Kuazar/Wrath of God/2009 CD Review

   Kuazar  are  a  band  from  Paragauy  that  plays  an  old  school  form  of  death/thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2009  album  "Wrath  Of  God".

  The  album  starts  out  with  with  a  very  heavy  and  old  school  thrash  metal  sound  along  with  blast  beats  before  adding  in  aggressive  vocals  and  melody  as  well  as  an  early  death  metal  feeling  as  well  as  the  bass  and  leads  bringing  a  technical  feeling  to  the  recording  as  well  as  some  growls.

  As  the  album  progresses  it  gets  more  fast,  heavy  and  melodic  and  the music  combines  the  early  days  of  both  death  and  thrash  metal  and  on  the  4th  and  8th  song  clean  guitars  are  added  into  the  music  before  returning  to  a  heavier  direction  on  the  next  song's   and  adding  in  groove  elements  while  also  remaining  true  to  death/thrash  metal.

  On  this  album  Kuazzar  take  the  mid  80's  thrash  sound  and  combine  it  with  the  early  stages  of  death  metal  and  they  create  an  album  that  is  very  old  school  and  heavy  yet  brutal  all  at  the  same  time.

  Song  lyrics  cover  violent,  hateful  and  everyday  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  for  being  a  self  released  recording  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording.

  In  my  opinion  Kuazar  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  death  and  thrash  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Truth  Of  Reality"  "Inner  Prison"  "Hunter  And  Prey"  and  "Twenty  Days  in  Hell".  8/5  out  of  10.

Ygodeh/The Experiment Failed/Inverse Records/2013 CD Review

  Ygodeh  are  a  band  originally  from  Latvia  but  now  relocated  to  England  that  plays  a  very  symphonic,  progressive  and  technical  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  album  "The  Experiment  Failed"  which  was  released  by  Inverse  Records.

  The  album  starts  out  with  symphonic  sounds  which  bring  in  elements  of  classical  music  and  a  few  seconds  alter  heavier  parts  and  death  metal  growls  start  mixing  in  with  the  symphonies  along  with  melodic  guitar  leads  and  the  music  also  starts  getting  more  experimental.

  When  the music  goes into  the  second  song  faster  riffs  are  added  in  while  also  keeping  around  the  slower  parts  and  symphonic  elements  while  also  adding  in  melody  and  high  pitched  screams  and  after  awhile  progressive  and  technical  riffing  is  adding  in  along  with  the  bass  guitars  sounding  more  powerful  and  as  time  goes  on  by  elements  of  electronic  music  are  added  onto  the  record  along  with  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats  and  spoken  word  parts  and  on  the  last  song  there  are  some  acoustic  guitars a nd  violins  which  also  enhance  the  variety  of  the  music.

  Ygodeh  show  a  great  amount  of  originality  with  their  music  and  they  take  90's  sounding underground  death  metal  and  mix  it  in  with  electronic,  symphonic  and  classical  music  to  create  a  sound  only  they  can  call  their  own.

  Song  lyrics  cover  dark  and  philosophical  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy,  old  school  and  professional  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording.


  In  my  opinion  Ygodeh  are  a  very  great  sounding  symphonic  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album>  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "To  Down"  "Eternal  immortal"  and  "Trance  orchestra".  8/5  out  of  10.  

Morfin Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

 

Well the band started in 2010 with just Miguel and I, and we than recruited Michael and Pedro. We successfully released a demo called "Crystal Darkness" in tape format with 3 tracks and it was great, but from there we were working on our debut ever since and FDA REKOTZ picked us up and here we are! Just a month a away to release our debut album!

 

 

 

2.How would you describe the musical sound that is present on the upcoming album and also how does it differ from the demo you released in 2011?

 

This album has a lot of old school death metal vibe and style to it,with some sort of modern metal in this album simply because we love the style! But we can easily say it's heavy, fast and bonecrushing! We believe it is a big improvement from the last demo, we got a bit more technical on this album And a better sound!

 

3.Can you tell us a little bit more about the lyrical topics and subjects you explore with the music?

