Ignea 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?

First of all, we sent the pre-orders :) Album release, especially if it’s first release in the life of band, is very thrilling and nervous, so first few days we just watched the response. Now we are getting ready for some shows and rehearsing the new material.

2.Recently you have released a new album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?

Overall it is just modern metal sound. Although metal music is really an old thing now, it still evolves, and using some ‘start-of-the-art’ sound techniques is what we really feel like more than providing your ears with just a sole downtuned aggressive palm-muted chunky chuggage :D Punchy drum grooves on a basic kit, heavily distorted bass, gainy guitars, synths, sequencers — all are here, but you still can hear lots of folk instruments, that are almost impossible to hear in modern metal.

3.Some of your lyrics cover science fiction, religions and politics, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in these topics?

Well, you might call them just generic metal lyrics, haha! Basically, we just sing about things we have something to say about, so all our lyrics are not empty wordsets, and we are really proud of them.

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

Ignea is feminine of ‘fiery’ or ‘in flames’ in latin. Fiery is one of the epithets all bands would love to hear about them, and we just say ourselves that we really burn it, don’t we?

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

Well, there are not a lot of things to talk about here, as we play live really infrequently. This is our own decision: first, we don’t want to bore people with ourselves, so we have a rule not to play a show more than once a year in one city; second, we really care about our sound, so we have a consistent rider which can’t be provided in lots of Ukrainian venues. As for ourselves… we nail the material for sure, but we still have to learn a lot I think. At least I’m not shy to say so.

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

Sure, we plan to do a bunch of shows in Ukraine, then play on some few summer festivals, and we also work on some European dates, but we can’t say anything about them yet.

7.On the album you had also done a cover of Ultra Sheriff's "Leviathan', what was the decision behind doing your own version of this song?

It’s a funny story, actually. This concept born precisely on the day we got our cat Leviathan (you could see him in the end of guitar playthrough of Halves Rupture). I just wanted to post his cute photo on my VK.com page with any song called Leviathan, so I just stumbled upon this one and thought about how it would sound with metal arrangement. Now we all know!

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

It is absolutely stunning! We are a small band somewhere on outskirts of Europe, and we are really amazed about people getting to know us from all those distant places.

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

We don’t have a lantern to light our path. We don’t owe anything to anyone musically, and we are absolutely free to do what we feel like. If we’ll want to have a song with ukrainian lyrics — we’ll do it, if we’ll want to cover Snoop Dogg — we’ll do it, if we’ll ever feel like doing a drone ambient album — we’ll do it for sure.

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?

We all listen to different things and use all those elements in our music if they really fit. I personally listen everything from turkish pop and ukrainian underground techno scene to things like contemporary prog rock from southern UK (Black
Peaks, Toska, Heck, Arcane Roots, all that stuff). Helle really loves a lot of pop singers, Dmitri listens to classical music and some really aggressive metal things, Ivan is a metalcore fan, Xander loves, well… he’s a bass player, OK. The most funny point of it is that we are absolutely not influenced by any of the bands people love to compare us to in youtube comments. Nope, neither Lacuna Coil, nor Epica, nor Nightwish. We listen to them a bit, but nah.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

I’m a big fan of sustainable transportation and green electricity, I also love to cook, Xander is a gamer and LARP player, Helle’s into marketing and stunning-looking outfits (usually they are on Pinterest only), she also watches tons of weird movies I don’t understand, Dmitri is actually a professional classical pianist and organist, Ivan is a party man. We all are completely different, and I think this is a key to writing interesting music.

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

We are very open people, and we’d love to know people from all over the world, and playing in a band is a big opportunity for us. We are not signed to a label (and we don’t want to be), so the best promotion we have are you people. Just share something with other guys, show us to your friends, and make us happier with our ever-growing listeners family, and we’ll make you happier with more good music and emotions in return. See you on the road, hopefully!

Dark Phantom 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?
1. Since We've Recorded The Album We've Been Playing Small Gigs Writing New Songs and Collecting New Ideas For a New Album.

2.In 2016 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 ep you had released in 2013?
2. Back In 2013 We We're Playing Much Softer Music Than What We Play Now and Didn't Have Much Knowledge On Recording, But Our New Album Is Far Better and More Powerful and It Is The Sound That We Wanna Put Out There.

