Interview
We spoke to vocalist and founding member
Hansi Kürsch
Genres: Power Metal Symphonic Metal Progressive,
Krefeld, Germany.
words: Dan J.G Mitchell ‘Beyond The Red Mirror’ is billed as a sequel to ‘Imaginations From The Other Side’ (1995). When did this come to be?
modern, dystopian sort of feeling in some of the songs.”
Beyond The Red Mirror
“That was pretty late in the songwriting period. We already recorded some of the songs, and I was doing the individual lyrics for the first two songs, which were related somehow. I wasn’t sure, however, if I would go for the complete concept at that point. When we had five or six songs, we realised immediately that there were two different worlds, in any of the songs, and realised that this concept could match up.
What was the decision behind the electronic elements audible on a number of tracks including the opener?
Nuclear Blast
“I revisited ‘Imaginations From The Other Side’ again and thought about that open gap that’s left after the story ends. We have these two universes: the one more abstract and Medieval looking, and the other one more comparable to our world, and I just thought it was the best foundation imaginable for the new album. “From that point on, things just started to develop into a certain direction and I just had to look at how to weave the different parts together.” Your style has changed and developed constantly over the course of your career, and since Imaginations from the Other Side.
“(laughs) Changed? Yeah, I mean we’re still the same band. I would guess on any of the Blind Guardian albums you can figure out the old roots, but we have a rule in the band and that’s to ‘never copy yourself, and try to develop’. The style has changed, definitely.” Considering these changes, and the link to a 20 year old album in your catalogue: are there any other aspects from the past besides concept that you have decided to bring back?
“Production-wise, we did in certain ways because the intensity of the performance is comparable to what we did on ‘Imaginations From The Other Side’. Music-wise, as I said, we always try to get a step further. Still, we do not deny our roots, and there are some things in common. “One similarity, for example, was the dark,
“This was to point out, a little more, this disturbing character of something that is related to universes which are laying down in decay. “If you have a look at the concept and the idea behind it, you will figure that the two universes which I have designed on this album have both changed for the worse since ‘Imaginations From The Other Side. They are both facing tough times, and therefore I needed these disturbing elements in some of the songs.” You feel this is representative of our world? Getting more dystopian?
“Most definitely (laughs). As I said, both worlds featured on the new album are pure fiction; but as mentioned before, one of them has strong links to a reality like ours even though it developed into a different direction during the last 20 years. “It is obvious in our world as well, that things have not gone for the better.” You have a track on this album which shared a title with 2010’s ‘At The Edge of Time’. Where did the idea come behind that?
“I would say coincidence, but it was a nice effect you know? I was actually relating to Imaginations, and the song and the story ends there. When the story ends we find a line, which is at the edge of time. This is where I used [the idea] for the first time, and since the story goes into that direction it was fairly obvious to me in terms of content to use that as the title. Also because of the simple effect that we have used it as a pure vocal line, and as an album title. “This was the final missing link to, designing something related to the complete Blind Guardian universe.”
Out Now!
When you formed, was there any consideration behind performing in English rather than German?
“This never has been an issue for us as a band. We were so much into the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, there was no discussion that this particular music would have to be performed in English. “I was just surprised figuring out when bands like Rammstein came out years and years later and did something metal with German lyrics and pronunciation. This was never our agenda.” Have you considered working on a new live recording/release?
“Yeah, that’s actually something we’re always discussing. We still wait for the right occasion to do a proper live album or another DVD. Once we have accomplished the orchestral project which we have worked on, for the last 20 years actually. Once we will be able to release that, then certainly a live album or DVD will definitely be a great option for us.” How’s the orchestral project coming along?
“As with At The Edge of Time, during the recordings of Beyond the Red Mirror, we did some recordings for the orchestral project. It is still in the making, but we have proceeded fairly well. “If things work out as we have planned, then I should be done with the singing at the end of this year, but that would demand a lot from my side because we are going to have a lot of concerts which are usually fairly demanding on my vocal chords (laughs). “I would have to see how much of the stuff I will be able to perform in the gaps we will have.”
Interview
Genres: Stoner Rock Heavy Blues Rock California, USA.
John Garcia Out Now Napalm Records Ex-Kyuss and Vista Chino man John Garcia released his long awaited, self-titled solo album last year. We met up with him on the UK leg of his six-week European tour. Palm Desert has undoubtedly spawned a series of great musicians. How would you describe being a part of that environment, and what do you think is the reason why Kyuss came to be such a pioneer in this scene?
