Epidemia/Leprocomio/Satanath Records/2016 CD Review

  Epidemia  are  a  band  from  Ecuador  that  plays  a  very  raw  and  brutal  form  of  death  metal  an d this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Leprocomio"  which  will  be  released  in  May  by  Satanath  Records.

  A  very  dark  and  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  morbid  sounding  melodies,  death  metal  growls  and  brutal  blast  beats  and  the  music  is  also  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  90's  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  remain  true  to  a  pure  style  of  death  metal w hile  also  having  their  melodic  moments.

  Throughout  the  recording  there  is  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  while  the  music  has  its  roots  in  the  old  school  style  they  still  bring  in  more  of  a  modern  day  brutality  and  the  whole  album  also  remains  very  heavy  from  beginning  to  ending  of  the  recording.

  Epidemia  plays  a  style  of  death  metal  that  is  very  raw  and  brutal  and  also  mixes  both  the  modern  and  old  school  style  together,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Spanish  and  cover  terror,  corpses  and  massacre  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Epidemia  are  a  very  great  sounding  raw  and  brutal  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Retribucion  Homicida"  "Agonistes  En  El  Infraumando"  and  "Existencia  Repulsiva".  8  out  of  10. 

Inferior/The Red Beast/Big balls Productions/2016 CD Review

  Inferior  are  a  band  from  Sweden  that  plays  a  mixture  of  death  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of t heir  2016  album  "The  Red  beast"  which  was  released  by  Big  Balls  Productions.

  Aggressive  vocals  and  heavy  guitars  start  off  the  album  along  with  the  vocals  also  using  growls  and  you  can also  gear  a  great  amount  of  melody  in  the  riffing  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sound  very  powerful  and  when the  music  speeds  up  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  they  also  mix  in  both  modern  and old  school  influences.

  Throughout the  recording  there  is  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  when  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  bring  in  even  more  of  an  old  school  extreme  metal style while  also  being  melodic  at  the  same  time  and  the  80's  and  90's  influence  start  taking  over  more  as  the  album  progresses  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  clean  playing  and  on  later  tracks  a  touch  of   traditional  metal  can  be  heard  in  some  of  the  guitar  leads.

  Inferior  goes  back  to  the  mid  80's  and  early  90's  style  of  death  and  thrash  metal  and  mix  them  together  while  also  bringing  in  more  of   a  modern  touch,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  violent  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Inferior  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  "Expressed  in  Murder"  "Divine  Spectres"  "Above  The  Surface"  and  "The  Righteous  Will  Rise".  8  out  of 10.   

Fractured Insanity 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?

Hi mate! We started recording the album in summer 2015. First the drums, then guitars and bass and last the vocals. Everything was recorded at our drummer’s studio. In November 2015 everything was sent to the Hertz Studios in Poland for mixing and mastering. Our previous record Mass Awakeless we recorded from beginning till end at the Hertz Studios, but we couldn’t make it this time to take 14 days off and go to Poland. End February 2016 the mix and master was done and sent to our label Xtreem Music from Spain. In the meanwhile we were very busy putting up gigs, rehearsing the songs, printing shirts, making promo etc.- So we want to promote the album as much as we canAt this point we have 5 shows ready to promote our new album. Only yesterday we got the news we can do a gig to support Cattle Decapitation, which is very good news!



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?

Every Fractured Insanity album is different. Our first album When Mankind Becomes Diseased was pure US death metal, Suffocation, Pyaemia, Disavowed like. Then our second album Mass Awakeless had a more modern Polish death metal feeling, more like Decapitated, Behemoth, Vader, but also some Necrophagist. It was more technical. This new album still has that Polish death metal sound, but is less technical. There is more groove in the album, more melody,  some more old school parts as well. You can hear some Morbid Angel Domination influences, but also Behemoth, Hour of Penance, some Gojira. There are even black metal parts and progressive parts, we wanted to put the best we can of different metal styles on the album. We didn't want to play only deathmetal in the vein of..., no if some progressive stuff sounds awesome, why not.



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?

