System Annihilated/Furor/Discouraged Records/2013 CD Review

  System  Annihilated  are  a  band  from  Sweden  that  plays  a  mixture  of  death,  groove  metal  and  hardcore  with  progressive  parts  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  album  "Furor"  which  will  be  released  by  Discouraged  Records.

  Drums r ange  from  slow  to  mid  paced  playing  with  no  fast  drumming  or  blast  beats  being  present  on  this recording,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  are  coming  out  of  the guitars.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow  to  mid  paced  riffs  that  combine  groove,  death  and  hardcore  together  to c reate  a  sound  of their  own  while  also  mixing  progressive  parts  into  the  riffing  as  well  as  a  brief  use  of  clean  playing  and  there  are  no  guitar  solos  or  leads  present  on  the  recording.

  Vocals r ange  from  groove  metal/hardcore type  screams  to  deep  death  metal  growls,  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  everyday  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  to  it.

  In  my  opinion  System  Annihilated  are  a  very  great  sounding  hybrid  of  groove,  death  metal  and  hardcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  style,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "This  Apocaylpse"  "What  We  Created"  and  "parasite".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

After Oblivion/Stamina/Metal On Metal Records/2012 CD Review

  After  Oblivion  are  a  band  from  Bosnia  that  plays  a  very  old  shool  form  of  technical  death  metal  with  thrash  influences  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2012  album  "Stamina"  which  was  released  by  Metal  On  Metal  Records.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  some  blast  beats  being  utilized  at  times,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  strong  and  powerful  sound  with  heavy  riffing that  dominates  throughout  the  recording.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  riffs  that  combine  early  90's  technical  death  metal  with  thrash  metal  as  well  as  throwing  in  a  good  amount  of  melody  in  the  riffing  as  well  as  a  brief  use  of  clean  playing,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  melodic  and  technical  sounding  old  school  death  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads,  as  for  the  classical  guitars  they  are  only  utilized  briefly  and  they  use  finger  picking  to  add  more  variety  to   the  music.

  Vocals  are  all  high  pitched  death/thrash  screams  and  growls,  while the  lyrics  cover  philosophical,  hateful,  and  everyday  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy,  professional  and  old  school sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording.

  In  my  opinion  After  Oblivion  are  a  very  great  sounding  hybrid  of  old  school  technical  death  metal  and  thrash  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  style,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Deliverance"  "Vultures"  "Septic  Mind"  and  "Hatred  Peofound".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

Overtorture Interview

 

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

Joel Fornbrant:

Overtorture is a Swedish death metal band that was formed in 2011. We are a bunch of guys from bands like Grave, Coldworker, Witchery and The Ugly with the aim to play crushing death metal in a straight up, no-bullshit kind of way. We are releasing our debut album, ”At the End the Dead Await” on Apostasy Records january 25^th 2013.

2. How would you describe your musical sound?

 Joel Fornbrant:

We have a pretty traditional sound, perhaps leaning a little towards mid-paced and heavy death metal with lots of double bass drums, while having some fast parts and blastbeats thrown in as well. The songs have a few melodic parts without sounding wimpy and quite a bit of strong lead guitar work. If I would compare it to other bands, I'd say you'd find traces of Morbid Angel, Necrotisism-era Carcass and a little bit of Bolt Thrower as well as a strong influence from the classic Swedish bands, like Entombed, Grave and Dismember.

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

Joel Fornbrant:

There isn't any specific theme to the lyrics, and they cover pretty typical death metal topics. There's a couple of horror-influenced songs, like ”The Outer Limits” and the title track, ”Suffer As One” and ”Black shrouds of Dementia” are about the dark sides of the human mind and there's even some science fiction themed ones, like ”The Coming Doom” and ” ”Towards the Within”.  I try to write the lyrics in a voice that feels like my own that gives them a distinct character. Ideally, this makes them feel like they belong together on an album, like they are different kinds of stories told by the same narrator.  

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

Magnus Martinsson:

After thinking and listing a lot of possible band names for some time OVERTORTURE popped up and it was/is just the perfect name for the band. There are not a thousand other old bands with the same name out there,  it’s one word, simple and immediately tells you what we’re about…. DEATH METAL!

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

 Joel Fornbrant:

As of writing this, Overtorture has yet to lose its live virginity, so what our shows will be like is something for the future to tell. We of course intend to change this as soon as the album is released. We have one show booked so far, with hopefully many more to come.

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

Magnus Martinsson:

Our initial plan is to play festivals and weekend gigs during 2013, and we already have a show confirmed in Stockholm with one of the bigger Swedish death metal acts around release of the album, but the details are not yet official. At the moment we’re working on booking some more shows both domestic and abroad; hopefully we’ll do some international shows around release as well. If the timing and conditions are right we’ll do some longer touring, but it’s nothing we’ve set as a goal or plan so far.

