Daemonicus/Deadwork/Abyss Records/2012 CD Review

  Daemonicus  are  a  band  from  Sweden  that  plays  a  very  old  school  style  of  Swedish  style  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2012  album  "Deadwork"  which  was  released  by  Abyss  Records.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  not  much  in  the  way  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  and  at  times  they have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  Sweden  style  death  metal  guitar  riffs  that  brings  back  the  sound  of  their  early  90's  with  some  groove  elements  and  melodic  riffing  as  well  as  a  brief  use  of  soft  and  clean  playing,  while  the lead  guitars  when  they  are  utilized a re  very  old  school  and  melodic  sounding  death  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads

  Vocals a re  mostly  deep  death  metal  growls  with  some  high  pitched  screams  being  thrown  into  the  music  at  times  as  will  as  a  brief  use  of  horror  film  samples,  while the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  gore  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  to  it.

  In  my  opinion  Daemonicus  are  a  very  great  sounding  old  school  Swedish  style  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "A  Dead  Work  Of  Art"  "Embracing  Her  Remains"  "The  Hymn  Of  Ubo  Sathla"  and  "Nothing  But  Death".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.    

Erupted/Into The Grips Of Chaos/Abyss Records/2012 CD Review

  Erupted  are  a  band  from  Sweden  that  plays  a  very  old  school  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a review  of  their  2012  album  "Into  The  Grips  Of  Chaos"  which  was  released  by  Abyss  Records.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  a  good  amount  of  brutal  sounding  blast  beats  being  thrown  into  the  music  at  times,  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  old  school  Swedish  style  death  metal  that  are very  heavy  and  brutal  sounding  along  with  a  brief  use  of  clean  playing  being  utilized  on  one  song,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  old  school sounding  death  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads.

  Vocals  are  mostly  deep  death  metal  growls  with  some  high  pitched  screams  and  spoken  word  samples  being  thrown  into  the  music  at  times,  while  the  lyrics  cover  occult,  anti  christian,  dark,  violent  and  hateful  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful  and  heavy  sound  in  the  early  90's  death  metal  tradition.

  In  my  opinion  Erupted  are  a  very  great  sounding  old  school  style  Swedish  death  metal  band  and if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Salvation  From  Below"  "The  Dark  Mistress"  "Blazing  From  Heaven"  and  "Hell  Recreated".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

Three Hour Ceasefire/Cry Havoc/Savour Your Scene Records/2012 CD Review

  Three  Hour  Ceasefire  are  a  band  from  Ireland  that  plays  a  mixture  of  death  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2012  album  "Cry  Havoc"  which  was  released  by  Savour  Your  Scene Records.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  some  blast  beats  being  thrown  into  the    music  at  times,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  is  coming  out  of  the  guitars  and  at  times  they  have  a  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  riffs  that  combine  thrash  and  death  metal  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own  and  there  are  no  guitar  solos  or  leads  present  on  this  recording.

  Vocals  range  from  death/thrash  style  growling  and  high  pitched  screams, while the  lyrics  cover  violent  and  hateful  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful  and  heavy  sound  with  the  songs  being  short  in  length.

  In  my  opinion  Three  Hour  Ceasefire  are  a  very  great  sounding  hybrid  of  death  and  thrash  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Behold, Rejoice" and  "When  Prophecy  Fails".  RECOMMENDED  BUY. 

Abysme Interview

1. Can you tell us a little bit about the band for those that have
never heard of you before?

BRAD:  ABYSME is a death metal band from Pittsburgh, PA that started in 2006.  We are a three piece, with myself (Brad Heiple) on guitar/vocals, Michael Bolam on bass and Timothy R. Williams on drums.  We have a debut album coming out in September 2012 on Hellthrasher Productions (CD/Poland) and later on Blood Harvest Records (LP/Sweden).  We've all been in bands you may or may not have heard of before, for instance, Mike was in Crucial Unit and Tim was in Human Investment and I was a founding member of Funerus.

2. How would you describe your musical sound?

BRAD:  I would say we play a no-frills traditional kind of death metal with a dark vibe.

TIM: It’s fast but not too fast, somewhat adept but not technical.  Oh no, we might not be “extreme” enough to be in Extreme Metal Zine!

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

BRAD:  Tim (drums) writes most of the lyrics.  They're typically existential in context, but we delve into morbidity, fantasy and horror a little bit here and there.  We try to shy away from overtly Satanic or gore-based lyrics.

