#14 Inside The Darkness by Inside The Darkness

Edition for true metalfans

s14 of T

#14†30.01.2021

rve MetalZines

News•Reviews•Interviews•Exclusive

CREW

Evgeny-Destroyer Editor-in-chief, design https://www.facebook.com/ evgeny.dubovskoy Mail: destroyerr78@mail.ru WhatsApp: +79180242178

Olga «Blackie» Schneider Editor, interviewer, text corrector https://www.facebook.com/ olga.metalheart Mail: olgaschneider.1997@gmail.com Inst:https://www.instagram.com/blackie_metalheart/

https://destroyerr78.wixsite.com/insidethedarkness https://www.facebook.com/InsideTheDarknessMetalZine https://www.instagram.com/inside_the_darkness_webzine https://vk.com/insidethedarknessmetalwebzine https://twitter.com/metal_webzine

Andrew Stanton Editor, interviewer, text corrector https://www.facebook.com/ andrew.stanton.71216 WhatsApp: 0044 07527 362762

A special thanks to...

Helmuth Lehner (Belphegor) for his TOTAL support ...and especially to these people for the interviews Hails to everyone reading this! Jake Superchi (Uada) We hope all of you are doing strong, Spring is coming, Imperial (Elcrost) and we have really strong hope and expectations from Daniele (Cold Raven) upcoming summer. But Metal world has already started Jan Klepel (Grabak) permanently bringing us lots of good news, including first of all just an unreal amount of killer releases, such Sandie Gjørtz (Defacing God) Antikrist (Saħħar) a huge amount as never before. Fingers crossed for 2021 regarding everything, and now, enjoy our new issue and Efthimis Karadimas (Nightfall) Manuel Scapinello (Gates Of Doom) stay tuned as always. Attila (Aztlan) In Metal, Ana Maria Brinez (Therrorder) Olga Schneider, editor Agalaz (Obscurity) P.S. Remember to follow our YouTube channel and Manuel (Illapa) support the underground. Zagam (Insan) Juan Carlos Torrente (Combat Noise)

Editor’s brief

CONTENT

News from hell..........................................4

Nightfall Interview with Uada Efthimis Karadimas....32 Interview with Gates Of Doom Jake Superchi.......6 Interview with Manuel Scapinello....34 Aztlan Elcrost Interview with Attila......36 Interview with Therrorder Imperial................10 Interview with Ana Maria Brinez........40 Cold Raven Obscurity Interview with Interview with Agalaz.........42 Daniele...................14 Illapa Grabak Interview with Manuel..........46 Interview with Insan Jan Klepel..............16 Interview with Zagam......48 Defacing God Interview with Sandie Gjørtz......20 Combat Noise Interview with Juan Carlos Torrente......50 Saħħar Interview with Antikrist...............30 Best Metal releases..............52

Stories about Metal bands..............84

Inside The Darkness reviews............108

Metalheads are waiting for it............136

World Metal News

Two of Europe’s most revered metal bands are set to combine forces to bring their ‘European Siege 2021’ tour to the old continent in Autumn 2021. Sweden’s ARCH ENEMY and Poland’s BEHEMOTH are joining together for a handful of dates, bringing their longtime friends and metal legends CARCASS in the special guest slot. Opening the evening’s thunderous proceedings will be hotly-tipped gothic metal newcomers, UNTO OTHERS (formerly known as Idle Hands).

ARCH ENEMY live 2021 2021-09-28 – Dublin, Olympia Theatre (IE) 2021-09-30 – Glasgow, O2 Academy Glasgow (UK) 2021-10-01 – Manchester, O2 Academy Manchester (UK) 2021-10-02 – Birmingham, O2 Academy Birmingham (UK) 2021-10-03 – London, O2 Academy Brixton (UK) 2021-10-05 – Paris, Le Zenith (FR) 2021-10-06 – Toulouse, Le Bikini (FR) 2021-10-08 – Lisbon, Sala Tejo (PT) 2021-10-09 – Madrid, Palacio Vistalegre (ES) 2021-10-10 – Barcelona, Palau Sant Jordi (ES) 2021-10-12 – Lyon, Le Radiant (FR) 2021-10-13 – Milano, Alcatraz (IT) 2021-10-15 – Berlin, Columbiahalle (DE) 2021-10-16 – Prague, Tipsport Arena (CZ) 2021-10-17 – Katowice, MCK (PL) 2021-10-19 – Budapest, Barba Negra (HU) 2021-10-20 – Vienna, Gasometer (AT) 2021-10-22 – Ludwigsburg, MHP Arena (DE) 2021-10-23 – Den Bosch, Mainstage Brabanthallen (NL) 2021-10-24 – Brussels, Forest National (BE) 2021-10-26 – Zurich, Samsung Hall (CH) 2021-10-27 – Frankfurt, Jahrhunderthalle (DE) 2021-10-29 – Munich, Zenith (DE) 2021-10-30 – Dusseldorf, Mitsubishi Electric Halle (DE) 2021-10-31 – Hamburg, edeloptics.de Arena (DE) 2021-11-01 – Gothenburg, Partille Arena (SE) 2021-11-03 – Helsinki, Ice Hall (FI) 2021-11-05 – Stockholm, Annexet (SE) 2021-11-06 – Copenhagen, Forum (DK)

18. - 21. August 2021 in Dinkelsbühl, Germany Amon Amarth, Blind Guardian, Eisbrecher, Saltatio Mortis, Within Temptation, Alestorm, Wardruna, Gloryhammer, I Prevail, Testament, Dark Tranquillity, Bury Tomorrow, Finntroll, While She Sleeps, Paradise Lost, Ensiferum, Mr. Hurley & Die Pulveraffen, Fiddler’s Green and many more! 38 Bands von mehr als 100 sind somit angekündigt.

Organizers

Sinister Howling VI

about

upcoming fest:

«The bad news first: After the fiasco of the Obscure Fall Shadows 2020 that was imposed on us, we are now forced to move the Sinister Howling too. In spite of all our efforts, this is due, among other things, to the practically unobservable hygiene regulations in the planned indoor location, but also to the travel restrictions of the bands and the completely unpredictable effects of the incoming second wave, which change the game for organizers practically every day.

The good news are: In the last few days we have spoken with all bands, possible locations and authorities and put the date on Saturday May 29th 2021. The location will be the MS Connexion in Mannheim and all bands (except for Possession, which is more than appropriately replaced by the exceptional group Cult Of Fire) have confirmed the new date! The Norwegian headliners STRID and ANCIENT are also there and all previous groups are on board».

Uada -Melodic Black/Metal from United States

Interview with Jake Superchi

Interview by Andrew Stanton

Uada are one of the best American bands. Easily ranking alongside Scour and Sadness. Andrew Stanton had a chat with frontman Jake Superchi. - Can you tell our readers a bit about your history, please? Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been involved in Black Metal for over 25 years and just over 6 years ago decided to start UADA. It was a calling to create something a little more rock n roll and feed some of my desire for

incorporating a lot of different influences into a new sound. What bands did you like growing up? I listened to a

- Why do you think the American Black Metal scene is so overlooked? It seems that when the 2nd wave of 90s Black Metal exploded in the early 90s there was a lot of mystery and danger surrounding it. Most of the movement was coming from Europe and even though some of the innovators were inspired by North American bands such as Von and Blasphemy, they were taking the music into new realms.

e m o s r o f l e u be f t h g i m c i s u M ce. r u o s e l o s e th t o n s i t i t u b lot of different bands growing up from Mercyful Fate to Emperor to Type O Negative to Slayer and so on. If it was heavy and dark I was probably into it.

It seemed to catch like wildfire and while the USA had a lot of great bands at the time there just was not really a large body of people here looking for that artform. The American underground has alw a y s b e e n a very s m a l l c o m munity. Do you ever think bands like Marilyn Manson or Korn have made it very hard for American bands? I’m not sure if they’ve made it hard for other US bands, I just think they fit into a more widely marketable movement. Pop has always been the pushed format here in the USA and certain bands speak to younger generations that are just starting to dive into what they see as rebellious music. The ones who truly want to rebel and look for deeper paths and connections will find them. - What are your lyrics and themes about? My lyrics are about my

connection, experience and It seems so, I suppose. Like understanding of life, the oc- anything that is a living and cult, dark art and what little breathing enI can comprehend tity it continof a ues to grow. Do you think it’s fair to associate Heavy Metal with a violent society? I think it is fair to associate humans to a violent society. Music might be fuel for some but it is not the sole source. If someone chooses to act c o s - on violence that is within mic connection. their own power. An album - What do you think does not make one decide to of the big 4? Is it just act on it, although it might pretentious crap? grant a form of courage or I think they’ve earned their ampily one’s aggression. I place for changing the face think blaming music for vioof Metal, especially here in lence would be like blaming the USA. Bands like Me- a match for burning down a tallica, Slayer and Mega- forest. The match is simply deth all played a huge role a tool for the human to use for me early on and while to create the fire, but it is I’m not a fan of their later out of the human’s own will works, they all have written on how they use it. Heavy some of the best and most Metal is no different and viimportant metal albums in olence was created far beexistence in my opinion. fore music ever came to be. - Is Black Metal get- - What can fans expect ting bigger in America? from your new album? 7

Uada -Melodic Black/Metal from United States 8

An hour-long journey that focuses on the duality and polarity that we’ve seen in society, especially American society over the last four years. The music although we still feel it is a Black Metal album has a lot of Post-Punk, occult/Goth Rock and NWOBHM influences. Will you ever tour Europe? As soon as COVID-19 passes and the non-touring regulations are lifted. We are planning for a return in 2022. - What do you think of bands who pander to more mainstream magazines?

I don’t really think about it honestly. It could go both ways though, mainstream magazines are always going to pander to artists who sell because if they don’t they won’t either. A double edged sword I suppose but it doesn’t really make a difference in my world. We all walk our own paths for our own reasons and I’m not at liberty to judge other musicians for doing what they do. I try to stay as focused on my own art so that I don’t have the time to criticize others. - Do you have a message for our readers?

Thank you to all those who have supported us from the beginning. We hope that 2020 has not been too hard for you, all things considered. We look forward to returning to your lands when we are able and hope to see you soon. Until then stay haunted!

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Elcrost • Black Metal from Vietnam

Interview with Imperial

Interview by Andrew Stanton

My knowledge of the Vietnam Metal scene is virtually non-existent. But after hearing Elcrost, I think I need to listen to more of them. Andrew Stanton had a chat with bassist Imperial. Hello and welcome to Inside the Darkness. Hello and thank you for reaching out to us, we really appreciate it! - Can you tell our readers a bit about your history, please? Elcrost is me Imperial (guitar/bass), Lunar (clean vocal/ production/keyboard) and

Rogdan (lead vocal/lead guitar). Both me and Lunar are foreign students

2 albums) and our joint electronic project called Akentosh. Rogdan was a relative newcomer to the scene. He then approached us with some Black Metal demos and expressed interest to record together. We all found great potential in those demos that he sent and agreed, and Elcrost were formed officially in March of 2019.

d. We r o w p u e d a m a is t s o r Elc es lv e s r u o g in m a n e k li l e e don’t f rds. o w l a n io t n e v n o c r o s with term in Germany, while Rogdan is living in Vietnam. Despite this, me and Lunar still have connection to the Vietnamese scene through Lunar’s solo project (Lunar Haze - which at that time, he has released

At first, those demos are very straight forward Black Metal, influenced by bands like Vehemence, Ungfell. But then while working together, we took a lot of other different influences that formed the basis of the Elcrost identity, namely, Opeth, Alcest, Ulver, Agalloch and Emperor. - What is the Vietnam Metal scene like? Our scene is still relatively small and undeveloped, even though we have been around for a long time since the early 2000s. There is a greater emphasis on Hardcore music rather than just Metal, but there are still some few bands every here and there. Definitely not enough though. With a scene that small, it’s unavoidable to have a blurrier boundary of different genres. Whether its Black Metal, Death Metal, Hardcore, Indie Beatles retro bands or just dad Rock, as long as it’s under the umbrella of “heavy music or guitar music”, we all have to mix together and play together because it’s hard enough just to throw one show with just only metal bands. Metal and Rock music here in Vietnam are mostly focused around clubs from college, especially in the field of architecture or art. In terms of

Black Metal, there have been a few bands throughout the 2000s, but most are solo projects. Lately there has been a rise of black metal bands in Vietnam. Along with us, Elcrost, there’s also ROT, a long

running band from Saigon and Vong, Gottbrecher, Daxoa, Atula from Hanoi, all created within the last two years. - Can you write lyrics about any topic in Vietnam? Definitely. As expected, in Vietnam there are a lot of stories from our long and tragic history. Topics like war, conspiracy, cover-ups and crimes. As well

as a lot of interesting aspects of modern life. There are still some problems with the country now, as like every other place, but I would say it’s a relatively peaceful and modern country. - What bands did you listen to when you were younger? I started out listening to my dad’s CD collection. He would just collect anything that was available to him. The CD store at his time is still a new thing, especially with heavier music. For that generation, because of scarcity, they don’t really define the subgenres and to them it’s just rock/metal. So from his collection, i discovered bands like Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Dire Straits, you know the usual classic Rocks, but also bands like Metallica, Nirvana and surprisingly Sex Pistols. I got into metal however truly in my teenage years, where I discovered newer bands like Slipknot, Korn, etc. Later down the line when i was over my “phase”, you could say, i really got into the progressive side of metal with bands like Dream Theater and especially Opeth, which is still my favorite band to this day. And there i would say, is truly the beginning of my devotion to the genre. 11

Elcrost • Black Metal from Vietnam

I didn’t really get into Black Metal, however, until 2015 when I discovered Ihsahn and fell in love with his album Eremita. - What does Elcrost mean? Haha, a lot of people have asked us about this. Elcrost is a made up word. We don’t feel like naming ourselves with terms or conventional words. Purely because we want our name to show up if you google it. We just had a list of names when we were formed, all made up words, and I suppose Elcrost was the one with the best “sounding”. - What are your lyrics about? Our lyrics are influenced by folklore, fairy tales. Old European stuff you could say. But also there are some lyrics that are directly inspired by novels and comics. For example, one of our songs from the latest EP called “Earthbound”, has lyrics about The Sandman by Neil Gaiman. Overall, there’s a dreamy quality to the story we want 12

to tell. Not just a beautiful one, but also what’s horrific and tragic as well. We explore a lot the theme of unrequited love, tragic stories, provoke haunting and visceral imagery. I myself am an artist and I also take imagery from illustrations of the Golden Age of Illustration or the Decadence

movement. Artists like Beardsly, Von Bayros, Klimt, etc. - What is it like making Black Metal in Vietnam? Do local people take it well? The reception so far is great. Outside of the scene, since it’s so small, I don’t think people really care. Within the scene, we have good reception because while we play Black Metal, it’s not in a more extreme traditional aspect of the

genre but it’s a bit progressive and melodic. We don’t really adapt any imagery that would distant ourselves from a lot of people. As long as the music is good enough that people would like and appreciate it, that’s all we care about anyway. Have you toured much around Asia? Not yet, of course due to the current situation we’re living in. However within Vietnam, since we have done an extremely great job containing the spread, we have been playing some local gigs around Hanoi Since me and Lunar are still stuck in Germany, we are playing shows now under the name of “Elcrost + Vong”, a joint project with another Black Metal project from Vietnam called Vong, led by guitarist Indigo Tongue. Along with him, we also have to call in some new live members to fill in the spot as well, which include bassist Axe from ROT and drummer Abyssal, a newcomer. Optimistically, my goal is definitely to take the band outside of Vietnam, with the first step around South East Asia.

