Nephren-Ka/The Fall Of Omnius/Kaotoxin Records/2013 CD Review

  Nephren-Ka  are  a  band  from  France  that  plays  a  very  brutal  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  album  "The Fall  Of  Omnius"  which  was  released  by  Kaotoxin  Records.

  "Butlerian  Djihad"  starts  off  with  a  powerful  blast  beats,  brutal  death  metal  riffing   and  deep  death  metal  growls  while  also  mixing  in  high  pitched  screams,  melody  which  sets  up  the  pace  for  the  slow  and  fast  parts  while  also  mixing  in  some  technical  elements  and  as  the  song  moves  on  a  powerful  bass  riff  comes  in  which  leads  to  more  blast  beats  and  brutal  sections  while  also  mixing  in  some  chaotic  sounding  death  metal  guitar  leads.

  "Mastering  The  Voice"  starts  off  with  slow,  melodic  guitar  riffing  and  powerful  drumming  which  sets  up  the  pace  for  the  deep  growls  before  getting  faster  and  mixing  in  some  blast  beats  as  well  as  the  back  and  forth  switch  to  the  slow  and  fast  parts  and  after  awhile  high  pitched  screams  start  making  their  presence  known  in  the  song  which  sets  up  the  pace  for  more  blast  beats,  and  brutal  riffing,  as  the  song  moves  on  a  brief  guitar  lead  makes  it  way  in  for  a  few  seconds  before  going  back  to t he  brutal  elements.

  "Legend  Of  Selim  (Part  1 The  Seeds  Of  Discord)"  starts  off  with  powerful  drums,  and  heavy  guitar  riffs  which  sets  up  the  pace  for  the  growls,  screams  and  blast  beats  with  this  song  focusing  more  on  being  fast  and  brutal  while  still  utilizing  melody  at  times  as  well  as  some  guitar  solos  and  leads.

   "The  Rise  Of  Omnius"  starts  off  with  powerful  and  melodic  death  metal  riffing  as  well  as  powerful  drums  before  the  vocals  kick  in  and  the  song  goes  into  a  faster  direction  with  brutal  blast  beats  and  high  pitched  screams  and  as  the  song  moves  on  there  is  some  switches  back  and  forth  between  slow  and  heavy  parts  and  starts  the  end  a  powerful  death  metal  guitar  lead  makes  its  presence  known.

  "Feydakins  Sword"  starts  off  with  brutal  death  metal  riffs  powerful  bass  and  drums  before  going  into  blast  beats,  faster  parts  and  adding  in  the  deep  growls  while  also  utilizing  some  melodic  and  technical  elements  and  as  the  song  moves  on  their  are  switches  back  and  forth  between  fast  and  heavy  parts  as  well  as  mixing  in  some  screams  which  sets  up  the  mood  for  a  melodic  guitar  solo  while  also  retaining  the  rhythm  sections,  towards  the  end  movie  samples  make  their way  into  the  song.

  "The  Cymek  Revolution"  starts  off  with  powerful  blast  beats,  brutal  death  metal  riffs  and  deep  growls  before  mixing  in  high  pitched  screams  and  mid  paced  sections  while  also  reverting  back  to  the  heavy  and  brutal  parts,  as  the  song  moves  in  a  powerful  guitar  solos  makes  it  presence  known  as  well  as  some  powerful  bass  playing  which  combine  with t he  slower  and  mid  paced  elements.

  "Legend  Of  Selim (Part  2:  The  Return  Of  The  Worm  Rid"  starts  of f  with  technical death  metal  guitar  leads  and  blast  beats  before  going  into  mid  paced  parts  and  adding  in  growls  as w ell  as  some  high  pitched  screams  while  also  reverting  back  to  blast  beats  at  times.

  "Praise  Shai  -  Hulud"  starts  off  with  powerful  drums  and  technical  death  metal  riffing b efore  kicking  into  the  growls  and  high  pitched  screams  which  lead  the  music  switching  back  and  forth  between  the  mid  paced  and  fast  sections  while  remaining  brutal,  as  the  song  moves  in  a  powerful  bass  lead  makes  its  presence  known  for  a  few  seconds  before  returning  to  the  more  brutal  elements.

