Bluuurgh/Suffer Within (25 Years Of Suffering)/Vic Records 2015 CD Compuilation Review

  Bluuurgh  where  a  band  from the  Netherlands  that  played  a  mixture  of  death  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  compilation  album  "Suffer  Within  (25  Years  of  Suffering)"  which will  be  released  in  June  by  Vic  Records  and  contains  their  1992  album  "In  My  Embrace"  and  their  1990  ep  "Suffer  Within".

  Drum  beats  start  off  the  album  and  a  few  seconds  later  death  metal  growls  and  screams  are  added  into the music  along  with the  music  getting  more  heavier  and  melodic  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  you  can  also  hear  spoken  word  parts  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording.

  When  the  music  speeds  up  the  music  starts  adding  in  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  thrash  elements  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  riffs  also  mix  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody  into  the  heavier  parts  of  the  tracks  and  a  couple  of  later  songs  also  bring  in  synths  for  a  few  seconds  along  with  a  later  song  bringing  in  elements  of  electronic  music  before making  a  return  back  to a  heavier  musical  direction  and  the  ep  tracks  also bring in  more  of  a  raw  death/thrash  musical  style. 

  Bluuurgh  played  a  style  of  death  metal  that  was  very  heavy  for  its  time  and  also  mixed  in  a  great  amount  of  thrash  influences,  the  production  sounds  very  raw  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  philosophical  and  anti  religion  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Bluuurgh  where  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  "In  My  Embrace"  "Soul  Of  Cain"  "Christian  Heard  Conformity"  and  "Superiority  Complex".  8  out  of  10. 

Inner Sanctum 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 album?
Chintan: We have our hands full with the promotion for Legions Awake. We are working on the Studio Diary for our youtube channel and possibly a new animated video for one of our tracks.

2.Recently you have released a new album,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?
Chintan:  Legions Awake is our length follow up to Provenance. It has 9 tracks written over a span of 4 years and it is basically a Death Metal record with elements of groove, melody and the right amount of aggression.

3.This is the first album to be released in 6 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time span?
Chintan: Right from the get go Inner Sanctum has been a band that attached a lot of value to the live performances. We absolutely love playing on stage! So tha'ts what we have been doing for the last 6 years. Of course we wrote new music as well but playing live constituted a good 80% of our activities.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Inner Sanctum'?
Chintan:  It’s based on a 90s porn movie. Tha'ts about it!

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?
Chintan: Supporting Metallica in 2010 and Slayer in 2011 at Bangalore have to be the biggest and best shows for the band in terms of profile value but our recent feature performance at the Inferno Metal Festival at Oslo Norway was unreasonably satisfying .We brought our A game to Oslo.
I’d like to think that Inner Sanctum on stage is tight, aggressive and engaging.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?
Chintan: Yes we do. Our initial plans involve playing shows in India. But by the end of the year we hope to travel abroad and do a tiny tour or two. The plans haven’t been finalized yet.

8.On the new album you had a few very well known guests, can you tell us a little bit more about their participation on the recording?
Chintan: It has been a dream of mine for several years to incorporate a solo trade off in one of the Inner Sanctum tracks. I wanted it so bad that Suraj and I actually incorporated one in Tainted Soils. But a solo trade off between guest artists had never been done before and it just seemed like such a great idea. So I discussed the idea with the rest of the chaps and they absolutely loved it. We wanted to involve metal guitarists who sort of represented a specific generation of metal and who had unique styles. So each of us made lists of guitarists we thought would fit the role and James Murphy, Christopher Amott and Daniel Mongrain featured in each of our lists! So we mailed each of them, discussed the idea and the song and a few weeks later we had a mind blowing solo trade off between three legendary metal guitarists on ‘Existence Denied’.

9.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
Chintan: We have been independent for the last 8-9 years and we have done just fine. We absolutely love the freedom. In fact this album would not have been possible had it not been for the freedom we had as a band throughout.

If Inner Sanctum has to sign onto a record label, the offer better be that good that it makes it literally impossible for us to refuse. If a label gives us the right balance of exposure, finances and creative freedom then we might consider it.

We have received numerous requests, mainly by smaller labels, to sign on to them, but the offers haven’t been worth it to be honest.