- In Europe and America, everyone loves Sigh, but you seem to prefer European bands and culture. Does Vietnam culture not interest you? The grass is always greener I suppose. Once you live with something for so long, you might start to take it for granted. While we love our culture, we have no interest in expressing it through our music. We are more interested in our European influences. it’s for us something new, something different. A lot of bands in Vietnam also have taken influences from Vietnamese stories and culture, so we don’t want to repeat that. - People at our magazine really like you. We were surprised by how good you were. Do you hear this a lot? First of all, thank you for the compliment and we’re glad you all like it. Surprisingly, yes. We were all taken back by how it was so well received, within our scene and outside of Vietnam to a certain degree. We have worked quite hard with this band for the last year. When we

started, we just wanted this to be a simple recording project and then release the music to an audience of us three. However as time went on, i felt like we are gonna do ourselves a disservice if we just simply release it without any effort putting into promoting it. So we are so glad to see

our hard work being appreciated, no matter how small we still are. - Why do you think so many people don’t understand Black Metal? To a lot of people, Black Metal ends with the church burning, the murders and all sensational stories from the 90s. That is quite upsetting. While I understand that it is a very important part of our history, Black

Metal has then since changed and morphed into so many new directions. If you ask any Black Metal fans, I’m sure most of them will give you a different answer of what Black Metal is. And that is what makes this genre so enticing and special. People don’t understand Black Metal because they don’t give it a chance, and that’s okay. This genre has set up itself a challenge for the listeners, through the difficulty in its content, appeal. But those who are able to get past that will appreciate it even more. - Do you have a message for our readers? Please check out our music if you can, it’s available now on all streaming platforms. Our debut album, Benighted and Unrequited is now on sale on bandcamp, so check that out as well. Thank you all for supporting us so far. We will return with more new music earlier next year! Thank you for your time. Thank you as well!

Cold Raven - Black Metal from Italy

Interview with Daniele

Interview by Andrew Stanton

Hello and welcome to Inside the Infernal War, Absu, Necromass, We are inspired both by legendDarkness. Dark Funeral, God Dethroned, ary old-school black metal bands - Can you tell our readers a bit Belphegor, Unleashed, Mortu- as well by some newer bands. We about your history, please? ary Drape, Impaled Nazarene, think it’s important to have an open Hello, Cold Raven took shape by Imperium Dekadenz, Possessed mind, and Cold Raven members rethe end of 2013 and immediately etc... Then in mid-2017 we be- ally like bands such as Dissection, started to play live shows sup- gan to write new material and Slayer, Marduk, Watain, Emperor, porting some well-known bands it took more than 2 Death, Behein the underground. moth. I think e t i u q s i y l a During the summer that whoever in It e n e c s l a t of 2014 we entered listens to ТIn me st always o m The black l a the studio and we reSile r a y Tenebris rts e a c w n o s i c h e t corded our first album, vam can detect h e t alive, l continu l i w t called Equilibrium various influi e p o h I . d e d w And Chaos. ItХs an ences but at cro . r e t t e obscure yet melodic althe same time b t e or even g bum that came out via the album sounds fresh Sliptrick Records and years to final- and unique. that has been well received by ly get the new album called In - I think Italy is dominated by its the audience. We then go back to TenebrisSilvam. Gothic Metal scene. What is the live shows and played with im- - Who inspires you to create Black Metal scene like? portant bands such as Nargaroth, Black Metal? Unfortunately the metal scene in

general isn’t what it used to be until 15 years ago. A lot of metal clubs and pubs have closed, there are ever fewer metalhead between the new generations. But luckily there the black metal scene is quite alive, the concerts are almost always crowded. I hope it will continue this way or even get better. - What Italian bands shall our readers check out? We suggest to listen to Necromass, Mortuary Drape, Forgotten Tomb, Storm Crow, Voltumna, Opera IX, Cadaveria, and some old school metal bands such as Bulldozer, Necrodeath, etc. - Why do you think Black Metal subgenres are so different to Death Metal subgenres? We don’t think labels are that important. There was a time when the music industry was looking for new, Тinnovative sub-genres just to sell more copies. I remember the Italian band Rhapsody was labeled as Symphonic Epic Hollywood Metal, how stupid is that? So I think it’s important to listen to a band and just appreciate (or not) their music, leaving labels aside. - Is blasphemous music hated in Italy? Not really. It’s pretty much ignored. - Why do you think Black Met-

al dominates the Norwegian scene so heavily, whereas other countries ignore their Black Metal bands? I think it’s a matter of culture. Norwegian metalheads are proud of their nation and of their bands. The only band that gets mixed feelings is Burzum, for the reasons we all know. Even the Norwegian government is proud of their metal scene. Maybe in other countries they stop at the surface and label Black Metal as a genre for teenagers with mental problems who knows? - Do you ever tour outside of Italy? Yes, we’ve played in several countries (sometimes more than once). So far we’ve played in France, Switzerland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Croatia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Malta and Germany. - What can fans expect from your new album? The new album is faster than its

predecessor, I guess you can put it in the Blackened Death Metal genre. It has many different faces that are shown at different times. I think the song Path Of Hekete - which we used for the music video - sums up the album pretty well. - What are your lyrics about? The lyrics are about our personal path that leads to inner enlightenment. This may take place in different ways, some may look evil and some good but truth is duality is ever present in everything we do. The character of Hecate is a perfect example: she may be a loving and caring mother and a terrible, merciless soul devourer at the same time. We find Hecate fascinating. Thank you for your time. Thank you for supporting the underground metal scene! And don’t forget to watch our new video for Path Of Hekate on YouTube. 15

Grabak - Black Metal from Germany

Interview with Jan Klepel

Interview by Andrew Stanton

Hello and welcome to Inside the Darkness. Hello Andrew, this is Jan writing on behalf of Grabak. Of course, I will answer your questions as carefully and honestly as possible. - Can you tell our readers a bit about your history, please? Well, we founded Grabak in 1995. Before that

we played in various bands, but none of them

formed in Germany. That were bands of which some are still active today, or again, as far as I am concerned. W a s a good time... Two years later, in 1997, we had written enough songs and holed up in a Leipzig studio for a week and recorded our demo.

e r a u o y r e old t e g u o y n Whe . a k d o V r o h c cot going to try S were nearly as professional and serious. Remember, we were teenagers at that days. It was a time when many bands were

Unfortunately, back then we didn’t care that much about publicity neither in terms of trading nor in magazines that consisted of copied pages only. Compared to today’s media over-presence, it was Stone Age or underground, if you will. In 1999 we presented ourselves with new material at CCP Records in Austria and released our debut “Der Prophet des Chaos”. We subsequently recorded three more albums there, which were released in 2001 and 2003. In the years to come we experienced the typical problems of a band. We had to cope with depar-

tures and still create new art and in my humble opinion we managed it. There were new albums and we played a lot of concerts. Today, in 2020, our seventh full length album is in the starting blocks and we are still damn excited and proud of what’s to come. What are your lyrics about? It’s not that easy to paraphrase. We have satanic verses, mythological characters, horror themes, and simple fictions based on books and scriptures. You see, it is an amalgam of various topics. What bands did you like growing up? What a question ... well,

let me think about it for a moment. From my perspective I got into Metal with bands like W.A.S.P., Judas Priest or Alice Cooper. They guided my steps for various years and still do in a certain way. Well, one day there was a sort of personal impact that might happen to every teenager. The music you want to listen to has to get more and more extreme. And as a result you “end up” coming in touch with Black Metal via Thrash and Death Metal. It’s just comparable to alcohol. As long as you are young beer absolutely fine. When you get older you are going to try Scotch or Vodka….

Grabak - Black Metal from Germany 18

Anyway as we all know, the 1990s were very fertile times. And without exaggeration ... each of the albums released back then was like a piece of dark art to us. If I had to name a few Scandinavian bands I would emphasize Marduk, Emperor or Satyricon. But also all other European countries offered a tremendous arsenal of creativity with bands like Behemoth, Samael, Belphegor or Rotting Christ. - What does Grabak mean? That’s easy to answer. Grabak is the name of the largest snake that gnaws at the roots of the world ash tree named Yggrasil. - Do you have a release date for your new album? What will it be like? As far as I know, “SCION” should be released in March 2021. It is a further development of the last albums. We have used the past time to continue on the musical path we have

started with “Agash Daeva” and the last three records. So eight songs were created, which are aggressive but also complex. We paid a lot of attention to

the arrangements. In doing so, we found that we ourselves went far beyond the extent of imposed genre boundaries. Is Black Metal big in Germany? Yeah, I would say so.

I think there are tons of bands still marching under the banner of what would generally be called Black Metal. I’m not kidding myself; many of them are talented and deserve their chance. But I can hardly handle the amount of them. In addition there are even more bands in many other European countries around Germany. If you want there is a healthy scene growing and thriving that is completely dedicated to the cause. - Why do you think so-called Metal magazines choose to ignore certain genuine Metal bands? I’m not exactly sure what your question is aimed at. Who decides what is “genuine”? What stops a band being “genuine” in your eyes? To be completely honest, I also resist having to judge that. Every musician who trains and offers his craft or skills and develops “his” music over years or decades shouldn’t have to face this distinction.

Many of the bands that you would probably call mainstream started in some basement, had posters on the wall as well and shredded their first hard-earned strings to pieces. Who can blame it when their music has changed? Who would want to reproach them for the fact that the musicians themselves have grown up and go through the world more mature? Bands grow for a variety of reasons. Usually the listener is the reason ... The genuine art is to reach exactly this listener. And some do it more successfully than others. Believe me, the listener is the most critical judge. And if you can no longer reach him ... then no more magazines will help. By the way those magazines that also started with a small circulation, have grown and are ultimately also exposed to a changing media landscape. I hope to have answered the question. If not, you might have

to ask more precisely. - What is your honest opinion of mainstream Metal - Marilyn Manson, Korn, Fear Factory, Slipknot? Well, I’ve already answered the question. I admit that every band, also mainstream, has their

you apply the criteria. - Do you have a message for our readers? The famous last words ... First of all, thank you very much for the questions asked. Maybe they gave your readers a key that gives them access to Grabak. If not, they should wait for the upcoming album and then decide again. Thank you for your time. You are w e l c o m e .

right to exist as long as they are authentic. When they are just a copy of themselves, it becomes boring and no longer worth listening to. Regardless of that, I don’t listen to the bands you named above. I grew up with other bands and prefer to indulge in their music. Presumably they are also “mainstream” if 19

Defacing God - Dark Melodic Death Metal from Denmark

Interview with Sandie Gjørtz

Interview by Olga Schneider

- Glad to get the opportunity to make this interview in such a fukked up time and thank you for finding some time for us! First of all, since Defacing God is actually a very young band, tell us a bit more details of the band’s foundation history. How long time did it take for making it all “live” and exist? Hi there! Thank you for the questions and for having us! My pleasure! The official constellation of Defacing God is pretty young, yes. I founded Defacing God back in 2015, but it was a concept that I had worked on several years before that. In 2016 we finally had the right constellation of musicians

and creative minds in place and that’s where it all really began. We had lots of troubles through 2015 – 2016 to get the right line up and other circumstances to deal with before we could go “live” with this project. The first year we searched and searched for

the lineup in place, we had some troubles regarding a place to rehearse. Our first rehearsal rooms went to hell because the buildings we were located in had to be used for something else. We got a new place a while after that, but this place also closed due to some law related building stuff that I don’t know much about and then we had around 6 months break until we found the right place where we could stay permanently. After we finally found a permanent location, we were set. After a while the whole project started slowly to take it’s form.

endent p e ” h it il L “ y m d The point behin ath, p n w o r e h s lk a w woman who erself. h in e v e li e b d n a speaks up

the right rhythm guitarist, and in the beginning of 2016 we finally found a great fit for us (Christian Nielsen, our current rhythm guitarist) When we had

Our drummer (Michael Olsson) And I, has always been the two in charge for the management etc. and had a clear agreement on not to go public before we really had our concept, story and everything in general under control. We do not like this “half-hearted” projects, so we do not set anything on fire before we are sure about what we are doing. After years of hard work and getting to know each other - personally and music wise, we got our debut show at Viborg Metal Festival 2019 – Which was great for us (+500-600 people) - A great festival with lots of hardworking people behind, placed in central Denmark each spring! After our debut show, everything went pretty fast and ever since, our goal has been constant movement, to force ourselves even more, develop our sound and go after the next level. All in all, from the beginning and until we went public with the project, that took us almost 3 years! Art takes time and can’t be forced. - It’s possible to say that you kinda live in two worlds: you have a business in beauty industry, and at the same time you play in a Death Metal band. Okay, nowadays every-

thing is possible and of course So yeah, what I’m saying is, since each of us has lots of person- the beauty thing is my hobby, alities inside of ourselves, but I found a way of making a livhow do you find time to be ing of it through my firm “Gorgeous By Gjoertz” the last years, but for a long time, I was thinking about doing something else than that. I finished my management studies from University College previous summer and in constellation with that, I just got myself a new job title, so a lot of changes is on it’s way for me in my personal life. But what can I say? It’s mostly like that with me. I do. I learn. I grow. The more I grow and develop and the more things I learn- the more it motivates me to do or try out new or different things in life. I want to learn, develop and experience completely and equally dedi- until the day I end up in a hole in cated to both of these things? the ground and in fact, the only Well, I work (or worked ac- thing that has always been a “contually) with beauty in my daily stant” thing for me and followed life. Makeup, fashion etc. has me through everything, kept my always been a part of me and interest and discipline through the I always loved it since I was decades- is my passion for the muvery little. It’s a big part of me. sic. Music and art are (and always My parents are divorced so I will be) that one thing that will allived with my mom most of my ways remain. That one thing that childhood and she also always will always stay to be such a huge had this interest in beauty and part of my life and identity. I feel style and experimented a lot genuine at home on stage and in with styles through the time, so the entertainment environment. I think I was influenced in my But to answer the actual quesyouth to express myself, espe- tion about navigating between cially through visuals. Make- two totally different worlds up, style etc. is a form of art (beauty industry and death and creativity too. As said, a metal) then I must say that has visual way to express yourself. never been a problem for me. 21

Defacing God - Dark Melodic Death Metal from Denmark

To navigate I mean. My problem has been to be in two of my passions at one time and then give all my energy both places- all the time! It IS very draining and it sometimes makes the results half-hearted. It’s possible to do it, cause I’ve been doing it for years now. But it’s not healthy, let’s say it like that! haha But as said, to navigate and put on some different “hats” in different environments – that has never been a problem. Having several shapes, contrasts and layers in the personality is simply natural for me. When it comes to such things then I have no limits, and I think nobody should limit themselves to a certain box with a label on top. Just because you like darkness and metal, then it dosn’t mean that you can’t like a pair of kick-ass high heels, a colorful flower or a beautiful red lipstick too, right?! Some people has always been busy with that it was not “metal enough” to wear lipstick and high heels and at the same time be a “true” metalhead. That’s bullshit, but I unfortunately heard it very often. In my world, one thing does not need to exclude the other. I think it’s in a way shallow-minded to limit yourself 22

into a specific box like that. You do not need a specific label or a specific style or anything like that, to like a specific form of music or whatever. Of course, there will always be some specific characters, “stereotypes” or specific things that defines a specific culture, style or what-

ever, but it dosn’t mean that you can’t be more than one thing. Mix it your own way and the way you like it. We can do whatever we want to and if you ask me, then the most “met-

al” you can be, is to be yourself. With all what comes with that! - Your current guitarist Signar Petersen is famous for being a part of the mighty Mercenary a while ago. How did you get into cooperation with him for creating and developing Defacing God? Yes, our lead guitarist was a part of Mercenary in their early years, but he has been an important part of other bands as well through the time. He has left an impression through his time as a guitarist. He is very talented, very passionate and dedicated when it comes to his thing that is playing guitar. He spent his whole life through sacrifices, blood and sweat to be where he is, and he is very respected for his skills and style in the Danish metal community. I admire him very much as well! To reach that level of playing, takes unbelievable amounts of will power and dedication. Being a great guitarist is of course a question about personal taste and perspectives, but seen from above, it dosn’t change the fact that he has very high levels of technical skills and you don’t reach that through your sleep, haha! I feel very lucky to work with him.

