Morost/Solace In Solitude/2014 CD Review

  Morost  are  a  band  from  Slovenia  that  plays  a  progressive  mixture  of  death  and  groove  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2014  album  "Solace  in  Solitude".

  Dark  sounding  synths  and  clean  playing  start  off  the  album  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  more  of  a  heavy  and  progressive  death  metal  direction  along  with  some  growls  and  screams  and  after  awhile  the  band  starts  bringing  in  a  good  mixture  of  both  acoustic  and  heavy  parts  as  well  as  having  a  very  atmospheric  sounding  background.

  When  solos  and  leads  are  added  into  the  music  they  are  very  melodic  and  add  even  more  of  a  progressive  style  to  the  bands  musical  style  and  the  guitar  riffing  starts  utilizing  more  melody  as  well  as  the  album  progresses  along  with  a  few  tracks  that  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  band  also  starts  to  incorporate  more  groove  metal  elements  while  staying  away  from  the  more  mainstream  style  of  that  genre    and  all  of  the  tracks  stick  to  a  slow  to  mid  paced  musical  direction.

  Morost  creates  a  style  of  progressive  death  metal  that  is  very  dark  and  heavy  sounding  while  also  adding  in  some  of  the  heaviest  elements  of  groove  metal  to  create  and  album  that  is  very  original  for  a  death  metal  recording,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  the  human  misunderstanding  of  ourselves  and  the  societies  we  live  in.

  In  my  opinion  Morost  are  a  very  great  sounding  progressive  mixture  of  death  and  groove  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Human  Debris"  and  "Regret".  8  out  of  10.

Annihilation Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording and release of the new ep?

- We are currently working on the songs for the album "The Undivided Wholeness Of All Things" we had also shot a video for the song "Feeding The Void" from "The Undivided" Ep that should be released before the Ep is out.

2.Recently you have released a new ep, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

- We consider this songs more mature, technical but still catchy just has we like it. A signature that our fans will get used to ear on our future releases. Basically, since our first release came out in 2011 we evolved as a band and i think our fans will notice that evolution when hearing this new Ep.

3.The band has been around for 10 years but so far has only released one promo, full length and an ep, can you tell us a little bit more about the gap in between releases?

- That has been some line up changes since the beginning of the band, and every time a new member enters he has to learn the songs and that is the main reason why within these 10 years we haven´t release more stuff.  Now that we have a steady formation our fans will not have to wait so long between this Ep and the upcoming future releases.

4.The lyrics on the new ep are based on the writings of David Icke, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this conspiracy theorist and also do you feel there is some truth in what he has said in some of his writings?

- I´m a follower of David Icke´s work since 2008 and i do believe that some of the stuff that he has been talking are actually true and makes sense to me. There´s a lot of things going on at the background that governments had been hiding and will continue to hide from the general population. Look at all the wars and conflicts around the world and stop for a minute to think why they started, do they make sense to you..All that Monsanto GMO bulshit wanting to control the seeds and food on the world... I believe that nowadays people are getting more consciousness about what happens in the world, all the wars and conflicts manipulated in order to support an hidden agenda defined by the powers that be. The same powers that be that have always been in control of the world and day by day are being exposed thanks to David Icke and others like him.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Annihilation'?

- The name Annihilation came from Nile´s "Annihilation Of The Wicked". When we started the band in 2004 we were looking for a strong name for the band and in 2005 when Nile released "Annihilation Of The Wicked" we thought that "Annihilation" was the perfect name for the band. It is a strong word that means total destruction or obliteration and back then we thought it was the perfect name to associate with our music.

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

- We don´t play too much live therefore every time that we play we like to give it 100% at the stage. Over the years we had the pleasure to play in some of the best metal fests in Portugal with lots of good bands such as Skinless, Cock & Ball Torture, Gorod, Fleshgod Apocalypse, just to name a few. All of those shows were awesome and we do prefer to play in fests since there is more audience than on regular gigs.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

- Our plan is to play less in Portugal and to be able to get more gigs abroad. We have nothing planned as for shows since we are now focused on finishing the songs for our upcoming album "The Undivided Wholeness Of All Things"


8.The new ep was self released but the band has worked with labels before, are you open to working with another label again in the future, or do you prefer the DIY approach?

- The idea to release the Ep was to get a proper label that would be able to support us on our upcoming releases. So lets see what the future reserve to us. IMO the DIY approach has is advantages for bigger bands that already has their fan base to support them.

