Embaterion/The Sound Of Charge/Crush The Desert Records/2014 EP Review

  Embaterion  are  a  band  from  France  that  plays  a mixture  of  death  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  ep  "The  Sound  Of  Chardge'  which  was  released  by  Crush  The  Desert  Records.

  Spartan  music  and  marching  starts  off  the  ep  giving  the  music  a  feeling  of  the  middle  ages  before  going  into  a  heavier  direction  where  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  and  after  awhile  death  metal  growls  make  their  presence  known  in  the  music  along  with  some  thrash  influences.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  spoken  word  parts  can  also  be  heard  at  times  and  you  can  also  hear  melodies  in  the  guitar  riffing and  the  solos  and  leads  also  bring  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody  and  samples  from  the  movie  '300'  are  also  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  one  track  brings  in  a  brief  use  of  melodic  chanting.

  Embaterion  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  the  old  school  genres  of  death  and  thrash  metal  and  mixes  them  together  with  more  of  an  up  to  death  approach,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Spartan  themes  and  history.

  In  my  opinion  Embaterion  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  "The  Sound  Of  Charge"  and  "The  Fate  Of  The  Ten  Thousand".  8  out  of  10.

Denominate/Those Who Beheld the End/Inverse Records/2016 Full Length Review

  Denominate  are  a  band  from  Finland  that  plays  a  very  technical  and  progressive  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016 album  "Those  Who  Beheld  The  End"  which  will  be  released  in  August  by  Inverse  Records.

  A  very  hard,  heavy  and  melodic  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  brutal  blast  beats  and  death  metal  growls  a  few  seconds  later  while  screams  can  also be  heard  at  times  along  with  a  great  amount  of  technical  riffing  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  stick  in  that  same  direction  and  you  can  hear  a  great  amount  of  talent  and  skill  in  the  instruments.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  you  can  also  hear  a  great  amount  of  old  school  death  metal  influences  throughout  the  recording  while  the  music  still  sounds  very  modern  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  as  the  album  progresses  more  prog  elements  are  are  mixed  into  the  music  and  a  couple of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  while  also  introducing  acoustic  guitars  onto  the  recording  on  one  of  the  songs. 

  Denominate  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  the  technical,  progressive  and  old  school  style  of  death  metal  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  metaphysical  themes.

  In  my opinion  Denominate  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  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "In  A  Chasm  Of  Stone"  "The  Demented  Scholar  Of  Abatos"  and  "Terrestral  Funeral". 8  out  of  10.

Paganizer/On The Outskirts Of Hades/Transcending Obscurity Records/2016 EP Review

  Paganizer  are  a  band  from  Sweden  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  an  old  school  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  ep "On  The  Outskirts  Of  Hades"  which  will  be  released  in  August  by  Transcending  Obscurity  Records.

  A  very  hard  yet  melodic  sound  starts  off  the  ep  along  with  a  great  amount  of  heaviness  and  the  music  brings  in  an  early  90's  Swedish  style  along  with  a  more  modern  production  and  once  death  metal  growls  are  added  onto  the  recording  the  music starts  to  speed  up  a   bit  along  with  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  remain  true  to  an  old  school  style  of  Swedish  death  metal  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  and  the  guitar  riffing  also  gets  very  raw  at  times  and  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  brief  use  of  high  pitched  screams  and  the music  also  remains  very  heavy  from  beginning  to  ending  of  the  recording.

  Paganizer  creates  another  recording  that  remains  true  to  the  old  school  style  of  Swedish  death  metal  from  previous  recordings,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  anti  Christianity,  death,  murder  and  gore  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Paganizer  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  old  school  Swedish  death  metal,  you  should  check  out this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Adjacent  To  Purgatory"  and  "On  The  Outskirts  Of  Hades".  8  out  of  10.   

Pokerface Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?
Dedmoroz: Couple of weeks ago we've returned from our eurotour and now we have a rest to recover. In few days after that we will go to studio for making our third album. At the end of summer we will take part in METAL CROWD open air fest in Belarus. Also, we have some plans for autumn but its too early to announce them.