TIM:   Yeah, I feel like too many bands have lifted too many things straight out of Anton LaVey.  And I like Lovecraft, but too many bands have dipped their buckets in that same well. So, for the songs on the album, I drew some lyrical inspiration from Joseph Conrad, Jorge Luis Borges, Handel’s Messiah (e.g., “We Shall Sleep” instead of being resurrected), and ancient history and mythology.  But hey, most of our lyrics are only a few sentences long so the thinking behind them isn’t too grandiose.

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

BRAD:  It's an adaption of an archaic French word that means an abyss, nothingness or void.  We changed some letters around to make it look cooler.

TIM: If we used the correct old French spelling of “Abisme” then we might have ended up dotting the “i” with a heart and that wouldn’t be scary at all.

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

BRAD:  We have played with so many great bands!  We are lucky to have supported bands such as Incantation, Deceased, Master, Funerus, Gravehill, Cardiac Arrest, Funebrarum, Macabre, Inquisition, Nominon, Superchrist, Disma and many others.  A couple years ago we played a mini-fest here in our hometown which was great, and recently a show we did in Cleveland kicked ass.  Buffalo shows have all been great, too.  We really like the people in those cities; they like metal!  Hopefully our stage performance isn't boring and the folks in attendance like what they hear to bob their heads or headband!  I think we try to be at least somewhat energetic, and usually we have red lights and a strobe that we switch on and off during the set.  Between songs we have it dark or have the strobe going.  People seem to dig it.  Sometimes with club lights it's tough to do that, though.

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

BRAD:  No real touring plans yet, but are getting out more recently.  This year we played Buffalo, Cleveland, NYC and Chicago.  Hopefully once the album is released we can hit the road for at least a few short trips and crush some other cities.

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

BRAD:  Thus far, reviews of the album have been pretty good overall.  And we get a lot of good feedback from people who see us live and other bands we play with who get to check us out.  Hopefully once the CD and LP are released more folks will pick it up and tell us they like it!  Since our labels are overseas, that has seemed to help out internationally and we really appreciate that aspect of the underground metal community.

8. Are there any other projects besides this band or is this a full
time line-up?

BRAD:  At the moment, the three of us only play in ABYSME.

TIM: But we’re always coming up with joke concepts for our fake alter ego band RECTAL THERMOMETER.

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

BRAD:  Probably more of the same dark, traditional death metal.  I'm not good at writing much else, to be honest.  I just want to play the kind of death metal that I like to play and that I would like to hear.

TIM:  I like the challenge of trying to make music that’s interesting while remaining in an established musical style.  It’s like trying to make a movie using traditional special effects without using CGI.

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

BRAD:  The three of us listen to a lot of different stuff.  We have varied tastes when it comes to what we listen to on a regular basis.  But I mostly stick to the classics like Dio, 80's Black Sabbath, Mercyful Fate, Kiss, WASP, etc.  I like old country music, too.  As far as influences, the stuff that inspires me now is the same as it was back in the early 90's when I started Funerus.  Mostly the early Scandinavian bands like Grave, Carnage, Abhorrence/Amorphis, and stuff like that, but also Autopsy, early Death, Impetigo, Repulsion, Bolt Thrower, Disembowelment, etc.  Rottrevore were a big influence on me back then!  Heavy shit!

11. Outside of music what are some of your interests?

BRAD:  We all like exploitation movies, role playing games like old school Dungeons and Dragons and board games.  We're a nerdy group.  I'm really into ice hockey/the NHL, fishing and being outdoors when the weather is nice.  And drinking beer, whiskey, the usual stuff!!

TIM: My interests are in doing everything less than Mike and Brad.  I watch fewer horror movies, play fewer role playing games, and drink less.  I’m the lightweight of the band that they get to tease for not being cool enough.  Also, I like being outdoors when the weather is not nice.  I like stomping through the snow.

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

BRAD:  Thanks to Extreme Metal Zine for the interview, and to anyone who takes the time to listen to our music and read our interviews!  We really appreciate and hope to play for all the death metal heads in the US and abroad someday!!  If you like what you've read or heard, pick up our album through Hellthrasher or Blood Harvest.  Thanks again and CHEERS!!

Soulstorm Interview

1. Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?

We have just officially released the new CD “Fall Of The Rebel Angels” and have also re-issued our first CD “Darkness Visible + Control”. This is the first time the Control demo from 1991 has been on CD. We’ve gotten many requests over the years to release the Control demo so we thought it was perfect timing to release it. The new line-up of Bryan Mallon (Guitar), Shawn Stoneman (Guitar) and Chris Mezzabotta (Drums) is probably the best line up I’ve ever had to execute the original Darkness Visible material. Right now we are currently planning some shows in Montreal, Toronto, the Niagara Region as well as Buffalo. We’re really out for blood this time and I have the guys to back it up! We all love what we’re doing and planning on picking up some new fans along the way. With the release of “Fall Of The Rebel Angels”, it’s given us a chance to not only explore elements from the first CD but add to the fury.

