Pestillence/Doctrine/Mascot Records/2011 CD Review

Pestillence  are  a  band  from  the  Netherlands  that  has  a  history  that  dates  back  to  the  80's  and  has  started  out  death/thrash  then  evolved  into  death  metal  and  later  on  technical  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2011  album  "Doctrine"  which  was  releasedby  Mascot  Records.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  midpaced  to  fast  drumming  with  a  good  amount  of  blast  beats  being  used,  while  the  bass  playing  sounds  very  strong  and  powerful  with  technical  riffing  and  you  can  hear  the  instrument  throughout  the  recording,  as  for  the  synths  which  are  only  utilized  briefly  they  bring  a  dark  sound  to  the  music.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  midpaced  to  fast  technical  death  metal  riffs  that  are  rooted  in  the  mid  90's  and  have  somewhat  of  a  thrash  and  groove  metal  feel,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  technical  and  melodic  sounding  guitar  solos.

  Vocals  are  somewhat  deep  death  metal  growls  but  lack  the  power  of  their  earlier  albums  and  there  are  not  as  brutal  as  most  medern  day  death  metal  bands  in  addition  there  are  some  ocassional  Gregorian  chants  and  spoken  word  passages,  while  the  lyrics  cover  everyday  themes  with  somewhat  of  an  occutl  edge,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong  and  powerful  sound.

  In  my  opinion  while  this  is  not  as  good  as  their  earlier  albums  and  some  long  time  fans  would  be  dissapointed  this  is  still  an  decent  album  from  Pestillence  and  they  still  have  a  good  amount  of  talent.  RECEMMONDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Amgod"  "Salvation"  "Sinister"  and  "Malignant".  RECEMMONDED.

Corpsessed Interview

1. Can you tell us a little bit about the band for those that have never heard of you before?- Corpsessed is a 5-pieced band from Finland that was formed in early 2007 with the desire and intent to play Death Metal the way that is closest to our hearts, in the old school fashion with nods to early releases of bands such as Grave, Incantation and the ancient Finnish Death Metal tradition.

 
2. How would you describe the musical sound that is on the EP?
- This EP is our first release and is entitled "The Dagger & The Chalice" containing 6 songs of Death Metal returning to the original idea of the genre without too much modern connotations. The sound is murky and dark with a heavy emphasis on the low frequencies. In our music we are concentrating more on creating a dark, punishing and unforgiving atmosphere rather than relying on sweet melodies. We're not that technical or the fastest band around nor do we intend to be, it's a fine balance between blasting, midpaced and slower more doomy parts. The vocals range from deep growls to some higher pitched screams, but remain mostly in the deep end.

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and concepts the ep explores?

- Lyrics of the songs on the EP contain themes such as Death worship, brooding and imminent Doom, the Occult, sex, nightmares and the abhorrent ancient gods (with a heavy nod to the mythos created by H.P.Lovecraft).

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?

- It's a made up word... Combining possession and death, It depicts a state of being possessed into a corpselike state in a grip of death, certain zombifiement of sort... draining of vitality through demonic inthrallment. I can't deny also the stint of black humour the name contains, though it's not meant to be taken as a joke in anyway.

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

- All of us have played gigs before with our other bands and projects, but as Corpsessed we haven't done any shows yet... which is a matter that will be corrected very soon! We are at the moment rehearsing hard for future live appearances and trying to find suitable gigs, venues and bands we could share the stage with. I don't think we'll be relying on any gimmicks, props or theatric stuff - just the band playing with abandon and power and let the music do the talking.

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

- Not for the moment, but who knows what the future will bring.


7. On a worldwide level how has your music been recieved by death metal fans?
- Surprisingly most of the feedback we've recieved this far has been very good. But we are still a quite new and unknown band. The bad reviews are bound to start coming in, now that the EP is out. The music is our view on how we see and like Death Metal and opinions vary from person to person, and you can't please everybody - it would also be foolish to even try.


8. Are there any side projects besides this band or this a full time line up?
- Corpsessed is very much a full-time band and we don't consider it a sideproject of anything. Some of us still play in other bands as well - Matti (guitars) is still active with his funeral doom band Tyranny and Mikko (bass) with his band Azure. Jussi (drums) is playing with some projects. For Niko (vocals) and Jyri (guitars) Corpsessed is the only active band at the moment, though Jyri is also a session member in the Tyranny live lineup, which varies from time to time.

9. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?

- Everything evolves as it goes onwards, as it has done to this date. It took us perhaps a few years to get things set on the right path, which is why our very first release is coming out now - 4 years after the inception of the band. It took a while to figure out how to channel our potential through this band and now that our vision is quite clear on what we want and can do, we don't see any drastic changes coming in the future. Corpsessed will always play uncompromising Death Metal with the power and passion as we have to this day.

10. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

- There's loads of bands, old and new, we listen to and each of the members have their own taste, but where we come together Death Metal-wise are the first albums from Grave, Entombed, Dismember, Tiamat, the Finnish bands like Abhorrence, Demigod, Belial, Purtenance and the American bands such as Incantation, Immolation, early Deicide... Necros Christos and Grave Miasma from the more recent ones. Basically the more darker and evil sounding Death Metal. Also Black Metal and Doom plays huge part in our influences and our vocalist is also into more Grind bands, but our tastes can also range from ambient to some fringes of rock music and to the more experimental - from Pink Floyd to Wesley Willis, hah! Inspiration can be drawn from pretty much anything that sounds good to us.

11. Does Occultism play any role in the music?

- Depends really on how you see it. On a thematic level, very much so... Perhaps though much more in a fictional sense, if you look at the lyrics. But the way I see, through the views of the Left Hand Path, practice of Magick as a way to strengthen ones Will where certain symbology exists to provoke you into a certain wanted mood and this is the same with the creation of music, it is channeling of energies in a very pure form and playing the songs can become a very precise Ritual which can open wanted states.... I don't want to go too deep into this here as the matter is very personal.

12. Outside of music, what are some of your interests?

- Music and our normal dayjobs fill most of our days, but outside of that, our other interests are pretty much what you would expect from guys in their late 20s and early 30s, I guess... Movies, books, arts, videogames, some of us do sports and some are lazy as hell. All of us have their own private interests which I think would be futile to start listing here.

 
13. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?

- I think that was about it.. nothing more to add for the moment. Thanks for the interview, this was our first!

Corpsessed/The Dagger And The Chalice/Dark Descent Records/2011 CD Review

Corpsessed  are  a  band  from  Finland  that  plays  a  very  dark  and  brutal  form  of  old  school  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2011  album  "The Dagger  And  The  Chalice"  which  was  released  by  Dark  Descent  Records.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  midpaced  to  fast  drumming  with a  good  amount  of  blast  beats,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  is  coming  out  of  the  guitars.

  Rhythm  guitars  are  a  mixture  of  slow,  midpaced  to  fast  death  metal  riffs  that  are  also  very  brutal  and  dark  sounding,  while  he  lead  guitars  are morbid  sounding  death  metal  guitar  leads.

  Vocals  are  mostly  deep  death  metal  growls  with  some  high  pitched  screams  being  thrown  ion  at  times,  while  the  lyrics  cover  death  along  with  some  darker  themes  that  have  an  occultic  tinge  to  them,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  dark  and  heavy  sound  to  it..

  In  my  opinion  Corpsessed  are  a  very  good  dark  sounding  brutal  old  school  death  metal  band,  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  style,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECEMMONDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Nameless Cult"  and  "The Dagger And The Chalice".  RECEMMONDED  BUY.

Xenomorph/Empyreal Regimes Discography /Dark Descent Records/2011 CD Compilation Review

  Xenomorph  where  a  band  from  Omaha,  Nebraska  that  played  a  very  heavy  and  brutal  form  of  technical  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2011  compilation  album  'Emperyreal  Regimes  Diccography"  which  was  released  by  Dark  Descent  Records.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  being  thrown  in,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  is  coming  out  of  the  guitars.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  technical  death  metal  riffs  that  fit  in  perfectly  with  the  90's,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  chaotic  and  technical  guitar  solos  and  leads.

  Vocals  are  mostly  high  pitched  death  metal  growls  with  some  samples  being  thrown  in  at  times,  while  the  lyrics  cover  war,  mythology  and  science,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  raw,  heavy  and  primitive  sound  to  it.

  In  my  opinion  Xenomorph  where  a  very  good  sounding  90's  technical  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  style,  yo  should  check  out  this  band.  RECEMMONDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Wehrmacht"  "Subspieces"  "Valley  Of  The  Kings"  and  "Cyberchrist".  RECEMMONDED  BUY.

Feral/Dragged To The Altar/Ibex Moon Records/2011 CD Review

Feral are a band from Sweden that has their previous album reviewed and has also had an interview here in the past with a style that I would describe as being Swedish death metal with a rock and thrash edge and this is a review of their 2011 album "Dragged To The Altar" which was released by Ibex Moon Records.

Drums alternate between slow, midpaced to fast playing with a good amount of blast beats, while the bass playing sounds very heavy and powerful with a classic rock feel to them.