3.In the beginning the band was more of a traditional metal style but over the years you have evolved into more of a death/thrash direction, what was the decision behind going into this direction?
3. When Two Members Changed In Dark Phantom We Talked About Everything And What To Do For The Sound of the Band and We Agreed on Playing Heavier and Stronger Eventually Our Sound Became Thrash/Death Metal.

4.The band has been around since 2007 but so far has only put out 2 releases, can you tell us a little bit more about the gap in between releases?
4. Due to the Situation of Our Country the War and Terrorism We Were Not Free To Do As We Want, We Had to Stay Low just Not Be Called Satanist or Kafr and Be Killed, The Situation Is Still Somehow As It Was Just a Little Better, So Much For Us To Take The Risk and Get Out There and Do Out Music.

5.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?
5. As The Main Lyrical Theme for Dark Phantom is Political and Anti-Religion It Will Stay The Same Only We'll Introduce Words from Our Native Languages (Kurdish, Turkmen and Arabic).

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would  you describe your stage performance?
6. Every Show We've Played Lately Has Been Great But For The Best It Has To The One We Played Feb2017 in Hawler It Had a Great Turn Out and It Was Full of Energy and Headbanging.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
7. We're Currently Plays In The Neighbor Cities But We're Planning on Going To Turkey and Do a Small Tour There.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death and thrash metal?
8. The Feedback Has Been Great We'd Like To Thank Everyone Who Has Been Supportive of Us.

9.Are any of the band members currently involved with any other bands or musical projects these days?
9. Yes Two of Us Has Their Own Solo Projects and They Also Have Albums Available on Youtube, Mir Our Vocalist and Rebeen Our Lead Guitarist, Under the Names of:
Cyaxares, Mir
Rebeen Dark, Rebeen

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during  the future?
10. For the iraqi future its so hard to expect if we was in Europe or Usa it was better cuz here even we make music for free free concerts transfer too another city by our coast a lot of people they think its satan work you cant imagine how they think

11.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?
11. We Listen To Lots of Band Almost Every Band But The Ones That Inspire Us To Do What We Do Are: Metallica, Slayer, Behemoth and Lamb of God.

12.How would you describe the metal scene in your home country of Iraq?
12. There isn't Much Metal In Our Country Most Hasn't Even Heard of Such Music But We're Trying to Enlighten People and Hopefully More and More Will Join the Scene.

13.What are some of your non musical interests?
13. We are also fan of old school metal music like Metallica Slayer but we listen to modern too to bring some new ideas mixing both together

14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
14.We just want to present our music our message to people to all around the world to here is a metal band in iraq working hardly just for love music and we are also dreaming to make shows in different countries that's not impossible but we need support from the west before than our people cuz we know almost of them they hate us cuz western people they will know how its hard to make metal music in a place that they dont whats the music

Ignea/The Sign Of Faith/2017 Full Length Review

  Ignea  are  a  band  from  Ukraine  that  plays  a  very  symphonic  and  progressive  form  of  oriental  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2017  album  "The  Sign  Of  Faith".

  Oriental  style  acoustic  guitars  start  off  the  album  and  they  also  mix  in  with  the  heavier  sections  of  the  recording  and  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  prog metal  elements and  tribal  style  beats  are  also  used  at  times  while  the  female  vocals  gives  the  songs  more  of  an  exotic  feeling  and  death  metal  growls  are  also  used  quite  a  bit.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  songs  also  mix  in  a  great  amount  of  symphonic  elements  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  while  influences  of  thrash  are  also  added  into  some  of  the  guitar  riffing  and  when  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  and  middle  eastern  style  folk  instruments  are  also  added  onto  some  of  the  tracks  along  with  a  couple  that  are  also  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  spoken  word  parts  are  also  used  briefly  and they  also  bring  in  a  cover  of  Ultra  Sheriff's  "How  I  Hate  The  Night".

  Ignea  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  oriental  folk  music,  symphonic,  progressive  and  death  metal  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of t heir  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  Zorastarian,  Science  Fiction  and  political  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Ignea  are  a  very  great  sounding  symphonic  and  progressive  oriental  metal  band  and  if  you  are  looking  for  something  very  original,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Alexandria"  "Jahi"  "Alga"  and  "Leviathan".  8  out  of  10.