  "To  The  Golden  Path"  starts  off with  drum  beats  and  death  metal  guitar  riffing  which  sets  up  the  mood  for  the  growls  while  staying  in  a  more  slow  and  mid  paced  direction  before  a  scream  comes  in  and  fast  parts  start  showing  and  leads  to  powerful  blast  beats  and  more  brutality while  also  returning  to  the  slow  and  mid  paced  parts  at  times,  a  few  minutes  into  the  song  powerful  bass  playing  makes  it  presence  known  and  combines  with  the  brutal  parts.and  after  awhile  a  powerful  guitar  solo  makes  its  way  into  the  music  towards  the  song's  end.

  Song  lyrics  on  the  albums  are  post  of  Frank  Herbert's  Dune  Saga  novels,  while  the  production  has  a  very  strong  ,powerful,  heavy,  brutal  and  professional  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording.

  In  my  opinion  Nephren-Ka  are  a  very  great  sounding  brutal  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of t his  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Butlerian  Djihad"  "The  Rise  Of  Omnius"  "Feydakins  Sword"  and  "Praise  Shai  -  Hulud".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

Monsterworks/Earth/Eat Led And Die/2013 CD Review

  Monsterworks  are  a  band  from  New  Zealand  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  with  a  musical  style  that  combines  thrash,  power  and  death  metal  together and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  album  "Earth".

  "From  Dust  And  Gravity"  starts  off  with  sound  effects  then  the  drums  and  melodic  guitar  riffs  kick  in  with  the  music  getting  heavier  along  with  some  high  pitched  power  metal  vocals  which  also  mix  in  some  deep  death  metal  growls  before  going  into  a  melodic  guitar  solo  and  back  to  the  rhythm's  for  a  few  seconds  as  the  song  moves  on  some  clean  classical  guitar  playing  makes  it's  way  into  the  song  as  well  as  the  return  of  the  guitar  leads  which  leads  to  the  music  getting  heavy again  and  closing  with  the  softer  parts.

  "Late  Heavy  Bombardment"  starts  off  with  some  heavy  alternative  metal  riffs  along  with  some  drums  and  the  vocals  combine  power,  thrash  and  death  metal  together  before  going  into  a  psychedelic  sounding  guitar  solo  while  retaining  the  vocals  and  rhythms,  as  the  song  moves  on  acoustic  guitars  make  their  way  into  the  music  with  the  heavy  parts  being  on  top  of  it  which  sets  up  the  pace  for  thrash  style  guitar  riffing  and  death  metal  growls.

  "The  Last  Universal  Ancestor"  starts  off  with  some  soft  acoustic  guitar  playing  which  uses  both  finger  picking  and  full  chords  before  going  into  heavy  guitars,  drums  and  death  metal  guitars  which  lead  to the  power  metal  vocals  combing  with  the  growls  along  with  melodic  riffing  and  semi  blast  beats  and  as  the  song  moves  on  hard  rock  style  guitar  leads  and  regular  clean  singing  make  their  way  into  the  song  before  going  back  in  a  heavier  direction  which  after  awhile  mix  in  the  solo  parts  along  with  some  powerful  bass  playing  before  the  closing  part.

  "Oxygenation"  starts  off  with  some  clean  blues  rock  style  guitar  playing,  drums  and  clean  singing  which  leads  to  the  music  getting heavier  along  with  some  death/thrash  metal  growls  and  power  metl  vocals  before  returning  to  a  clean  direction  with  the  bass  guitars  in  the  background  which  keeps  the  heavy  parts  and  goes  into  a  guitar  solo  along  with  distorted  effects  for  a  few  seconds  while  also  mixing  in  the  rhythm  parts.

  "Powered  By  Fate"  starts  off  with  heavy  guitar  riffing,  drums ,  deep  death  metal  growls  that  combine  power/thrash  screams  and  after  awhile  the  bass  playing  gets  heavier  and  melodies  make t heir  way  into  the  riffing  as  well  as  regular  power  metal  vocals  start  combing  with  the  growls  which  sets  up  the  pace  for  a  guitar  solos  and  towards  the  end  the  song  goes  in  a  cleaner  direction  and  mixes  in  classical  guitars.