After the Mass Awakeless release in 2010 we did a lot of gigs, in Belgium, UK and The Netherlands. We played together with Avulsed, Basement Torture Killings, Beheaded, Carnal Decay, ... All to promote our album. Then in 2011 Didier, our bass player (plays now in Gotmoor), decided to quit the band. We had to find another one, which became Tom. He played 1 year with us and stopped also and he joined Storm upon the masses. In 2013 Fafa our vocalist also stopped, so we had to find another bass player and vocalist. We found that in Stefan, who combines the both. It took a while to get him ready with the old songs, plus writing new songs.



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

We have lyrics about terrorism, Ancient Rome, inquisition, anti-religion, …



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

We were looking for words that in a way were powerful as word itself, on the other way words that describe the music we wanted to make, the impression it gives to people. After some philosophical moments (at the bar) the word Insanity seemed not that bad. In that time Kenny also broke his wrist, so that explains the "fractured" part .



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?

Some of the best shows? We always liked playing in the UK. Most of our shows in West-Flanders (our homebase) are also legendary. Houten Deathfest, Limburg Deathfest, London Deathfest, ... (yeah we like deathfests :))

Our stage performance is very intense. We want to play the songs as perfect as possible, so we take playing live serious. But we also have fun on stages and we interact with the audience. The most important is that everybody is having a good time, and that after the concert people are impressed with what they just heard.





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

The next month we have 3 release shows planned. Then we'll have a support gig for Cattle Decapitation and a festival in October. Other then that we are talking about doing another weekend tour in the UK.



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

For us it's always funny to see people from for example have our album in countries like Indonesia. Then again, our label has good distribution, so it gets everywhere. We always got good feedback so that's really nice. We love to have our music/merch spread all over the world!



9.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?

Ignace play also the drums in Gotmoor (fast black metal), Darkest Mind (melodic black metal) and session drums with Svartsyn (Swedish black metal) and Aguynguerran (melodic black metal).





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

Not easy to say. We always play what we like at that point. Maybe some more classical influences? Doesn't matter, as long as it kicks ass.



11.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?

Ignace: In fact I like many kinds of metal, but mostly extreme metal. My favourites are Nokturnal Mortum, old Dub Buk, Skyforger, Morbid Angel, old Hypocrisy,  Dawn (Swe), Mörk Gryning, Sacramentum, Mgla, Falkenbach, Priest, Type o negative, old Korrozia Metalla, ...

Stefan: going from Hardcore (Madball and so on, H8000 scene from Belgium from the 90’s) to Death Metal (Morbid Angel, Obituary, …) to classic stuff, more jazzy, …

Kenny: I listen to everything: pop (Abba, Adele, Coldplay), Jazz (specialy early jazz: bop, swong, cool), metal (Fleshgod, Behemoth), lots of classical: Bach, Villa Lobos, Scarlatti, Mendelssohn, Beethoven,...

Daems: I listen to a lot of music, going from pure death metal like Horrendous, Gruesome, to more black metal like Deathspell Omega, Ihsahn, Dodheimsgard, Abigor, hardcore like Congress and Hard Resistance or classical music like Stravinsky, Holst, Mussorgsky, ...



12.What are some of your non musical interests?

Reading, nature, traveling, renovate my house, technology, history, sports, …





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

Thanks a lot fort he interest and the interview! We hope a lot of fans keep supporting underground death metal and keep buying albums and attending gigs! Get over to our FB for more info about the new records, for more reviews and interviews. Get in contact for your copy of MAN MADE HELL, or go to www.xtreemmusic.com !

Horricane/Synthetic Forms/2016 EP Review

  Horricane  are  a  band  from  Estonia  that  plays  a  style  of  death  metal  with  horror  movie  style  keyboards  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self released  2015  ep  "Synthetic  Forms".

  A  very  heavy  guitar  sound  starts  off  the  ep  along  with  some  melodic  riffing  along  with  some  clean  singing  and  death  metal  growls  and  screams  a  few  seconds  later  and  after  awhile  keyboards  become  a  part of  the  music  and  takes  the  music  into  more  of  an  atmospheric  direction  and  you  can  also  hear a   touch  of  modern  metal.