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

 Joel Fornbrant:

Keeping in mind that most people have only heard one demo track and one song from the album, the feedback has been very good. Some german magazines have heard a few more songs, and they really liked them as far as we could tell. My german is a little bit rusty though, so I could be wrong. We of course can't wait for people to hear the whole album, which is when we'll really know what people think of our songs.

8. WHat is going on with the other musical projects these days?

 Joel Fornbrant:

I can only speak for Coldworker, which is going to try to get out and  become a little more live active for 2013, as we have done very few live shows in the last few years. Maybe write some new songs if it feels right.

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

 Joel Fornbrant:

It's impossible to say right now. We need to release the album, listen to people's opinions and maybe most importantly: play the songs in a live environment. Then we'll probably have a picture of where we want to take the music of Overtorture in the future. But I'm already pretty sure we won't become a dub step duo or a traveling circus act. 

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

 Joel Fornbrant:

Speaking for myself, I tend to draw most inspiration from the classic death metal acts. Morbid Angel, Pestilence, Entombed, Dismember, Malevolent Creation and the like. Napalm Death isn't a death metal band per se, but they are a big influence on me. Right now I listen a lot to Benediction, which I think is an underrated band. Celtic Frost and Overkill also get played frequently these days. As for newer releases, I really dug the latest Asphyx album and Black Breaths “Sentenced To Life”. My favourite album this year is a hardcore album, “Darker Days Ahead” by Tragedy.

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

 Joel Fornbrant:

I like watching movies, reading books and drinking beer. Those aren't making me any thinner, so I am trying getting into working out as well. They all take a back seat to music, though.

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

Joel Fornbrant:

Thanks for the interview! As said, ”At the End the Dead Await” is releasing january 25^th on Apostasy Records. Get ready for a crushing swedish death metal assault! And we hope to see you soon on the road as well. Take care!

Abriosis Interview

Taylor Lipton answering for Abriosis:

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

 We are a 4 piece progressive death band from Vancouver ,BC. Formed in 2008 we have a self titled E.P., Full Length (Tattered And Bound) , and are excited to release our next E.P. "Vessel" Feb 1st . 

2. How would you describe your musical sound?

 I would describe our sound as Dissonant , Groove Heavy , Death Metal haha hard to say, we try to make every song completely different from the last,.....maybe unpredictable ?

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

  Well we've had a different Vocalist on every release so far , so I won't speak for our past vocalists but Alxs states that each song on "Vessel" takes its own tangent lyrically, but they all contain esoteric themes approached from a playful, poetic point of view. The lyrics were written after the music was composed, so the lyrical content was directly inspired by the overall feeling and personality of each song.

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

It really can mean whatever you like because its not a real word.  We took the word "ABIOSIS"  and put an "R" in it and it sounded cool so we kept it . 

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

Fredericton, NB with Endast in 2011 was memorable, hottest bar ever and we gave every bit on stage , felt like puking when i stepped off haha
We also had the honor of opening for Hate Eternal and Origin  .
DiecemberFest in Vancouver is always great  , and Edmonton at The Brixx with Death Toll Rising was great also , packed house Death Toll is always great to watch too.
Ever since Alxs has joined ABRIOSIS though I think our stage presence is at its best , we really get into the tunes live,  you can usually hear me screaming to myself on stage through my mop of hair .

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

 Yes , we've toured Canada a bit now and we'd really like to venture down the Pacific Coast of the U.S. as soon as possible. Hopefully by 2014. Eventually Europe too .

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

 Generally great . We do not refer to ourselves as Tech Death but have been called Tech Death , we have lovers and occasional haters in the "Tech Death" world . That whole genre seems like 1 big pissing contest to me and not very musical alot of the time, so it doesn't bother us if someone doesn't think were tech enough yet listens to Braindrill all day . We love bands that write memorable music and we hope to be 1 ourselves. You can't please everybody.

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

 I think since 2008 we have been crafting our sound and "Vessel" is what we've been forging towards and we couldn't be prouder. "Vessel" is what ABRIOSIS should sound like and we will be building off of that.  More dissonace, disorienting riffs, lots of vocal experimentations and new ways of phrasing and arranging our songs. We are excited for the future , we never plan what an album will sound like. We just take it one song at a time and by completion  it will have its own story.

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

 Some bands that have influenced our sound I think would be  Martyr (Can), Voivod, Gorguts, Immolation, Converge,Cannibal Corpse,Dillenger Escape Plan, Morbid Angel, Pantera, Slayer,Meshuggah, and Napalm Death. I can't speak for everyone but recently I've been listening to  Rush, Gojira, Cattle Decapitation's Newest Album , Lots of Converge, Guthrie Govan, Joe Pass , Jimi Hendrix , Squarepusher, Dave Matthews Band, Opeth , Beck, Incantation, Pink Floyd ,...haha I could keep going but I'll stop so many great albums lately!

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

Everyone in the band will make fun of me for being a GAMER but i love Gaming Ps3 , like watching hockey(screw the lockout),and Formula 1 racing .  Robin has seen pretty much every movie in the world and loves burgers, Ryan when he's not playing is usually listening to 80's pop tunes , and hes a bartender so he can make a mean drink,and alxs writes reviews for Abort magazine, exercises regularly and counter exercises with beer.