  "Bookended  By  Extinction"  starts  off  with  some  soft  effects,  before  the  blast  beats,  faster  guitar  riffs  and  death  metal  growls  kick  in  which  also  mix  in  power  metal  parts  before  slowing  down  and  going  in  a  softer  direction  and  back  to  being  fast  again  after  that  the  song  slows  down  but  stays  heavy.

  "Aeon  Of  Man"  starts  off  with  sound  effects  before  the  drums,  bass,  acoustic  guitars  and  clean  singing  kicks  in  and  then  the  music  gets  heavier  with  power  metal  vocals  and  growls  making  their  way  in  along  with  some  dark  guitar  riffing  which  sets  up  the  pace  for a  70's  style  metal  guitar  solo  which  in  returns  brings  back  the  softer  elements  while  retaining  the  heavy  parts.

  "Earth"  starts  off  with  some  soft  acoustic  guitar  playing  which  utilized  both  finger  picking  and  full  chords  which  also  sets  up  the  pace  for  the  bass  guitar  and  drums  before  getting h eavier  and  mixing  in  a  guitar  solo  and  clean  singing  as  well  as  switching  back  and  forth  between  heavy  and  soft  parts  as  the  song  moves  in  some  psychedelic  sounding  synths  and  sound  effects  make  their  way  into  the  music  which  in  returns  takes  the  music  into  a  more  progressive  rock  direction  and  after  awhile  the  song  gets  heavy  again  before  closing  with  the  softer  elements.

  Song  lyrics  cover  a  concept  on  the  evolution  of  the  planet  and  environmental  issues,  while  the  production  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  with  the  songs  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Monsterworks  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "From  Dust  And  Gravity"  Bookended  By  Extinction"  and  "Earth'.  RECOMMENDED  BUY.  

Pest Records Online Compilation Vol. 16/2013 Compilation Review

  This  is  a  review  of  the  16th  volume  of  the  Pest  Records  Online  Compilation's  and  we  will  review  the  songs  one  by  one.

  Austerymn  from  the  U.K  brings  us  "In  Death...We  Speak"  a  very  old  school  sounding  Swedish  style  death  metal  song.

  Next  up  is  Bifrost  from  Italy  with  "Ashes  Of  An  Endless  Embrace"  a  very  atmospheric  sounding  blackened  doom/death  metal  song.

  Next  up  is  Blasphemation  from  U.S.A  with  "Vomit  Spray"  a  more  blackened  death  metal  sounding  song  with  elements  of  harsh  noise.

  Next  up  is  Caedes  Castus  from  USA  and  Poland  with  "Heathen  Dreamlands(The  World  Where  i  Belong  a  very  melodic  and  atmospheric  sounding  pagan  metal  song.

  Next  up  is  Garden  Of  Grief  from  Austria  with  "Initial  Command"  a  very  fast,  heavy,  raw  and  primitive  black  metal  song.

  Next  up  is  Horus from  Romania  with  "The  Osirieon  Tomb"  an  atmospheric  Egyptian  themes  blackened  death  metal  song.

  Next  up  is  Inferna  from  Mexico  with  "Of  Blood  And  Death"  a  very  raw  and  primitive  sounding  old  school  black  metal  song.

 Next  up  is  Lordsephemy  from  India  with  "Infernal  Winter  Sermo0ns"  a  very  dark  sounding  black   metal  song  with  evil  keyboards  as  well  as  a  small  amount  of  clean  singing.

  Next  up  is  Napalm  Christ  from  U.S.A  with  "Idols  Of  Evil"  a  very  dark  and  blasphemous  sounding  death  metal  song.

  Next  up  is  Neka  from  Italy  with  "The  Diamond"  a  very  heavy  and  brutal  sounding  death  metal  song.

 Next  up  is  Oath  Of  Sin  from  USA  with  "Satan"  a  very  dark  and  atmospheric  sounding  black  metal  song  with  modern  elements.

  Next  up  is  Outright  Resistance  from  Uk  with  "Friends  Will  Betray"  a  song  that  combines  groove  and  death  metal together.