  When  solos  and  leads  are  added  into  the  music  they  are  done  in  a  very  dark  and  melodic  fashion  and  a  couple  of  the  tracks  are  long  and  epic in  length  and  spoken  word  samples  can  also  be  heard  in  the  music  at  times  and  a  touch  of  industrial  can  also b e  heard  in certain  sections  of  the  recording  while  the  music  sticks  to  mostly  a  mid  paced direction.  and  as  the  ep  progresses  there  is  a  few  seconds  of  clean  singing  and  blast  beats.

 Horricane  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  death  metal  but  also  adds  in  modern  metla a nd  industrial  elements  along  with  keyboards  which  makes  their music  stand  out  a  bit  more,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Horricane  are  a  very  great  sounding  keyboard  orientated  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Synthetic  Forms"  and  "Leper  nation".  8  out  of  10.   

Burning Hatred Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?
Currently we are preparing us for the coming shows and the release of the album. And we have started to play around with some riffs for new songs.

2.In April 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?
The sound is heavy and brutal but clear. You can hear all of the instruments, but it doesn’t sound soft. In the past we have used the same kind of sound, but without the clearness. It sounded good, thick and heavy but you couldn’t always hear the difference in the instruments.
Musically wise we play faster then we used to do and used that to make more variety with the slower songs/parts.

3.This is the first album  be released in 5 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time frame?
There were some lineup changes that always needs time to get the band ready again for shows. And we were forced to change a couple of times from rehearsal place. We’ve always had our own place, so every time we need to rebuild this.

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?
Most of the lyrics on the “Carnage” deal with genocide, mass murders and massacres, in time of war or with a religious or political background. It goes from witch huntings centuries ago till the recent ongoing war in the middle east. There’s a lot of rotten history mankind created and still creates. Enough inspiration for us to write about.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Burning Hatred'?
An enormous intense feeling of hate is what it means. It sounded good when we came up with that name and fitted the music and lyrics. Most of the lyrics deal with pain and suffering that people inflict on each other mostly because of hate.  

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?
Stonehenge 2014, 2 shows we did in 2008 with Dismember, Nice To Eat You Deathfest in 2015, maybe not the best musically, but these are the ones with the best memories.
Our stage performance is one big ride of headbanging and an explosion of death metal with some slower parts to give the audience a moment to get a sip of beer, before we all get crazy again.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released?
In the week of the release date we will do a show with Nile and a small festival with God Dethroned. We are planning some more shows for this year and some festival appearances for the end of this year and next year. Their are some plans for a small tour, but nothing is determined yet.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death metal?
Most of the people that are into Old School Death Metal like it. The first reviews are in and the bigger part of them are very positive. As always, some people are complaining about the fact that it’s not original, not renewing, etc. but that doesn’t matter, we play what we like and that is what counts.

9.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?
Gerben is busy with writing a new album with Phlebotomized, René is doing shows with Abrupt Demise, Marc is in the middle of recording an album with Condolence and I am recording an album with Anarchos.

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
We play and always will play old school death metal, we are just getting better in writing, composing and playing it. No surprising changes of style!

11.What are some of the bands or musical style that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
The swedish and dutch death metal from the nineties is what we all like and something we listen to, so that’s where most of the influence comes from. For me personally it’s bands like Dismember, Grave, Carnage, God Macabre, Asphyx, Autopsy, Vomitory, Unleashed, Bolt Thrower, first Darkthrone, Kaamos, Kreator and more.
Nowadays bands like Slaughterday, Mordbrand, Entrapment, Bombs Of Hades, Chapel Of Disease, Cruciamentum, Demonical, Eternal Mortification, Rotten Casket, Bastard Grave, Vanhelgd, Krypts and a lot more.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?
The rotten history of the world, speciality beers and cooking (BBQ).

Killing For Company Interview

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

We all live in Trondheim, a small city in Norway and we met about 10 years ago when we all where playing in other bands and decided then to record some songs together.

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?

The sound on the album was important for us. We are old school people and play old school death metal. We wanted the atmosphere and sound to pull you back in time. No plastic drums!

3.The band was broken up for 10 years, what was the cause of the split and also the decision to reform?