“First, and this is only my personal opinion, but I think that the whole desert scene has been over-glamorised. I just think that it got blown out of proportion a little bit. There’s great musicians there, and I’m playing with three of them tonight. Greg Saenz on drums, Mike Pygmie on bass and Ehren Groban on guitar, they’re all from the desert. “I appreciate the musicians that I’m playing with, the musicians that I’ve played with in the past, and shared the stage with but honestly, I think that it did get overblown just a little bit. I think that I was partially to blame for that too, by over-glamorising all these generated parties. “As kids, when you’re growing up, you’re gonna find a way to play music somewhere and you’re gonna find that house party. It’s like that old saying ‘necessity is the mother of invention’. We had no choice but to go to some of those places. We didn’t start it. We were just a part of it.” Who got you into music in the first place?
“I was a fan of music ever since I can remember. Growing up, I listened to eight tracks, listened to a lot of Earth, Wind & Fire, and a lot of RnB. My brother was into RnB, and 60s and 70s music, and my sister was more into stuff like Kiss, Pink Floyd and Tom Petty, The Smiths. I enjoyed listening to music. It took me someplace. It got me through something. I was always a fan, I used to listen through the headphones as a kid. And I knew I liked it. I knew I liked the way it made me feel. “I think certain people are just drawn to that, they’ve got a certain affinity towards tunes and where it takes them and how it makes them feel. It’s almost a curse in a weird sort of way, where it consumes you so much. I mean, I’m
words: Hilde Chrruicshank here in the back of a bus and I’m doing music, and it’s not easy. It’s still very hard work.” With such an extensive back catalogue, how do you choose the songs for live setlists?
“We put down over thirty songs, and we rehearsed them all. We learned all thirty of them. Some Kyuss, some Slo Burn and of course my entire record, and we tested them out. We wanted to see which ones sounded better than others and which ones we felt better playing. It was a very natural process, how the song selection came and which ones sounded best. “Then, once we got that, it fell into place very easily, so it was very natural.”
Garcia has been in the music making business since the late 80s, and one can only imagine the ups and downs that go along with that. What’s been the highlight of your career so far?
“This right here. Though I’m very appreciative to the fact that I could be on stage with all the musicians that I’ve played with in the past, this is something that I’ve always wanted to do, and I get to check this off my list. I did it. It was a lot of hard work but I did it. We’ve got nine more shows to do and I get to go back to my wife and kids. I’m really happy, because we’ve been on the road for exactly a month and it’s tough being away from the little munchkins for a while. “It’s bittersweet. I’ve been wanting to come to the UK for a while, so it might not be a monumental moment for anybody else, but it certainly is for me and I’m proud. I am proud that I can say that I did my solo project and a little UK run. We’ve had a great tour manager, a great sound person, a great crew and the band’s in good spirits. “ Garcia’s backing band are also from the Palm Desert scene, known from such bands as War Drum, The Dwarves and The Pedestrians. They have never formed a band together until now.
How did you wind up playing with these guys?
“Out of pure luck. It was a dream to have all desert musicians. It wasn’t always gonna be that way, but it worked out that way. I’m certainly glad that it did. Growing up in the desert, you know who the musicians are; I knew who Mike was, I knew who Ehren was. We didn’t hang out as much then as we do now; because we enjoy playing with each other, jamming out. It just turned out to be lucky. Very lucky.” Is there anything you’d like to say about the cover design?
“As far as the cover art goes.. it’s not a goat, it’s a ram, a bighorn sheep. They’re indigenous to where I live and I liked that. I had this artist by the name of Sam Young who I commissioned for it. I thought it was a beautiful, classic piece. I love the flowers, there’s like desert chia in his horns and desert verbena in some other parts, and I like that. And then you have the open desert road. And this record, I wanted it to be visually right too, so I gave it to this other artist from Austin, Texas called Jared Conner, who took the ram piece and superimposed it over this desert road. When I saw it I was like, ‘that’s it, it’s a perfect piece’, so it speaks volumes for where I’m at. “I live up a dirt road, it looks like my dirt road, and it’s home. Also because I’m from the desert, and if anybody’s allowed to have an open desert road with a bighorn sheep, I think I’ve worked my ass off for that right. It speaks volumes for me. Again, when I saw it I was like, ‘Jared, that’s perfect, I love it’. And the record company liked it. I was very happy with Jared Conner. Jared Conner is awesome. “I had this other record cover that came close to making it… It was this American flag, and I thought about that because both my grandfathers served in the military. In the end, I never wanted to – I’ve never been very political at all, and I wanted to keep music and politics for me. I wanted to kind of separate that. And I wanted to keep God and country and family kind of out of the picture and just keep it personal. For me. Not to sound selfish or anything like that, but I worked my ass off for this record.”