  Next  up  is  Secretpath  from  Italy  with  "And  So  I  Return  To  The  River"  a  very  avant  garde  and  melodic  sounding  black  metal  song.

  Next  up  is  Selbst  from  Venezuela  with  "Veritas  filia  temporis  II"  a  very  long  and  epic  in  length    black  metal  song.

  Closing  the  compilation  is Unsouled  from  Spain  with  "Melting  People"  a  more  melodic  power/thrash  sounding  metal  song.

  In   my  opinion  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  compilation  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  thrash,  death,  black,  atmospheric  and  doom  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED

Pest Records Online Compilation Vol. 15/Pest Records/2013 Review

  This  is  a  review  of  the  15  volume  of  the  Pest  Records  Online  Compilation's with  this  one  being  released  in  2013  and  we  will  review  the  songs  one  by  one.

  Bloodington  from  the  U.k  brings  us  "Speed  Freak  Clubbing"  a  very  heavy  and  old  school  sounding  punk/thrash  crossover  song.

  Next  up  is  Bukowski  Family  from  the  U.S.A  with  "Flayed  Skin  Tapestry"  a  very  heavy  blackened  death  metal  song  with  a  touch  of  grindcore.

  Next  up  is  Hak-Ed  Damm  with  "Nekrowristfucked"  a  very  fast  and  heavy  sounding  black  metal  song  with  some  death  and  modern  day  metal  elements  to  it.

  Next  up  is  Immortal  Empire  from  the  U.K  with  "Lucifer  Rising"  which  is  a  more  symphonic  sounding  black  metal  song  which  is  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Next  up  is  Karonte  from  Spain  with  "Falaris"  a  more  traditional  and  heavy  sounding  death  metal  song  with  powerful  blast  beats.

  Next  up  is  Midian  from  Italy  with  "Time  To  Die"  a  very  straight  forward  and  heavy  sounding  thrash  metal  song  in  the  old  school  vein.

  Next  up  is  Mormant  De  Snagnov  from  Finland  with  "Detrimental  Edict"  a  very  modern  day  sounding  black  metal  song.

  Next  up  is  Mortuorial  Eclipse  from  Argentina  with  "At  The  Gate's  Of  Marduk's  Shrine"  a  very  heavy  sounding  symphonic  black  metal  song.

  Next  up  is  Path  Ov  Amok  from  Canada  with  "Destroyer  Of  Happiness"  a  very  long  and  epic  in  length  black  metal  song  that  utilize  a  very  different  vocal  style

  Next  up  is  Shellshock  from  Italy  with  "Game  Over"  a  very  heavy  sounding  death/thrash  metal  song  with  blast  beats.

  Next  up  is  The  Beyond  from  Italy  with  "Mass  Lobotomy"  another  old  school  sounding  death/thrash  metal  song.

  Next  up  is  Valinor  from  Poland  with  "Requiem"  a  very  symphonic  and  melodic  sounding  death  metal  song.

  Next  up  is  Velm  from  Hungary  with  "Water  From  The  Earth"  a  very  epic  and  melodic  sounding  black  metal  song.

  Next  up  is  Vivid  Remorse  from  Spain  with  "Imaginary  Actress"  a  very  old  school  sounding t hrash  song  with  elements  of  hardcore.

  Next  up  is  Vrag  from  Hungary  with  "Temetetlen"  a  very  long  and  epic  in  length,  grim  sounding  black  metal  song.

  Closing  the  compilation  is  Witcher  from  Hungary"  with  "Nema  Gyasz"  a  very  long  in  length  atmospheric  and  epic  sounding  black  metal  song.

  In  conclusion  I  feel  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  compilation  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  thrash,  death  and  black  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED.  

Debauchery/Kings Of Carnage/Massacre Records/2013 CD Review

  Debauchery  are  a  band  from  Germany  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  with  a  musical  style  I  would  describe  as  being  death  metal  mixed  with  rock'n'roll  elements  and  this  is  a  review  of their  2013  album  "Kings  Of  Carnage"  which  was  released  by  Massacre  Records.

  "Coming  Of  The  Dragons"  is  the  intro  to  the  album  and  starts  off  with  a  melodic  guitar  solo  behind  some  clean  playing.closing  with  a  slow  drum  beat.