10.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death and thrash metal?
Chintan: Everyone who has heard it has loved it. It would be nice if more people bought the album in India and abroad but the ones who have, have gotten back to us with amazing reviews/feedback.

11.Are any of the band members also involved with any other musical projects or bands these days?
Chintan: Michael is presently playing bass for Shepherd, an upcoming sludge band also based out of Bangalore.

12.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
Chintan: I’d like the band to stay exactly where it is musically in the future as well. I think we have found our sound as such and if anything we should just improve on it.

13.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?
Chintan: That is actually a tough question. We listen to so much and such varied music these days that it is hard to pin point the bands or musical styles that have influenced our new music. So lets just leave it at that.

I recently checked out the Code Orange album ‘I Am King’ and absolutely loved it. Also, the Bloodshot Dawn album Demons is quite good.

14.What are some of your non musical interests?
Chintan: I actually am a lawyer and presently work for a law firm in Bangalore. I also am very passionate about cricket and I play for a club in Bangalore.

15.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Chintan: Our new album “Legions Awake” has just been released worldwide. You can sample the album on our Bandcamp page and if you like what you hear please support us by buying the album on InstaMojo (Indian purchases) or Bandcamp (International purchases). We also have an Official Lyric Video for Wake of Destruction on our Youtube Channel which you should check out too!

► Instamojo - http://imojo.in/6sx02
► Bandcamp - https://innersanctum.bandcamp.com/album/legions-awake
► Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrxzQRmYafA

Korsavov/Unique Remains/Vic Records/2015 CD Compilation Review

  Korsakov  where  a  band  from  the  Netherlands  that  where  around  in  the  mid  80's  to  early  90's  that  played  a  mixture  of  death  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  compilation  album  "Unique  Remains"  which  will  be  releeased  in  June  by  Vic  Records.

  A very  fast  and  raw  early  death  metla  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  blast  beats  and  growling  vocals  and  you  can  also  hear  a  lot  of  melody  in  the  music  and  while  you  can  tell  the  songs  are  demo  tracks  all  of  the  musical  instruments  still  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  screams  can  be  heard  at  times.

  Throughout  the  recording  there  is  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts and  the  solos  and  leads   are  very  much  in tune  with  the  mid  80's  to  early  90's  style  of  death  metal  and spoken  word  parts  can  also  be  heard  briefly  in  some  songs  and  the  riffs  also  mix  in a  great  amount  of  thrash  influences  in  a  great  amount  of  the  tracks  and  some  of  the  songs  also  bring in  a  small  amount of  samples  and  the  last  track  also  brings  in  a  brief  use  of  clean  playing.

  Korsakov  played  a  style  of  death  metal  that  was  very  heavy,  fast  and  raw  for  its  time  and  also  mixed  in  a  great  amount  of  thrash  influences,  the  production  sounds  very  heavy  and  raw  while  the  lyrics  cover  violent,  dark  and  real  life  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Korsakov  where  are  a  very  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  "Artificial  Blasphemy"  "Worldwar  XIII"  "Cryptic  Sin"  and  "Doomsday  Messiah".  8  out  of  10..

Anomaly/Terms Of The SawDoctor/2015 EP Review

  Anomaly  are  a  band  from Milwaukee,  Wisconsin  that  plays  a  very  atmospheric  and  technical  form of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2015  ep  "Terms  Of  the  Saw  Doctor".

  A  very  heavy  and  atmospheric  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  high  pitched  screams  and  deep  death  metal  growls  a  few  seconds  later  and after awhile  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  added  into  the  music  and  are  also  a  huge  part  of  the  recording  and  the  music  also  brings  in  clean  parts  at  times  that  also  gives  the  music  more  of  a  progressive  feeling.

  When  the  music  speeds  up the  songs  start  getting  more  technical  and  also  mix  in  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  the  band  also  plays  more  of a  modern  style  of  death  metal  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Anomaly  plays a  style  of  death  metal  that  is  very  modern,  atmospheric  and  technical  sounding  and  they   also  add  in  some  brutality  at  times,  the  production sound s very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  violent  themes.

  In  my  opinion Anomaly  are  a  very  great  sounding  atmospheric  and  technical  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Terms  Of  The  Saw  Doctor"  and  "Architect".  8  out  of  10.