N‘ WHISKEY LONDON’S BEST BEER ROCK N’ ROLL BAR
LATE-NIGHT IN THE HEART OF SOHO OPEN UNTIL 3AM MON-SAT. ENTRY £2 AFTER 11
BOURBON AND MIXER £3.00 ALL NIGHT MON-THURS
Interview
Genres: Melodic Death Metal New York, USA
CHRIS AMOTT’s
ARMAGEDDON words: Dan J.G Mitchell
We spoke to the founder, and ex Arch Enemy member
Upon reforming Armageddon, what was the process like of recruiting all-new band members?
“Sara I’ve known for years, she is a guitar player originally but offered to play bass in Armageddon. She also writes the majority of the lyrics, and we actually wrote the album together. I met our guitar player Joey through giving guitar lessons, he was a student of mine for a short period. Like me, he is a blues-based player and can improvise freely. That’s the most important thing for me in another guitarist. “We speak the same language musically. He brought in our singer Matt into the project, they are from the same area in Connecticut and have played shows locally together with their old bands. For Armageddon I knew from the start that I wanted a singer who does growling and that I would provide any clean vocals. “The hardest part was finding a drummer. We tried out three guys before deciding to have a guy by the name of Nick Bunzck play on the album, as a session player. Finally I met Márton in NYC, he is from Hungary originally, and used to play in classic Hungarian band Pokolgep.” How would you describe your approach to the project this time around, compared to its previous incarnations?
“To fans of Armageddon, I would say that this album has combined the best elements of all the three previous albums. To Arch Enemy fans, I want to say that this album contains, in my opinion, some of my best guitar work to date and I hope they will check it out. “I was strongly motivated to write a great record with no compromise, to make the best metal album I’ve ever done. It’s also a fresh start. I mean it is over 10 years since the last album; but I kept the name Armageddon because it’s a good name and ‘cause it’s been linked to my projects outside of Arch Enemy for a long time.
and get great results, so for me it’s not a problem.” Did you have any particular inspiration musically or stylistically when composing for Captivity and Devourment?
“I did have some ideas going in. For example, on the songs ‘Captivity & Devourment’ and ‘Equalizer’, I wanted to write songs with many parts and a lot of changes to keep a powerful intensity going throughout the track. “I don’t listen to new metal bands. Ever. I don’t want to be influenced. I stopped listening to new metal music in the 90’s and that’s probably why my songs sound the way they do. That’s my style, my influences. “Honestly, some stuff that goes for metal today bores me and is somewhat foreign to me. Today I listen to pop music and anything that is a good song. Or I’m blasting the records I grew up with: Priest, Sabbath, Maiden, Slayer, Megadeth etc.” Do you have any plans for touring yet? When will Europe likely get to see you live?
“We will definitely tour Europe in 2015, we are setting it up right now with the booking agencies etc. In February we’ll do a 2 week run in the US to warm up. “We are working on our live show now: we will have some cool projections and lights, and we will play the album in its entirety. We are excited to play, and our shows have a fantastic raw energy!”
“I guess it’s a bit of everything stylistically; death, thrash, power, black metal. I don’t think in terms of genres like that when I write, no musician does. This is just metal the way I want to hear it and write it. “I expect to grow Armageddon into whatever it can be: we are actually already writing the next album. We will be recording it next year along with touring as much as we can. The goal is always to reach as many people as possible with our music. How about the recording process?
“For ‘Captivity and Devourment’ we used a few different studios. One in the US for drums and vocals, then all the guitars and bass were done in my home studio. The mixing and some additional recording was done in Sweden. It’s a little different than before because I did a lot of recording at home, as most bands tend to do these days. I enjoy recording at home
Captivity And Devourment Out Now! Listenable Records
We Spoke to
Petri Lindroos
Interview
Interview
One Man Army
Ensiferum Genre: Folk Metal
February 24th 2015 Metal Blade Rcords
Helsinki, Finland
words: D.J.G. Mitchell This is the first record that you have released outside of Spinefarm Records. Why did you make the decision to change label?
Would you say that lyrically it’s any sort of combination between Western and Scandinavian/Finnish mythology across this album?
“Well, from the beginning we’ve only been signed with Spinefarm Records. I think we were there short of 10 years, and after ‘Unsung Heroes’ (2012) the recording contract was expiring. We just gave it a thought to check out other options.