  

  

 

Monsterworks/Alternatum/Eat, Lead And Die Muisc/2017 CD Review

  New  Zealand's  Monsterworks have  returned  with  a  new  recording  that  continues  the  death,  thrash,  power  and  progressive  metal  mixture  of  previous  releases  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Alternatum"  which  was  released  by  Eat,  Lead  And  Die  Music.

  Atmospheric  sounds  along  with  some  melodic  guitar riffing  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  heavier  riffs  a  few  seconds  later  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  use  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard.

  When  clean  and  acoustic  guitars  are  utilized  they  give  the  music  more of  a  progressive  feeling  and  after  awhile  aggressive  vocals  along  with  some  power  metal  touches  are  added  onto  the  recording  and  growls  are  also  utilized  at  times and  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  some  songs  also  add  in  elements  of  classic  rock  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

  Monsterworks  creates  another  recording  that  remains  true  to  the  progressive  and  atmospheric  mixture  of  death,  thrash  and power  metal  from  previous  releases,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  philosophical  and  scientific  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Monsterworks  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  death,  thrash,  power,  and  progressive  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Oracle"  and  "Divergence".  8  out  of 10.

Riftwalker Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
Zan: Were an extreme metal band from Vancouver BC. Trying to aim for a different sound and image.
Miles:  We started in ournteenage years with just our drummer (zan) and our guitarist (miles), with a few comings and goings. This is our first band, and our mission has always been about technical, proggy extreme metal.
Spencer:The band was started way back in 2009 in Vancouver, BC. We were all very young when we started ( I was 13 when the band started) and kind of honed our skills with this project. We released one EP/demo in 2013 ,played a bunch of local gigs, and recorded the
 debut album... and here we are now

2.How would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recordings?
Zan:Our sound is definitely very heavy with death and thrash influences but a lot of our influences come from outside metal which contributes to our overall sound.
Miles: A bunch of radically different elements
 evenly represented. I like to think of it as an experiment in everything from death/thrash metal to proggy psych rock
Spencer:The songs on the green and black album tend to jump around stylistically a bit, but I would describe us as either progressive death metal or extreme metal. Ripping guitar solos, crushing drums, defined bass, and brutal
 vocals!

3.The band has been around since 2009 but so far has only released one ep and one full length, can you tell us a little bit more about the gaps in between  releases?
Zan:
. In 2009 I bought my very first drum kit and started to learn. I met Miles few months later. We jammed in my buildings garage and began writing our song "Beyond" and we found Spencer a year later which completed our sound. It took a few years to write and develop the ability to perform the songs well, Which is why there is a gap between releases
Miles: We went through a great number of setbacks due to (now) former members, and trying to get good enough to make music we were proud of.
 Riftwalker is every members first band.
Spencer:From 2009 to the release of the EP/demo recording "wreckage of the old world" we spent a lot of time practicing recording, and re recording that demo. I think we recorded 3 full different versions of it. We also spent almost a year without a jam
 space. After we released the EP we played a bunch of shows and got used to gigging regularly, and then we jumped into the studio to record "green and black". The album was recorded about 2 years ago; we were holding onto the tracks waiting to make the release
 monumental, and the reception so far has been really good.

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
Zan: Lyric topics are all varied song to song and have relevence to our typical struggle through life through many different perspectives.
Miles: Themes include the nature of the universe, the afterlife, social dysfunction, birth defects, blowing yourself up making drugs in your house, the list goes on.
Spencer: cliche as it sounds a lot of it has to do with life and death. Some songs deal with hypnotism, nature, and one song in particular harlequin ichthyosis is about the terrible skin defect.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Riftwalker'?
Zan:. Riftwalker means "who who walks through dimensions" and we were inspired by this concept because there were many themes we could explore
Miles: It represents the variety in our songwriting. Likecrossing the rift between different planes if existence, we cross between radically different sections within (most of) our songs
Spencer: Riftwalker- one who walks between dimensions. The album cover captures the bands name fairly well. On the cover the Riftwalker is seen transcending from a heaven to a hell, walking between dimensions towards an unknown fate

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?
Zan:We've opened for some big bands such as Archspire, Fallujah, Abiotic, and Benighted. Our performance is very energetic on stage and we tend to give it our all. We constantly are evolving our image.
Miles: Our best was probably opening for Benighted (france) or Abiotic (usa) at local shows. Our stage performance is always changing,so stay tuned for live videos in the near future.
Spencer:Over the years we have had the pleasure of opening for some great acts such as, abiotic, archspire, benighted, and fallujah. Our stage show is aiming to be up front yet have an element of theatrics and mystery about it