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

- We had and continue to have a good feedback around the world. Our first album "Against The Storm" had awesome reviews and we cannot wait to release our Ep and the upcoming album in order to get even more fans.

10.Are the band members involved with any other musical projects these days?

Our bass player also plays bass on Bleeding Display which is an also very known band from Portugal. As for the rest of us at the moment we are only focused on Annihilation.

11.When can we expect a full length and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

- We intend to head in to studio during the beginning of 2015 so our fans can expect a full length before the Summer of 2015. At this point we consider that we have already our own style of Death Metal, so we will continue on exploring the catchiness and dissonant guitar parts that have been a part of our music.

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

- As the main composer for Annihilation i try to listen to as many bands from different styles as i can.
I can say that Gorguts and early Morbid Angel are and will always be an influence on our music.

13.What are some of your non musical interests?

- I like to travel, to read and go to the beach in order to relief some of the stress accumulated from work.

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

- We would like to thank our fans throughout the world and we would like to ask them to help us on spreading our sound to as many people as they can. A band without fans is nothing so your support is very important to us. We do this for the passion of extreme music and we would like to continue on doing it for as long as we can, so spread the word, share our facebook page, buy our music!!

Keep On Rotting/Unforeseen Consequences/MetalGate Records/2014 CD Review

  Keep  On  Rotting  are  a  band  from  the  Czech  Republic  that  plays  a  very  technical  form  of  death  metal  and  this is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Unforeseen  Consequences"  which  was  released  by  MetalGate  Records.

 Operatic  sounding  female  vocals  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  dark  sounding  drones,  programmed  beats  and  nature  sounds  and  after  the  intro  the  music  starts  going  for  more  of  a  brutal  death  metal  sound  along  with  some  growling  vocals  as  well  as  some  high  pitched  screams  and  a  more  modern  sound.

  There  are  plenty  of  melodic  and  technical  parts  in  both  the  guitar  riffing  and  solos  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  some  of  the  songs  also  add  clean  playing  and  acoustic  guitars  into  certain  parts  of  the  tracks  and  throughout  the  recording  there  is  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  towards  the  end  one  of  the  tracks  utilizes  power/thrash  style  vocals.

  Keep  On  Rotting  plays  a  style  of  technical  death  metal  that  sounds  very  brutal  and  modern  while  having  some  90's  influences  and  while  the  music  is  not  very  original,  I  still  feel  the  band  is  very  good  at  what  they  are  doing,  the  production  sound s very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  violence,  death  and  psycho  analysis  themes.

    In  my  opinion  Keep  On  Rotting  are  a  very  decent  sounding  technical  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Freud's  Secret  Desire"  "To  Die  On  Time"  and  "Unforeseen  Consequences".  7/8  out  of  10.       

UnKured/Mutated Earth/2014 CD Review

  UnKured  are  a  band  from  Ohio  that  plays  a  mixture  of  death  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2014  album  "Mutated Earth"  which  will  be  released  in  November.

  A  very  old  school  and  heavy  thrash  metal  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  a  decent  amount  of  melody  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  after  awhile  blast  beats  and  death  metal  style  growls  and  death/thrash  style  screams  are  added  into  the  music  along  with  a  touch  of  technical  playing  and  the  band  also  brings  in  a  few  long  and  epic  in  length  songs  that  demonstrate  their,  talent,  ability  and  skill  as  musicians.

  The  solos  and  leads  that  the  band  plays  are  very  melodic  and  technical  in  the  mid  80's  to  early  90's  meaning  of  the  term  and  the  band  also  uses  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  all  of  the  songs  sound  like  they  could  of  easily  been  recorded  and  released  during  the  years  of  88  and  89  and  they  also  bring  in  a  perfect  balance  between  both  clean  and  heavy  parts  as  well  as  a brief  instrumental  and  the  faster  parts  display  more  of  a  raw  80's  style  of  death metal.

  UnKured  go  back  to  the  mid  80's  style  of  thrash  when  it  was  starting  to  get  more  technical  and  progressive  sounding  with  some  of  the  later  bands  and  they  also  combine  it  with  the  true  death  metal  style  of  the  mid  80's  to  create  some  very  heavy  and  old  school   metal,  the production  sounds  very  old  school  while  also  being  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  and  th e lyrics  cover  science  fiction  themes.

