Graveyard/The Coffin Years/Black Seed Productions/2015 CD Review

  Graveyard  are  a  band  from  Spain  that  plays  a  very  traditional  and  old  school  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  compilation  album  "The  Coffin  Years"  which  was  released  by  Black  Seed  Productions.

  A  very dark,  raw  and  filthy  90's old  school  death  metal  sound  starts  off  the  compilation  along with  some  high  pitched  screams  and  morbid  sounding melodies  and  a  few  seconds  alter  growling  vocals  make  their  presence  known  in  the  songs  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  blast  beats  and  Swedish  influences.

  Throughout  the  compilation  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  vocals can  also  get  very  guttural  at  times  and  the  solos  and  leads  the  band  uses  are  in  a  melodic  musical  direction  and  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  synths.

  All  of  the  songs  sound like  they  could  of  easily  been  recorded  in  the  90's  and  while  the  band  is  from  Spain  the  music  sounds  mostly  Swedish  while  some  riffs  also bring in  a  touch  of  thrash and  they  also  bring  in  Bolt Thrower,  Motorhead,  Celtic  Frost,  Carcass,  Darkthrone  and  Sodom covers  and  also  closes the compilation  with  a  few  live  tracks.

  Graveyard  plays  a  style  of  death  metal  that  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  early  90's  and  has  a  very  vintage  Swedish  sound  to  them  and  they  also  pay  tribute  o  their  influences  with  a  great  amount  of  cover  tunes,  the  production  sounds  very  old  school  yet  professional  at  the  same  time  while  the  lyrics  cover  death,  horror  and  the  writings  of  H.P  Lovecraft.

  In  my  opinion  Graveyard  are  a  very  great  sounding  old  school  style  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  compilation.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "One  Of  Them"  "What  Dwells  Within"  "Silent  Whispers  Of  The  Graveless"  and  "Riding  A  Pale  Horse".  8  out  of  10.     

Ygodeh/Inside The Womb Of Horizonless Systopia/2015 Full Length Review

  Ygodh  are  a  band  with  members  from  Latvia  and  the  United  Kingdom  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  symphonic,  progressive  and  technical  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2015  album  "Inside  the  Womb  Of  Horzonless  Dystopia".

  Drum  beats  start  off  the  album  and  the  music  starts  getting  more  heavier  a  few  seconds  alter  along  with  a  small  amount  of  melody  and  after  awhile  industrial  parts  mix  in  with  the  heavier  side  of  the  music  and  death  metal  growls  start  becoming  a  very  huge  part  of  the  recording  and  you can  also  hear  high  pitched  screams  at  times.

  Elements  of  prog  metal  can  be  heard  throughout  the  recording  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  solos  and  leads  the  band  uses  adds  more  melody  onto  the  recording  and  as  the  album  progresses  the  music  gets  more  symphonic  and  spoken  word  parts  can  also  be  heard  briefly  in  some  of  the  songs and  a  later  track  also  brings  in  a  brief  use  of  clean  playing  and  the  whole  album  also  sticks  either  to  a  slow  or  mid  paced  musical  direction  and  towards  the  end  of  the  recording  a  brief  use  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard.  

   Ygodeh  creates  another  death  metal  album  that  is  very  symphonic  and  progressive sounding  while  also  mixing  in  more  industrial  elements  this  time  around,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding recording  from  Ygodeh and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  symphonic  and  progressive death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Morbid"  "Rhythm  Of  The  Beast"  and  "Callous".  8  out  of  10. 
 

Voron/Propaganda/2015CD Review

 Voron  are  a  band  from  France that  plays  a  mixture  of  industrial  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2015 album "Propaganda".

    An  electro  industrial  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  heavy  and  melodic  riffs  a  few  seconds  later  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  bring  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody  and  after  awhile  spoken  word  parts  can  be  heard  in  some  parts  off  the  songs  along  with  a  decent  amount  of  death  metal  growls.

  Both  the  guitar  and  industrial  parts  mix  in  together  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful sound  to  them  and the  band  also  mixes  in  a  great  amount  of  modern metal  elements  and  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  singing  and  all  of  the  songs  also  stick  to  either  a  slow  or  mid  paced  musical  direction  and a   couple  of later  tracks also  adds a brief  use  of clean playing  onto  the recording. 