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

Just that ABRIOSIS "Vessel" will be released feb.1st 2013 for FREE download at ABRIOSIS.com.  Everyone should keep their eye on Vancouver because the metal scene here has so much talent .  We will be releasing 2 MUSIC VIDEO COVERS in  early 2013 for CANNIBAL CORPSE "Fucked with a Knife" and SLAYER'S "Bitter PEACE"   . Thank you for the interview and Review. Evceryone watch out for Abriosis in 2013!

Overtorture/At The End Death Await/Apostasy Records/2013 CD Review

  Overtorture  are  a  band  from  Sweden  that  plays  an  old  school  form  of  death  metal  with  some  veterans  from  that  scene  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  album  "At  The  End  Death  Await"  which  was  released  by  Apostasy  Records.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  some  blast  beats  being  utilized  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  Swedish  sounding  death  metal  riffs  that  are  very  heavy  and  old  school  sounding  with  some  melodies  being  thrown  into  the  riffing  at  times  as  well  as  a  brief  use  of  clean  playing,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  melodic  sounding  death  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads.

  Vocals  are  mostly deep  death  metal  growls  with  some  high  pitched  screams  being  utilized  at  times,  while  the  lyrics  cover  darkness  and  horror  themes,  as  for  the  production  it has  a  very  old  school.  powerful,  strong  and  heavy  sound  to  capturing  the  classic  death  metal  sound  perfectly.

  In  my  opinion  Overtorture  are  a  very  great  sounding  old  school  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Murder  For  The  Masses"  "The  Outer  Linmits"  "The  Coming  Doom"  and  "Suffer  As  One".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

Ogotay Interview

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

Firstly, I'd like to welcome all the readers.
Ogotay the band, though maybe not well-known, consists of
following musicians: Gufi, guitar, Mess Age; Pieczar, guitar,
Fulcrum; Simon, drums, Pandemonium; and SVierszcz, bass and vocals,
Yattering

2. How would you describe your musical sound?

Death metal. If anyone's interested in rating our music, feel invited to check out our profiles at reverbnation, soundcloud and youtube.

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
Since Yattering I've been writing about pathologies of our society. In Ogotay I pay much attention to accentuate the decline of the civilization.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?
Ogotay was a man who called himself a god. It's taken form the comic book series Thorgal. Ogotay is the bloodthirsty master of QA people in pre-columbian era.

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and how would you describe your stage performance?
For the time being we're playing in Poland only. We're focusing on production of our new single 'Bastards and Orphans' and next album.

6. Do you have any touring plans for the new release?
For the time being we're playing in Poland only. We're focusing on production of our new single 'Bastards and Orphans' and next album.

7. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been  to your music by fans of death metal?
These are the roumors mainly the journalists are interested in. Bands come and go, obviously there's a lot of them around. It may be only your impression that at certain moment there's more bands of a certain genre, I don't see it that way.

8. What is going on with the other musical projects these days?
According to my knowledge, only Pandemonium still exists out of our previous bands. Personally I promote Yattering as a brand by selling our t-shirts for example.

9. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?
You can judge by yourself while listening to our new single soon. It's gonna be as brutal as always.

10. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
If I had to choose my guru, It'd be Devin Townsend. Besides, I listen to many different kinds of music and I doubt that Ogotay could take any inspirations from very 'light' Massive Attack, Hybrid or Muse. I'd rather want you to judge by yourself after the new material is released, and then compare our style to other bands.

11. Outside of music what are some of your interests?
I am a physiotherapist interested in sniper military units.

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

Thank you for your time and see you at our concerts.

Polluted Inheritence/Ecocide/Vic Records/2013 CD Re-Issue Review

  Polluted  Inheritance  where  a  band  from  the  Netherlands  that  played  a  very  technical  form  of  death  metal in  the  early  90's  vein  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  1992  album  "Ecocide"  which  will  be  re-issued  by  Vic  Records  in  2013.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  some  blast  beats  being  utilized  at  times, while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  strong  and  powerful  sound  with  technical  riffing  that  dominates  throughout  the  recording.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  death  metal  riffs  that  where  considered  technical  for  the  time  it  was  released  with  some  thrash  influences  being  thrown  into  the  riffing,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  early  90's  technical  death  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads,  as  for  the a coustic  guitars  which  are  only  utilized  on  the  last  song t hey  use  finger  picking  and  full  chords  to  add  more  progressive  elements  to  the  music.

  Vocals  are  all  early  death  metal  growls  with  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts,  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  philosphical  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful  and  heavy  sound  for  the  time  it  was  originally  released  but  raw  and  primitive  sounding  by  today's  standards  but  you  can  still  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording.

  In  my  opinion  Polluted  Inheritance  where  a  very  great  sounding  early  technical  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Faces"  "Memories  Of  Sadness"  "Afterlife"  and  "Look  Inside".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.