  "Demonslayer"  starts  off  with  a  thrash  style  guitar  riff  with  some  melodic  riffing  and  semi  fast  drumming  before  the  death  metal  growls  kick  in  that  have  a  thrash  feeling  to  them  as  well  as  back  up  shouts,  then  a  melodic  guitar  lead  kicks  before  speeding  up  with  faster  drumming  and  guitar  riffs  before  switching  back  to  the  opening  parts  for  awhile  then  the  guitars  start  sounding  all  clean  with  some  80's  style  power  ballad  playing,  which  leads  up  to  some  clean  singing  before  getting  heavy  again  towards  the  end  of  the  song.

  "Let  there  Be  Blood"  starts  out  with  some  powerful  drumming  and  mid  paced  death  thrash  riffing,  before  the  heavy  bass  playing  and  growls  kicking  in  which  lead  to  the  guitars  adding  in  rock  elements  as well  as  some  melodic  leads  and  high  pitched  screams,  which  leads  to  music  back  to  the  opening  riffs  which  remain  the  same  way  through  the  rest  of  the  song.

  "Killerbeast"  starts  out  with  a  slow  heavy  riff,  powerful  drumming/bass  lines  before  the  growls  kick  in  which  leads  to  a  more  mid  paced  feeling  with  the  vocals  switching  from  shouts,  growls  and  high  pitched  screams,  shortly  after  that  a  blast  beat  starts  kicking  in  combined  with  the  music  switching  back  and  forth  to  slow  and  fast  towards  the  end  of  the  song.

  "Kings  Of  Carnage"  starts  off  with  some  soft  and  clean  playing  from  the  guitars  before  the  drums  start  kicking  in  which  leads  to  the  heavier  metal  guitar  riffs  coming  in,  2  minutes  into  the  song  the  death  metal  screams  and  back  up  shouts  make  their  presence  staying  in  that  direction  for  a  minute  before  the  song  reverts  back  to  clean  playing  which  only  last  for  a  few  seconds,  shortly  after  that t he  growls  return  along  with  some  screams  setting  up  the  pace  for  brief  rock  music  style  guitar  solo  before  hitting  the  heavy  rhythm's  and  closing  the  song.

  "Man  In  Blood"  starts  off  with  some  melodic  riffing  before  the  drums  kick  in  and  the  guitars  go  into  hard  rock  mode  which  leads  to the  growls  and  shouts  as  well  as  some  hard  rock  style  singing  staying  the  way  for  before  speeding  up  along  with  an  Ac/Dc  style  guitar  lead  kicks  in  for  a  few  seconds  and  shortly  afterwards  the  song  ends.

  "Blood  God  Kills"  starts  of  with  a  hard  rock/heavy  metal  guitar  riff  before  getting  heavier  and  introducing  the  death  metal  growls  and  high  pitched  screams,  after  a  couple  of  minutes  some  hard  rock  screams  and  guitar  solos  start  kicking  in  before  switching  back  to  the  opening  riffs  and  throwing  the  wah  wah  pedal  in  the  guitars  towards  the  end  of  the  song.

  "Victory  Awaits"  starts  of  with  a  melodic  guitar  lead  before  the  slow  death  metal  rhythm's  and  growls  kick  in  before  switching  to  a  more  melodic  direction  while  still  using  the  opening  riffs  staying  that  way  for  a  couple  of  minutes  when  the  guitar  leads  start  kicking  in  before  switching  to  the  chorus  and  then  the  song  ends.

  "Murder  Squad"  starts  out  with  powerful  drumming  and  melodic  guitar  metal  riffs  while  also  getting  more  heavier  as  the  song  goes  forward  which  leads  to  the  growls  and  screams,  and  the  song  keeps  a  simple  approach  till  the  end.

  "The  Last  Crusade"  starts  off  with  a  low  and  heavy  death  metal  riff  along  with  some  powerful  drumming  and  growls  before  switching  to  a  more  melodic  direction  while  still  keeping  the  heavier  elements  for  a  few  minutes  before  the  melodic  guitar  lead  kicks  in  for  a  few  seconds  which  in  returns  leads  back  to the  heavy  and  melodic  parts  along  with  the  song  closing  with  a  powerful  death  metal  growl  and  war  samples.