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
Zan: Our Cd release show is on January 28th in Vancouver, were hoping by the end of the year to be on the road.
Miles: Too many. We are collecting ourselves, and improving/ changing our stage performance. We are putting more into this band than anything else in our lives.
Spencer: We plan to tour around Canada and play some festivals this summer and havea cd release show coming up on January 27th in our hometown of Vancouver

8.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
Zan: We have been self funding everything so far. Our goal is to keep pushing as much as we can on our own unless we can arrange a good deal with either one of our favorite labels.
Miles: For now we are not looking for a label, and we are trying to get the message across that we can be self sufficient and succesful without aid.
Spencer:f a established label approached us we would definitely consider it but as of right now we aren't actively looking.

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of progressive and extreme metal?
Zan:9 Our support has been been overwhelming from all over. We have some decent international support from the start which we are grateful for.
Miles: 's been so cool to see people all over the world with a passion for the same thing as us; who like our music. There is aost nothing more validating.
Spencer: So far the feedback for our album has been amazing. We receivedmany kind words from people all over the world, metal injection did a write up on us and featured us in their best of 2016, as did tech death time. We have also sold merch to people as far as Russia!

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
Zan: Its hard to say where our sound will be in the future, we are very comfortable with our formula for writing and our new material is definitely more of an evolution of our exisiting sound.
Miles:  We are continuing to experiment blending extreme metal elements with the other music we listen to. It does seem, however that we are going in a more "death metal" direction.
Spencer: We already have another full length completely finished.
 Just have yet to record it. The songs are still along the same lines of the ones on the green and black album except for the fact that they are a lot more concise and in my opinion a lot heavier.

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?
Zan:. Beyond Creation, Psycroptic and decapitated are a few bands that we really draw from. We also listen to alot of jazz/fusion, funk, progressive music. These days im listening to alot of snarky puppy and vulfpeck.
Miles: Lots of funk and disco is going down in our ears these days. Still tons of tech death too. I'd say Psycroptic, Ministry Obscura, and beyond creation influence our metal side a great deal.
Spencer:Quo Vadis, beyond creation, dying fetus, psycroptic, the
 black dahlia murder, type o negative, victor wooten, Marcus miller, wretched, the offspring, woods of Ypres, death, SRV, atheist, etc, were all huge influences to me. Recently I've been listening to tons of leprous, vulfpeck, wastewalker, alterbeast, abominable putridity, and the human abstract just to name a few.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?
Zan: As a band we like to spend a lot of time outdoors.
Miles: We all play in at least 3 bands and work. There is not much room for anything outside of music and celebrating to be honest. But we have time for movies, Drinking, and general fuck-goofery
Spencer:I like to longboard. Downhill skateboarding is something I've been doing for a long time, I just love the rush that it gives when you are soaring down the road at 60K+. Other then that not too much,I play in 2 other bands so a lot of my time is divided amongst projects and practicing bass at home for my aspirations of going to music school.

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Zan: Were really excited to keep pushing forward, we have a lot of content in the works. Stay tuned to our facebook for all details. Thanks!
Miles: We are excited to see the direction that extreme metal is going these days. We hope for nothing more than being able to contribute to the same music movement that got us all through so many hard times. Cheers
Spencer:hank you, thanks to the fans, and I hope to meet and play for everyone and anyone who has taken the time to  read this!

Burn Damage/Age Of Vultures/Raging Planet/2017 CD Review

  Burn  Damage  are  a  band  from  Portugal  that  plays  a  mixture  of  death,  groove,  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017 album  "Age  Of  Vultures"  which  was  released  by  Raging  Planet.

  Dark  soundscapes  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  clean  guitars  a  few  seconds  later  as  well  as  a  small  amount  of  spoken  word  samples  before  going  into  a  heavier  direction  which  also  introduces  death  metal  growls  onto  the  recording  along  with  screams  also  being  utilized  at  times  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  blast  beats  can  be  heard.

  Elements  of  thrash  and  groove  metal  can  be  heard  in  the  guitar  riffing  and  the  riffs  also  use  a  decent  amount  of  melody  along  with  the  songs  also  bringing  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and guitar  solos  and  leads  are  only  used  briefly  while  a  later  tracks  brings  in  a  small  amount  of  acoustic  guitars.