“Yes it does have. Like ‘Two of Spades’ is basically a story about poker. In the lyrics there are a lot of poker references and then we also have the old Viking mythology added into other songs there are a lot of stories about war in general and so.
“We started to take offers from all around and Metal Blade was making the best recording deal that you could probably get nowadays. We just thought about taking a shot, a ‘shot in the dark’ like it is nowadays, this business. I say a ‘shot in the dark’ because you never know what this business is going to look like in six months, or one year, or five years.”
“I think it’s a pretty good mix up with all the kind of cool stuff.”
The song ‘Descendants, Defiance, Domination’ is over 10 minutes long, and contains elements of progressive and postrock/metal. What inspired this?
“Music should be done in such a way that you are going to be able to have fun with it, while playing and listening to it. We do it 100% seriously…. We do it for serious, but also with a smile, yeah.”
“Yeah, it has quite a few layers on it. Like you said, it has the postrock. We also added a little bit of 70s to 80s feeling to it by adding some Hammond [organ] on it and stuff like that, and then having some harder heavy metal parts on it, as well as a little bit chilled out – with the choir parts.
Was the artwork done by the same artist you have used previously?
“It wasn’t actually that much thought that went into it being 10-11 minutes of music. We usually have one of these longer, epic songs on our releases.” One of the most contradictory songs to that might be the immediate, fast paced ‘Two of Spades’. A song that mindbendingly twists into a 70s disco passage by the end.
“I actually have no idea where the idea came from, somebody just probably said it out loud at the rehearsal place at some point. I can’t actually remember whose idea it was. “A few albums ago, on the song ‘Stone Cold Metal’ [‘From Afar’ 2009], we had this very Western style part in the middle of that song. Plus, there have always been these bridge parts that are a little bit different. “Also, we haven’t done 70s disco before, and now we have. That was the idea, and then we just had to figure it out, how to make it happen for real, and also to work out all the sounds and all the extra stuff you can do with 70s disco music, and we just did it. “(laughs) I actually think its pretty fucking good!”
Do you think fans will be surprised by the songs on this album?
“If a fan is smiling when he hears it, we have done a good job. If he is going to turn his back and burn the CD, then it’s a fail! (laughs).
“No, this was a new guy, [Gyula Havancsák]. He has also done album covers for Týr, for example. “The guy was recommended for us since we got the new record deal with Metal Blade, and we thought about checking out what kind of artwork he would be able to do. Then it was pretty much a million emails back and forth, finally getting the artwork done. “He was all cool – really very professional, good working, no problem. I really like the cover also, it’s different, but not that much... [all] the other ones were all very huge paintings actually, so that is the difference on this one. I think this one is completely made with a computer, CGI stuff or whatever.” I’d definitely say it’s the most aggressive looking cover that you have so far.
“Well thank you. It’s a relatively aggressive album too.” Do you have a favourite song from this album?
“I have actually quite a few, but I really like the other opening track ‘Axe of Judgement’, that is definitely one highlight on it. And of course the triple D on this one, that one is absolutely fantastic!”
Interview
We Spoke To Drummer
Hokuto no Kev
Welcame Out Now! Nuclear Blast
Genres: Groove Metal Crossover Thrash Hardcore Rap Metal Paris, France.
words: Dan J.G Mitchell
How would you describe your genre, and in comparison with other artists? Also, metal or hardcore?
“RATM meets HATEBREED or SLAYER in a ghetto blaster ahaha. It is hard to describe it myself, I would say that we are a crossover band. Metal kids, Hardcore kids, people who enjoy crossover music, fusion, nu-metal, manga and Japan lovers, people born in the 80’s/90’s... all those different people can find interest in our band.” Was it an easy decision to partner with a global record label for the distribution of Welcame, considering your DIY background?
“No it wasn’t, ‘cause [some] people see only what they want to see. “We were afraid our fans would think we did a huge u-turn. You know at the beginning of our video for ‘Demonstrating My Saiya Style’ it’s written “Without label, without management, everything done by ourselves”. A lot of people thought we were against labels and the music business in general but it wasn’t true. This message was mainly a warning to the music professionals: ‘look at what we can achieve by ourselves so if you want us, offer us a decent deal’. “Some fans probably do not agree with our choice, but they probably don’t know about the reality of being totally DIY. We aim to federate as many people as possible globally, and kids don’t imagine all the time and energy that is required to distribute your material worldwide without any structure. It’s a lot of work and our job is to create and play music, not to deal with distribution. And for the record, this debut album has been produced and funded by ourselves about a year before we signed a label deal. Still, this DIY state of mind is always a part of us. Just after the record was finished we built our own label Repression Records, through which we ended up signing with
Nuclear Blast.” How was the band formed, and what was the vision?