It was a pure coincidence that I met him back in the days. He was searching for new projects and found Defacing God interesting. We just clicked the right way from the beginning, and he has been with me ever since, which I am very grateful for! - As we can see, Danish Metal community is actually very close and everyone knows each others in fact. What bands had the strongest impact on you before you started? That’s right. Denmark is a very small country, so it’s not easy to not hear about each other, I guess. I must be honest and say that I am not really busy with other bands in general and what they are doing. In fact, I never really have the time to check out bands and new music. I am busy with my own and I was never one of those who enjoyed to sit an and search for new music. I find my inspiration elsewhere. Through books, movies and places that I have seen. I am very visual when it comes to creativity. Maybe if I played an instrument in the band, I would be more busy with other bands and their style, but my instrument is my voice and I am more busy with writing lyrics, visuals, aesthetic and the Danish metal community is not very known for having

a lot theatric bands with a lot of visual stuff going on around them (not that it is a bad thing at all, it’s just a fact), so yeah – my point is: There is not really any bands here I looked after when it comes to inspiration. With that said, I know that we DO have a lot of great

bands from the Danish scene with a lot to offer! To each their own. I just didn’t find my own inspiration here around. I do enjoy a good metal show now and then when I have time. One of my favorite Danish metal bands is “Dawn of Demise” - First of all, because they are some great guys and good buddies of mine and second, I fucking love

their groovy and slamming sound with all my heart! Haha. If we talk about bands in general, then I’ve always loved bands like Rotting Christ, Lord Belial, Nile, Marduk, Carcass etc. And also bands such as Septic Flesh, Dimmu Borgir and Belzebubs speaks straight to my heart because of the orchestration elements. I love music when it has a dark, gothic atmosphere, sounds grandiose and if it has many details and layers of sound elements than “just” the guitar and drums. Classical music/instruments mixed with the guitar is something I appreciate very much! - What, in your opinion, helps Danish Metal scene to stay so strong, tight and evil, while lots of Scandinavian Death Metal bands lose this kinda cold in their sound with time? As said, I do not know much about what is going on in the scenes these days. So, I do not really have any strong opinion to that, that would matter. To each their own as I said. But if I think about it, maybe a thing that helps many bands to stay strong is because most of us reached that point where we know that there is lots of bands out there already. 23

Defacing God - Dark Melodic Death Metal from Denmark

It dosn’t make any sense to even try to stick out and be special, with hopes that you reach higher levels through that. You can’t force it to be special. I just think that we all know that the best thing you can be, is to be yourself and create what you genuinely like – being true to yourself and what you like to do, that makes it authentic. It dosn’t help to try to please anyone after all or pretend to be someone you aren’t. The thing that will take you somewhere (if you are lucky and work hard enough), is to be your authentic self, not trying too hard to be different- just to be different. If you are, you are. If you know what I mean? I guess these things can’t be pretended or forced in the long run as said. And another thing is, that if you make your sound more commercial for the sake of money and to reach a much brighter “target group” in the audience, then you should just stop if you ask me. This genre is not about money or commercials to please the majority. It’s about to please yourself, express yourself and send out a message. Those who can follow that message will follow and fuck the rest. If I was “forced” to make art and music just for the sake of money, I wouldn’t enjoy it anymore, cause it wouldn’t be the authentic expressions of “me” anymore anyway. - As lots of bands, you’re 24

missing the stage for sure, but as we can see, it doesn’t mean for you just to go around and “miss”, so you enter the studio on December for recording your first album. What are your own expectations from such a large-scale creation you do for the first time? Yes, I do miss the stage like Hell as most musicians probably do! But yeah, I kept myself active with lots of creativity, new projects, lyrics, work and a career change in the meantime. I’ll never just sit on my ass and wait for things to come. I can’t. Not even during a pandemic! haha Anyway, we had lots of shows planned and we were in the middle of a great flow with shows and recordings when the pandemic came and ruined everything. We had planned to record our debut album in the beginning of 2020 and to release an EP in summer 2020, in constellation with our latest music video release for our track “Succubmb The Euphoria” - But then came the pandemic bullshit and we had to re-think our plans. Releasing an album with no shows or tours on the map is pretty pointless and a waste of a great album. As said, we had to re-think our plans and this summer in the middle of everything, a brandnew offer came to us from a bigger label. An offer I said yes to and that meant that we had to skip our plans regarding the EP and lots of changes came over us.

We just signed the contract and at the moment we actually just wait on green lights and a confirmation for making it official. All this means that we instead of hitting the studio here in December as planned, we’ll hit the studio in beginning of 2021 instead to record our full length album, “The Resurrection of Lilith”! I do have very high expectations to this. This is my first album and I am this type who work day and night, 24/7 to make everything perfect (for me). I can’t and won’t put my name in or on something that is half-hearted, so I do not stop until I am completely satisfied with every little detail. But I am not worried. I work with some really great and talented people with a high sense of quality, so I am in good hands regarding this project. We work together with Mighty Jacob Hansen from Hansen Studios in Denmark on this and he is truly a master of massive sound productions, so he fits perfectly to our massive, dark, Scandinavian sound! I Also recently started a collaboration with Lars Vinther on some orchestration parts for the album that really lift the songs up on an even more “grandeour”’level! Lars really knows how to add melodies and details to a piece of music, so when all this is mixed and mastered, then I’m sure I can’t be anything but proud.

This album will for sure be massive and a killer! - As I know, your main inspiration source is witchery and Lilith herself, and you also strongly associate yourself to her. Tell our readers a bit more what does Lilith mean for you personally? Oh, there is so much to this question. I could talk for days, haha. But I’ll try to keep it a bit shorter. First, yes! I am very drawn to witchcraft, the dark, macabre and the occult. Many people are, and I guess it’s natural for many to be drawn to the dark and obscure. It’s simply something different than the “normality” and therefor it’s exciting. In my case I grew up with it. I have Celtic blood in my veins and my mother is what I would call a real witch. She is just a different woman, all the way to her bones. Always had her own style and did her own thing. If she lived back in the days, she would definitely have been cremated at the stake! She introduced me to tarot cards, horror movies and literature, taught me about recipes, plants and nature’s own healing medicine when I was very young and even took offi-

cial classes in “Witchcraft”. It’s from her my own interests for all this started, I guess. In school I was considered as a real weirdo, because I as very young was so fascinated about all this. Most girls played with dolls. I played

with… let’s say... Darkness. And also dolls of course. Haha! One of the best things I could do back then, was to sit for hours and write my own horror stories by hand in my little notebook. I made tons of drawings of horror scenes as well. I could “disappear” in my own world with this for a very long time.

Teachers was sometimes even worried for me. Oh well. One of my written stories even got me in trouble back then, I remember. This story was one I wrote as a homework novel. It was so filled with gore that my teacher took me out of class to talk with me about if something was “going on” at home, since I wrote these kinds of things. Nope. My mind just went places (still does) so I couldn’t really understand why she was so worried. It was just pure fiction for me, and I thought it was a great story! Haha… My mom asked me to tone my imagination a bit down after this episode and so I did. Hehe. But I always dreamed of having a project where I could add all my theatric stuff, my imagination and visuals. That’s one of the reasons why I created “Defacing God” many years later! You see?! I apparently can’t come up with a short simple answer to your questions. My mind just starts to float in every direction, haha! Anyway! As for Lilith. Yes. I do use Lilith as my alter ego and personality on stage. That’s the theatric part that I love so much. I also do use her in my daily life, but more as a kind of philosophy. 25

Defacing God - Dark Melodic Death Metal from Denmark

I’ve heard that some people think that the Lilith persona has something to do with making it all Satanic and evil as fuck. In fact, it has not so much to do with that. I like darkness and the occult obviously, so writing about and make things about unicorns wouldn’t be very authentic or a good match for me, haha... But Lilith is an intriguing figure who has taken on many shapes over the millennia. I was always inspired by the Biblical story the most. I guess that this story is also considered one of the most “popular” and known stories about her actually. According to this story, Lilith was the first woman - created even before Eve. She was created by God from dust and placed to live in the Garden of Eden with Adam. Disagreement and problems between Adam and Lilith came up, simply because Adam tried to exercise dominance 26

over Lilith. Lilith refused to lay beneath Adam during sex and to obey for example. Lilith believed they were created equal and no one should decide for her. Adam disagreed very strongly, so Lilith left the Garden of Eden to gain even more independence. Adam told God that she had left, and God sent three angels after her. They found her but she refused to come back. The angels threatened her and said they would kill hundreds of her children every day for her disobedience. The story goes on and there are so many angles and perspectives on the Lilith figure. Lilith for me, is what I consider as absolute female power! She is strong, she has loads of self-respect, she is independent, and she won”t obey anyone. She decides for herself and walk her own path no matter what “society” says. She is never afraid, and she trust her own intuition.

That’s why I use her. Because she simply symbolizes power and strength for me. But to make one thing clear: This should not be understood as I am a fanatic or extreme feminist. Not at all. But no matter how you turn it around, it is just a fact that women through the history have often had inferior conditions and not as many opportunities as men had, in the ancient days. In ancient days, women should take care of the home and give birth. They should definitely not stand out or have loud and strong opinions either. That was just the norm back then. It’s a bit different nowadays of course, but there is still something going on around the globe, and sometimes it has other aspects and angles. All in all, society do still have a lot of specific norms when it comes to women (also for men of course, but I chose for the women’s perspective since I am a woman myself, surprise!) As said, there is much more to say to this, but that must be in another interview. History is interesting. As some probably knows, especially the witch hunt from the 1450s to around 1700s is very interesting to me and mostly women were accused in these times. My mind was therefore hooked on this idea to make a concept based on that.

I write my own stories, with inspiration from many of the real stories that took place through this era of fire and death. Mostly I find something I find interesting and then I make something out of that. Some is real, some is fiction. Depends on where my mind takes me. You’ll see this inspiration strongly on our upcoming album, “The Resurrection of Lilith”. Storyline made simple: Lilith comes back to take revenge, to speak and to stand up for all her “sisters” who ended their lives at the burning stake and never got a voice. The point behind my “Lilith” ependent woman who walks her own path, speaks up and believe in herself. Also in current times. - I simply couldn’t avoid asking it... Events which are happening right now in the world had some impact on each of us, so are you gonna turn it into another source of inspiration for the new album or you think it ain’t worth it? I find a lot of inspiration in many of the things that happens in the world. But I don’t sit around and think too much about happenings nor do I watch much television either. The news and medias are built up around negative things and topics because the human brain is programmed to

absorb the negative more than the positive news. It makes me depressive and I like to decide for myself what I take in and spend my energy on. Of course, I follow some happenings and topics from around the world now and then, but again – not too much, because I need my energy for other things. When I write stories, I prefer to write about things that really gets me “hooked” so I tune more into specific stories or topics, like my recent topic of the witch hunt in Europe for example. I could say a lot about especially the corona/pandemic thing and I have lots of, let’s say “strong” opinions about that, but I guess I just keep them to myself unless someone ask me about my opinion. I see that almost each media is flooded with people’s opinions and discussions about it each

fucking day, haha… So, I guess it’s a waste of time to blurb even more about it. I truly feel sorry for those who have been affected negative in these times and I hope they’ll find their way back even stronger than before. But the pandemic topic in itself is nothing that I think much about and I just carry on as always and doing my thing, so it’s not anything I’ll give any space on the album for this round. Ancient history and the occult are more my thing, I guess. - This year, you released your very first video clip named “Succumb The Euphoria”, and all this creative process took place in really extreme conditions. Tell us a bit more details about it, and especially about diving into that cold bath. Yes, “Succumb The Euphoria” was released with a video clip earlier this year. 27

Defacing God - Dark Melodic Death Metal from Denmark

We managed to make the whole thing right before the pandemic kind of took over the world. The whole thing took place back in February on a typical Scandinavian winter day. freezing cold, rainy, dark and harsh blowing wind in an old barn up north. I am very proud of that clip when I think about what I had to go through to make it, haha. In the video I play as the main character. An “unknown” Virgin woman in a white dress who gets sacrificed by monks and later on they call my spirit back from the dead, but I accidently come crawling back up, possessed as Lilith from the bathtub I was drowned in. During the rituals of the monks, I creep and crawl up unto them and kill them all. Sounds simple, but it was everything else than fucking simple to make! Haha… A short video clip on 5 minutes, took 16 hours of shooting straight to make! In the first part of the clip, I was 28

walking and dragged through a cold and rainy forest on my bare feet with a homemade pillory around my neck (100000 times!) and then straight back to the barn where I had to get drowned in a bathtub (also

100000 times!) and crawl back up in the freezing cold environment to drag myself and my bare legs through the dirty stone floor that left my legs and knees fucked up with bruises, scars and broken nails on my feet and after also a thousand times with that part, I had to

dress up one more time to perform the actual song in the end. That day was definitely a killer and not for the weak! I hated and cursed everyone to death all the way through that day, haha. But I love the r e sults. It was all worth the pain and I would do it all again – and I will. In the name of art, we suffer! - Before the lockdown, Defacing God had a strong concert activity, despite the fact that the band is young. What do you usually feel on stage as a young musician? Yes, we had a lot of shows going on before this crap went worldwide. What I usually feel on stage? I feel free. And powerful. And much more that are hard to explain. It’s like a fix you don’t get elsewhere. The feeling of power and freedom comes from the fact that this is my passion number one. Music means everything to me and there are thousands of feelings connected to it.

Being able to stand on stage and yell your feelings out to the audience and express yourself through your body, to a wall of strong and aggressive sounds is something special. It’s like all your senses completely unfolds in that moment. I am grateful for that I have that opportunity. It’s like therapy to me. I have a strong ground-feeling in my body and mind that says that nothing or no one can stop me in anything I do in my life. When I go on stage, this feeling gets even stronger. Because someone came to see and to share something that is yours. Something you have made. That’s something to be humble and very grateful for in this life. If I should mention one thing I dig about humans, then it is our ability to melt together as one when we’re gathering together in the name of art. - I know you get lots of support from your family regarding your creativity. How does this fact influence on your creativity? Does it help somehow? Or probably interrupts sometimes to be more objective/strict to yourself sometimes and you have to fight it? When we talk about support, yes, support is needed in some way in some aspects. For example, if no one supported Defacing God, then we wouldn’t be able to play shows and get out there with our music. But seen from above and from other as-

pects, support is nothing we can’t expect. Support is “nice to have” not a “need to have” when it comes to living my life. My closest family supports me in my lifestyle and creativity. But they know just as good as I do, that I would still be doing this, with or without the support. I mean, support is always great and it can help on your motivation, so it’s always deeply appreciated. But I do not need anyone’s validation or permission for my doing or being. If something or someone is against me when it comes to my life, projects and ideas, then I simply turn away. Everything I did until now have I done on my own anyway. My business, music, educations, all my choices, paths etc. it’s all choices I made on my own and I didn’t ask for anyone’s opinion or permission before I considered to start. If it felt right for me, I just went that way. Of course, I have had other people involved in some of my project. Some projects I did, wouldn’t even have been possible without collab partners and I am grateful for those who have been involved during the process, but what I mean is- every of my beginnings started with myself. If I have a vision or an idea, then I’ll always find my way to make it happen, so when it comes to the influence of my doing; No, the support (or lack of support)

doesn’t interrupt me or change anything – it’s just motivating thing to get the support and I see it as a great privilege. Something I also consider as a privilege and a plus is that my parents for example have more or less the same taste in music as myself and are interested in some of the same topics. That means that we can have actual conversations about these things and that is a form of support in itself because you can share the visions and the response you get in return is genuine. - At the end of this interview, I’d like to wish you good luck with everything you plan for the nearest future, cause the plans are really strong! What would you like to say to our readers and our crew? Thank you so much and thank you for the space here! Stay strong, stay focused and see you out there when the world is coming back to normal again hopefully!