2. How would you describe the musical sound of the new album and how it differs from previous releases?

Every release is different with one to the next; this new CD would be on par with the first CD and fit almost seamlessly. We’ve kept the raw and dark sound that we began the band with and explore some new areas at the same time. I think we have really transferred the sound of emptiness and bleak landscapes on most of these new songs into solid soundscapes that fit each theme hauntingly well. 

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

When I write lyrics, I tend to use a graphic vocabulary that tends to paint a picture for each individual that listens to it. Making the lyrics vague and cryptive adds to the brutal sound of Soulstorm, letting the listener take an experience from our music that is solely their own.

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

I think the meaning of the band name is pretty self-revealing. It’s an ominous phrase that is what it sounds like, and I think a lot of people can relate to that.

5. The band was broken up for several years, what was the cause of the split up and what made you reform after all of these years?

I reformed the band so I can keep creating music that I like and that I think is heavy and crushing. I’ve always been planning this CD for the past 12 years but it finally came together for me when I was completely ready to let it embrace me once again and to continue to create dark and bleak imagery. 

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

Opening for Grave and Massacre in 1992 at Lee's Palace, opening for Entombed in 1993 at the Opera House and our last show opening for Hanzel und Gretyl, which we played on Sept. 6^th, 2012 at the Hard Luck Bar all here in Toronto. The new band is crushing live and you can really feel the fire and the blood that goes into this beast. These guys are metal veterans and know how to put on a great live show. 

7. Do you have any touring plans for the new release?

Oh yeah, we plan on doing a lot shows now that we have this line-up. We’re ready to go on tour, we’re ready to play shows, we’re ready for war! We are in the planning stages of doing some out of town shows. 

8. Have you received any label interest since the reunion?

Honestly, I’ve been so busy putting “Fall Of The Rebel Angels” together that I haven’t even had time to solicit any CD labels. I suppose we will begin to send out some promo copies to labels and get at the very least a distribution deal for the two newly released CDs. I don’t see that any negative response from labels would deter us from our journey onward. We’ve done everything ourselves this far, with very little outside help until now with FullBlast!PR. 

9. On a worldwide level how has your newer material been received by fans of extreme metal?

So far, we’ve had a lot of positive reaction in Sweden and Holland and various other places in Europe. The results are just now starting to come in; I’ve read some great reviews! 

10. Are there any other musical projects besides this band or is this a full time line up?

I’m always writing or being inspired by music. Soulstorm is full time but I also do an alternative darkwave band that sounds like a cross between Joy Division and early Killing Joke mixed with the Cure and Nine Inch Nails, it’s called AntiTrust Divison. I used to do beats and trippy songs under another name but I’ve changed it to Apnoea, this will be a drone project with some dark big beat songs thrown in.

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

I think we’ve found the direction we will be headed into on “Fall Of The Rebel Angels”. It covers a lot of ground and I think it fits in nicely with the material on “Darkness Visible”. 

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

Mostly stuff like Celtic Frost, Triptykon, Sacrifice, Torture Division, some early Godflesh and Swans. We listen to a lot of various bands from multiple genres but our sound is rooted in the death metal industrial hybrid terror unit. 

13. Outside of music what are some of your interests?

It’s all music, this is what I do, I still buy CDs. I’m constantly writing in my head. If I’m not writing, I’m recording. We already have a few new ideas for the next release. We’ve been rehearsing a lot lately, getting ready for some shows. I also Paint now, this is something that started about 6 years ago. I have gotten into bigger canvases now, like 2’x3’ size canvases. I just finished this big piece for my living room that incorporates vinyl LPs and 7” vinyl in the design; it’s 8 feet long and 3 feet high, broken up into 4 panels. 

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

Thanks for taking the time to talk to me about Soulstorm.

Thanks to Chris from FullBlast!PR for hooking this up.

Go To WWW.SOULSTORM.CA

Undersave Interview

1.     Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?

We have been spreading our debut album “Now…Submit Your Flesh To The Master’s Imagination” on stage, trying to achieve a lot of places where we have never had the opportunity to play, answering some interviews and rehearsing some old songs (from our Mcd “After The Domestication Comes The Manipulation”) with our new guitar player Daniel Pereira.