Rhythm guitars alternate between slow, midpaced to fast Swedish style death metal riffs with some thrash and rock influences and a great amount of harmonics, while the lead giuitars are a mixture of chaotic sounding death metal and rock guitar solos d on one song there are some middle eastern scales being utilized breifly, as for the acoustic guitar that is used on the outro, it has a very dark and cryptic sound to it.

Vocals are all deep death metal growls mixed in with some horror movie samples, while the lyrics touch on Occultism, Necromancy, Anti-Christianity, and Graveyards, as for the production it has a very raw and heavy sound to it but still retians a degree of professionalism since you can hear all of the musical instruments and they all have a brutal sound to them.

In my opinion this is aother great album from Feral, and if you where a fan of their previous release, you will not be dissapointed. RECEMMONDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Altar Of Necromancy" "Judas" "The Curse of The Casket" and "Malevolent Summoning". RECEMMONDED BUY.

Feral Interview

Hook

1. Can you update us with what is going on with the band these days?
We have recently signed a record-deal with a great label (more details will be revealed on our web-sites soon) and we are currently recording our debut album. Things are going really smooth and the work with the recording is going way much faster than we expected it to do, we actually only have the bass and the vocals left to record. All the drums and guitars including solos are recorded.

2. What is the meaning behind the bands name?
Feral is a being once domesticated that has returned into it's wild state, we thought that it would be a fitting name for our musical concept and the general mood.


3. How would you describe your musical sound?
Our music is feral, returned to it's wild state. Groovy and straight forward death metal in the classic Swedish way, though in quite a few reviews people have claimed to hear a lot of thrash metal influences. That might be somewhat true even though none of us listens to that much thrash except for a hand full of bands, but I guess that thrash and death metal are such closely related genres that it's just a matter of opinion. I would call us a genuine death metal band with emphasis of the death'n'roll sub-genre, but everyone is entitled to their own thoughts around or music, if they can hear other influences I guess that's just a good thing.


4. According to a past interview I have read the band was suppose to be more black metal and ended up being death metal, and that your influences were more black metal and regular metal, how did you discover the death metal bands that play a part in your music now?
We didn't really discover that much death metal bands before we started playing it, we simply tried to write black metal and never really succeeded with it and the songs came out as death metal. People started to compare us to death metal bands and we later on started to check out these bands that we were compared with and obviously liked them a lot! We played this kind of music before we even had heard the bands that we listen to and are influenced by today.


5. How would you describe your live performance and what are some of the best shows that you have played so far?
We always play the hell out of ourselves no matter what. Even if the equipment is crap and a few people showed up to the gig there is always someone there that wants to see a god show. You shouldn't punish the people that actually showed up to the gig by giving a bad performance just because other people whimped out. If someone shows us support by paying to come to our shows and buying our merchandise we will do our best to not disappoint this person, anything else would be disrespectful and idiotic.

As for our best show, that's a really hard question. We have had a couple of really good gigs in our hometown Skellefteå the most recent times that we have played, a lot of people coming to show their support for the few local extreme bands that we have here and you really can't get enough of that. In September we played a gig in Jena, Germany together with Six Feet Under and Jungle Rot and had fucking blast! Even though we had some problems with the equipment the crowd went crazy, and when they do, so do we. About a year ago we played with Master in Leipzig which also was a really great gig with good and big crowd. Those are probably my best memories so far.


6. Are there any plans for a U.S tour?
No plans right now, but hopefully our label will be able to help us out with this in the future. We definitely want to go on the road again and playing the US would be great, especially since none of us has ever been there before. I don't know about the other guys but I personally have never been outside Europe.


7. How would you describe the lyrical content of the music?
Well, our lyrics ain't really revolutionary, usually regarding the classic themes like violence, death and religion. It would be quite hard for a metal band to pass off with lyrics about eating your vegetables and doing your homework. I don't really want any political issues or believes in my music either. There is a thin line between god and bad lyrics, I don't want then too deep, but still not nonsense, bad lyrics kill good music if you ask me. I work hard to get my lyrics the way I want them, and if I think that something sounds bad I'll rewrite them until I am satisfied. Though there are some of our lyrics that I would like to rewrite some more, especially our older songs. But when you've sang a song in a certain way for many years it's hard come up with a different way to do it.


8. How would you describe your musical progress over the years and what direction do you see the band heading into on future releases?
We are still young, but we were very young when we started the band so we have had a lot of time to find our musical direction and trying different things with the band and I feel that we have finally landed on something that works. Even though our music hasn't changed that much since we started taking the band more seriously, we have simply gotten better at writing and arranging songs. We have grown conferable in our music and I don't see us taking any drastic new direction in the future, though we always do our best to top our previous efforts and not repeat ourselves, even if you should be able to recognize our songwriting between different songs.