 

 

Livhzuena/Dark Mirror Neurons/Klonosphere Records/2015 CD Review

  Livhzuena  are  a  band  from  France  that plays  a  very  technical  form  of  death  metal  with  a  touch  of  groove  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "Dark  Mirror  Of  Neurons"  which  was released  by  Klonosphere  Records.

  A very heavy and  technical  death  metal  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  melodies  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  when  vocals  are  added  into  the  music  they  are  melodic  at  times  while  also  bringing  in  some  groove  metal  elements  and  growls  and  you  can  also  hear  a  touch  of  thrash  in  the  bands  musical  style.

  When  the  music  speeds  up  the  songs  start  bringing  in  a  decent  amount  of  blast beats  and  soem of  the  riffs  bring  in  elements  of  djent  and  prog  metal  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts and  on  some  of the  tracks  the  band  also  brings  in  a  small  amount  of  atmospheric  sounds and  some  of  the  tracks  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  spoken  word  parts  and  there  are  a  couple  of tracks  that  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  also  bring in  a  brief  use  of  clean  playing.

  Livehzuena  plays a  musical  style  that takes  the  groove,  djent  and  prog  metal  genres  and  mixes  it  with  technical  death  metal  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very professional  while  the lyrics  cover astrophysics.

  In  my  opinion  Livehzuena  are  a  very  decent  sounding  mixture  of   groove,  djent,  prog  and  technical  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Mars"  "Shadows  And  Matter"  and  "Dark  Mirror  Neurons".  7/5  out  of  10.

Profanity Interview

Profanity interview with Daniel (bass)
1. Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?
Hello True Bringer of Death Zine, at the moment we are preparing for the recordings for our next album which will be a full length this time and will be called “The Art Of Sickness”. This takes a lot of time, not only for the recording itself but for synchronizing our computers, instruments, sounds etc…. We are also practicing a lot for a few upcoming shows we will play this year.

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?
Well, this was the first CD we recorded completely on our own, so we spent a lot of time to make it as perfect as possible. So we had the opinion to work more on things like sound, fill ins, breaks, a bit on orchestral sounds and so on. You don´t have the time for such things when you are in a professional recording studio and not a band who has a big contract and you have to hurry. That’s the main difference compared to the former Profanity albums, which were recorded in a studio. The music itself is on the highest technical level that Profanity reached so far (my opinion). The finished recordings were mixed and mastered in the Iguana Studios by Christoph Brandes (who  already worked for Necrophagist for example), and he did a great job and gave us an awesome sound on this ep.

3. This is the first new material since 2002, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time frame?
In fact all what happened was….Life!  After the European tour with Cryptopsy, Haemorrhage and Spawn in 2004 we decided to take a short (hahaha) break and then start with new recordings and concerts… but then all things changed. Tom and Martl met the girls who became their wives, both became fathers, Martl got a new job, Tom went back to school and Armin also went to school to become a master engineer. So the short brake that was planned got finally 8 years long! Then back in 2011 the time was right again for Profanity to continue, we decided to meet and so to start again. But then Martl told us that he will move to Australia with his family (his wife is Australian) and that he will not be able to play bass for Profanity any more. But luckily they got in contact with me again. I played bass for Profanity for the first time from 1997 to 2000. I agreed to replace Martl on Bass, and here we are….still the same Death Metal freaks like we were 1997, when I first joined Profanity.

4. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?
Martin had written all the lyrics for the songs on the ep “Hatred Hell Within”. They are very personal and they go very deep. The artwork of “Hatred Hell Within”, which was done by Federico Musetti from Italy, reflects the content of the lyrics very good. I think everybody who is interested in our lyrics can read it, and make their own thoughts about.

5. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Profanity'?
I don´t exactly know what Tom had thought about to give the band the name “Profanity”. But what I know is that he just took a dictionary and “founded” this word. The word Profanity has also different meanings, and that is good. For us it means also, to have no boundaries and this fits also very good to our vision of extreme music, I think.