  Burn  Damage  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  death,  groove  and  thrash  metal  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Burn  Damage  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  death,  groove  and  thrash  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Age  Of  Vultures"  "Four  Little  Pigs"  and  "Beyond  Good  And  Evil".  8  out  of  10.

Dark Phantom/Nation Of Dogs/Symbol Of Domination Productions/United By Chaos/2016 CD Review

  Dark  Phantom  are  a  band  from  Iraq  that  plays  a  mixture  of  death  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review of  their  2016  album  "Nation  Of  Dogs"  which  was  released  as  a  joint  effort  between  Symbol  Of  Domination  Productions  and  United  By  Chaos.

  Middle  Eastern  style  flutes  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  very  fast  thrash  metal  direction  which  also  uses  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  the  riffs  also  use  a  great  amount  of  melody  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sounding  very  powerful  and  after  awhile  death  metal  growls  start  to  make  their  presence  known.

  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  bring  in  a  very  chaotic  yet  melodic  style  of  extreme  metal and  while  the  music  has  a  lot  of  old  school  influences  it  still  sounds  very  modern  at the  same  time  and  clean  vocals  are  also  utilized  at  times  along  with  the  songs  also bringing  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  their  is  also  a  brief  use  of  high  pitched  screams  and  a  later  track  also  adds  in  a  small  amount  of  classical  guitars.

  Dark  Phantom plays  a  music  style  that  takes  death  and  thrash  metal  and  mixes  them  together  with  a  touch  of  traditional  metal  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark,  violent,  and  political  themes.

  In  my opinion  Dark  Phantom  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  death  and  thrash  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "New  Gospel"  "Unholy  Alliance"  "Confess"  and  "State  of  War".  8  out  of 10.

 

Conceived By Hate/Death & Beyond/Satanath Records/Morbid Skull Records/Deathgasm Records/2016 CD Review

  Conceived  By  Hate  are  a  band  from  El  Salvador  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  mixture  of  death  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Death  &  Beyond"  which  was  released  as  a  joint  effort  between  Satanath  Records,  Morbid  Skull  Records and  Deathgasm  Records.

  A  very  dark  and  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  after  awhile  high  pitched  screams  are  added  onto  the  recording  and  the  riffs  also  use  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  thrash  influences  while  also  mixing  in  the  raw  aggression  of  South  American  extreme  metal.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  solos  and  leads  also stick  to  a  very  old  school  style  of  extreme  metal  and  while  the  music  is  rooted  in  the  past  the  production  gives  the  songs  more  of  a  modern  feeling  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  one  track  also  brings  in  a  small  amount  of  synths  while  the  main  focus  remains  more  on  a  guitar  driven  style  and  the  last  track  is  very  long  and  epic  in  length..

  Conceived  By  Hate  remains  true  to  the  death  and  thrash  mixture  of  previous  releases  while  also  updating  the  genre  for  modern  days,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  metal,  solitude,  society,  revenge,  darkness,  revenge  and  emptiness  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Conceived  By  Hate  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  death  and  thrash  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Crossroad  Of  Fire"  "The  Underdog"  "Below  A  Pale  Sky"  and  "Death  &  Beyond".  8  out  of  10.

Antrophagus/Methods Of Resurrection Through Evisceration/Comatose Music/2017 CD Review

  Antropofagus  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  an d plays  a  very  technical  and  brutal  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Methods  Of Resurrection  Through  Evisceration"  which  will  be  released  in  May  by  Comatose  Music.

  Epic  sounding  keyboards  start  off  the  album  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  a  very  fast  and  brutal  direction  along  with  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats while  the  vocals  are  mostly  deep  death  metal  growls  and  you  can  also  hear  a  small  amount  of  melody  in  the  guitar  riffing  and  high  pitched  screams  are  also  used  at  times.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  samples  and  after  awhile  the  riffing  starts  mixing  technical  and  brutal  parts  together  and  when  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  add  in  a  very  dark  style  of  death  metal  and  keyboards  also  return  briefly  on  a  later  track  and  they  close  the  album  with  a  cover  of  Malevolent  Creation's  "Living  In  Fear".