Saħħar - Black/Metal from Malta

Interview with Antikrist

Interview by Andrew Stanton

Hello and welcome to Inside the Darkness. Thanks for having me. - Can you tell our readers a bit about your history, please? While my penchant for Black Metal commenced around 16, it was just 2 years (2006) later that I started this project on my own after I got refused the proposal to form a band under the same moniker. And pausing the project following a handful of releases, it was in 2013 where it really kicked

off and stopped yet since then. - Who inspires you to create Black Metal? I must say that it was the no-

back in the MySpace days. Inspiration expanded to some of the greats we know nowadays: Dark Funeral, Marduk, Gorgoroth, amongst many others. Inspiration of themes is more vague, but I can pinpoint some to HP Lovecraft and local horror master Anton Grasso. - What is the Malta scene like? Small, but energetic and quite diverse as of late. For instance, there was a point where I was the only

lly from a ic d a r y r a v mes Saħħar’s the to quasis n io t a t p a d no a ath. e d Dante’s infer t u o b a musings l a ic h p o s o il ph tion of Burzum being a oneman-band which drove me at first. That and an endless spew of extremely lo-fi individuals

functioning black metal band (since other BM bands evolved their sound beyond the genre) whereas nowadays, I’m not the only one as well as bands from a myriad other genres. As for audiences before Covid, I’d actually rather not comment. - Who sings the female vocals on ‘It Twegiba’? It’s very angelic. I was hoping someone would ask. The voice is of Alexia Baldacchino who is a great friend of mine and an even greater artist. This is not my first collaboration/commission with her, the previous album also hosts her voice and I have her artworks on three separate releases. She has vocal duties in her own project, Tryst Arcane. - You seem to release a lot all the time. Do you have any time for other things? I used to be part of a late-Medieval reenactment group, which I mainly terminated when fatherhood took over. I also have two other project/international collaborations called Eerbaruh and Entität, I sometimes run external commissions in my studio, and I have a day job. The songwriting part is easy. It’s the production part and preparing for releasing which is very time consuming. Might not make sense, considering

the rate of release but some al- ics about and your theme? bums are written and complet- Overall the themes vary radically from one album to the other, from Dante’s inferno adaptations to quasi-philosophical musings about death. This album covers massacres/genocides and the in-betweens, the origins, atrocities and denial of said events at times. I admit that I was a bit harrowed at the deeper recounts of what happened. Even the album art originated in these crimes of mankind against mankind, the cause of civilizations to collapse as it is the colloquial translation of the album title. - Will you start a tour once the scare is over? ed over a span of nearly two covid-19 years, they obviously overlap. Yes, that was the plan bethis pandemic hapWhat is Mal- fore ta like for live music? pened, and that’s the plan still. I’ve seen some incredible per- - Do you have a mesformances happening here, even sage for our readers? on tiny stages and I’m not just Needless to say, I invite them talking about Metal. As for au- to give my new album (and prediences, again, I won’t comment. vious ones) a spin. I urge them - What can fans expect to persevere because we might from your new album? be getting closer to the end of This album is heavier, more di- this waking nightmare, even if it verse and more melancholic than leads to a brave new world, and previous releases. It’s darker, if to keep the flame alive in metal. you like. I opted for fewer but Thank you for your time. longer songs and a more palatable Again, thanks for having me. production than the previous one. - What are your lyr31

Nightfall - Blackened Death/Metal from Greece

Interview with Efthimis Karadimas

Interview by Andrew Stanton

Hello and welcome to Inside the Darkness. Hello Andrew. Thanks for reaching out buddy. My name is Efthimis Karadimas and I am the founding member of Nightfall. - Can you tell our readers a bit about your history, please? We’ve been around for many many years my friend. Nightfall founded back in 1991. We have released 9 albums and now we are about to do our tenth, entitled At Night We Prey. - What bands influenced you? Everybody is a potential influence.

- What are your lyrics about? Existential problems, failure, depression. Written in allegoric, poetic forms. How do you describe your music? Blackened Death Metal. How important is a band’s image in Metal?

convincing. I like theatrical acts as long as the image serves the purpose, which is no other than to back the lyrical concept. Watching Venom or King Diamond with blue jeans and t-shirts on stage would certainly be a minus. But on the other side, the same could be told if Slayer had a more theatrical image. What was the G r e e k M e t a l scene like in the early ‘90s? Poor but promising. We were few but had the drive to make it happen, you know. This is a big thing.

new r u o o t listen u o y n e h the W l e e f u o y , k D’ar s ’ a o N m u b l m. a o o d d n a s s e arkn d f o e c n e s e pr That’s a nice question. You have to make a survey among fans about it, cause it is them who decide which image is

Finally, we came up with a distinctive sound, many liked it as it was kinda “exotic” to their ears. No matter your gear and studio know how, what makes the difference is to have your own personality as a musician, as a band, as a scene. This is what makes the difference in the end. - What can fans expect from your new album? We’ve been silent for about 7 years and we worked on At Night We Prey for more than two years. It is a heavy piece of art, dealing with depression and anger it flows from it. Let me know what you think Andrew? I’d like to hear your opinion about it when you get to listen to it.

- Are you touring anywhere? Europe 2021. Though I think it will be postponed by one year, to 2022 due to Covid shit. - What is it that makes Greek Metal so unique? Different approach and different background my friend. Back in the early 90s we tried to sound like bands from Scandinavia, UK, Germany or US, but we failed. It was a big failure cause we did not know how these bands produced that massive heavy sound. So, we came up with our own alternative. I guess we’ve been lucky. If we had made it sounding like Swedish, none would ever listen to the Greek bands as we would not have the originality we enjoy now.

Do you have a message for our readers? Thank you for your time. Stay physically and mentally strong and let us know what you think of At Night We Prey. Your word counts. Thank you for your time. Thank you Andrew. Follow Nightfall: http://www.nightfallofficial.com https://www.facebook.com/nightfallbandofficial https://nightfall-cult.bandcamp.com https://nightfallofficial.bandcamp.com https://www.instagram.com/nightfallband

Gates of Doom - Epic Death/Black/Metal from Italy

Interview with Manuel Scapinello

Interview by Andrew Stanton

Gates of Doom are a very cool band from Italy. Andrew Stanton talked to guitarist Manuel. - Can you tell our readers a bit about your history, please? Hi Andrew! We started in 2012 as a Melodic Death band inspired by Scandinavian Metal. After many local shows we published our self-titled EP, which also was our first experience in a studio. In 2018 our second EP, “Forum Iulii” led us to the new themes and more mature approach that allowed us to define a more per-

sonal style and publish our first full-length “Aquileia Mater Aeterna” on January 6th 2021. - Your lyrics seem to be about your local history. Can you tell us about that, please? Once we abandoned the viking

allow us to reach a new stylistic identity and more credibility. Instead of stopping at the usual viking/nordic themes we chose something we felt was more personal and close to our identity. Friûl, our homeland (a north-eastern region of Italy) has always been a crossroads of people and cultures (Celts, Romans, Langobards among many others), contributing to its rich history and mythology. We decided to dedicate this concept album to the city

n e p o s y a w l a w e n e r ’ e g W udin shades. l c n i to d n a s e c n influe imagery of the first EP, we started exploring new themes that would

of Aquileia, founded by Romans in 181 BC as a military colony, then becoming one of the most important cities of the Roman Empire. Destroyed by Attila in 452 AD and rebuilt in the following centuries, Aquileia became a symbol for the founding of the Patriarchy of Aquileia and for the birth of Friûl’s language, culture and identity. - What bands influence you? Like we said, we were initially fascinated by the Melodic Death scene of Northern Europe (Amon Amarth, Insomnium) and by the NWOBHM, but with time our influences broadened. Citing just some bands: Mgła, Rotting Christ, Agalloch, Behemoth, Testament, Firespawn, Darkthrone, Unleashed… - Why do you keep changing your style? Is your new style permanent now? We started the band when we were just 16, so both our skills and personality were limited. Discovering our ancestral origins as well as new bands helped us form a new sound, a sum of old and new. Currently we reached stability in our mix of Black and Death Metal, viewed through an Epic point of view, though

we’re always open to including new influences and shades. - What is the Italian Black Metal scene like? The italian scene is flourishing and has many great bands! Some

of our favorites are: Selvans, Anamnesi, Progenie Terrestre Pura, Fides Inversa, Enisum, Absentia Lunae, and our fellow countrymen Duirvir and Aganis. - How are things in Italy with the pandemic? Has it made touring impossible? Unfortunately the current situation is shit and a tour is completely impossible, so the support of our fans that have bought our music and merch and shared our music has been essential, as well as all the webzines that are helping us making our music reach new people.

- What is on the cover of Aquileia Mater Aeterna? For the cover we wanted something that would impress and stick with the viewer, so we chose master Chilean artist Sebastian Salvo, and he’s been able to perfectly capture our ideas for the concept. The artwork depicts Attila and his Hun army clashing with the valiant Aquileian resistance during the siege at the gates of the city. What can fans expect from your new album? Our fans can expect an Epic Death/Black album that follows the key events of the city’s history. In fact, the album can be divided in three parts, each with its distinct style: first, the foundation of Aquileia (more epic and warlike), then its apex (glorious and martial), and finally its decline and eternal memory (fierce and dramatic). - Thank you for your time. First of all, thank you for this wonderful opportunity! We’d like to invite you all to listen to our album, and we hope to be able to tour your country in the future. Also, thanks to all our fans, friends and families that supported us since the beginning of our journey!

Aztlan -Melodic Death/Folk/Metal from Mexico

Interview with Attila

Interview by Andrew Stanton

Mexico’s Aztlan are perhaps the only Death Metal band that are both beautiful and cool as fuck. Andrew Stanton talked to his friend, front man Attila. - Can you tell our readers a bit about your history, please? Aztlan published their first album in 2018 titled “Mexico Immortal” making a mixture of Mexican folk with Metal, from this album several singles such

as “La Revolucion” are released, a song that talks about the armed movement against the

that talks about the Mayan deity known as the feathered serpent, also known among the Aztec culture as Quetzalcoatl, a deity that had great influence in ancient Mexico. After the release of the album and some videos published, it was impossible for us to do the tour to promote the album because of the COVID-19.

a e k a m o t d , e c d i i n c e a d p s i e H W x i m o t band and Aztec sounds. Latin government that was succumbed in 1910 in Mexico. Another single was the song titled “Kukulkan”, a theme

During the confinement we decided to compose a new album. This album was published on January 1 of this year 2021 titled “Legión Mexica”. - What bands did you listen to growing up? The bands that I listened to when I entered this world of metal were AC / DC, Motorhead, Hypocrisy, Iron Maiden, Slayer, The Doors and Luzbel, they are bands that marked me a lot, and of course in others, and later it was when I found myself with folk music and many of Aztlan’s influences are bands like Tlen Huicani, Los Folkloristas, Los Vega, Los Cojolites, Rodrigo and Gabriela all of them from Mexico. From Chile like Inti Illimani, Los Jaivas, Victor Jara. We really love the folk music of all countries such as Hassak from Mongolia, Otava Yo from Russia, Taraf de Haidouks from Romania, Goran Bregovic from Bosnia, Omnia from the Netherlands, Heilung from Germany, Kjarkas from Bolivia and much more music.

The music is a language, and each country has its own and we like to listen to the language of different places since something new is always learned. - How is Mexico handling the pandemic? Are you able to tour? The pandemic in Mexico is

handled very badly, there is no organization between the government and the people, Mexico has always been a lawless country. On the subject of concerts, it is now impossible to hold an event, we are waiting for this whole crisis to “normalize”. - When you started making Death Metal, why did you decide to add pan pipes and flamenco guitars to it? The mixture is not totally Flamenco, it has elements such as Mariachi, Huapango, Son Jarocho, all of them Mexican folk

music, we use flutes such as the “Quena” that is originally from South America, and it is mixed with Aztec dances with ancient instruments such as the “Huehuetl” which is a ancestral percussion, the “Teponaztli” which is a transversal wood, the “Ayacaztli” which are a set of seeds that sound in time with the percussion. The idea of mixing all these sounds with metal, was born in 2006, but due to many difficulties the project could not be carried out at that time, but over the years songs were composed with this idea, and until the year In 2017 this project could be carried out, half of the album Mexico Immortal are songs that had been composed from 2006 to 2016 and the other half were new compositions to complete the album in 2017, and in 2018 is when the LP is published. The decision to create something like this is because when listening to folk metal music from other countries and then turning to Mexico, I could not find any band that mixed Mexican folklore with metal. 37

Aztlan -Melodic Death/Folk/Metal from Mexico 38

In Mexico there is a phenomenon called “Malinchismo”. “Malinchismo” is hating and denying where you come from, denying your roots, and most Mexicans are like that, they do not support their people, many are ashamed of indigenous people, there is a lot of racism towards the natives. The word “Malinchista” comes from the name of a woman named “Malinche”. she was one of the twenty slaves given as a tribute to the conquerors. She played an important role in the conquest of Mexico. She was an interpreter, advisor and intermediary for the conquering leader Hernán Cortés. She later became his life mate and gave birth to his first child. For many in today’s Mexico she was a traitor. But it was not like that, she was a slave and what she was looking for was freedom, also the peoples around the capital of the empire were tired of being under the power of the Aztecs, and the native peoples such as the “Tlaxcalatecas” allied with the conquerors to defeat to the Mexican / Aztec empire. In this story there are no

good guys or bad guys, each one fought for their own goals, the Aztecs defending their empire, the conquerors defeating it, and the surrounding peoples sought to liberate themselves from the Aztecs and they saw in the conquerors an opportunity to do so. In Mexico they live with defeatism, they have no hope on their own and in the Mexican Metal scene it is no exception.

People don’t support local bands, that’s why few bands emerge in Mexico, there’s no way to grow, the economy sucks and people don’t support you, it’s something we know from the beginning when forming a band, the concerts of Mexican bands are almost always empty, people don’t attend, they don’t care. All this phenome-

non is what makes the Mexican metal scene not stand out. That’s why we decided to make a band like Aztlan, to mix Hispanic, Latin and Aztec sounds, which is what we really are, we do everything for the love of music. - Why did you decide to release an instrumental track as a single? It’s something we did from the first album, the first single “La Revolucion” was instrumental and the song “Dia de Muertos” was no exception, for us it is important to transmit the music first, in the future we will be publishing a totally instrumental album. - Your theme seems to be very much about The Day of the Dead. Can you explain it to your European fans, please? For ancestral Mexican cultures, the cult of death is very important, because it is part of us as humans, the duality of life and death is a concept that the ancient Mexicans called OMETEOTL, which means a single principle or reality that allows it to generate and sustain to the life of the cosmos, being, in addition, father and mother of the creator Lords.

“Ometeotl” is the verb of creation, it is the beginning of all existence, if we transfer it to our era, it is the starting point of the big bang. The Day of the Dead is a deeply rooted tradition in Mexico. - What can fans expect from your new album? You will listen to new adaptations of instruments such as in this case the Mariachi trumpet, which will take center stage in some songs. You will also find the exploration of more sounds with rebellious letters anti-system such as stories of the Aztec and Mexica cosmogony. The album contains songs like “Tlalocan”, which is the place where “Tlaloc” the Lord of the Rain, rules, is the place where go people who die from some cause related to water, such as drowning. There are also songs on the album such as Mictlan, which is the place of the dead, is the underworld of the Aztec cosmogony. When people died of natural causes their destiny was the Mictlan. The people had to go through 9 regions in order to obtain eternal rest, in each region there were tests to overcome, in the first level

“Itzcuintlan” the city of dogs, region where the “Xoloitzcuintle” existed, the consecrated dogs of Xólotl, brother of Quetzalcoatl, who in the past was the custodian of Lord Sun Tonatiuh, during the daytime as the Lord of the sunset, but for having attacked Tonatiuh during his journey through the celestial vault, was sent to Mictlán by the Creator Lords to reconcile

domestic dogs with the dead. In this place the dead would have to cross the wide Apanohuacalhuia river, where Xochitónal, a giant iguana lived, and whose banks wandered the dead who had not been worthy because in life they had mistreated a dog, since, to cross it, it would require the help of a Xoloitzcuintle dog. Among the 9 regions there are tests like crossing a mountain of obsidian, your body will end up cut and bleeding, also another region where you have to escape an infinite rain

of arrows, and at the end of the 9 regions you arrive with Mictlantecuhtli, the Lord of the dead, and he gave you eternal rest. - What kind of feedback did fans give you about Mexico Inmortal? Fortunately there was good acceptance by the public, and after the good results we were able to make a new album like “Legion Mexica”. - What is the Mexican scene like? We only mostly know Introtyl and Cemican. What other bands shall our readers check out? There are many good bands, among which made history in this country such as Cenotaph (Death Metal from the 90’s), Shub Niggurath (Blackened Death), Luzbel (Heavy Metal) one of the pioneering Metal bands in Mexico, Anarchus pioneers of grindcore, Mortuary (Death Metal), Toxo Death (Death Metal), Agony Lords (Melodic Death) - Do you have a message for our readers? Fight for your freedom, for the right to say what you think, anyone anywhere in the world has the same right, it is difficult but not impossible, and Long live to Metal! ¡Viva el Metal!