  In  my  opinion  UnKured  are  a  very  great  sounding  old  school  and  technical  mixture  of  death  and  thrash  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genre,s  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Mutated  Earth"  "Cells"  and  "Twisted  And  Warped".  8  out  of  10.  

    

Diskord Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording and release of the new ep?

Hey! We have been busy rehearsing the songs from Oscillations, in order to prepare for a string of live gigs this autumn. Other than that, we have been slowly working on some new material as well, but don't expect anything soon; we do not rush stuff.

2.Recently you have released a new ep, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

We had an aim with this recording to make it sound more "direct", or more "live", if you will, and I think we have succeeded with that. The recording and mixing were done over a few weekends, and I think that you can hear a certain immediacy in the sound (as well as the music).

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

The lyrics, in general, deal with topics such as fear and anxiety, confusion, emptiness and alienation.

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

The spelling "diskord" is Norwegian, and it means the same as the English "discord". In other words, it deals with lack of harmony (concord). This can be interpreted concretely, as relating to our musical expression, which often lacks harmony, at least in the traditional sense of the term, or more abstractly, as for instance a state of mind in which conflicting ideas or emotions play out. I think both interpretations fit well with both our music and our overall lyrical theme.

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?

I think that to this date, the best show for me, personally, was our appearance on the Kill-Town Death Fest in Copenhagen in 2011. It was a great experience. The festival organizers were very friendly and helpful, everything was professional, and the crowd and the other bands playing were great. Sadly, I hear that this year is the last time the festival is organized, which is a shame, really. Hopefully, something new and beautiful will surface from Daniel and the rest of the KTDF crew next year.

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

We have just now played a few shows around Norway to celebrate the release of Oscillations, and that has been great! Apart from that, our only booked gig in the near future is a gig with our buddies in Obliteration and Execration in Kolbotn (home of Darkthrone!) here in Norway. Other than that, we are open to any suggestions!

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

It has been received very well, and we are humbled by the positive reception from fans and press alike. I'm happy that people still take the time to sit down and listen to music that at first might appear complex or chaotic, but still devote the time and energy to really penetrate the matter, so to speak.

When it comes to fans of tech death, specifically, I wouldn't really know. I guess we somehow fit into that category, but on the other hand, I think there are many things that set us apart from your typical tech death band. I guess you could call us old-school doomy retro-futuristic tech-but-not-very death, haha.

8.Are any of the band members involved with any other musical projects these days?

No, with the exception of Hans Jørgen running the No Posers Please! label and distro, our musical focus is fully on Diskord.

9.When can we expect another full length album and also where do you see the band musically during the future?

I cannot tell you when the next full-length will be out, as I have no idea. We are constantly working on new stuff, though, so hopefully something will emerge in a not too distant a future.

I have some ideas about where I would like to take the band, musically, and I'm sure the other guys have thoughts on this as well. However, we have not discussed this, so I guess we'll all just have to wait and see.

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

We are influenced by the classical bands of our genre, of course, like Autopsy, Gorguts, Demilich, Sadus, Death, Atheist, etc. These days, I find myself listening a lot to the latest Gorguts album, in fact, it just keeps on growing on me. Also, I'm a great fan of the latest Morbus Chron record, to me it is a damn-near perfect album; everything works, the tunes, the sound, the atmosphere, the coverart, the booklet, the lyrics, the instrumentation, the vocals, everything!

Furthermore, the Execration album is soon upon us, and I'm sure that it will be amazing; be sure to check it out!

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

I myself am quite interested in computer programming languages (in fact, I recently completed my PhD in the subject). Håvard is diving head-first into linguistics, while Hans, thankfully, keeps us in check, holds the metal flag high and is a full-time death metal connoisseur and collector.

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

Thank you for your interest in Diskord, and a big cheers from us for supporting the underground metal scene! Look us up on Facebook or Twitter for the latest news and events. 

Annihilation/The Undivided/2014 EP Review

  Annihilation  are  a  band  from  Portugal  that  plays  a  very  brutal  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2014  ep  "The  Undivided"  which  will  be  released  in  November.

  A  very  dark  sci-fi  orientated  sound  starts  off  the  ep  and  after  the  2  minute  intro  the  music  starts  adding  in  more  melody  along  with  some  high  pitched  screams  and  melodic  guitar  leads  which  leads  up  to  more  of  a  brutal death  metal  direction  along  with  a  great  amount  of  growling  vocals  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  At time s the  music  can  be  very  technical  sounding  and  the  sound  effects  from  the  intro  also  make  a  return  on  some  of  the  other  tracks  along  with  the  band  adding  in  more  fast  parts  and  blast  beats  while  the  main  focus  is  more  on  a  brutal,  mid  paced  and  technical  style  of  death  metal  which  also  goes  back  to  the  98-99  era  of  this  genre  and  the  ep  closes  with  an  intro  they  uses  mostly  water  sounds.