  On  this  recording  Antropofagus  focuses  less  on  the  technical  side  and  go  for  more  of  a  brutal  style  of  death  metal,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  life,  death,  resurrection,  and  the  descent  into  the  darkest  depths  of  self.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  album  from  Antropofagus  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  check  out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Whirlwind  Of  Initiation"  "Praise  To  A  Hecatomb!"  " Quintessence  Of  Suffering"  and  "Living  In  Fear".  8  out  of  10.

Trepid Elucidation/Upcoming Reality/Mosher Records/2017 CD Review

  Trepid  Elucidation  are a  band  from  Portugal  that  plays  a  very  progressive  and  technical  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of their  2017  album  "Upcoming  Reality"  which  will  be  released  on  February  24th  by  Mosher  Records.

  Synths  and  distorted  guitar  sounds  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  death  metal  growls  that  lead  up  to  a  heavier  musical  direction  where  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  instruments  that  are  presented  on  the  recording  and  the  riffing  also  incorporates  a  great  amount  of  progressive  elements  and  melody.

  Most  of  the  guitar  leads  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  and  technical  style  while  high  pitched  screams  are  also  added  into  some  parts  of  the  songs and  some  of  the  tracks  are  long  and  epic in  length  and  some  tracks  also  bring  in  bass  leads  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  o  brutal  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  the songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  clean  playing  also  being  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  synths  also  return  on  some  of  the  later  songs.

  Trepid  Elucidation  plays  a  style  of  death  metal  that  is  very  technical  and  progressive  sounding  while  also  having  its  brutal  moments,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  philosophical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Trepid  Elucidation  are  a  very  great  sounding  progressive  and  technical  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Unquestionable  Death"  and  "Corpse  That  Breeds".  8 out  of  10. 

Creeping Fear/Onward To Apocalypse/Dolorem Records/2017 CD Review

  Creeping  Fear  are  a  band  from  France  that  plays a  brutal  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their 2017  album  "Onward  to  Apocalypse"  which  will  be  released  in  March  by  Dolorem  Records.

  War  samples  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  very  fast  and  brutal  direction  along  with  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  high  pitched  screams  as  well  as  some  death  metal  growls  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  add  in  a  very  chaotic  style  and  the  music  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  mid  90's  era  of  the  genre.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  some  of  the  fast  riffs  also  utilize  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  war  samples  also  return  on  some  of  the  later  tracks  along  with  the  riffing  incorporating  more  melody  as  the  album  progresses and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  a  very  heavy  and  brutal  direction  and  a  couple  of  the  tracks  are  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Creeping  Fear  plays  a  style  of  death  metal  that  is  very  fast,  aggressive  and  brutal  sounding,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  War,  Satanism,  Death,  and  Violence  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Creeping  Fear  are  a  very  great  sounding  brutal  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Life  Denied"  "Trenches  Of  Desolation"  "As  Vultures  Fly,  Battlefield  Blee"  and  "Disposable  Existence".  8  out  of  10.

Morfin/Consumed By Evil/F.D.A Records/2017 CD Review

  Morfin  are  a  band  from  Los  Angeles,  California  that  plays  an  old  school  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017 album  "Consumed  By  Evil"  which  will  be  released  in  May  by  FDA  Records.

  A  very  raw,  heavy  and  aggressive  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  the  solos  and  leads  are  very  dark  and  melodic  while  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  and  the  vocals  are  old  school  death   metal  growls  that  are  easy  to  understand.

  Most  of  the  music  is  rooted  in  the  mid  80's  to  early  90's  and  throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  guitars  and the  songs  sound  like  they  could  of  been  recorded  and  released  more  than  25  years  ago and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  high  pitched  screams   and  one  track  also  brings  in  a  small  amount  of  bass  guitar  leads.

  Morfin   plays  a  style  of  death  metal  that  is  very  old  school  in  the  mid  80's  to  early  90's  tradition,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  life,  gore,  dreams,  death,  and  occult  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Morfin  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  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Reincarnated" " Demonic  Infestation"  "Contorted  Truths"  and  "Consumed  By  Evil'.  8  out  of  10.

Resurgency/No Worlds...No Gods Above/FDA Records/2017 CD Review

  Resurgency  are  a  band  from  Greece  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  an  old  school  form  of brutal  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "No  Worlds...No  Gods Above"  which  will  be  released  in  April  by  FDA  Records.