“The band has been formed by Vithia. Our story is close to the one in ‘Rokudenashi blues’! In this manga about bad boys, there are 3 strong guys called ‘The 3 Kings’. The best moment of the manga is when the 3 kings decide to join forces with the main character ‘Taison Maeda’ to make an undefeatable dream team of badasses! ROTNS is like that! “Eva-B was leader of his own band, Fabulous Fab also, Air-One and I were in the same band which I was leading... We all left our respective projects to join forces with Vithia, to make this band that would mix up violent music and Japanese sub-culture to federate the world!” How would you say the manga imagery seen across some of your music videos and cover art, fits with the the lyrics, in addition to your band image?
“In his lyrics, Vithia speaks about our lives, about what we have experienced as people and as a band, through manga references. The manga is used as a metaphor. The way we’re dressed, and how we act, is inspired by the ‘Furyo’ state of mind which is an absolute reflection of our personalities. “‘Furyo’ is a Japanese word for a juvenile delinquent. Furyos are bad at school, they fight each other, and rebel against the adults world...they live their lives by their own rules, omitting the world around ‘em. They run their lives as they want to, not as the society they live in would like. “You know in Japan the society puts a huge amount of pressure on kids and students to go to a top grade school, to get a good job, otherwise you are not considered, and your honor is at stake...But furyos put a stop to that, they don’t give a fuck about what society
wants, they control their lives. “This is what we do with this band, since the beginning ROTNS is against all the established codes in this narrow minded scene. This is the furyo style! Keep following your heart, and your convictions, whatever people say. Vithia says it in ‘Sound of Wolves’: ‘You were here before us so you think you fixed the rules? King of nothing’ It’s not so much the bands individually that set the rules, it’s the scene in general that gravitates around the bands. “We don’t give a fuck about how everything is supposed to work, we have our own rules fueled by our own dreams. We are furyos by nature.” What are your inspirations?
“Mainly, the band is influenced by what has paced our youth, and most of our influences are drawn from the 80s/90s. We all grew up watching violent animes like “Hokuto no Ken”, “Akira”, or “Dragon Ball”, and during the golden age of Japanese video games; while listening to bands like RATM, Slayer, Suicidal tendencies, Machine head, Pantera, Sepultura. Hip hop acts from this era, also, like Wu tang, Onyx, Mobb deep... This is where our mix was born from.” How would you describe Welcame in comparison to your previous recorded music?
“’Welcame’ is the evolution of ‘Tokyo Assault’ and ‘Demonstrating my Saiya Style’, but more powerful like a saiyajin transformation! This is the perfect synthesis of who we are, there is a little something for everyone in there, beatdown, thrash, solos, moshparts, breakdowns, hardcore. We haven’t made any compromise, still the fans and media seem to recognize a certain level of catchiness.”
Interview We Spoke to Bassist and Founding Member
Jarle ‘Hvàll’ Kvåle
Genres: Black Metal Black’n’Roll
Sogndal, Norway You are performing here tonight to celebrate the collective 20th anniversary of Vreid, Windir and Ulcus. How did you decide to celebrate with such a tour/setlist?
“While discussing the tour we did last year we realised that it had been almost 20 years since we had started performing together, and decided we should do something about it. Everyone just got on board with the idea immediately, so we decided yes – let’s do some festivals. After booking some festivals, we decided we wanted to do more shows and ended up choosing to do a tour where we could cover more countries.” So this is a more expansive tour than you have done in the past?
“Yes. We were actually supposed to do more festivals, but due to logistical reasons we couldn’t. Still, we knew that we wanted to play in more countries, put all our energy into it and also to reach more of our audience. To perform in Poland, Spain, France, U.K. and so on.” If this is your celebration of the past and present, what does the future hold for Vreid?
“We have started writing for our new album, so our focus is now to, once we end this tour, focus on the new album and spend the next five to six months working on that, it’s our only plan right now.”
think it’s the blackest album we’ve ever done, so far. Whereas the last one was perhaps the most rock and roll inspired album we had ever done, this time we are going in a more extreme direction.
Have you ever performed at a festival, or as part of a line-up where you are particularly different in style from the other acts?
“It is a more extreme album than we have done before.”
Stian Bakketeig (vocals, guitar): “Didn’t we play a goth festival?