  "Debauchery  Mother  Fucking  Family"  starts  of  with  a  melodic  riff,  slow  drumming  and  powerful  bass  lines  before  speeding  up  with  a  blast  beat  which  leads  to  some  melodic  thrash  riffing  and  some  death  metal  growls  before  the  real  ones  kick  in  before  speeding  up  and  mixing  in  power  thrash  screams  with  the  growls,  around  the  4  minute  mark  the  riffs  start  getting  more  diverse  before  the  guitar  solos  kick  in  as  well  as  the  return  of  the  blast  beats  and  the  song  closes  off  with  the  death/thrash  riffs.

  Lyrics  on  this  album  cover  dark,  metaphysical  and  violent  topics,  while  the  production  has  a very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  album.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Debauchery  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Demonslayer"  "Killerbeast"  "Blood  God  Kills"  and  "The  Last  Crusade".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.       

Serocs Interview

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

We are currently gathering ideas to start writing a new album. We are also looking for a way to play a short tour or a couple fests.




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

'The Next' is much catchier than previous releases. On the previous albums, I would put too much attention on how the songs would look like on paper and how it would work conceptually, but on this new one I focused 100% on what it sounded like. The guitars are much more detailed but also catchier and rhythmic. There is a bit less attention on technicality and more on musicality, if that makes sense. It's much more old school tech death, in the vein of None So Vile-era Cryptopsy or even Gorguts, but keeping the things that fans have mentioned as their favorite Serocs parts (melodic tremolo riffs, barely any use of power chords and all-out insane fast parts). Having a full band also changed the sound a lot. Before, I would write all instruments and lyrics, which drained me and took a lot of effort. That way, the songs would all sound like me and would get a bit too similar in each other. Now, the guys wrote their own parts, which helped me focus on guitars exclusively, and it really shows, because there are a lot more details and styles incorporated. For example, Timo used a symmetric drum kit, which created a nice panned effect when he is doing cymbal play. There are some ride sections that are very original when he is using both rides. Mike, on bass, created lines that are all different from the guitars and usually don't even repeat themselves throughout a riff. He is doing a sort of bass-as-the-lead concept he came up with that keeps things interesting. I also tried to create "part 2" versions of old songs that were very well received back then, for example The Constant is part 2 of The Variable and Alienus Gignesthai is part 2 of Great Hymn To The Aten.




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

The lyrics on 'The Next' have a general concept behind them, which is "we think of us, modern humans, as the next step in evolution, but we are actually de-evolving". I took some of the usual concepts I've been using throughout our albums, like social unrest, political themes, psychological disorders and a bit of mythology and created a couple of titles (The Next, Urban Terror, ChernoVile) and sent to Jason for him to write the lyrics. Alienus Gignesthai was a title that our previous singer Josh Smith came up with too. Jason took care of the lyrics in record time, as he joined pretty late into the recording process, and created the concepts for the other songs. They all deal with the album's concept in some way. The opener (and title track) talks about the concept itself explicitly and others, for example Weakness Fed The Fear (religion), talk about this concept in specific areas of our society, ending with Alienus Gignesthai, which is a straight-up sci-fi/mythology concept where we are being punished for these behaviors.




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

The name has a pretty random story. As a kid, my e-mail would be "xerox" and I would use that as a name on video-games (for example the old Starcraft or Counterstrike 1.3). When I started joining local bands, people would call me "xerox", but they would write it as "serocs". When I decided to start my own band, I chose that name because it was already well known in the local scene, so I tried to separate it from myself and make it the band's name, not mine. Eventually, it proved to be weird enough to sound interesting but easy to say and unique (IMO).




5.The band started out as a solo project, what was the decision behind forming a full line up?

It was always my idea to make it a full band. I was in some local bands that weren't exactly the type of sound I wanted to make, so I started to look for local musicians that could play this type of music (or even liked it), but it wasn't popular at all back then in this country and not many people could play it (specially drummers). Because of this, I changed my plan to making my own music at home and getting good enough that I could attract foreign talent and finally make the band I wanted. When I released the second EP, Timo contacted me because he wanted to join and I knew I had finally reached my first goal with Serocs. I had already started making the first full length back then with vocalist Josh Smith, so we decided Timo would join for the second LP. He then brought Mike in and Mike got Jason to join.