2.     How would you describe the musical sound of the new album and how it differs from your previous releases?

We are now more mature and I think that has resulted on a more characteristic Death Metal sound! For us is strange to describe our sound because we made it…however we think that the best way is the readers listen our both releases (cd and Mcd) for free at http://undersave.bandcamp.com/ .

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

Our music will always be related with the deficient conception of human beings (Thank you Master). So our lyrics are about manipulation, self-censorship, abnormal behavior and societal decay. Society and it´s ever increasing pressures on the individual (with the crisis, poverty and war) are pushing the limits well over our boundaries…so that is also a topic of interest in our lyrics…so we have these and much more topics to explore in our new songs.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the band´s name?

We don’t have any inspiration behind the band name. When we decide about the name we were just some stupid kids ehehe. However it was something like our music must always be Underground and made according to our own desire.

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

We always try to be the most intense possible and send our rotten message… We had some nice shows, one of the most important one was with the Heavy Doomsters PAGAN ALTAR, our sound doesn’t have any similarities to them but they are a really nice band and very simple persons, we will not forget that show. We also played with some of our favorite Portuguese bands that we had saw a lot during our firsts years in the Portuguese Underground scene like Decayed, RDB, Dead Meat, Bleeding Display, Theriomorphic…

6. Do you have any touring plans for the new release?

We are now doing some shows all over Portugal and in a near future we will try do the same in Spain and if possible other countries. We hope someday we could have a tour with lot of gigs!!!

7. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your new album by fans of death metal?

Until now we have some nice reviews and others medians, that’s normal. We have songs with 8, 7 minutes and most of the Death Metal fans are not used to that kind of songs. However most of the reviews are very positive and constructive but we are still waiting for a lot of reviews because our album was released just 2 months ago.

8. Are there any other projects besides this band or is this a full time line up?

No. Nuno Braz (vocals/guitar) doesn´t have other projects, Hugo Pote (drums) also plays in a Death/Black band called Dawn of Ruin and Daniel Pereira (guitar) plays in a D-beat/Crust band called Disthrone.

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

That’s a difficult question because we don’t talk about our future musical direction…we just pick up some nice riffs and after that we make some experiences in the rehearsal room to develop a song and try to press our signature there.

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

We listen almost every kinds of metal (unless nu-metal, metal-core, death-core..), Grindcore, Rock etc. the most important is that we don’t confine our ears… Nowadays we have been listening Aura Noir, Coroner, Oppressor, The Chasm, Saxon, Pestilence, Driller Killer, Jig-Ai, Funebrarum, Trench Hell, Led Zeppelin, Kill, At The Gates (early stuff), Graveyard (the spanish) and (always) Dismember.

11. Outside of music what are some of your interests?

Partying, Drinking, Movies, Soccer and other sports, Porn, Human decadence and Food!

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

Thank you for the interview and we hope you keep supporting the Underground scene till the grave!  Those of you who want to contact us please use our mailundersave@gmail.com add us on facebook to read our news www.facebook.com/undersave and listen our album and Mcd for free athttp://undersave.bandcamp.com/ .

Thanks for this interview!

Cheers, Good luck to your zine!

Undersave

Nuno

Soulstorm/Fall Of The Rebel Angels/2012 CD Review

  Soulstorm  are  a  band  from  Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada  that h as  a  history  dating  back  20  years  and  are  one  of  the  first  bands   that  mixed  death  metal  with  industrial  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2012  reunion  album  "Fall  Of  The Rebel  Angels".

  Drums  range  from  slow  to  mid  paced  drumming  with  not  much  in  the  way  of  fast  playing  or  blast  beats,  while  the  synths  and  programming  bring  an  atmospheric  and  industrial  sound  to  the  music,  as  for  the  bass  playing  it  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  the  follow  the  riffing  that  is  coming  out  of  the  guitars.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow  to  mid  paced  old  school  death  metal  riffs  that  add  alot  of  industrial  metal  influences  in  the  riffing  and  there  are  little  to  no  guitar  solos  or  leads  present  on  this  recording.

  Vocals  are  mostly  deep  death  metal  growls  with  some  spoken  word  samples,  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  esoteric  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  old  school,  powerful  and  heavy  sound  for  being  a  self  released  recording.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  recording  from  Soulstorm  and  if  you  where  a  fan  of t his  band  in  the  90's,  you  should  check  out  this  release.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Fall  Of  The  Rebel  Angels"  "Kingdom  Of  Rats"  "The  Nihilism  Quotient"  and  "Return  To  The  Eve".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.