2.So far you have released an ep and a full length, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on both of the recordings and also how do they differ from each other?
Doctor: The first release was raw and fast as we wanted. We like to play simple but aggressive and the second album was still aggressive and almost zero-technical. But "Divide and Rule" is a bit slower and heavier.
Whitevad: Well, it was the first experience for the band of making something serious, so I would say that both of recordings sound how they should to sound. As for me, EP has more aggressive songs, and LP is a bit more conceptually considered.

3.Some of your lyrics cover Satanism and Anti Religion themes, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in these topics?
Doctor: We are not satanists at first, we just use Satan as symbol, as a method of human punishment. Actually all members in band are atheists and we are not so fanatic as our religious "friends".

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Pokerface'?
Doctor: From the first day we planned to play proto-metal and tried to copy other cult bands like Motorhead, Judas Priest etc. So Pokerface as name was introduced by our ex-leader Dietrich as a reflection of Motorhead "Ace of Spades" song. Lemmy is a legend and we will love him forever.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
Doctor: We played with Sodom several shows and all shows with them were great especially in Minsk (2014) and Brasov (2016). Circle pit, stagediving, slam. I think we are close with Sodom in music and metalheads on these gigs were on one wave with us.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
Dedmoroz: Yeah, we are confirmed on METAL CROWD open air fest in Belarus. Other announcement still in progress, but we have couple of offers.

7.The new album was released on 'Molot Records', are you happy with the support that they have given you so far?
Dedmoroz: Molot Records was the only label who can fulfill our conditions. But there were no actual promotion or support from them. And now we are looking for the label who will release our third album, but also can help us with promotion and tours.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death and thrash metal?
Doctor: It depends. For newfags we are a bit raw and simple, these guys like groove, high-speed blasting and math beats. For old school metalheads we are OK and they love our music and shows. We have good marks in reviews and catalogs.

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
Whitevad: We don't like to define our music style, giving names or calling it somehow. We just make the music that we like to play. We have a plan to make our next album a bit more complex and we are open for some experiments. I also wouldn't exclude the appearance of some melodic parts and fills in our future songs. I don't even know, will we play thrash or death or something else in the nearest future, but let me assure you: Pokerface will always play music that has drive.

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?
Whitevad: You may hear Slayer, Kreator and Sodom influences in our music, maybe some other thrash metal bands too. I think it's good when people find in your songs something that sounds familiar to the music of 'fathers', and it becomes a real tribute to the thrash legends) Besides thrash, all band members listen very different styles of music - electronic/trance, melodic death metal, doom metal, deathcore, metalcore etc..

11.What are some of your non musical interests?
Doctor: In non-music life I am IT engineer and videogame player, but as I am going deeper in music - touring, concerts etc this part of my life seems more boring and empty.
Whitevad: Cunnilingus, Elves and Formula 1
Delirium: I like to watch funny videos with cats
Dedmoroz: I like to travel a lot, so it's my biggest interest.


12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Doctor: At fist thank you so much for interview! I just want to say: Your life is boring if you don't have a dream. No matter what It can be - the greatest band in the world, 10-children in your family or first starship called your name. Please think about you dream, don't lose the focus on it and all will be done as planned. Don't worry.

Last Rites Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?
 We spent last year recording Unholy Puppets…

2.Recently you have released a new album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?
Our sound is a mixture of thrash and death metal…heavy  rhythmic patterns, tempo changes, screaming vocals alternating witho growl, a mix of power and aggression…never forgetting about the melody. Now our music is more technical, we take care of details... we try to not fall into the common solutions, usual riffs... we try to be as original as possible ...

3.This is the first album to be released in 7 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time span?
We are very critical about what we compose, so we are very slow. Plus, we had different line-up problems in the past years...

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?
The lyrical themes are those typical of Death Metal: death, madness…recently we have taken inspiration from some novel or movie…

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Last Rites'?
We are big Megadeth’s fans…you know?

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?
Recently we have taken part in a local festival called “Machete Fest”. We played at the last edition (2014) that featured Primal Fear as headliners; big stage, good organization ... an excellent experience! On stage we are very aggressive! We try to play as compact as possible to create a powerful sound wall!