  Voron  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  a  traditional  style  of  industrial and mixes  it in  death  and modern metal  influences  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Voron  are  a  very  decent  sounding  mixture  of  industrial  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Is  Suicide  my  Fate"  "Willingly"  "The  Funeral Of  Time"  and  "I  Dreamt".  7  out  of  10.

Disloyal Interview

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

Artyom: Well, we’ve been absolutely concentrated on the new record called “Godless”, all the promotional stuff, looking for a new label, making new merchandise, new designs of our web pages, of course artwork for the CD, and we were rehearsing a lot, preparing the new line-up for the resumption of our concert activity. The band was silent for several years due to the line-up changes and selecting a bit different style of playing than it was in the previous albums, so now we have to make up for it and strike hard with everything.

2.In June you have a new album coming out, 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?

Jaro: It’s just pure death metal, sometimes technical and progressive, sometimes brutal, sometimes melodic, but anyway it’s real death metal. This album differs pretty much from the previous works of Disloyal. I think “Godless” is much more extreme and faster, aggressive and technical, catchy and groovy. This material is definitely more mature. We’ve worked really hard on all the details and arrangements, thoroughly, without any haste. So we think that the results correspond to all the efforts that we’ve put into it.

3.This is the first album to be released in 7 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time frame?

Jaro: After releasing “Prophecy” in 2008 both guitarists Macabre and Tomash left the band. It happened due to different personal reasons, you know, families, jobs and all that stuff. They just didn’t have time and passion to continue, I think. So our session bass player for that period of time, Artyom had entered the main line-up but as a guitarist and since 2009 we’ve started working under the creation of the new album. Artyom also had to devote time to other bands, in which he performed and still performs: DEATHBRINGER, THY DISEASE, WOE UNTO ME, AMENTIA. So this whole process took a while and the material was finished in the beginning of 2012. After that we’ve completed the line-up with the new bass player from Belarus – Kolya Kislyi, and of course our new vocalist Kriss, who is also drummer in DEATHBRINGER, MANIPULATION and EMPATIC. The further history is simple. We’ve entered the MONROE SOUND STUDIO and the recording process began. And now we’re here. Heheh!  

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

Artyom: The lyrics are mostly about everything that tries to control individuality, like religion, society, politics. But all these topics in the album are wrapped in the main anti-religious theme. Religion is the main instrument of control. So these songs are about individualities who want to open the eyes of others and show them all the lies, cruelty and hypocrisy of our world, about people who are just fed up with all the dogmatic bullshit which we are forced to believe in and obey, about those who still want to fight for the truth and reality.
Our album is about real evil which hides behind the masks of these “righteous” powers that be and about those, who are completely opposite to them, who are pure godless human beings.

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

Artyom: Well, the name of the band reflects the topics which are explored in the lyrics. We can’t be loyal to everything that wants to control our lives and to break us as personalities, to all the despots and tyrants who impose their will on us and suppress our freedom, no matter whether they are political or religious aggressors.
Jaro: But the funny thing was that even we ourselves didn’t realize this meaning from the very beginning. When the band was created, it was just our lifestyle at that moment that had inspired us to come up with that name. Endless parties, absolutely no responsibility, misanthropic views, we were just really DISLOYAL to many things and many people.

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?

Jaro: It’s quite difficult to choose particular shows among all the gigs that the band played over the years now, but certainly we still have in our memories great concerts in Bialystok and especially Metal Monsters Festival, Wroclaw, Olsztyn, Warsaw, sharing the stage with the bands like: DEVILYN, YATTERING, DEMISE, INCARNATED, MASTER, TRAUMA, HATE and others. 
Artyom: Speaking about our stage performance, would be better of course to ask the viewers. But we are doing our best to make it very energetic, expressive, groovy, aggressive and headbanging. We also concentrate a lot on technical aspects and precision of performance. A distinct live sound is really very important for us. 

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

Artyom: Yes, absolutely. We are planning to hit the road as soon as “Godless” is released. That’s why I’ve already mentioned that we are rehearsing a lot and preparing the new line-up for the gigs. We are going to play wherever we can in support of the new record. We think that our first shows in the new line-up with new material are going to happen this Autumn, probably first of all in our home country – Poland, and then in all possible directions, Western and Eastern Europe for sure, and then we’ll see what’s next.

8.Currently the band is signed to Ghastly Music, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

Artyom: Japanese label Ghastly Music is a division of Amputated Vein Records. I must say that these guys are real maniacs and fans of brutal music and are concentrated on pure death metal. They are very responsible and experienced people who promote death metal around the world since 2002, though the Ghastly Music division has appeared ten years later in 2012. The official distribution for Ghastly Music and Amputated Vein Records is provided by Code7/Plastic Head and MVD Entertainment Group. 