Good question! I can't remember... we recorded some songs 10 years ago, never did anything about them and 10 years later Tom (Guitarist) reached out again. We where all like.. ok we got some killer tracks we never published so lets record these new ones and go for an album.

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

War and Chaos

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Killing For Company'?

Tom W  took the band name from a book he read many years ago. He just liked the name, the way it has two meanings.

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 never play Live with this band. It is more like a project.

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

No.

8.On the new album you had a few quests, can you tell us a little bit more about who they are and their contributions to the recording?

We've many guests on this album:

* Stian Kråbøl is the brother of our drummer Terje. They used to play together in Minas Tirith, and now they both play in Sarke. He play the opening lead on the album.

* Øystein Haltbakk and Andrè Ulriksen are Tom's bandmates in Exeloume. They play the leads at the end of "God of Malice". First Andrè, second Øystein.

* Per Spjøtvold plays keys and he also did the design for the album. He plays in a lot of bands/projects. Multiartist.

* Daniel Olaisen from Blood Red Throne plays lead on "Iron Coffin".

* Siv Lena Laugtug Sæther plays fiddle on Frontal Assault. She used to play in Lumsk, a well-known band in Norway. She now plays in Woebegone together with Per Spjøtvold.

* Andrè Krokstad was the original guitarist in Killing For Company. Plays lead on House of Hades, and all guitar on the three last tracks. Hopefully he will be back full time for the next album.

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

I've seen a few  reviews coming inn.

It's a good feeling to read and hear people tell you they love your work.

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?

My other band KHONSU is releasing a new album this year:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loJYmoquI7k

Terje K played drums on the new Sarke album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDkqpijpX4o&index=2&list=PLzYSbdKt4Tksdr7RbLJ35wIdwNbgLBiIC

Tom W is working on new Exolume album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rq1j5B-c_ZE

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

Hopefully we will make more music in the future.

12.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?

Well, We all grew up listning to alot of heavy music, and we all like the more groovy slow and heavy type of death metal, even though some of the tech death metal bands are very good.

So it was just natural that KFK went in the same direction.

Personally I listen to everything from Whitesnake to Bathory.

13.What are some of your non musical interests?

Trying to force our kids to keep they're shit together and I love to have a beer and play videogames.

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

Nothing special... Just hornz up you know and thanks to everyone out there that support music, and buy albums or digital music.

Vibrion/Bacterya/Xtreem Music/2016 CD Review

  Vibrion  are  a  band  from  Argentina  that  plays  a  very  brutal  and  old  school  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Bacterya"  which  was  released  by  Xtreem  Music.

  Dark  sound  effects  start  off  the  album  along  with  the  voices  of  tortured  souls  before  going  into  a  very  fast  and  heavy  musical  direction  that  uses  a  great  amount  of  brutal  blast  beats  while  the  vocals  use  an  80's  style  of  death  metal  growls  that  is  almost  close  to t he  more  extreme  side  of  thrash  metal.

  Most  of  the  music  is  rooted  in  the  old  school  style  of  death  metal  while  also  mix  in  some  of  the  modern  brutality  and  the  songs  also b ring  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  the  solos  and  leads  bring  in  an  early  90's  death  metal style  along  with  some  Morbid  Angel  influences  and  some  of the  riffing  also  brings  in  dark  sounding  melodies.

  One  track  bring s in a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  and  movie  samples  and  all  of t he  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  clean  playing  can  be  heard  briefly  on  some  of  the  later  tracks  while  some  of  the  heavier  parts  use  a  small  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  a  later  song  also  brings  in  a brief  use  of  cello's  while  the  main  focus  remains  more  on  a heavy  and  brutal  style  while  avant  garde  sounds  can  also  be  heard  briefly. 

  Vibrion  plays  a  style  of  death  metal  with  a  vocal  approach  that  is  almost  close  to  thrash  while  the  music  still  has  enough  brutality  to  fit  in  with  the  modern  days,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  murder,  rotting  and  death  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Vibrion  are  a  very  great  sounding  brutal,  old  school  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Day  Of  Replication"  "The  Walls  Of  Caffra"  "Bacterya"  and  "Mutant".  8  out  of  10.