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?
There are not many places where you can play in our region. You must move further north or south, but the answer is so high and it is very difficult to arrange a date. We recently played a couple of times, hopefully in the fall it will get better…

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death and thrash metal?
The thrash metal is going through a good period right now, we're an underground band ... hopefully it can give us some visibility ...

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
we are already working on new material, we have some ideas to be developed. We plan to record something new during the next year, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the band. I think that the new songs will be a bit more technical than those from Unholy Puppets, closer to "Future World"

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?
The roots of our music are Thrash Metal…Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Exodus…but also bands like Death, Atheist, Cannibal Corpse, Carcass, Dimmu Borgir and recently Revocation have a big influence on us… in general, we hear different things, from progressive rock to punk and hardcore, from alternative rock to  grind... everything except for hip hop, rap or pop commercial music...

11.What are some of your non musical interests?
 Music is our only interest!

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Listen to Unholy Puppets and let us know whether you like it! Follow us on Facebook (facebook.com/lastrites0) and Bandcamp (lastrites0.bandcamp.com) where you can find a lot of download material for free!

Coldblood/Indescribable Physiognomy Of the Devil/Satanath Records/Metallic Media/2016 CD Review

  Coldblood  are  a  band  from  Brazil  that  plays  a  very  satanic  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Indescribable  Physiognomy  Of  The  Devil"  which  will  be  released  on  June  16th  as  a  joint  effort  between  Satanath  Records  and  Metallic  Media.

  Horror  movie  samples  starts  off  the  album  going  going  into  a  heavier  direction  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  the  vocals  are  all  done  in  a  death  metal  growling  fashion  while  high  pitched screams  can  be  heard  at  times.

  A  small  amount  of  melody  can  be  heard  in  some  of   the  guitar  riffing  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  bring  in  a  very  dark  style  of  death  metal  while  also  having  its  melodic  moments  and  the  music  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  90's  while  also  having  a  more  up  to  date  take  on  the  genre  and  throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

   Some  tracks  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  atmospheric  sounds  along  with  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts,  and one  song  also  brings  in  a  brief  use  of  classical  guitars  which  also  comes  down  the  chaos  for  a  few  seconds  while  one  of  the  songs  is  long  and  epic  in  length  and  they  close  the  album  with  3  instrumental  tracks. 

  Coldblood  plays  a  style  of  death  metal  that  is  very  heavy  and  satanic  and  bring s in  a  lot  of  influences  of  the  90's  band  in  the  same  genre,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Satanism,  Anti  Christian,  Occultism  and  Left  Hand  path  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Coldblood  are  a  very  great sounding  satanic  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Tetragrammaton"  "Cocoon  Of  Neophyte"  "Sulphur"  and  "metaphysical  Evil".  8  out  of  10.

Crematory Stench/Self Titled/FDA Rekotz/2016 EP Review

  Crematory  Stench  are  a  band  from  California  that  plays  an  old  school  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  titled  2016  ep  which  will  be  released  in  August  by  FDA  Rekotz.

  A  very  fast  and  brutal  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  while  also  being  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  90's  and  a  few  seconds  later  death  metal  growls  make  their  presence  known  on  the  recording  while  some  of t he  riffing  brings  in  elements  of  thrash  and  the  music  sounds  like  it  could  of  been  recorded  and  released  25  years  ago.

  Throughout  the  recording  there  is  a  great  mixture  of  slow, mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  decent  amount  of  morbid  sounding  melodies  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sound  very  powerful  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  remain  true  to  an  old  school  style  of  death  metal  and  the  ep  also  remains  very  heavy  from  beginning  to  ending  of  the  recording.

  Crematory  Stench  plays  a  style  of  death  metal  that  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  mid  80's to  early  90's  style  of  the  genre  while  ignoring  every  trend  of  the  past  20  years,  the  production  sounds  very  old  school  while  the  lyrics  cover  darkness  and  horror  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Crematory  Stench  are  a  very  great  sounding  old  school  style  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Desolate  Grave"  and  "Resurrection".  8  out  of  10.