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death metal?
Artyom: Previous Disloyal albums were really well-received by listeners in the worldwide underground death metal community, especially old-school death metal fans. But now we have changed our style a little bit making it more versatile and we really hope that we’ll conquer more hearts of fans of different fusions and subgenres of death metal. 
It’s difficult to say about feedback to “Godless” by death metal fans, because the album is not released yet and people can listen only to two tracks from this record: “Mechanism Of Deceit” and “New Enemy Rising”, and also to album teaser on our YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/disloyalband). But after we have uploaded these songs the opinions were really great, we have received a lot of messages and mails with very positive reactions from all over the world. People are saying that they are waiting for the whole album impatiently. We are getting pre-orders from different countries on our web stores:  http://disloyal.bigcartel.com/, https://disloyal-godless.bandcamp.com/,
so we are extremely happy that metal fans like the new face of Disloyal. It’s really awesome. We hope that the whole album will appeal to them even more.

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

Jaro: Artyom plays in a lot of bands and most of them are quite active. His technical progressive death metal band DEATHBRINGER is now recording second full-length album, also after several years of silence. This band is originally from Belarus, but now mostly consists of musicians from Poland. The story of DEATHBRINGER is even a bit similar to DISLOYAL, cause there were also a lot of line-up changes due to which there was a long break in the concert and studio activity. But now guys are back to the front and it’s awesome. This new stuff is very cool, technical and brutal.
WOE UNTO ME is a very promising funeral death/doom metal band from Belarus. A year ago they have released their debut album via Solitude Productions. And they are very active as a live band, playing different tours and festivals.
The next band in which Artyom performs is THY DISEASE – pretty well-known industrial groove metal from Poland. After the release of their sixth album in 2014 they really tour a lot in Europe. But unfortunately Artyom can’t be present on all the gigs, so very often they perform in a shortened line-up.
And one more project is called AMENTIA, also from Belarus. It’s a progressive, sometimes even avantgarde brutal death metal. It’s a studio project, at least at the present moment. Guys have just finished recording third album and planning to release it as soon as possible.

Our vocalist Kriss is also a very busy musician. He performs as a drummer together with Artyom in DEATHBRINGER and in Polish thrash/death metal band EMPATIC, which recently in 2014 released its second album.
He has also his own modern death metal band called MANIPULATION, where he is responsible for all the music and recording all instruments, but has a live line-up and they perform quite a lot of concerts in Poland. They also have just recorded new album and are looking for a label.

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

Artyom: I think we’ve chosen the right way on our latest record and we are going to continue more or less in the same vein, making music more progressive, technical, powerful, groovy and brutal.

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?

Artyom: There are some bands which will never stop influencing us. Their music is always in our hearts. For example MORBID ANGEL, DEATH, IMMOLATION, SUFFOCATION. But of course we never stop exploring and discovering new music. When creating “Godless” we were also influenced by such bands as GOJIRA, MESHUGGAH, DECAPITATED, HATE ETERNAL, etc.
And not only death metal plays its role. Different kinds of music can inspire to create something. I personally listen to a lot of less extreme music like PINK FLOYD, ULVER, BLINDEAD, KATATONIA, ELSIANE and many-many other names from absolutely different genres.
As for the present moment I’m pretty much into MASTODON, GORGUTS, YOB, SOLSTAFIR to name just a few.    

13.What are some of your non musical interests?

Artyom: Nothing unusual I guess. Families, friends, books, movies, art, philosophy, computers, etc. My life is filled with music, I compose and play music in several bands, write lyrics, organize tours and concerts, so I don’t have a lot of free time for anything else, but above-mentioned things are essential for all of us. The same with Kriss and Jaro – music is their main interest. Kolya is designer and restorer – it’s his second passion after music.

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

Jaro: Thank you so much for the support and the opportunity to present DISLOYAL in TheTrueBringerOfDeathZine. Big hail to all metal maniax! We invite all of you to listen to our latest album “Godless”, which will be released very soon by Ghastly Music, the premiere date is on June 9th. And all who are interested please welcome to our web pages:
http://www.facebook.com/disloyalband
http://www.youtube.com/disloyalband
https://myspace.com/disloyalband
and our webstores:
http://disloyal.bigcartel.com/
https://disloyal-godless.bandcamp.com/

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..