Therrorder - Thrash Death Metal from Colombia

Interview with Ana Maria Brinez

Interview by Andrew Stanton

Therrorder are one of the best bands to come out of Bogota, Colombia. Andrew Stanton got to chat to one of his idols, Ana Maria Brinez. - Can you tell our readers a bit about your history, please? Therrorder was born at the end of 2010, we do thrash death metal, our members are, Ana BriĂąez, bass player, Felipe

you listen to? Gonzalez, Drummer, Cristian do Espinel, guitar player and Car- Several new bands make up our playlist, los Romero singer, we like Ultraviolence, Ubergehen, War Thrashed, Eyes of Kuntury, these bands, they are some, all are Coh a v e lombian for the most part. had several import- - Why do you think so ant events nationwide. many Metal fans prefer oldWhat new bands er, 1980â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Thrash bands?

an i l i z a r B bia, , m n o l w o o n C k ll In e w e g r n a i r e s d d r n o a b b a s i t s. i r e u s o h becau y it w r t coun

Because they were limited to a single genre and a single way of playing, and this made them have a lot of boom until our times. - Will your new album be very different from your EP, Tiempos de Guerra? Yes, it differs in the sound, and the new compositions that this album brings. - Will it feat u r e any of the same songs? Yes, has three songs from our first EP, Tiempos de Guerra, Revoluciรณn and Abismo. - What goes through a bands mind when they release a new album? Do you ever worry that fans might not like it? This would happen to us if we were a very recognized band, I think that what most attracts the public are works that sound good, and that the band also plays the music as it was recorded. - Why do you think so many Metal fans prefer bands from outside their own country? I think they prefer them because apparently they are

more difficult to see live, or to acquire their merchandise, on the other hand if they are from your own country it is more feasible to see them at a concert, or buy their merchandise. - How big are Portuguese speaking bands in Col o m b i a ?

In Colombia, Brazilian bands are well known, because it is a bordering country with ours, and there are also great bands of trajectory such as Sepultura, Violator, Nervosa, Krisiun, that although they sing in English, it is recognizable that they are Brazil. - Have you toured much around South America? What are the best and worst places to play? Therrorder has not yet left Colombia, we are counting on the Covid 19 pandem-

ic to pass quickly and we will begin to tour South America. - Do you have any plans to tour North America or Europe? Not for now, we hope it is i n our plans soon. - Who created your goblin logo, and what does he represent? Our guitarist Cristian Espinel created it, embodies the passion we have for Metal and at the same time represents the evil of the world in a being that very few bands have adopted as a mascot. - Do you have a message for our readers? That they continue to listen to Metal always, never stop supporting the bands, consume their merchandise, go to their concerts, and above all never lose their passion for this lifestyle.

Obscurity - Melodic Black/Viking/Death Metal from Germany

Interview with Agalaz

Interview by Andrew Stanton

Obscurity are a cool Viking Metal band from Germany. Andrew Stanton had a chat with Agalaz to find out more. Hello and welcome to Inside the Darkness. Hi! This is Agalaz of the band Obscurity and before we start I want to give a great hail to all Inside the Darkness followers, the whole staff and all Metalheads outside! Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a pleasure to have

this interview with you! - Can you tell our readers a bit about your history, please? Obscurity was

this point we decided that we have to do something to impress the girls! We thought there is only one way: We have to be Rockstars! So Obscurity raised up! It was a long way from the e a r l i e r days to the point where Obscurity is today. The first two years were marked by earning the bandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first stripes and the forging of two demos.

to d e d i c e d e w . n y a a d m e r e n G O n i y l n o sing born in 1997! My four brave brothers and I sat together and drank a lot of beer and at

In 2000 we recorded our first self-produced studio album “Bergisch Land”. The album was named after the German region we originate from. The years passed by and Obscurity grew up and got stronger and stronger. I think, we never changed our way or our typical kind of music to make music so much and we always formed the way of Obscurity how we liked it. Our music has developed during all these years from 1997 to 2021 from being pure Black Metal, later with Death influences to the sound Obscurity creates today. Nowadays we make music with influences of Black and Death, traditional Heavy Metal and Viking Metal. We ourselves call it Battle Metal! We think this describes our music in the best way. Also, we are very proud that we were part of countless festi-

vals and club shows (like Rock Harz, Party San, Ragnarök, Turock Open Air, Darktroll, Wolfszeit, HRH Vikings or Fiesta Pagana and many more) with tremendously positive feedback. Thank you to all the “Bergisch-li-

on warriors” out there who made that possible! - What bands did you like when growing up? That has been very different. Some of us listened to bands based on Death- and Thrash Metal like Dismember, Biohazard, Anthrax and Slayer. I myself listened to bands like Immortal, Naglfar, Sentenced or Summoning. On the other hand we had all favorite bands like Metallica, Iron Maiden,

Bathory and Unleashed. - Why do you think viking culture appeals to so many Metal fans outside of Scandinavia? In my opinion the fascination of the Norsemen/ Viking culture was shaped by many myths and the Norse mythology. The Vikings stand for freedom and indomitability and these are virtues that everyone would like to have and that is how a lot of people want to live. Vikings were also brave people who had their own faith, did not know a lot of bounds and were not afraid of the unknown. But they were also great traders. I think this complete package paired with the mighty and beautiful landscapes in Scandinavia are the reasons why people like to be a Viking or Germanic. - Do you think Germany Black Metal can ever be as big as the Norwegian scene? Norway is considered as the birthplace of Black Metal and True Norweigan Black Metal is like a trademark. 43

Obscurity - Melodic Black/Viking/Death Metal from Germany 44

I think there are lots of great bands from Norway like Kampfar or Immortal for example, but also Germany has a lot of great Black Metal bands like Der Weg einer Freiheit, Helrunar or the more or less known Timor et Tremor. It’s not correct to say that the Black Metal scene in Germany has not the same quality like the scene in Norway, because both are just different. For me it doesn’t matter where the bands come from, it’s much more important how the quality of the music is that the bands create. - Why do you think so many people only like Norwegian Black Metal? As I said, Norway is the country where black metal is a musical art form and where “true” BM has its origins. Many great Black Metal Bands came from Norway or still do. Perhaps it also is the story of the genesis of Norwegian BM that fascinates listeners all over the world. I think there are a lot of mystified stories around the Norwegian Black Metal and his musicians which keep the fascination since the 90s. In that style of music is a special ‚fuck off‘ statement, that stands for a kind of autonomy (at least in the begin-

ning). For me, Norwegian Black Metal is a start point of music style that developed much since its genesis. What will your new album be like? The new album is our ninth album and will be titled ‘Skogarmaors’. It should be released in the first quarter of 2021. On Skogarmaors you can listen to our two new brothers Isarn (drums) and Askar (guitars). When they joined the band Obscurity were not only able to welcome two new brothers, they also got involved musically quickly and significantly increased the quality of the quintet once again. In Obscurity everyone can/should bring their own ideas and so due to the handwriting of them the songs are even more mature and varied. There are some new influences on Skogarmaors, but don’t worry, the new album will sound 100% like Obscurity, just as you can expect from any of our albums. Askar and Isarn are very young and they brought some fresh elements into Obscurity and hey, everyday they kick our rotten and old asses without any respect, haha! Will you ever sing in English? We did on the first albums, but one day we decided to

sing only in German. A lot of bands sing in their native language. The German lyrics we use are also a kind of trademark of Obscurity like the ‚Bergischer Löwe’ (bergisch-lion). In my point of view the German language is a very hard spoken one and that fits very good with our kind of music. Combined this makes the sound of Obscurity, brutal and rough. Moreover, it is much easier for me to convey authentically the feelings, statements and historical events that I want to convey/tell with my texts, to the people in the German language. I know that the usage of German language makes it more difficult to establish oneself in foreign countries where German is not spoken, but there are a lot of bands who use their native language like Swedish, Norwegian, Spanish and so on. They all use that as their trademarks and maybe for benchmarking, just the way we do it. - When bands have a theme, does it become harder to stay original? Surly you can only write so many songs about great battles, right? I think, even when you have your focus only on a particular theme, you always have the opportunity to look at it from many different sides, in different ways.

Of course, sometimes there are limitations and at some point a topic is overused. But, it is also possible to continue a real historical event, to invent your own fictional story from it. The form of language that will be used, as I lyrically describe what took place and how I express feelings about what happened, also allows many possibilities. On the other hand you can choose a fictional theme, which can be developed to infinity. Originality is created by themes, lyrics and by musical style elements as well. So, if you want, you have endless amounts of topics and ideas. - Do you listen to any other kinds of Black Metal? There are a lot of great black metal bands from all over the world that I like to hear. These days everything is musically possible and there is fantastic music that was influenced by Black Metal. It doesn’t always have to be pure, brutal and true Black Metal as fast as it can be, what many bands do is create different types

of music, by using Black Metal elements in an interesting way. So, yes! I love to hear Black Metal or Extreme Metal in all its facets! - Do you have a message for our readers? The next step is to release our new beast “Skogar-

maors” and I hope we will remain healthy, and can play many more live concerts after that awful Corona-shit and celebrate with our fans! We still have a lot of plans with Obscurity and we also have many bullets to fire! In this way I can promise that Obscurity will still continue to grow... The raid goes on! To all Metalheads, artists, fellow musicians, organizers, sound technicians, stage-hands, magazines, simply to all people who live

off their achievements in the music field: We hope that 2021 will finally bring better times for all of us and that we will see as many of you as possible! We hope that all the restaurateurs and artists who have had to close their shops will survive and that our full (musical) culture and art will survive. Hold through!!! Thank you for your time. Thank you very much for this pleasant interview. It was a lot of fun to answer your questions! I hope the readers didn’t fall asleep. I did my best. Also, I want to give all Metalheads and readers out there a great Hail and Berge Romerijke! Thank you for all these years of supporting Obscurity! You guys are the real stars! Thanks a lot! Agalaz/Obscurity

Illapa - Black Metal from Peru

Interview with Manuel

Interview by Andrew Stanton

Black Metal bands from Peru often go unnoticed, Andrew Stanton had a chat with front man Manuel to find out why. - Can you tell our readers a bit about your history, please? Illapa has its origins in the peruvian black metal band Funeral Mist from 1993. Illapa has two Full-length cds the first is from 1996 called “Deshonestos y

Hechiceros” (dishonest and sorcerers) and the second Full-length in 2009 called “Lascivo Culto Solar” (lewd solar cult). The

third world paganism. - What bands did you like when growing up? I liked the typical metal bands of the 80s, but as the years go on one goes to the more extreme sound like Hellhammer, Messiah, Pentagram(Chi) etc. - Is the Peru scene still very close to Colombian and Ecuadorian bands? There are many connec-

band of dean s n c i a r y l e th The ing k c ut i o f b f a a r rug t ism. are d , n o i s i c o s m o vi r d w o r l d p a g a n and th the

lyrics of the band are about the andean cosmovision, drug trafficking and

tions between the metal bands from South America, a couple of years ago the Colombian band REENCARNACION came to Lima in an international show held in Perú. Outside of ILLAPA, I played in other peruvian bands such as CONTUMACY, KRANIUM, TROOPS OF TERROR, maybe that’s why I didn’t have much time to edit another CD with Illapa. - Why was there such a big gap b e t w e e n your first two albums? As I explained in the previous question, we also intend to enhance Andean paganism in a country where it still maintains a colonial culture that does not allow progress. What are your lyrics about? Most Peruvian black metal bands have Andean lyrics both in the capital and in the provinces of Perú.

- What does Illapa mean? In Andean and Inca mythology ILLAPA means the God of thunder and lightning.

bands I have played, I hope that this plague will pass to start a tour with the band. - Will you tour outside South America?

What will your new album be like? The new album will be a combination of the two Full-lengths, but with the same andean theme that the band has, that will be at the end of 2021. - Have you toured much around Latin America? What are the best and worst places to play? With Illapa I have not played in Latin America yet but with my other

As I repeat, we hope that this plague definitely passes so we can play outside of Peru. - Do you have a message for our readers? Thanks for the interview and people interested in acquiring the ILLAPA material can contact with my email: manuelperqan@gmail.com Thank you for your time. Greetings.

Insan - Black Metal from Colombia

Interview with Zagam

Interview by Andrew Stanton

Insan are another great band from Bogota, Colombia. Andrew Stanton talked to front man Zagam about the bandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s future. - Can you tell our readers a bit about your history, please? My name is Zagam, I am a Colombian musician, lead vocalist and guitarist of the Colombian Black Metal band Insan. I am also an active musician of the bands Zaitania, Insurreccion and all the instruments of Xyxqua, I have been immersed in the Colombian black metal scene for at least 10 years. - What bands influence you? I grew up with the forcefulness of lyrics from Colombian Death Metal bands such as Massacre,

Nebiros and Parabellum and that forcefulness of lyrics and clear message has marked a lot in my musical style, but I have always thought that everything in this life is evolution and that is also where the musical style of foreign bands like Windir, Ragnarok

Ultrametal history built history not only in Colombia but in the whole world because it was the mixture of many factors, a country in the midst of a great wave of violence, where expressing oneself was dangerous, without facilities to make art where musicians almost had to build your own instruments and record your own instruments. music with very few resources, which gave it that archaic and chaotic value with which the genre is known worldwide only to this day, unlike this, Norwegian Black Metal had many facilities and for that reason at the time it was much better known.

to t h g i f I y a iefs l d e b y l b a r t Day d the ances ancestors. defenited by our inher and Aaskereria also has marked me. - How does Colombian Black Metal and Ultra Metal compare to Norwegian Black Metal?

Today, more than following that Ultrametal musical tradition or the Norwegian Black Metal style in my concept, that effort to make music is still alive in Colombia because we are still in a country with the same characteristics., violence, corruption and where art is difficult to make known, where we make music because we like it because it fills our souls, but not our pockets. - Can you tell our readers a bit about your lyrics? As a musician I exalt myself in the pride and honor of belonging to a millennial and warrior race as the Latin American. It is for this reason that day by day I fight to defend the ancestral beliefs inherited by our ancestors. Personally, I have always felt that the Christian religion has done nothing but create chaos in the world, and nurture a poor and begging mentality in people, leading to the failure and weakness of a people that before colonization was to be admired, leading in this way my Latin American pagan belief of the superiority of nature above all, to a misanthropic concept, thus focusing, sadness and hatred of humanity as a species, which is reflected in my lyrics. - Do fans in places like Peru and Ecuador understand your lyrics? The history of the Latin American people has been very similar, our Peruvian and Ecuadorian brothers in my concept should also feel identified with this type of lyrics, I personally feel a lot of admiration for the metal scene of these countries

and one of my dreams is to present myself live in these countries. - Why do you choose to create Raw Black Metal instead of Black Folk? Evan Zagam: One of the greatest convictions that I have as a musician is that few or many who listen to us actually connect with the ideology of the band through not only the lyrics but also the expressiveness of their rhythms. Raw Black Metal in my perception has that power, the power of forcefulness, radicalism and in a certain way it is an expression of war and hatred typical of all the history that we have behind us. Can Colombia ever take Norway’s crown? Hehehe, it’s not a beauty contest, in my opinion the fame that Norwegian Black Metal has is not going to change and it shouldn’t, their music is so good and they also have their own history, now the Colombian Black Metal and even Latin American BM has not been able to have the same world exposure that the Norwegian has had, I am sure of the great musical level that exists in my country and that any Metalhead in any part of the world would appreciate it very much, in that way we need to export our art. - How much respect do local Black Metal bands get in Colombia? Do you get played on the radio? Little compared to what it should be, in a medium such as

radio or television Metal is not commonly promoted, our scene is essentially underground, we rely mainly on online radio stations or virtual magazines. - Have you played live outside of Colombia? How were you received? Although our main reproductions on virtual platforms are concentrated in countries outside of Colombia and we even have physical material in discotheques in various countries such as Japan, Russia, Norway, Estonia, the United States ... We have not yet been able to make live presentations outside of Colombia but we look forward to them because live is where the public can connect much more with the energy of the band. - What can fans expect from your new album? Of our next album with Insan we have already composed 8 songs, we are in the process of recording and these have a much higher musical level than our previous work, with much more lyrical force but continuing with the lyrical radicalism that characterizes us. - Do you have a message for our readers? Take the risk to listen to the Colombian metal to know the whole background of a Colombian musician to compose to fight for an ideal that in our country is not an economic option for life, but is an option that feeds the soul. Thank you for your time. Best Regards.