 

Most of the lyrics is based off sci-fi stuff. And about the world and the evil that occurs in it. I'm a big sci-fi fan whether it comes to aliens, mutations, robots, zombies, space, etc. we love this topic! And we are going to go a different direction for lyrical theme for the second album! This album lyrical theme, we believe that people can look at these lyrics and songs like it if was a sci-fi or horror story with badass music behind it! Mainly these lyrics go around zombies, mutations, diseases and the evil that happened in this world. 

 

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Morfin'?

 

We had trouble coming up with the band name. We deciding on some names but then we came up wit more different options than we started changing them. Until I just decided to call the band Morfin. Well the funny thing a lot of people were asking if we actually did or do morphine, which we do not haha.The meaning behind this band name is that some or most people who do morphine wind up getting pretty addicted to it to a point of no return and that's what music or making music is to me, addicting. Music is my main drug, something I'm addicted too and something I can't live without and that's what this band and the music mean to me.

 

 

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

 

One of the best shows we've had is when we played a show at the black castle in Los Angeles, it was badass! If it was after we released our first demo "Crystal Darkness" our stage performance was badass and people really loved it! There's also a video on it YouTube. I believed that was our best show out of all of them! We've had plenty of badass shows, but I think that one was the best!

 

6.Do you have any touring plans for the new album and 2014?

 

We hope to do a west coast tour with Derogatory and Skeletal Remains later this year or even a European tour would badass! We do hope to tour for this album this year!

 

7.On the new album you did a cover of Death's Leprosy, what was the decision behind doing your own version of this classic song?

 

Well Before we started writing originals, we would practice covers and that one was one of them! We would finish a good set and people would really like it. And every time we closed our set, we would play that song and people would love it even more! So we've decided to put in on the album! And mainly because Death is one of main influences! And we are paying tribute to them! 

 

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

 

Ever since we released our demo, people really loved it! We made 50 demo tapes and they all went out fast! And everyone was liking it! I can say we have been getting badass feedback from people and I'm sure it will be the same for this album!

 

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

 

We plan on getting more technical and evolve with our music. We are already working on the second album and so far it's sounding more badass than the 1st! We can't wait to start recording!

 

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

 

The main influences come from Death, Gorguts, Disincarnate, Cancer, and many more death metal bands. They're all a big inspiration to us! So far we've been listening to modern music such as Obscura, Gorguts(New Album),Derogatory's new album which is badass! But most of the time we are checking out different styles of death metal. At the moment we are stuck on Swedish Death metal. Which is amazing!!!

 

 

11.Do you have any non musical interests?

 

Our non musical interests would probably sports! We love sports such as basketball, Football and baseball. Art is badass and also Skateboarding!

 

12.Before we wrap up this interview do you have any final words or thoughts?

 

We just want to thank every one that has been supporting us! And big thanks to Extreme Metal Zine for setting this up and a big thanks to FDA REKOTZ! Purchase our album "Inoculation" now and get addicted to it!!

https://soundcloud.com/fda-rekotz/morfin-dark-creator

-- 

Decomposed/Devouring/Memento Mori/2014 CD Review

  Decomposed  are  a  band  from  Sweden  that  plays  a  very  old  school  form  of  Swedish  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Devouring"  which  was  released  by  Memento  Mori.

  The  album  starts  out  with  a  fast  old  school  Swedish  death  metal  assault  along  with  some  melodic  riffing  and  growls  as  well  as  some  blast  beats  and  at  times  the  music  also  slows  down  a  bit  which  also  adds  more  power  to  the  bass  guitars  and  then  the  album  starts  mixing  slow  and  fast  parts  together.

  As  the  album  progresses  the  music  remains  in  an  old  school  death  metal  direction  with  no  modern  influences  being  added  in  and  they  also  bring  in  some  raw  sounding  guitar  leads  and  solos  at  times  and  the  music  shows  a  lot  of  homage  to  the  early  90's  death  metal  legends  and there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  clean  parts  which  also  leads  to the  recording  taking  a  darker  direction.

  It  has  been  25  years  since  Entombed  released  'Left  Hand  Path'  and  in  2014  that  sound  that  they  created  has  not  died  out  yet  and  Decomposed  are  another  young  band  that  continues  the  tradition  and  they  do  a  great  job  at  it  while  not  adding  in  anything  new  but  this  is  a  great  homage  to  that  sound.