Was this inspired in part by your performance of earlier material over the course of this ‘Sognametal’ tour?
“Yes, I think so. For the first time in many years we had to sit down and listen to all of our discography again, and there were some surprises, you know? “There are some songs that I haven’t been listening to for maybe 10 years or something like that. I’m sure that in some way this has inspired the new material that we’re writing.”
“Most of what we have done is rock and metal oriented, but we’ve done some…”
“Yeah, we played a goth festival in Germany once. It was strange, really strange, you know? Only latex, members of the audience having each other on a leash, like they’re dogs or whatever. Strange setup, we didn’t feel quite at home at that show! (laughs)”
words: Dan J.G Mitchell While the band work on their forthcoming release, check out their fantastic back catalogue starting with their latest, below.
How was it covering the vocal duties on the Windir tracks (originally performed by the late Terje “Valfar” Bakken – the founder of Windir) over this tour?
“It’s strange, you know? It’s Valfar’s brother doing his vocals. We brought him along and yes some of the same elements in his voice, yeah it’s very special to have him along doing his brothers vocals. “We also had other members of the band contributing vocals to different songs.”
How is it coming along so far, would you say it’s a progression from the sound heard on Welcome Farewell or are there any changes?
Do you have any plans to make any recordings, or is it a totally one off tour?
Welcome Farewell
“It’s still early so it could change a lot, but l
“No, it’s a one off thing.”
Indie Recordings
2013
Reviews
On this album you will find all the original elements of classic doom and stoner metal. Though lesser known, Bedemon ought to be considered as part of that canon alongside Blue Cheer, Cream and Black Sabbath. Imagine Led Zeppelin doing a duet with Pentagram and you’ll get something like this compilation. I imagine this album will sound great on vinyl, due to the fact that the original recordings would have been analogue. A classic. Demitri Levantis
(whilst simultaneously pilfering from their elders with shameless abandon). Despite the obvious (sometimes blatant) fingerprints of its influences, ‘III: Östergötland’ is more than just a mere throwback (and throw-away) tribute to an earlier generation. Andy Walmsley
| Listenable Records
Armageddon Captivity And Devourment
Thirteen years after their last record, Christopher Amott’s Armageddon returns with ‘Captivity & Devourment’, and it’s every bit as good as one would expect from the Swedish fretboard wizard. His penchant for writing razor-sharp riffs and rapier-like leads that are both technically astounding, yet melodically compelling, shine throughout. This isn’t, however, a solo output created specifically to showcase the ex-Arch Enemy guitarist’s technical abilities. Borrowing attributes from hard rock and power metal, the band marries these to a melodic death metal sound, creating a beastly record that sticks in your head after the completion. “Rendition” is a soaring anthem, whilst “Locked In” erupts with a hard rock groove riff that then gives way to Matthew Hallquist’s wicked rasp. Whilst a competent growler, there are times (especially when a hard rock riff is preferred) when the vocals don’t quite sit well with the riffs on offer. This is, however, overshadowed by the overall quality of this album. Thirteen years on from their last outing and still sounding good. A concise and focused album.
| Candlelight Records
Ethereal
Opus Aethereum
| Relapse Records
cALL OF THE vOID Ageless
Seething, frothing, and unbridled anger are the name of the game on Call Of The Void’s sophomore effort ‘Ageless’. It’s really rather exhilarating. From the opening strains of ‘Old Hate’ the Colorado-natives gently lead you in, before bludgeoning and beating you into a bloody, boneless, and formless mass. ‘The Sun Chaser’ and ‘Long Knives’ are quintessential cuts, delivering a fine ode to influencers Napalm Death, supplemented by the grittier, crusty guitar feedback that permeates throughout. If you’re one for crusty grindcore, you’ll need this in your collection. If not, ‘Ageless’ could be your gateway. Lee Carter
Lee Carter
Many a symphonic black metal band’s mistake is in not properly utilising the symphonic aspect of their sound. Often, it comes off as limp, ham-fisted, and simple; merely following the progression of the song where it could be adding further impetus, or a heightened sense of atmosphere. What better way to, rather, emphasise the cold, bleak, and often chaotic scenes you’re painting than to have an orchestra supplement it? Fortunately, Liverpool’s Ethereal take the high road of forefathers Emperor and Dimmu Borgir, by utilising the symphonic aspect to its potential. The album sounds grand, vast and expansive. ‘Psalm Of The Deceiver’ opens with a possessed orchestral skip through the snowy wastelands. ‘Aethereum’ begins malevolently, before ripping into a typical tremolo/blast flurry amid piercing screams. And so it continues throughout. Cinematic, entertaining, and enthralling: this is no amateurish adventure in marrying sample library strings to black metal. As a debut, ‘Opus Aethereum’ is most definitely a superb opus to begin with, and with it the UK may have found their answer to the aforementioned symphonic forefathers. Lee Carter
| Century Media
Death Wolf | Relapse Records
III: Ostergotland
Being made up of the demo tapes the band put out back in the ‘70s, this demos compilation, originally released in 2005 is sure to appeal to fans of lo-fi vocals and scratchy guitars. Here we have a much underappreciated group from the heyday of classic proto-metal. Bedemon pioneered the raw sound of doom metal with their psychedelic riffs and songs about fear, politics, drugs and the anger at the governments of ‘70s America.