Combat Noise - Death Metal from Cuba

Interview with Juan Carlos Torrente

Interview by Andrew Stanton

Hello and welcome to Inside the Darkness. - Can you tell our readers a bit about your history, please? We are COMBAT NOISE a Death Metal band from La Habana, C u b a , s i n c e 1 9 9 5 . Here is a paradise to Salsa music and Reguetón, not for Metal. Even now, cuban society despise Metal people with the same strength that in the last decades. Is very difficult to find strings, cymbals, amplifiers, distortions, etc.

to make Metal or Rock. There’s no stores to buy metal t-shirts or CDs and in the black market are expensive… but we prevail. That’s one of many reasons

LEVOLENT CREATION, SLAYER, etc. Lyrics… BOLT THROWER - What is the Cuban Metal scene like? In the nineties, and first decade of the 21 century… the Cuban Extreme Metal scene was amazing. Many good bands like SECTARIUM, MEDIUM, NECROFAGO, MEPHISTO, JEFFREY DAHMER, UNLIGHT DOMAIN, ANCESTOR, SUFFERING TOOL, BLINDER, etc. fanzines like DEATH THROUGH YOUR VEINS, BOOK OF CONDOLENCE, FUERZA DE VOLUNTAD,

, h s a r h T : and b l a t er… e w M o a P , e k m a o M , Do s! k y c a a l w B o , m h Deat e and other E No Cor we can say, we are in the preference of the cuban headbanguers! What bands influence you? The music and attitude on a stage of CANNIBAL CORPSE, VADER, MA-

CANNIBAL, INSTINTO BÁSICO, SUFFERING, SCRIPTORIUM, TURBULENCE, INSANEDRAC, SPIRITUS BLOODY SPIRITUS, etc. many festivals and a lot of real Metal audience. Now, before de Covid 19 I mean, in a decline path. Just a few new extreme bands and no so many veterans like us. - What are your lyrics about? World War II, Vietnam’s war, Iraq and Afghanistan, etc. combat’s actions, the soldier’s valor, the final destruction… - How can you write songs about war for so long? I read so much about history. Enjoy films, documentaries and books about belic confrontations. Is a contradiction, because like a normal people, in real life I hate war, hahaha!!! We just show with our music and lyrics the horrors of war, nothing more. - Why do you choose to sing in English? Is simple. My favorite bands sing in English. From Sweden, Brazil, US,

Poland, Germany, Mexico, - What Cuban bands our readEngland, Cuba… I learned should English translating Met- ers check out? al lyrics to Spanish. I have FROM THE GRAVES, SKJUthe same reasons of MER- NARBELETH, LT, JEFFREY DAHMER, HELGRIND, M.O.S.S. (Methods of Self Satisfaction), INFECTOR… - Will you tour outside of Cuba? No. We live in an island, and a normal cuban citizen cannot pay the flying tickets. Those are very expensive for everybody here. - Do you have a message for our readers? Never give up, never surrender and make a Metal band: Thrash, Death, Black, Doom, Power… No Core and other Emo ways! Thank you for your time.

CYFUL FATE, SODOM, SEPULTURA, DISMEMBER or AVULSED. But any language could be fine, I think. - What will your new album be like? Faster and heavier than the others. 51

Latest releases

Butterfly Temple Pagan/Doom Metal band from Russia released the eleventh Fulllength album Волчье солнце on December 1, 2020. The eleventh studio work of the group incorporated all the best that has been over the years. The album is dedicated to the Wolf in human guise and the Man in wolf. Who is the son of man, and who is the

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beast, decide the listener. But the sun shines for all, and the moon illuminates the path of the chosen! Lineup Mikhail Shmatko - Guitars Aven - Keyboards Alexey Sporyshev - Drums Valery Ostrikov - Guitars Viktor Pryazhnov - Bass Andrey Matyushenko - Vocals

Tracklist: 1. Интро 2. Мести бремя 3. Помнишь рассвет 4. Веков седая пыль 5. Волчье солнце 6. Маятник дней 7. Горькой полыни вино 8. Солнце за холмами 9. Открытая дверь 10. Гром 11. Купалинка 12. Своя земля

Profanity Brutal Technical Death Metal band from Germany released the fourth Full-length album Fragments of Solace on December 4, 2020. Profanity are returning with a new full-length:“Fragments of Solace”. Profanity is an underground band that enjoys sharing the spirit of the underground with other bands and friends around the world. Over the years, the band has played a lot of shows with great bands like Suffocation, Cannibal Corpse, Sinister, Vader, Cryptopsy, Misery Index, Necrophagist, Broken Hope, Defeated Sanity and many more and festivals like FTC, PartySan, MOD, Obscene Extreme, M a r y l a n d

Deathfest, Netherlands Deathfest, Stonehenge, In Flammen open air, Deathfeast open air etc. Tracklist 1. Disputed Territory 2. Progenitor of the Blaze 3. Reckless Souls 4. Where Forever Starts 5. Towards the Sun

6. Ceremony of the Rotten 7. The Autopsy

Lineup Thomas Sartor - Guitars, Vocals Armin Hassmann - Drums Lukas Haidinger - Bass, Vocals Additional guest appearances by: Terrance Hobbs (Suffocation) - guitar solo in “Ceremony of the Rotten Flesh” Matt Sotelo (Decrepit Birth) - guitar solo in “Towards the Sun” Dave Suzuki (Churchburn) - guitar solo in “Disputed Territory” Dimitry Orlov (Fetal Decay) - vocals in “Towards The Sun” Martl Bauer (Profanity) - bass in “Where Forever Starts”

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Latest releases

Depravity Death Metal band from Australia released the second Full-length album Grand Malevolence on December 4, 2020. Grand Malevolence is 11 quick, to the point, hard hitting death metal songs. If you need a full idea of what this band has to offer, jump into «Trophies of Inhumanity». Between the riffs and solos, Louis Rando’s consistent blasts throughout, and Ainsley Watkins

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rumbling baselines in the back, this is the perfect formula for a Depravity song. On top of all of this, Kay’s commanding vocal prowess and a catchy, almost sing along style chorus lays overtop. Lineup Ainsley Watkins - Bass Louis Rando - Drums Lynton Cessford Guitars Jarrod Curley - Guitars Jamie Kay - Vocals

Tracklist 1. Indulging Psychotic Thoughts 2. Grand Malevolence 3. Invalid Majesty 4. Cantankerous Butcher 5. Trophies of Inhumanity 6. Castrate the Perpetrators 7. The Coming of the Hammering 8. Barbaric Eternity 9. Hallucination Aflame 10. Epitome of Extinction 11. Ghosts in the Void

Valravn Black Metal band from Finland released the first Full-length album Prey on December 4, 2020. Valravn truly sound like a band, as in four individuals playing together in the same room rather than the usual copy/paste practices used by so many studio-only «bands.» This very tangible physicality bleeds over into the overall emotion of Prey, whereby the listener can literally FEEL every note...and every note is vital, virile, vivid. Of course, Valravn are a black metal band, and black metal by definition is monochromatic, but that vividness is writ large across

the album’s eight central tracks, each one as cutting ‘n’ concise as the next. As such, Prey feels a lot larger than it should, for the band pack in an almost-cresting sense of the epic into these tight ‘n’ taut tracks.

the Fire 6. Illustratum 7. Enchained 8. Treachery 9. The Raven 10. Outro Lineup H. Partinen - Bass A. Olkkola - Drums B. Carey - Guitars Alarik - Guitars, Vocals

Tracklist 1. Awaken 2. Throne of Blood 3. Void 4. Conjuration 5. Evoke

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Latest releases

Abigor Black Metal band from Austria released the twelfth Full-length album Totschläger (A Saintslayer’s Songbook) on December 8, 2020. The atmosphere captured on this new release has also opened up from the strictly apocalyptic darkness which contemporary Black Metal more and more embodies almost exclusively, to let those 1980s Metal influences in which have almost been buried in the 90s - be it the the melodic

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guitarwork or the uplifting, „into the battle“ kind of parts, which were always present in the old days. Therefore, the whole broad spectrum which 90s BM once offered, has been resurrected for „Totschläger“. Riff-based heaviness like the opener Gomhorra Rising (the verses composed as a bow to Euronymous´ eternal regency for such style), slow melancholic hymns like Guiding The Namelss, or ultra-fast devastation like Terrorkommando Eligos - a song which puts every self-

declared Panzerführer right into primary school. Tracklist 1. Gomorrha Rising - Nightside Rebellion 2. Silent Towers, Screaming Tombs 3. Orkblut (Sieg oder Tod) 4. The Saint of Murder 5. Scarlet Suite for the Devil 6. La Plus Longue Nuit Du Diable Guiding the Nameless 7. Tartaros Tides 8. Flood of Wrath 9. Terrorkommando Eligos Lineup P.K. - Guitars, Bass T.T. - Guitars, Drums, Bass Silenius - Vocals

Horna Black Metal band from Lineup Finland released the tenth Shatraug Guitars, Full-length album Kuoleman Songwriting, Lyrics kirjo on December 11, 2020. Infection Horna’s vision of Guitars, Songwriting unapologetic BLACK Spellgoth - Vocals METAL is proud and pure, LRH - Drums and played with an intensity VnoM - Bass and finesse that’s familiar yet unique. The past is alive because the present is dead; there is no future. Horna thus continue to stand immortal, and Kuoleman Kirjo is the only firmament on the foreseeable horizon.

Tracklist 1. Saatanan viha 2. Elegia 3. Uneton 4. Sydänkuoro 5. Elävänä, kuolleena 6. Kärsimysten katedraali 7. Haudattujen tähtien yönä 8. Rakas kuu 9. Unohtumaton 10. Mustat vuodet 11. Pyhä kuolema 12. Veriuhri 13. Ota minut vastaan

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Latest releases

Heads for the Dead International Death Metal band (Sweden/Germany/ Netherlands) released the second Full-length album Into the Red on December 11, 2020. Death metal supergroup Heads For The Dead dropped a stunner of an album in ‘Serpent’s Curse’ which sent shockwaves through the underground. The band’s masterful blending of classic death metal with horror-inspired elements set them apart from the standard revivalist bands. The combination of Jonny Pettersson (Wombbath, Gods Forsaken, Henry Kane) behind the music and Ralf Hauber (Revel In Flesh)

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on vocals proved to be extremely effective and both of them put in their experience of decades to create something marvellous. ‘Into the Red’ sees them take things to a different level and also recruiting the services of the legendary drummer Ed Warbie, known for his work in bands like Gorefest and Hail of Bullets, renders their sound flawless. They’ve honed it to make it more cohesive, the horror influence now being an intrinsic part of the music, and there’s undeniable growth in the songwriting that

makes them step out of the shadow of the old school death metal peers to carve an identity of their own. Tracklist 1. Into the Red 2. The Coffin Scratcher 3. At the Dead of Night 4. Horror Injection 5. The Seance 6. Night Ripping Terror 7. The Midnight Resistance 8. Multi Morbid Maniac 9. The Revenant 10. The Prophecy Fulfilled 11. Transilvanian Hunger 12. Creatures of the Monolith Lineup Jonny Pettersson - Guitars, Bass, Keyboards, FX Ralf Hauber - Vocals Ed Warbie - Drums

Fortíð Viking/Black Metal band from Iceland released the sixth Full-length album World Serpent on December 11, 2020. With this dark and deadly duology, mastermind Einar Eldur Thorberg delivers an album of two parts: The first five tracks were recorded with the former Norwegian line-up. The other songs are a creation of the multiinstrumentalist after changing his residence back to Iceland and enlisting the support of drummer Kristján Einar Guðmundsson (KONTINUUM) with whom he had previously collaborated in the native cult act POTENTIAM. «World Serpent» is loosely based on a unifying apocalyptic theme, but also a beast of two faces. The first half witnesses FORTIÐ

subtly experimenting with influences of Bay Area Thrash, while the second half returns to a more Black Metal approach with screams and clean vocals. Although both parts have diverging musical visions and even different line-ups, they complement each other rather than constitute two separate entities.

Tracklist 1. AI 2020 2. The True Awakening 3. Controlled Patterned Mental Process 4. Insignificant Is the Wormking’s Throne 5. Suppressed Opposition 6. Son of a Barren Land 7. Pandemic 8. Beyond the Grips of Odium 9. Perfect Annihilation 10. Last Line of Defence

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Latest releases

Heiinghund Atmospheric Black Metal band from Norway released the third Full-length album Urðrs brønn on December 12, 2020. Heiinghund played together with Ildjarn, Nidhogg and Tvigygre in the now famous Folkloric necro metal. After many years he resurfaced and has now released his 3rd full length album Urðrs brønn. According to Heiinghund this is a concept album dealing with the past, present

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and future. Both as ethereal entities and physical dimensions. Heiinghund uses the Norse legends as a mythological language in his expression. Pair this with raw oldschool blackmetal and the scene is set for a musical journeythrough the cold barren landscape of Heiinghund demented universe. Lineup Heiinghund - All instruments

Tracklist: 1. Nornene 2. Fafnir 3. Jarngygri 4. Urðr 5. Balder og Odin 6. Dvergfylgje 7. Verdande 8. Hatets kalde klinge 9. Kraakevisa 10. Fjellets klagesang 11. Hatets borg 12. Eg ska drepa deg 13. Blod ild sverd 14. Skuld saga 15. Vinterland 16. Født av alder 17. Runuheita 18. Fryktens skapning 19. Innerst i sinnet/Outro

Wombbath Death Metal band from Sweden released the fifth Full-length album Tales of Madness on December 18, 2020. Wombbath become a force to be reckoned with especially in recent years, after carving a reputation for themselves in the underground especially with their ‘Internal Caustic Torments’ full length in the early ‘90s. Since then they’ve released three more full lengths, each one better received than the last. This here is a release that includes completely rerecorded songs from their early

years as well as brand new material representing the band’s current sound. The songs have been mastered in a way that there’s no difference in sound quality all through and plays almost as a whole new album. It’s fascinating to mark the progress of the band over the course of three decades and this release is a testament to the timeless quality of their brand of hard-hitting and memorable Swedish death metal.

Lineup Håkan Stuvemark Guitars, Vocals Jonny Pettersson Vocals, Guitars Jon Rudin - Drums Thomas von Wachenfeldt - Guitars Matt Davidson - Bass Tracklist 1. Tales from the Dark Side 2. Brutal Mights 3. Unholy Madness 4. The Grave 5. Lavatory Suicide Remains 6. Save Your Last Breath to Scream 7. Tales of Madness 8. The Fleshly Existence of Man

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Latest releases

Batushka Black Metal band from Poland released the live album Черная Литургия/ Black Liturgy on December 24, 2020. Batushka / Батюшка returns with their very first live record! On the October night of Samhain, the band presented an atmospheric live stream prepared for the Colombian Festival Rock al Parque - one of the largest music festivals in South America. The broadcast itself took place in the form of a freely available

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stream. After its success, the band decided to release the recorded performance entitled: «Черная Литургия/Black Liturgy - A Monastic Live». With additional four songs (11 total+intro) and over 70 minutes of runtime, this live record is your only chance to experience the atmosphere of Batushka’s performance in the comfort of your own home. And as live shows are being postponed every day due to the global pandemic, you can now enjoy Batushka’s music in a new and exciting way.