  Annihilation  plays  a  very  heavy  style  of  death  metal  that  can  be  very  technical  and  brutal  at  times  as  well  as  having  some  melodies  and  a  sci-fi  atmosphere,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  the  writings  of  David  Icke.

  In  my  opinion  Annihilation  are  a  very  great  sounding  brutal  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE "Holographic  Paradigm"  and  "The  Great  Cycle".  8  out  of  10.         

Horrified Interview

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

We are a death metal band based in the United Kingdom (Newcastle Upon Tyne). Our members consist of an ensemble of musicians from other acts in the scene. It originally started out as a studio project but naturally evolved into a full band with the current line up we have now.



2.You have your first full length coming out in October, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the demo you had released in 2013?



The first big difference is the vocal sound, with me stepping up to vocal duties I went for a higher register style heavily influenced by Martin Van Drunen, David Vincent Chris Monroy, Damian Herring and so on, I wanted to encompass an “anxious” vocal delivery. Another big difference is the overall energy and vibe on the release, having recorded it as a full band there's the feel of a real band playing these songs.

As far as the overall sound goes you can expect riff based death metal heavily focused on memorability and catchy vocal lines to go along with it. Imagine Pestilence and Dismember jamming together...



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

The songs tell a story or describe something I come up with influenced by various different things such as video games, movie scenes and my own personal experiences. The lyrical content ranges from post apocalyptic survival to anxiety and sleeping disorders.


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

Nothing much really, the lyrical themes on the album all contain different elements of horror. But that came on its own naturally when I started writing lyrics. I chose the name because it sounded cool to me and I thought it fit the music perfectly when I first began writing the material back in 2012.



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

We have actually only played one gig so far, which was the first edition of a local music festival called “Byker Grave” towards the end of 2013. The set went about as good as it could have gone considering how rushed we were to play and we only had 20 minutes of material from the album ready, but the venue was full and the response was could and it was our first introduction to the live circuit in our local scene. So I was extremely relieved that it went down okay and thankful of the promoters for putting us on.



6.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released

We have plans to gig again after the album release in October and we already have a weekend double set of gigs happening in Newcastle and Manchester with three other bands on the same label as us. But are we looking for more shows in the future.



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

So far it has been great, people have said really positive things about it in press and early reviews. The comparisons we get and the descriptions of our sound have been really humbling to so far. I’m also really happy with people’s response to my vocals since it was my first time doing them on a record.


8.What is going on with some of the other musical projects or bands these days that some of the band members are involved with?

Each member play in different bands, I drum in a power metal band called Starborn and I used to play in a band called Plague Rider with our drummer Matthew, who play a much more technical style of death metal. He also plays in another doomy death metal band known as Live Burial.  Ross our other guitarist is involved in two bands, Risen Prophecy and Vacivus. The former have just completed their second album and should be released shortly. The latter are just returning to the live scene after releasing their debut album. Our bassist Dan Hughes plays bass in Winds of Genocide who have their debut album coming out via pulverised records shortly, he is also in Prolfeed a punky hardcore band who have done a bunch of EP’s and splits he also works on a solo black metal project Rotting Bull.



9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

We are currently writing new material and its a lot more dynamic than the debut album, including more melodic elements from bands such as Dismember, Edge of Sanity and Horrendous my biggest influences right now. The new stuff is a lot more ambitious and accomplished. I’m setting my ambitions farther than any other material I have wrote for a project.



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

Back in the day was heavily influenced by the original US death metal bands such as Death, Morbid Angel, Atheist and so on. My musical influences have expanded a lot with age and I listen to a vast amount of different metal ranging from death, power, prog, prog power, doom, epic metal and black metal. I’m not always constantly listening to death metal although i’d say it is my favorite style and in my opinion the most diverse of all the metal sub genres.



11.What are some of your non musical interests?

I enjoy reading, film, video games and some select sports. I’ve also recently got back into reading up on ancient history.



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

Thank you for conducting the interview & the kind review on your website. The album is due out late October and will be available on CD and digital download from our bandcamp page which will be set up closer to release, cheers!