Whether strutting its stuff via the belligerent swagger of ‘Thorntree’, or wallowing in its own filth on the doomsoaked ‘Stegebord’, ‘III: Östergötland’ is an album that absolutely does not give a damn about what’s popular or trendy. Death Wolf are clearly just here to rock. Though hints of everyone from Sabbath to The Stooges, Motörhead to The Misfits can be heard throughout the course of the album, it’s an altogether rougher, rawer affair. The band clearly possess the song-writing chops and sneering punkish attitude to stand on their own two feet
Bedemon Child of Darkness
| Napalm Records
Finsterforst
Mach Dich Frei
Soulful, stirring, thrillingly atmospheric, and fearlessly ambitious in scope and scale. At almost an hour and a quarter in length (and with a final track totalling a hair under 24 minutes long), ‘Mach Dich
Frei’ is a solid testimony to the continued importance and sheer vitality of the full-length album format. Indeed, the ebb and flow of these songs, from one moment to the next and from one song to the next, is without doubt one of its greatest strengths. The way in which ‘Abfahrt’ transitions into the rippling, metallic riffs and melancholic melodies of ‘Schicksals End’ exemplifies how this album cries out to be experienced as a whole. It conjures a truly majestic and epic vibe which prevails from the second the first chord is struck, until the moment that the last note rings out into silence. Phenomenal Andy Walmsley folk/pagan metal.
Hate
Crusade Zero
| Napalm Records
The answer is clearly Hateful Abandon. Evolving from pure depressive black metal roots, the two-man project from Bristol continue to adopt and implement the aforementioned stylistic qualities here on their third offering. ‘Liars/Bastards’ is every bit as dark and bleak as the sum of its parts suggest. Case in point, ‘High Rise’ sounds like a trip through an abstract insanity: pained, warped and on-edge constantly with pulsing synths, off-kilter vocals, | Century Media and drill-like screeches likely to induce nightmares of old-school prefrontal cortex lobotomies! This is par for the course throughout; Frontschwein from the opening strains of ‘Maze of Black metal legends Marduk are back Bastards’, to the haunting final throes again with their 13th studio album, of closing track ‘December’. It makes for bringing a new chapter of scorching an entertaining album, though it will buzzsaw riffs, blasting drums, and take a number of listens to “get”: it can blasphemous vocal venom. come across as a royal head trip in places, Musically, the album continues along the especially where tracks can meander. path set out by ‘Wormwood’ and ‘Serpent However, if your persuasion is for a little Sermon’, while thematically linking back more crazy in your blackened industrial to the militaristic vibe of 1999s ‘Panzer metal then look no further. Division’ and 2011s ‘Iron Dawn’ EP. Lee Carter ‘Frontschwein’ contains all of the vile hate and metallic fury you’ve come to expect from the Swedish savages, running the gamut: from the searing spite of ‘Rope of Regret’ to the gut-wound crawl of ‘Wartheland’, to the sheer lunacy of ‘Thousand-Fold Death’. While not perfect by any means, some tracks do feel a tad over-familiar in parts; the strong song-writing, scorching guitar-work, and unadulterated fury confirm ‘Frontschwein’ as another classic, alongside the aforementioned. 25 years in, Marduk prove that they are still a considerable force on the battlefield.