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

We have never played a show as Serocs. Timo and Mike both play in Vile (and other big bands) and Jason used to sing on Lecherous Nocturne (and other bands too), so they have plenty of touring experience. I also have a lot of experience, but only inside my country, as my local bands never really took off. We are currently working on getting a short tour or some fests, because we believe our music would be really powerful live, so expect to see us soon.




7.What are the touring plans for the new release?

No definite plans so far. It's hard to tour when each member is in a different country, but we'll make it happen. (Or if any promoter or band is reading this, help us out! lol)




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

Feedback has been really good, for 'The Next' specially. We have fans from all over the world, which is something I didn't think would happen so soon. The internet is a wonderful thing and it has kept this band going (both because of fans and band members). Sometimes, I find Russian or Japanese forums talking about us and I just google-translate them and read their feedback. I like listening to what fans say and definitely shape the music to their feedback in some way. Us musicians are fans of other bands too and I know how important it is, as a listener, to feel that the band cares about sending their own message and music but also listens to your feedback, so I try to do the same. I also try and give free stuff (at least digitally) to the fans that help us promote, share our posts, etc. Some big bands have helped us spread the word no the sole fact that they liked the music, so that's really awesome.




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

The closing track Alienus Gignesthai is a good indication of where we are going. We are definitely going to keep the core Serocs sound but our future release will incorporate some more slow sections, more of a "doom-ish" evil atmosphere and try to get even more creative. We are current bouncing ideas and concepts off each other and I can tell you Mike and Timo have some crazy stuff planned.




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

Cryptopsy is always my main thing. I always listen to them and will never stop, so my playing and writing always has a little bit of them. Same thing, to some degree, with Defeated Sanity and Nile. Those bands never leave my playlists. Nowadays I've also been listening to Wormed, old Decapitated and Gorguts (their new album is fucking awesome!), mainly because of people comparing our music to theirs, which makes me feel really flattered. 'Alienus' has gotten a lot of Gorguts comparisons even though I wasn't an active Gorguts listener when I wrote it (I am now though). Abhorrent is also a big inspiration and, even though they only have demos at the moment, I look up to them. Hopefully we'll get their full-length soon. The new stuff will also be inspired by Ulcerate, Sleep (mainly Dopesmoker) and Zealotry, which all have slower and more elaborate sections (well, maybe not Dopesmoker). These bands create great ambiance and I look forward to adding some of that evil environment to new Serocs material. Plus, Mike and Timo both listen to other bands so new Serocs will be much more varied.




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

I love movies and TV. You can hear a lot of that on older Serocs (samples and song titles). My favorite thing is LOST and you can find a reference to that on every one of our albums. I also like screenwriting, which I'm currently working on, and aspire to sell some scripts soon. Besides that; eating. Oh man, food is the best. I don't really play any modern video-games, but I love playing this Quake 3 mod called "Urban Terror" (yeah, like the song). Really fun and challenging.



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

We are really thankful for the great feedback we've been getting and hope to meet some of our fans on live shows soon! www.comatosemusic.com 

Serocs/The Next/Comatose Music/2013 CD Review

  Serocs  are  a  band  from  Mexico  that  plays  a  very  heavy,  brutal  and  technical  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  album  "The  Next"  which  was  released  by  Comatose  Music.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  a  great  amount  of  brutal  sounding  blast  beats  being  thrown  into  the  music,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  are  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  death  metal  riffs  that  are  very  heavy,  brutal  and  technical  sounding  along  with  a  brief  use  of  clean  playing,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  old  school  and  technical  sounding  death  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads.

  Vocals  are  mostly  deep  death  metal  growls  along  with  a  brief  use  of  high  pitched  screams,  while  the  lyrics  cover  darkness  and  violent  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy,  brutal  and  professional  sound  to  it.

  In  my  opinion  Serocs  are  a  very  great  sounding  heavy  and  brutal  technical  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Next"  "Weakness  Fed  The Fear"  and  "ChernoVille".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.