  Song  lyrics  cover  darkness  and  gore  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy,  professional  and  old  school  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on t his  recording.

  In  my  opinion  Decomposed  are  a  very  decent  sounding  old  school  Swedish  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Devouring"  "Voices  of  Endless  Decay"  and  "From  The  Darkness".  8  out  of  10.

  

Tortharry/Follow/MetalGate Records/2013 CD Review

  Tortharry  are  a  band  from  the  Czech  Republic  that  plays  a  modern  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  album  "Follow"  which  was  released  by  MetalGate  Records.

  The  album  starts  out  with  fast,  heavy  and  brutal  Swedish  style  death  metal  along  with  blast  beats  and  growls  as  well  as  some  screams  and  after  awhile  the  band  mixes  fast  parts  with  more  slow  and  brutal  riffing  and  the  bass  sounds  very  powerful  on  this  recording  and  they  also bring  in  solos  at  times.

  As  the  album  goes  into  other  songs  they  stick  to  a  more  slow  and  brutal  direction while  also  speeding  up  and  adding  in  blast  beats  at  times  and  at  times  melody,  technical  elements  and  more  modern  sounds  are  added  into  the  music  while  also  retaining  a  lot  of  old  school  death  metal  influences  and  updating  them  for  2014.

  On  this  album  Tortharry  bring  a  more  modern  approach  to  death  metal  where  there  concentrate  on  mid  paced  parts  and  heaviness  instead  of  being  fast  all  of  the  time  and  they  also  show  a  good  amount  of  skill  with  the  way  they  play  their  instruments  and  while  this  is  not  something  I  listen  to  on  a  regular  basis  I  still  feel  Tortharry  are  a  very  talented  band  and  write  good  music.

  Song  lyrics  cover  philosophical  and  everyday  themes,  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  this  recording.

  In  my  opinion  Tortharry  are  a  very  decent  sounding  modern  day  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "100  Percent  Follower"  "Inner  Decay"  "Mislead"  and  "Voluntarily  Blind".  7/5  out  of  10.

Colosso/Thallium/2013 EP Review

   Colosso  are  a  band  from  Portugal  that  plays  a  very  progressive  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2013  ep  "Thallium".

  The  ep  begins  with  some  ambient  style  drones  before  going  into  a  more  dark,  melodic  and  heavy  direction  along  with  an  atmospheric  background  which  also  is  still  around  once  the  ep  goes  pass  the  intro  and  acoustic  guitars  are  added  in  which  also  leads  to  some  powerful  bass  and  guitar  riffs.

  As  the  ep  progresses  the  music  goes  for  a  more  modern  and  heavy  direction  as  well  as  adding  in  faster  elements  and  blast  beats  while  also  bringing in  heavy  groove  elements  as  well  as  some  synths  and  on  the  4th  song  death  metal  growls  are  finally  added  into  the  music  along  with  a  small  amount  of  melody  and  on  the  6th  song  acoustic  guitars  are  added  into  the  music.

  On  this  ep  Colosso  display  a  great  amount  of  skill  and  talent  along  with  a  good  amount  of  heaviness  and  while  this  is  not  my  favorite  style  of  death  metal,  I  can  still enjoy  this  band  because  of  the  fact  they  are  not  afraid  to  experiment  with  their  music.

  Song  lyrics  cover  philosophical  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  for  being  a  self  released  recording  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  ep.

  In  my  opinion  Colosso  are  a  very  decent  sounding  progressive  and  experimental  death  metal b and  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Ecosystem"  and  "Minus  Infinity".  7/5  out  of  10.   

Lie In Ruins Interview

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

Band is doing just fine. We are just about to start rehearsing our liveshow for gigs and we have also started to write some new material for the next album already, so we are walking strongly with the left hand path, creating new manifestations for the band.

 2.How would you describe the musical sound of the new album and what are some of the things you where able to bring out with the new recording that you where not able to do with previous releases?