9.What are some band or musical styles that have influenced your sound and what are you listening to nowadays?
Obviously we are inspired by bands like Grave, Entombed and so on but also old 70's rock and metal bands like Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and other bands alike. All members in the band counted I'd say that we cover as good as all metal sub-genres as inspiration and a couple of more genres as well. I personally listen the most to, as I said, Swedish death metal and 70's rock but I'm in a doom and stoner metal period right now. A lot of heavy grooves coming out of my speakers at the moment, and I think those influences are quite easy to hear in our music as well. When I'm in the mood for something that becomes almost the only thing I listen to for a long period of time until I get into something else. It keeps on like that until I rediscover the things that I haven't listened to for a while and then I start from the beginning again, with a few exceptions of bands that I listen to in all moods, rain or shine. I'm a huge fan of Grave, and collect any releases and merchandise I can come over by them.


10. Does Satanism or Occultism play any role in the music?
None of us are satanists, but these things definitely influence our music and my lyrics. I've just started to read a bit on occultism (I actually bought The Key of Solomon yesterday), really interesting stuff and surely a good source for inspiration. I consider myself a atheist, but I would be religious I guess I'd rather be a satanist than something else since Satan has horns, that's fucking awesome! When I was young I spent a lot of time in church, and that was really nothing for me, not then and not now. I've always been very interested in viking history and myths, but you will probably never hear any such themes in Ferals music, there are many other bands who does that better than I would. But I am planning some more occult themes in coming songs to vary between the "zombies coming to fucking eat you!"-lyrics. We'll just have to see how it turns out.


11. According to your myspace page, you are heavily interested in books or films, which ones are you a fan of?
Our song Howling that was recorded on both the Grim Winternight!-demo and Graverobber-demo was written when me and Valmer watched the 80's horror movie series with the same name, some nice werewolf action in those. Otherwise we watch loads of horror and gore movies, which mostly are shit with a few exceptions but all have some good entertainment quality. I think it's hard to count how many times we've watched The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. One of my favourite books is Bram Stoker's Dracula, a real classic, and of course HP Lovecrafts stories. I like some of the filmed versions of Dracula as well and actually have one of them tattooed on my upper arm.

12. What are some of your interests outside of music?
Haha, hardly any! I practically live and breath music. But it's standard shit I guess, hanging out with the guys and having a couple of beers, while talking about and listening to music of course. I try to go to as many gigs and festivals as I can afford, in particular the local ones. Since there are so few things happening in the metal scene in our part of Sweden you got to support everything there is, I usually go to at least one bigger festival each year as well. When I was younger I used to do some hunting with my father and some martial arts but that was interest I lost when I got more into music.


13. How has your music been received so far by the death metal community?
Very well so far, especially the Welcome to the Graveyard demo. All our demos as gotten really good reviews, though there wasn't that many for the first couple. But our latest effort hasn't gotten a single bashing so far, which feel very good, not that we would be devastated if someone didn't like it. Surely there has to be someone to dislike it eventually, but that's their problem. The reaction at gigs has been good as well, we're told that we are really good live act, it would be great to have an outer body experience so I could see us myself and get my own opinion!


14. Any final words or thoughts?
Thanks for this interview man, we really appreciate it! And thanks to all those who support us and death metal. Keep an eye open for the news to come on our website and beware because the feral beast lurks in the darkness around you!

Feral/Welcome To Your Graveyard/2009 Demo Review

Feral are a band from Sweden that has toured with Six Feet Under and plays a form of early 90's Swedish death metal with a thrashy edge and this is a review of their 2009 demo demo "Welcome To Your Graveyard".

Drums use a mixture of different beats with some midpaced groove rythyms that end up turning into some real brutal blast beats, while the bass playing can actually be heard on this recording and it sounds very rythymic with some lead bass parts.

Rhythm guitars mix alot of thrash influenced riffs with some really fast classic death metal riffing that utilize alot of palm muting and speed picking mixed in with some slow heavy parts, while the guitar leads sound primal with alot of melody and some exotic sounding scales.

Vocals are mostly deep death metal growls that are easy to understand, while the production sounds very professional and you can hear all of the instruments, as for the lyrics they cover your typical death metal subjects such as graveyards, death, and horror related type of themes.

In my opinion this is a really good band that plays death metal in the old vein but probably will be ignored by some younger people since they actually have talent, guitar solos, and no pig squeels, but if you are an old school death metal fan in your mid 20's to early 30's you will enjoy this band. I am looking forward to hearing more stuff from this band in the future.

Recommended tracks include "The Deathbog" and "welcome To The Graveyard".