA and from Japan. That’s really great  - that increasing popularity in the underground, particularly taking into account, that our music is somehow difficult for perception, like some critics say. I think that it is the result of our work, that such a modest formation as ours could achieve this level of popularity. And I hope, that the level will be higher and higher!

10.What is going on with the other musical projects these days that some of the band members are involved with?

Personally I am involved only in FLASH OF AGGRESSION – a project, created by Andrey Smirnov (UDO, EVERLOST) and other guys from EVERLOST. We recorded an album which was released last autumn by CD-Maximum and filmed a video-clip for “Paper God” – a song from this album. Now we are all occupied with our main bands, so the project is not the priority for each of us. And our bass player – Andrey Andreev is a member of 2 active bands – GUNSHOT BRIDE, who released their album recently, and PIG BOYZ BRU, who have regular rehearsals.  

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

Let’s wait and see. What is going on with GRACE DISGRACED now is the result of our natural progress and development. We do not hinder it, or artificially procrastinate it, do not try to make a dirty sound in the name of old school or something. We nurture our talents in freedom and what we play is what we are. I can tell you that the third album is already being created and it will be what we want, but not what the rules or the trends dictate.

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?

Band which influenced us most of all are from 1980 – 90-s. And we still love to listen to them. I like some modern bands too and I like to find some new names in the underground scene, but as we all know first impressions are the strongest ones, so if we speak about real influence, we speak about bands we listened to in our childhood.

13.What are some of your non musical interests?

I love sporting activities – I go to gym and to swimming pool and I try to use each opportunity to play some active games with my friends. Aleksandr has even closer relations with sport because he is a professional wrestler. Besides, we are fond of reading and partying with friends – everything in moderation.

14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Yes. We would like to thank all our fans for their support and for believing in us. Metal is something that unites people and we are happy that we could share our passion with all of you. Stay true!