I think there was nothing that we weren't able to do with Swallowed By The Void, but that album is just different compared to this one. I think the previous one was pretty much what we wanted that time and with this new one, we wanted to do things a different approach. I'm really happy how Towards Divine Death turned out. If you listen our releases starting from Monument... -demo and ending with Towards Divine Death, you might notice how our material has been going forward all the time. I think that stuff we made 10 years ago, is more like Swedish Death Metal style and not so much our own things in there, when compared to where we are now. Now I can't hear any clear Swedish influences, but more things all around the world mixed in by our own style.

3.Can you tell us a little bit more about the lyrical topics you have covered with the new release?

Well, the lyrical themes are pretty much same as our last album, hatred, occultism, doom of religions, Satan... There are lyrics added in booklet, so everyone who's interested can read them and make their own opinion of what our songs are about. The lyrics and the art is connected, but some of the connections might not be so clear, so you might need to think a bit.

 4.I have read that the band has been around since the 90's, but took a break for a few years, can you tell us a little bit more about the hiatus?

 I think there has been enough of talking about the early days of Lie in Ruins. That time was long ago and what really matters, is that Tuomas and Roni S. dug the grave open and we were able to become a real band and start writing new material for his glory. What brought us back? Probably the pure love for Black and Death Metal and and better skills to handle our instruments.

 5.The last album came out in 2009 and the new one is scheduled to come out in 2014, what has been going on during those 5 years?

 "Well, I don't think that's a long time... At least it doesn't feel like it, but that might be because we are involved a different bands and projects, like Neutron Hammer, Perdition Winds, Desolate Shrine, Supreme Court, and all of those have been releasing or working on albums during these last five years, so all of us have been quite busy. The actual writing of the new album was supposed to start pretty soon after the first album, but as I said, there

were plenty of things to do. When we finally started the actual writing process, everything happened quite fast. We had some kind of a vision about what we wanted this album to be and we weren't planning to do any long songs, but it turned out that to give enough air for these songs to breathe and grow as powerful as needed, they would all be quite long. Instead of making classic verse/chorus -parts, we decided to make songs grow all the time and bringing new riffs in along the way instead of repeating the same ones. Writing these songs this way felt kind of natural this time and I'm really satisfied about how the album turned out. I know some people will definitely hate it just because it's so damn long, but I don't really give a fuck. If people start complaining once again that our album is too long, then the next one will be even longer, ha ha."

  6.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Lie In Ruins?

The name is something that describes the music, lyrics and visual side of the band. It is a state-of-being and a state-of-mind, both literally and metaphorically speaking. 

 7.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?

Best shows I can remember for us - Touring with Nifelheim and Master here in Finland, especially in Jyväskylä where we had a sauna backstage. Best thing ever. Also playing at Lithuanian Devil's Stone Festival was a blast. And last summer, the Finnish festival Steelfest was really great. There was a lot of people watching and everything was really well on stage. About our stage performance... I think it would be better to ask someone who has attended our shows.

 8.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new release is out?

We have agreed on a couple of gigs currently and discussing to book a few more. Would be nice to do some festivals also so let's see...

 9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to the new album by those that have heard it so far?

The feedback has been really good, maybe even better than we expected and the album isn't even out yet, while I'm writing this. 

 10.What is going on these days with the other musical projects the band members are involved with?

This was answered pretty much in question 5...

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

We are of course venturing to new paths with our music, while still keeping our "familiar characteristics", but we'll have to see what will be next...

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

I'm sure there are a lot of influences from many bands we listen to, but it's kind of hard to say which band. Listener might hear it easier than us, since we are maybe a bit too close to our own material.
We are listening to many bands, but the best view at those bands we recommend others to listen, is listed within our new album's hailing booklet. That's actually one thing that we miss from 90's: Back then when there was no internet and we were always checking thanks list from our favorite albums and looking for new bands to get into.

 13.How would you describe your views on Occultism?

I wouldn't. To talk about occultism, we would need a lot of space, since it's a subject that can not be typed down just by couple of sentences... You could say that occultism defines us, but I'm sure that people who are patient enough to open the lyrics and see the artwork for our album will pretty much know what we stand for.

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

Well, I like to collect skulls and other human bones. Other than that, something that all the guys in our band enjoy is good whiskeys and beers. We also appreciate the nature, being in the woods (not the band), fishing... all the good stuff.

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

Thanks for the interview. Hail Death!