  A  very  heavy  and  brutal  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  death  metal  growls  a  few  seconds  later  and  the  riffs  also utilize  a  lot of  morbid  sounding  melodies  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  done  in  a  very  chaotic  fashion  along  with  the  music  being  rooted  in  the  mid  90's  to  early  2000's.

  A  lot  of  American  death  metal  influences  can  be  heard  in  the  bands  musical  style  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them while  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  one  of  the  tracks  being  an  instrumental  and  the  album  also  remains  very  heavy  and  brutal  from  beginning  to  ending  of  the  recording.

  Resurgency  creates  another  recording  that  remains  true  to  the  brutal  and  old  school  death  metal  approach  of  previous  releases,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  apocalypse,  gore,  death  and  chaos  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Resurgency  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  brutal  and  old  school  death  metal,  you  should check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Thresholds  Of  Infinite  Pain"  "Upset  Sun  In  Shade  Deforms"  "Permutation  Rites"  and  "Quartered  Mental  Existence".  8  out  of  10.

Reactor/The Tribunal From Above/Vic Records/2017 EP Re-Issue Review

  Reactor  where  a band  form  Switzerland  that  later  evolved  into  Sickening  Gore  and  played  a  traditional  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  1991  ep  "The  Tribunal  From  Above"  which  will  be  re-issued  in  march  by  Vic  Records.

  Horror  movie  style  keyboards  start  off  the  ep  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  clean  playing  before  going  into  a  heavier  musical  direction  and  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  death  metal  growls.

  A  couple  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  while  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  acoustic  guitars  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections of  the  recording  along  with  solos  and  leads  displaying  a great  amount  of  talent  and  skill  and  screams  are  also  used  at  times  and  the  fast  parts  of  the  songs  also  utilize  a  great  amount  of  raw  aggression.

  Reactor  played  a style  of  death  metal  that  was  very  heavy  and  aggressive  for  the  era  it  was  released,  the  production  sounds  very  raw  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  violent,  dark  and  anti  religion  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Reactor  where  a  very  great  sounding  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  re-issue.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Deformed  Personality"  and  "Religious  Fight".  8  out  of  10.

Khropus/Presages/Eyes of Madness/Grinder Cirujano Records/2016 CD Review

  Khropus  are  a  band  from  Brazil  that  plays  a  very  brutal  and  fast  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  a  2016  compilation  album  which  was  released  by  Grinder  Cirujano  Records  and  consists  of  their  2009 and  2013  albums  "Presages" and  "Eyes  of  Madness".

  A  very  fast  and  brutal  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  high  pitched  screams  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sound  very  powerful  and  after  awhile  guttural  death  metal  growls  make  their  presence  known  and  the  solos  and  leads  bring  in  a  very  dark  and  melodic  style.

  Throughout  the  compilation  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  bass guitar  leads  can  also  be  heard  at  times  and  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody  and  one  track also  brings  in  a brief  use  of  acoustic  guitars  before  returning  back  to  a  brutal  direction  and  the  second  album  on  the  compilation is  in  the  same  tradition  as  the  first  recording  while  also  utilizing  a  more  raw  approach  and  more  old  school  influences  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  clean  guitars.

  Khropus  plays  a  style  of  death  metal  that  is  very  brutal  while  also demonstrating  a  great  amount  of  talent  and  skill  as  musicians, the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  death,  violence,  darkness,  occult  and  mythological  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Khropus  are  a  very  great  sounding  brutal  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you should  check  out this  compilation.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Of  the  Elders"  "Spirits"  "The  Book  Of  The  Dead"  and  "Master  Of  The  Shadows".  8  out  of  10.   

Hellcraft/Apotheosis Of War/Symbol Of Domination Records/More hate Productions/Murdher Records/2017 CD Review

  Hellcraft  are  a  band  from  Russia  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  an  old  school  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Apotheosis  Of  War"  which  was  released  as  a  joint  effort  between  Symbol  Of  Domination,  More  hate  productions  and  Murdher  Records.

  Horror  soundtrack  style  synths  start  off  the  album  and  after  while  the  music  goes  into  a  very  fast  and  brutal  direction  along  with  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  the  riffs  also  add  in  a  lot  of  morbid  sounding  melodies  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  death  metal  growls  and  the  music  is  heavily  rooted  in  the  90s.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  along  with  high  pitched  screams  also  being  utilized at  times  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  solos  and  leads  are  very  heavily  influenced  by  the  Florida  style  and  synths  also  make  a  return  on  some  of  the  later  tracks  and  one  song  also  brings  in  a  brief  use  of  war  samples  and  acoustic  guitars  are  added  onto  the  closing  song.