Tracklist 1. Знаменный Распев / Znamiennyj Raspiew 2. Ирмос I / Irmos I 3. Ирмос II / Irmos II 4. Ирмос III / Irmos III 5. Ирмос IV / Irmos IV 6. Ирмос V / Irmos V 7. Утреня / Utrenia 8. Первый Час / Pierwyj Czas 9. Третий Час / Tretij Czas 10. Вечерня / Wieczernia 11. Повечерье / Powieczerje 12. Литургия / Liturgiya

Empyrean Fire Symphonic Black Metal band from United States released the Full-length album Deliverance on December 26, 2020. From the alluring forests of the Pacific Northwest comes Portland’s only active symphonic black metal band, Empyrean Fire. Drawing influence from both modern black metal as well as classic Scandinavian bands, Empyrean Fire has manifested a lush symphonic opus with the shadow of the cascadian sound not far behind... The concept behind «Deliverance»

was ruminated upon for years by front woman, Tricia Myers, after reading Milton’s «Paradise Lost» and «Paradise Regained.» Deliverance is a sinister take on Milton’s work, reshaping it with harrowing twists and malevolent revelations, each chapter a battle in the dragon’s ascent to gain command over Hell on Earth. Will you bow down in battle, sunken before the spear? For fans of Immortal, Dimmu Borgir, Emperor.

Tracklist 1. Proclamation 2. Gathering Storm 3. Descent 4. Perdition 5. Corruption 6. The Siege 7. Final Battle Lineup Tricia Myers - Vocals, Lyrics Jason Yorke - Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Programming Brian Rush - Vocals, Synths

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Latest releases

Arawn Melodic Death Metal band from Czechia released the second Fulllength album Odkazy doby on December 24, 2020. According to mythology, the name of the band is given by the strict, but at the same time uncompromising and at the same time fair Welsh god of the underworld ARAWN. Zakk - guitar / scream (ex-Audiens, ex-Imperium, ex-Sixth Dimension ex-Final

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Pain), Viking - drums (exPsychotherapy, ex-Self Sacrifice), Jirka - growl / scream (ex-Furt2n, ex- Fetus in fetu) and Hroch - bass (exFinal Pain) met and formed only a momentary project at the beginning, but later they became a regular band. Lineup Tomáš Vančura - Bass Vikingpj - Drums Zakk - Guitars, Vocals Jirka Suk - Vocals

Tracklist: 1. Z/N/P 2. Mozkomor 3. Jáchymov 4. Nemyslí, zaplatí 5. Pohan 6. Hlasy z Tartaru 7. Ragnarok 8. Dívej, venku už svítá 9. Křížů

Fiur Melodic Black Metal band from Germany released the second Full-length album Verse on December 31, 2020. FIUR is a musical journey that leads you away from civilisation into thick woods, gloomy valleys and barren mountains. The powers of nature and its beauty are ever-present in the atmosphere and melodies of FIUR’s interpretation of melodic black metal. The date was deliberately chosen as a symbolic mark to leave this year with a fine dose of escapist, melodic blackened metal. Embark on a journey to wild lands, far from man, civilization and its diseases.

Lyrically, this album is a tribute to German-Austrian nature romantic poetry of the 19th / early 20th century. «Verse» (=verses) includes poems by Emmi Lewald, Leo Greiner, Emanuel von Bodman, Anastasius Grün and Adelbert von Chamisso. Tracklist 1. Bergesklang 2. Von Fels, Wald und Sturm 3. Der Friedhof im Gebirge 4. In kaltem Stein 5. Untergang 6. Seelenflug

Lineup Tobias Jäpel - Everything

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Latest releases

Gates of Doom Epic Death/Black Metal band from Italy released the first Full-length album Aquileia Mater Aeterna on January 6, 2021. Aquileia Mater Aeterna is a concept album focused on the friulian city of Aquileia, from its foundation by the Romans in 181 B.C. to its destruction in 452 A.D. at the hands of Attila, king of the Huns. Historically, the city has been a crossroads of peoples and cultures crucial for the birth of the bandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s homeland

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FriĂťl and its identity. Lineup Manuel Scapinello - Guitars Stefano Declich - Vocals Giulia Zuliani - Drums Luca Franzin - Bass Francesco Nobile - Guitars

Tracklist 1. Sulcus Primigenius / Under the Sign of the Eagle 2. Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum 3. I, the Eagle, the Strength, the Power 4. The Galenus Plague 5. Under a Treacherous Domain 6. Attila Flagellum Dei 7. Aquileia Mater Aeterna

Frozen Soul Death Metal band from United States released the first Fulllength album Crypt of Ice on January 8, 2021. Dallas Texas’ FROZEN SOUL lives up to their name as the sound of death metal at its most cold and classic. Riff after slow, grinding riff, there’s no mistaking the themes of isolation and suffering that permeate the quintet’s massive sonic missives. From the first note of their Century Media debut, Crypt of Ice, it’s like the march of Game of Thrones’ Night King put to sound: nothing subtle about it at all. “The feeling I’m getting from playing in FROZEN SOUL is powerful in a way I wasn’t getting from other bands I’ve played in before», says frontman

Chad Green. “The sound. The lyrics. Even the logo itself has a harshness to it that just feels powerful and cold. Add to that the depression of dealing with real life and the venomous people that can inhabit it and the vibe of the band just makes sense.” Lineup Samantha Mobley - Bass Michael Munday - Guitars Chad Green - Vocals Matt Dennard - Drums Chris Bonner - Guitars

Tracklist 1. Crypt of Ice 2. Arctic Stranglehold 3. Hand of Vengeance 4. Wraith of Death 5. Merciless 6. Encased in Ice 7. Beat to Dust 8. Twist the Knife 9. Faceless Enemy 10. Gravedigger

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Latest releases

Alkonost Folk/Pagan/Doom/Black Metal band from Russia released the thirteenth Fulllength album Ведомые ветром / Guided by the wind on January 21, 2021. In Slavic mythology, Alkonost (Алконост) is the goddess of the land of the dead. She is pictured as halfwoman/half-bird.»Guided by the wind» is about those who dared to trust the wind, believing in its secret power the magic spilled in the air. About those who know firsthand what is the

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power of the word and what is the word of power. The new album will tell you how the wind fills the sail of a misguided ship and leads him out of the fog to the saving light of a lighthouse. And how a word can lead and change the fate of a person, igniting the flames of the heart the way the wind blows the fire. And also about what happens if you don’t listen to the wise words and go against the wind. For example, if you swim across the river after sunset on the eve of a Long Night, neglect the seer’s advice or offend those who are protected by a spell.

Tracklist 1. Интро (Гимн Ветру) 2. Там, где живут ветра 3. Лента на ветру 4. Долгая ночь 5. Парус 6. Воин слова 7. Ведьма (Ворония cover) 8. Пророчество 9. Песня силы 10. Bird Lineup Andrey Losev - Guitar Ksenia Pobuzhanskaya - Vocals Rustem Shagitov - Bass, Guitars

Endezzma Black Metal band from Norway released the third Full-length album The Archer, Fjord and the Thunder on January 22, 2021. With a massive, grandiose but also a very raw sound, the Norwegian black metal band Endezzma returns with their third album entitled “The Archer, Fjord and the Thunder”. Recorded in Vika Studio and Malpherno Studio in Norway, the album was mixed and masted by Tore Stjerna at Necromorbus Studio in Stockholm. With “The Archer, Fjord and the Thunder”, Endezzma takes a huge step forward in songwriting. Mixing the raw grimness

of the early days of black metal with the epic grandeur of later bands, the album bridges the gap between the dark anthem and primitive aggression. Tracklist 1. The Awakening 2. The Name of the Night is a Strong Tower 3. Anomalious Abomination 4. The Archer, Fjord and the Thunder 5. Formless and Void 6. Garden ov Heathen

7. Wild Gloriour Death 8. Open Your Eyes and Stab the Sight 9. Arrows of Equilibrium 10. Closure Lineup Morten Shax - vocals Malphas - guitars Nihil - guitars Aske - bass Skriu - drums

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Latest releases

Asphyx Death Metal band from Netherlands released the tenth Full-length album Necroceros on January 22, 2021. The legendary Dutch Death Elite ASPHYX finally return with their new, 10th full studio album release. The human race is doomed and only death is real. 2020 was that kind of year. And now, to noisily emphasise that oblivion is definitely coming, the mighty ASPHYX

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are back with a brand new album and another blizzard of mortality-threatening riffs. Deafening proof that the last 12 months have conjured a few positive results along the way, Necroceros is a murderous masterpiece for the never-ending age of death. Still heavier than just about everything else, ASPHYX will be first to the frontline of live performance when all this madness is over. After all, death comes to us all in the end.

Tracklist 1. The Sole Cure Is Death 2. Molten Black Earth 3. Mount Skull 4. Knights Templar Stand 5. Three Years of Famine 6. Botox Implosion 7. In Blazing Oceans 8. The Nameless Elite 9. Yield or Die 10. Necroceros

Nervosa Thrash Metal band from Brazil released the fourth Full-length album Perpetual Chaos on January 22, 2021. Thrash metal powerhouse Nervosa attacks with inexorable full femme power, leaving the world in «Perpetual Chaos». The newly staffed quartet showcases their ability for impetuously feral, pungently sharp riffs and aggressive vocals on 13 massive tracks. The new line up – featuring founding guitarist Prika Amaral and talented new members Diva Satanica on vocals, Mia Wallace on bass and Eleni Nota on drums – delivers a massive punch of thrash spliced with remarkable death m e t a l

assaults. The powerful new formation of NERVOSA adds a contemporary touch to this already thrashing institution of metal. A tremendous outcome awaits with brawl-brushed guitar lines, blisteringly fast drums and critical lyricism - striking the listener in a way only NERVOSA could. Viva «Perpetual Chaos»! Tracklist 1. Venomous 2. Guided by Evil 3. People of the Abyss 4. Perpetual Chaos 5. Until the Very End

6. Genocidal Command 7. Kings of Domination 8. Time to Fight 9. Godless Prisoner 10. Blood Eagle 11. Rebel Soul 12. Pursued by Judgement 13. Under Ruins Lineup Prika Amaral - Guitars Mia Wallace - Bass Eleni Nota - Drums Diva Satanica - Vocals

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Latest releases

Hell-Born Black/Death/Thrash Metal band from Poland released the sixth Full-length album Natas Liah on January 26, 2021. Hell-Born returns 12 years after their last album. The band was started in 1996 by Behemoth cofounder Baal and Les, also a former Behemoth musician as well as a member of Damnation. There are IX songs on «Natas Liah»

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- old school, black death metal with a bit of melodies typical for the group. The band confirms that it is by far definitely the best album in their career. For fans of: Venom, Vader, Behemoth, Sodom. Lineup Baal Ravenlock Bass, Vocals Les - Guitars Diabolizer - Drums

Tracklist 1. When You Are God 2. Axis of Decay 3. Ye Olde Woods Devil 4. Uroboros 5. The Butcher 6. Son of Earth 7. In God’s Death 8. Soulrape 9. Blakk Metal

Hån Black Metal band from Switzerland released the second Full-length album Breathing the Void on January 29, 2021. Hån (Norwegian for «scorn») from Switzerland play mostly fast-paced, traditional Black Metal with a melodic edge, reminiscent of the classic Finnish style. The band was founded in 2009 and has ever since been active, on-stage - supporting numerous big Black Metal acts all across Europe - and off, even though «Breathing the Void» is only their second album after the well-acclaimed 2016 d e b u t

«Facilis Descensus Averni». The new album continues where the debut left off - with raw, yet melodic and sometimes atmospheric blasphemy that is recommended for fans of bands like Sargeist, Satanic Warmaster, Baptism or Drowning the Light.

Souls 9. Salvation Line-up: Gnist - Vocals Lodur - Guitar Kryptos – Guitar Jehoruan – Bass Grevling – Drums

Tracklist 1. Intro 2. Breathing The Void 3. Olethrus 4. Enter An E t e r n a l World 5. Goatman 6. Asterion 7. Dissent 8. Lost

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Latest releases

Saħħar Black Metal band from Malta released the sixth Full-length album Tiġrif talĠnus (Civilisation Collapse) on December 4, 2020. Born in 2006, Saħħar is the brainchild of Marton Saliba, in a mission to create the harshest sounds in Malta. The band’s themes lie in death, the occult and the impending doom of mankind. The darkness that enfolds human civilization, causing it’s collapsed, is distilled into several anecdotes of which this album exhibits. From the Nanjing Massacre to the Armenian Genocide, mankind certainly does not leave listeners short of brutal stories to recount. Tracklist 1.Nilqgħu... 2. Nirien ta’ Smirna 3. Elf Qurriegħa għal-Elf Mejjet f’Mitt Qamar 4. It-Tweġiba 5. Għadam bla għadd fl-Ilvant tal-Adrijatiku 6. Belt Stuprata 7. Agent Orange (Sodom Cover)

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Serpents Oath Black Metal band from Belgium released the first Full-length album Nihil on December 4, 2020. Serpents Oath is a new creature comprised of three Belgian scene’s adepts. Their rebellious debut album ‘Nihil’ is set to take the world by storm with its relentless and unforgiving version of nihilistic black metal. Tracklist 1. Vox Mortis 2. Speaking in Tongues 3. Leviathan Speaks 4. Thrice Cursed 5. Malediction 6. Serpents of Eight 7. Bestia Resurrectus 8. Into the Abyss 9. Mephisto 10. The Beast Reborn 11. The Swords of Night and Day 12. Beyond the Gates Lineup Daenum - Guitars Tes Re Oth - Vocals Draghul - Drums

Goat Fetus Symphonic Black Metal band from Canada released the first Full-length album Origins of Evil on December 4, 2020. Goat Fetus is a one-man Black Metal band from Regina, Canada formed in September 2020. Goat Fetus is about exploring and embracing the dark aspects that dwell within us all. Atmospheric black metal guided by chaos and darkness. Tracklist 1. Taste of the Forbidden 2. Tales from the Shadows 3. Aura of Evil 4. Horror from the Deep 5. Until Death 6. The Light Within 7. On the Shoulders of Giants 8. Midnight Rituals Lineup Sean Batty - Guitars, Vocals

Rex Demonus Melodic Black Metal band from Sweden released the first Full-length album Damnatio on December 4, 2020. Melodic black metal by Håkan Stuvemark (Wombbath) featuring Lerta Palmqvist (Scar Symmetry), Jon Skäre (Defiatory), Thomas Clifford (Abscession) and guest vocals by Rick Altzi (MasterPlan). Tracklist 1. Damnatio 2. De Prod.itione 3. Ecstinctio 4. Ego Autem 5. Ex Tormentum Natus 6. Har Megiddo 7. Peccatum Aeterna 8. Rex Autem Infirma 9. Tenetur Et Relicta Lineup Lars Palmqvist - Guitars Thomas Clifford - Vocals Jon Skäre - Drums Håkan Stuvemark - Guitars

Feminazgûl Atmospheric Black Metal band from United States released the first Full-length album No Dawn for Men on December 11, 2020 (vinyl and Cassette). The name Feminazgûl is an ironic mix between the word «feminazi», a derogatory term used for feminists considered too strict generally used by conservatives (the band is openly feminist), and the word «nazgul», which is an imaginary creature from the Lord of Rings Saga, known to be very influential on epic/atmospheric black metal. Tracklist 1. Illa, Mother of Death 2. I Pity the Immortal 3. The Rot in the Field Is Holy 4. Bury the Antlers With the Stag 5. Forgiver, I Am Not Yours 6. Look Not to Erebor Lineup Margaret Killjoy - Guitars, Bass, Drums, Keyboards, Piano, Accordion, Dane axe, Vocals (backing) Laura Beach - Vocals (lead)