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?
Impossible to say….there are too much of them. The European tour with Cryptopsy and Haemorrhage of course, opening for Cannibal Corpse, the Maryland Deathfest in the US, the Party San festival, Fuck the Commerce, Obscene Extreme, Ludwigshafen Deathfest, Fistful of Metal, Insane Insanity … just to name a few. But we also played a lot of club gigs where we met so many nice people, so that these gigs became highlights too. To name a personal emotion highlight was the NRW Deathfest 2014 which was the very first show with me again, 14 years after I played my “final” show for Profanity.
We actually don´t have big special effects on a Profanity live show, but we always do our best to deliver high technically Death Metal and we always work our asses of to give the audience a great event.

7. Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
Yes, we will play several shows this year, also bigger ones like the Death Feast Open Air with Nile, Suffocation, Asphyx, Inhumate, Fleshless just to name a few. A few other shows for this and next year across Germany, Austria and Czech Republic are already confirmed. Due to our families and jobs we are not able to play a longer tour anymore (or  just for the moment….who knows ;-) )

8. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death metal?
Absolutely awesome. It is so refreshing for us to get contacted from Death Metal maniacs around the world, from Australia to Denmark, from Indonesia to the US, who tell us that they like our stuff…that is the best compliment a musician can get. That is our fuel that always gives us more energy to continue what we are doing. Thanks to all Profanity fans and supporters worldwide on this way, you guys rule!!!

9. When can we expect another full length album and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
Hehe….maybe you can tell us ;-) .Like I said before, we are preparing right now to record a new full-length album and we will start to record as soon as possible. We will do the recordings on our own again, so it is impossible to say how long they will take. It will NOT take 12 years again, I promise. The new songs will straight continue the stuff from the ep, technical and brutal Death Metal, or just extreme music. Be prepared….

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?
When you ask for influence for our kind of music then you have to name bands like Cannibal Corpse, Suffocation, Dying Fetus, Cryptopsy, Deeds of Flesh, Necrophagist and Death of course followed by many others, but for influence generally we also have to name Bands like Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Dream Theater or Dio. And all of us still like to hear all of those, the brutal ones and the not so brutal ones. We also had always our own vision of extreme music, and I think with every new song we write, with every new release we will put out, we are always getting closer to our vision of extreme music.

11. What are some of your non musical interests?
 In first line our families of course. We also like to meet as often as possible for barbecue, that’s always a highlight. All of us do a little sports to stay in shape (more or less).

12. Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
We just want to say a big THANK YOU to all the great people we met the past years who supported us in so many great ways, like emails, interviews, reviews or a little like on our FB site. You guys are awesome, it is a pleasure to play for you. Take care, hope to see you all very soon at a Profanity show, wherever it may be! I also want to thank you John and True Bringer of Death for this interview and for your support of our music. We really appreciate this.

https://www.facebook.com/ProfanityDeathMetal
http://profanitydeathmetal.bigcartel.com/
https://profanitydeathmetal.bandcamp.com/
https://www.youtube.com/user/nothingremain
www.profanity.de

Morbid Vomit/Return To The Crypts/Blast Head Records/2015 CD Compilation Review

  Morbid  Vomit  are  a  band  from  Finland  that  plays  a  very  old  school  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015 compilation  album  "Return  To  The  Crypts"  which  was  released  by  Blast  Head  Records.

  A  very  heavy  and  old  old  school  Swedish  death  metal  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  growling  vocals  and  morbid  sounding  melodies  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats  and  some  of  the songs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  high  pitched  screams.

  All  of  the  songs  sound  like  they  could  of  easily  been  recorded  and  release  in  the  90's  and  the  talent  and  production  id  on  par  with  some  of  the  better  known  Swedish  bands  of  the  early  90's  and  when  solos and  leads  are  finally  utilized  they  add  even  more  melody  into  the  bands  musical  style  and  all  of  the  musical instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  they  close  the  compilation with  a  cover of  Ghost  B.C's  "Prime  Mover".

  Morbid  Vomit  are  another  band  that  plays  an  old  school  Swedish  influence  form  of  death metal  and  con  also  compete  with  the  best  of  them,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  death,  murder  and  blasphemy  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Morbid  Vomit  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  compilation.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Blood  Shall  Be  Shed"  "Another  One To  Die"  "I  Breathe  Hell"  and  "Torture  Ritual".  8  out  of  10.