 Hellcraft  creates  another  recording  that  remains  true  to  the  old  school  style  of  death  metal  from  previous  releases,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  cruelty,  violence, horror  and  dark  feelings  themes. 

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Hellcraft  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  old  school  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Repentance  Through  the  Pain"  "Under  Death  Blessing"  and  "When  The  Sun  Goes  Out".  8  out  of  10.

Southern Drinkstruction 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?

Eheh, we fought a lot to finish this record, especially for the sound and the final master. We’ve spent plenty of time to make a good recording and songwriting, and that thing needs more beers and a lot of broken glasses, but in the end we’re satisfied for the result. Rotten Roll Rex and Marco did the rest, and we are very proud to join his family, thanks Kunz!
 
2.In December you had released a new album, how would 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?

Basically, the sound is not that different between the other records, it’s just more studied, but it's the same shit. Rough, brutal, direct, and Valerio of Hombrelobo Studio made a great job!

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

Ahah, like question number 2, our lyrics are not in continue “evolution”, we can answer you like Metal Archives… Alcohol, Sex, Bud Spencer! And a little bit of action movie violence, we’re not so serious, we like to joke and make our listeners have fun.
 
4.Originally the band was known as 'Southern Brewtality', what was the cause of the name change and also the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Southern Drinkstruction'?

In 2005, we wanted to choose a name with the word “Southern”, because of deep south of Italy origins of the founding members, and another word to explain our passion for beer. We tried "draught", "malt", "spaghetti", "brewtality" and many other funny names; and when we chose “Brewtality”, here arrives on the myspace page a mail from another band from U.S.A., with telephone number of their lawyer, and the threat of take legal ways, we said… fuck you, and we chose a better one: Drinkstruction.
   
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?
 
Sure the last one in Switzerland, at Infected by Lepra Blues Death Fest, and also the gigs spent together with big bands like Obituary, Entombed and Asphyx, but we always enjoy the stage in every place, small clubs or big shows, for us it makes no difference. We try our best, in every situation, we think that live performance is the most important thing for a band, we don’t record anything that is non reproducible on stage, today everyone can do an album.

6.Do you have any touring plans or shows lined up for the new album?
 
Usually we plan single gigs, or two in one weekend, on may we'll be playing in Belgium and we have some concerts around the Italy, but we can treat any offer, so… call us because we’re always boner and ready to change your life with the best show ever seen!
 
7.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death metal?
 
For someone we are too “Rock” for Death Metal, for others we are too brutal for Rock ’N’ Roll, but many people follow us and like our stuff, fortunately, many reviews are positive. Southern Drinkstruction is an hybrid with lots of contamination, from Grind to Blues, from Death Metal to Southern Rock, mixed up with Doom and Thrash, and who really understands that appreciates it a lot.
 
8.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are a part of?
 
All of us today have side projects, in Rome we have a lot of friends and “musicians” and a new band can being established at the table of the Pub. Our other projects represents that we listen every kind of music, Ordnal plays Electronic Music (Primitive in the Extreme) and Gabber (Justice Plague), Eddie also plays Country, but basically we are metal heads, Corpsefucking Art (were Basthard & Eddie play) is a Brutal Death Band, made of good friends; Zorro plays in a Heavy Stoner Band (Chronic Hangover) and also in a bunch of rudes called Underball. Finally, we’re always busy.
 
9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
 
At Super Bowl halftime show like Lady Gaga, flying and puking and farting all over the people, but also Oktoberfest is in our plans.
 
10.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?
 
Are you ready for the most long list of bands of your life? Really, we listen to everything, check out our cover of Zuppa Romana, from a german band called Schrott Nach 8. Our influences in Southern Drinkstruction can be simplified in Death-Doom, Thrash, Brutal and fucking Rock ’n’ Roll. We prefer to go back in time in music interests, we grew up with old school stuff, and we love the music from the past.
 
11.What are some of your non musical interests?
 
I can answer you with things like Design, Art, Motorbikes, Cinema, Literature, Craft Beer, but the reality is Pussy, pussy, and pussy yet.
 
12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

Search “Southern Drinkstruction - Super Strong Fast Glue” on Tube8, and thanks a lot.