Marduk
Poland’s death metal scene is currently thriving. ‘The Satanist’ was | Season ofBehemoth’s Mist one of the most successful albums in the genre last year, and their fellow countrymen Hate have found new ground. The band’s ninth album ‘Crusade:Zero’ is best described as like Behemoth, but adding even technical death metal to their blasts. Complex drumming stands out above the death growls and the riffs which will please anyone who likes | Indie Recordings Vader or Septicflesh. There are a few moments of melody which will appeal to anyone who enjoys a variety of raw Epistemology and melodic in their extreme metal. Simply incredible. Keep Of Kalessin This album rings with the grotesqueness return with their stunning sixth album you’d expect from a band obsessed with ‘Epistemology’, five years on from death and anti-religious vibes so it’s an all 2010’s ‘Reptilian’. After the departure of round crowd pleaser. Demitri Levantis vocalist Thebon in 2013, one would be forgiven for thinking that this may have a destabilising effect on the band. If there had been any kind of wobble to the band’s overall balance, it is certainly not audible here. Once the choral layer of opener ‘Cosmic Revelation (Intro)’ fades, the album bursts into life with the astounding ‘The Spiritual Belief’. Prepare to get buried in a hail of riffs, precise drum blasts, and soaring vocals. Guitarist Arnt Grønbech’s performance is a particular highlight. There’s also enough variety here to satisfy every palette: from the furious ‘Dark Divinity’, to the melodydriven ‘Introspection’, not to mention the | Candlelight Records impassioned title track. With the production as crisp as the finger-flying riffs, ‘Epistemology’ is both Liars/Bastards a well-crafted and perfectly executed What do you get when you cross album that serves to remind all that Keep depressive black metal with punk, Of Kalessin, when it comes to powerful swirling synths, and a dash of industrial? Lee Carter
Ghost Brigade
Andy Walmsley
Keep of Kalessin
Hateful Abandon
Periphery
| Century Media
Juggernaut Alpha/Omega
...
As a concept album developed by Periphery over the course of many years, ‘Juggernaut’ went through numerous stages of development and redevelopment. After release dates were pushed back, eventually, what are now two interlinked releases ‘Juggernaut: Alpha’ and ‘Juggernaut: Omega’ have
been unleashed. As the albums progress, the concepts which were so long in the making become clearer, developing in a highly artistic style. It’s obvious that the band wanted to achieve something next-level and evolve as a musical force: unarguably, they succeeded. Juggernaut is their most progressive, and varied album to date. Admittedly, digesting the albums together in one almost-hour and a half sitting is a challenge (and some aspects get a little repetitive), and you can’t help but feel Omega mocks your depleting stamina with its close to 12 minute penultimate crescendo. This is amplified by the fact that most of the “hits” appear to be found on ‘Alpha’. However you choose to listen, just make sure you don’t miss out on ‘Juggernaut’. Josie Adnitt
| Metal Blade Records
Visigoth
The Revenant King | Metal Blade Records
They say that the key to good songwriting is to tell a story. After all, despite the invention of writing and more recent technologies, the oral tradition of storytelling is still alive and strong (and the oldest form). Arguably one way in which it is continued is in song, with many of the metal community’s favourite and hallmark tracks telling stories. A great example of this is traditional metal and battle metal (amongst Viking and folk) are so revered today. It’s also the chief reason why Visigoth’s ‘The Revenant King’ is such a blast to listen to. The band combine the storytelling traits with oldschool heavy metal riffage, and mix it with with groove; and soaring vocals of kings, battles and dungeon masters, and it’s vastly entertaining. Its hard not to sing along to ‘Dungeon Master’, or the particularly-soaring ‘Necropolis’. Try preventing yourself from reaching for that air guitar to some of the ripping solos on offer, and try not to venture out to find quests for glory. Fundamentally, ‘The Revenant King’ is a very enjoyable and downright fun album that will please anyone with a penchant for the old-school. Lee Carter
| Napalm Records
Thulcandra
Ascension Lost
Europe has a fantastic scene for melodic death and melodic black metal, and Thulcandra’s third studio outing ‘Ascension Lost’ sums up that signature sound in a nutshell. Take all the anger of Rotting Christ, the mythologies of Septic Flesh, and the technicalities of At the Gates’ ‘Slaughter of the Soul’ period and this album is what you get. Everything here will appeal to both experienced and newcomers to the melodic death style. There’s enough coverage of darkness, occult themes, and the grim reaper to please, and the delivery of the riffs and drums have Germany written all over them. This band have epitomised the European sound, giving it hope for the future. This classic will undoubtedly attract and inspire new blood in years to come. Demitri Levantis
| Season of Mist
Lee Carter
Demitri Levantis | Profound Lore
| Relapse Records
Andy Walmsley
28.03.2015 THE GARAGE, LONDON BOOK TICKETS NOW FROM WWW.TICKETWEB.CO.UK | WWW.TICKETMASTER.CO.UK | WWW.MAMAPRESENTS.COM