Deeds of Flesh Technical/Brutal Death Metal band from United States released the ninth Full-length album Nucleus on December 11, 2020. NUCLEUS is the culmination of years of collaboration and is the final instalment of the Trilogy that began with the ferocity in ‘Of What’s To Come’, followed by the stellar ‘Portals To Cannan’ and is concluded with the definitive ‘Nucleus’. Recorded with the stellar line up of Jacoby Kingston, Erik Lindmark, Craig Peters, Ivan Munguia, Darren Cesca & Mikey Hamilton, NUCLEUS also features a myriad of guest vocalists. This album an instant classic in the genre and has delivered a result beyond all expectations. Tracklist 1. Odyssey 2. Alyen Scourge 3. Ascension Vortex 4. Catacombs of the Monolith 5. Ethereal Ancestors 6. Nucleus 7. Races Conjoined 8. Terror 9. Onward Lineup Darren Cesca - Drums Jacoby Kingston - Vocals, Lyrics Craig Peters - Guitars, Programming (orchestra), Songwriting Ivan Munguia Bass, Songwriting

Latest releases

Skinning Death Metal band from Portugal released the third Full-length album Homicidal Experimentations on December 15, 2020. Homicidal Experimentations is the third full-length from Portuguese death metallers Skinning, an album that sees the bloodthirsty trio keeping pace with their fast and aggressive roots while exploring new elements as they evolve as musicians. Homicidal Experimentations is filled with the bloodstained brutality of the 90s, delivering a coordinated portfolio of razor-sharp riffs, pounding drums, and a diverse, powerful and well-produced sound. Tracklist 1.Homicidal Experimentations 2. Wrong Path 3. The Gravedigger 4. In Her Memory 5. Sadistic Butcher 6. The Demon 7. In the Hands of God 8. Destroyer of Existence 9. Blood Will Be Dropped

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Svor Depressive Black Metal band from Slovakia released the first Fulllength album Suicide Is Contagious on December 11, 2020. Svor started in early 2016 but the first record was finished in November 2017. Svor is an obsolete term for scar. First full lenght concept album about the spiritual suicide which spreads like a contagion in an ill society and leaves no one immune. Tracklist 1. Úzkostné stavy 2. Neodvratný pád 3. Prebdená noc 4. Chladný ako sám život 5. Pohreb snov 6. Cesta seba-deštrukcie 7. Samovražda je nákazlivá 8. A ostala len temnota Lineup EF - vocals, all instruments, mix and design Graf Von Baphomet - guest vocals on track 5 EM - guitar smash on track 7 Fixo - voice sample on track 7

Dormanth Melodic Doom/Death Metal band from Spain released the fourth Fulllength album Complete Downfall on December 15, 2020. Complete Downfall - the new album from by one of Spain’s pioneer Melodic Death Metal bands with influences from bands like PARADISE LOST, DARK TRANQUILLITY, AMORPHIS, INSOMNIUM... Tracklst 1. Dreamcatcher 2. Fire 3. Tragicomic Day 4. Beyond the Gates 5. Odyssey in Time 6. The Origin 7. Dark Times for the God’s Creation 8. -273° K 9. Brainstorm 10. Crystal Bone 11. Bloody Scars Lineup Javi Martínez - Drums Óscar Del Val - Guitars, Bass, Vocals Isma Fernández - Bass Miguel Angel Richart Jiménez - Guitar

Funeralis Black Metal band from Chile released the second Full-length album Gateways to Esoteric Light on December 15, 2020. The album is conceptually a continuation after «Lvminis Serpens Caeremonia». Here we can appreciate the revelation of the individual before the unknown, the sacrifice that must fall, rise and face and then be reborn with a new force. It is the courage of a spirit that separates what it is established from its values, an unwavering will for an inevitable awakening. A challenging vision accompanied by secrets. A second birth, the funeral of a life without life. A path never travelled before, going through the unknown pain of blindness. Tracklist 1. The Key of Salvation 2. From the Ashes the Phoenix Flames Rises 3. Esoteric 4. Campanis ov Liberatio 5. I Am 6. Through the Silence Mystery 7. Nigredo 8. Portal of Life & Death

Бѣсъ Black Metal band from Russia released the first Full-length album Кощунства (Blasphemies) on December 22, 2020. Word «бѣсъ» means «demon» in Slavic culture. May the Devil be great in the world and everywhere in this black day! May the Demons overwhelm your tongues and bodies!! May the Enemy rules, goy-kosch!!!

Dira Mortis Death Metal band from Poland released the third Full-length album Ancient Breath of Forgotten Misanthropy on December 25, 2020. Ancient Breath of Forgotten Misanthropy brings forth seven intense, massive and crushing Death Metal songs influenced by bands like Incantation, Immolation and Autopsy. Dira Mortis came into existence in 1998 in Gorlice, Poland, and continues to serve Tracklist a powerful dose of ominous cemetery 1. Исходъ (Exodus) stench Death Metal. 2. Коще Омракъ (The Murk of Tracklist Diablerie) 1. Legions Heading for 3. Пекло, Взыди! (Peklo, Ascent!) Eternity 4. Чърнобогъ (Black God) 2. Worshipping the Terror of 5. Лиху Слѧхъ (Song to Evil) Madness 6. Мара-Ма (Mara-Ma) 3. Sepulchlar Maniac 7. Шиликунъ (Shilikun) 4. Twilight of Divine 8. Христа Изъедоша (Gnawing the Purgatory? christ) 5. The Falling Majesty of 9. Царскаѧ Печать (Greater Seal) Abomination 10. Страхъ, Петлѧ и Ѧма (Fear, Rope 6. Forward to the Abyss of and Pot) Misanthropy 7. The Altars Fall Lineup Demetr - Everything Lineup Leszek Makowiecki - Guitars Mścisław - Bass, Guitars Vizun - Drums Kuba Brewczyński - Vocals

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Latest releases

Hierarchy Blackened Death Metal band from United States released the first Full-length album Hierarchy on January 1, 2021. Tracklist 1. Everything Burns (intro) 2. Light ov the Morning Star 3. The Spectacular Sin 4. Faithless 5. Ave Satanas 6. Death to the Vatican 7. Fire and Blood 8. Legion 9. Suicide Ceremony 10. Ravenous 11. From Aeons Came 12. Through the Fires of Moloch 13. Blessed Be the Fallen

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Aztlan Melodic Death/Folk Metal band from Mexico released the second Full-length album Legión Mexica on January 1, 2021. Aztlan formed in 2018. Their style is heavily influenced by Cenotaph and The Chasm, with a heavy use flamenco guitars and panpipes. Tracklist 1. Sangre por sangre 2. La raza 3. Raíces 4. Ritual 5. Legión mexica 6. Día de Muertos 7. Colibrí del sur 8. Tlalocan 9. Mictlán

Celestial Swarm Black/Death Metal band from Australia/France/United States released the first Fulllength album Gateways to the Necroverse on January 4, 2020. Tracklist 1. Gateways to the Necroverse 2. Forlorn Oblivion 3. Void Architects 4. Hammer of the Demiurge 5. Sentient Colony 6. Putrid Black Monolith 7. The Harvesters 8. I, Cataclysm Lineup Aaron Doust - Bass DM - Vocals William Wolfe - Guitars

Triumvirate Black Metal band from United States released the second Fulllength album From Beyond the Grave on January 5, 2020. Formed in 2018, Triumvirate is a Colorado-based solo metal project, combining various aspects of black, thrash, death, and groove metal. The sophomore album from Triumvirate. Written mostly in quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic. This album is more focused on groove and draws more of its influence from thrash metal. Tracklist 1. Anthropocene 2. Visions Under a Full Moon 3. Watch as You Die 4. Death of a Failing Empire 5. Spikes Driven Deep 6. Buried in the Dust 7. From Beyond the Grave 8. Department of Offense 9. And Darkness Draws Near... 10. God Is Dead or Doesn’t Care 11. End of the Line Lineup Chris Shoeman - Guitars, Bass, Vocals

Malakhim Black Metal band from Sweden released the first Full-length album Theion on January 8, 2021. Immediately and mesmerizingly sounding like the MALAKHIM of the past two short-lengths, Theion strikes with precision and purpose, clarity and crush. One could say, quite rightly, that the album is the pinnacle of orthodox black metal for the rest of the 2020s and leave it at that – and that one would be right. Yet, step deeper into Theion and find a majesticyet-malevolent melodicism that harkens back to the ancient days of No Fashion and Solistitium; just as equally, that melodicism twists in unexpected ways, exuding a modernity that’s palpable, palatable, and exceptionally multi-faceted. Tracklist 1. There Is a Beacon 2. Merciless Angel of Pestilence 3. Slither O Serpent 4. Chalice of Ruin 5. His Voiceless Whisper 6. Hammer of Satan 7. The Splendour of Stillborn Stars 8. Theion

Kultika Post Black Metal band from Romania released the second Fulllength album Capricorn Wolves on January 11, 2021. The band had to comment: This album refers to an existential question upon the reality we live in: what is real and what is simulation, what is tangible and what in eerie. “The time is measured only by the humans”, “the time does not exist” are collective conscience affirmations about measurements and reporting and it is extremely fascinating for us to understand this concept. Tracklist 1. Building Nothingness Inside Faith 2. Under the Hollow Sun 3. Capricorn Wolves 4. I Have Returned 5. A Fixed Reality for Prometheus’ Identity 6. Sounds of Everlasting Desire

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Latest releases

Funeral Tears Funeral Doom Metal band from Russia released the fifth Fulllength album The Last God on the Earth on January 13, 2021. Funeral Tears is a oneman band, starting out in 2007 in Tomsk, Russia. Tracklist 1. Your Lonelines 2. Life Amongst People 3. Tell Me My Name 4. I Found New Home 5. The Last God on the Earth Lineup Nikolay Seredov Everything

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Ajera Black Metal band from Norway released the first Full-length album In Momentum on January 15, 2021. Ajera - is a one-man Black Metal band formed in 2004. Tracklist 1. The First Page 2. Alpha Death Commandor 3. Abominable Funeral 4. Concrete Abyss 5. Humanity Downfall 6. Sacrifice Life, Abandon Light 7. In Momentum 8. The Last Page Lineup Argon Mox - Everything

Cthulhu Dreamt Progressive Death Metal band from United States released a concept Full-length album Cthulhu Dreamt on January 15, 2021. Between July and November of 2020, Reed, Jeremy, Jake, and Nate created Cthulhu Dreamt; a concept album combining cinematic orchestral and synth hybrid music with various genres of metal, including djent, doom, death, and prog. The concept follows the story from a ‘found’ journal about a scientist’s efforts to be reunited with their lost child through advances in science. Lineup Reed Reimer - Composer, Guitar, Lyrics, Vocals, Programming, Story, Producer Jeremy Myslinski - Composer, Guitar, Lyrics, Vocals Jake Myslinski - Composer, Guitar Nathan Berntson - Producer, Mix & Master Engineer, Guitar, Vocals Ben Larson - Story

Unbounded Terror Death Metal band from Spain released the compilation Infernal Judgment on January 19, 2021. Formed in 1990, Unbounded Terror is one of the most legendary bands within the Spanish Death Metal scene.

Urfeind Black Metal band from Germany released the EP Wraiþaz on January 21, 2021. Urfeind is an anticosmic Black Metal project from Germany with a strong devotion to the thursian path. The founder of the band is “Skadwaz” (vocalist, guitarist, bass player). Tracklist Apart from that there 1. Infernal Judgment is and will be no fixed 2. Dreamlord (2020 lineup or membership version) for the band. Every role 3. Fear (2020 version) in the band can change 4. Slaves of Sufferage or rotate. (2020 version) The name Urfeind is a 5. Sarcastic Souls (2020 german word and can version) be roughly translated 6. They Will Come from with Arch Enemy. It’s the Pain (live) a metaphor for the 7. Silent Soul (live) thurisan god Loki. 8. Hated in Hell (live) Urfeind is the militant, hard and deep religious answer of Thursian Lineup Black Metal. No robes, Vicente J. Payá - Guitars no roleplay. Andrew - Vocals/Bass Tracklist Portas - Drums 1. Nine to Zero Juan - Guitars 2. Void 3. Anthem of Decay 4. Inner Rampage

Grima Atmospheric Black Metal band from Russia released the fourth Full-length album Rotten Garden on January 22, 2021. Grima continues its atmospheric black metal path through the siberian wilderniss hailing Mother Nature and its Allmighty Spirit with their fourth album «Rotten Garden». Tracklist 1. Cedar and Owls 2. Mourning Comes at Sunset 3. At the Foot of the Red Mountains 4. Old Oak 5. Rotten Garden 6. Grom 7. Devotion to Lord 2020 Lineup Morbius - Guitars Vilhelm - Vocals, Guitars

Lineup H. - Bass N.K. - Drums Skadwaz - Guitars, Vocals

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Latest releases

Völniir Black Metal band from United Kingdom released the first Fulllength album All Hope Abandon on January 29, 2021. Tracklist 1. The Adamantine Gates 2. The Great Oppressor 3. Wolves Among the Dead 4. The Bottomless Hunger 5. A Sermon In Thunder 6. The Depths of Abjection 7. Malice and Lament 8. As Night Falls, Let Her Reign Begin Lineup Azrael - Drums S.V. - Guitars, Bass Tubal-Qayin - Vocals

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Escarion Death Metal band from Australia released the first Full-length album Pillars of the Faith on January 29, 2021. The album is based off the ‘Seven Deadly Sins’, taking that concept from Christianity and arguing that this notion is false and oppressive. The band states: “These are not ‘sins’, instead they are human nature. Yes, excess of any of these sins may be immoral and unethical however, that can be said of any action or emotion in excess. Greed outlines that this primitive desire of wanting more than the confines of our life circumstances, the power of greed to create ethical and sustainable change contrasted with the evil of excess greed, creating a system that is so inherently corrupt that it literally feeds off the blood of the people. It is ironic that possibly the only way to destroy this system of greed is a greedy lust for change within humanity, greed for more and for humanity to flourish so we may live our lives in harmony within ourselves and our communities.” Now it’s time for Greed!

Atra Vetosus Melodic Black Metal band from Australia released the EP Even the Dawn No Longer Brings Hope on January 29, 2021. The EP combines aspects of melodic, atmospheric, depressive and post black metal and serves as a sequel to 2018’s Apricity and bridges the gap between Apricity and the upcoming full length album. Even the Dawn No Longer Brings Hope is a clear and beautiful piece of musical art that interweaves lush, melancholic passages and sweeping, majestic soundscapes spread over 3 memorable and enthralling tracks. Tracklist 1. Azure; Frozen 2. Hallowed Sky 3. Silver Starfall

Starer Symphonic Black/Post Black Metal band from United States released the first Full-length album 18° Below the Horizon on January 29, 2021. Tracklist 1. First Morning Light 2. Dayspring 3. Son of the Fire 4. Umbra 5. Vessel 6. Uncovering Lineup Josh Hines - Everything

Human Serpent Black Metal band from Greece released the fourth Full-length album Heirlooms Eternal on January 30, 2021. This album is a battle against reality, a «reality» that if you dare cross it, loneliness, fear and anger will bind you... It is the most aggressive, soul-suffocating and mind-destructive Human Serpent album. Tracklist 1. A Thousand Limbos Mind 2. Maze Reminiscence 3. Fuck Normality 4. Heirlooms Eternal 5. Memories Are Rooms Pain 6. Vomiting the Herds 7. The Diffusion Chaos 8. Mirrors

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Lineup I. - Drums X. - Vocals, Guitars, Lyrics 23 - Bass

Anguis Dei Symphonic Black Metal band from Japan released the first Fulllength album Angeist on January 31, 2021. Anguis Dei represents the extremity of Hellish Orchestral Black Metal, based on Satanism, Demonology and the True Primordial Black Metal tradition. In MMXVII Anno Bastardi, the first EP “Ad Portas Serpentium” was unleashed, and finally in January MMXXI A. B., Anguis Dei released the first full-length entitled “Angeist”. Tracklist 1. Bortenfor Grensen 2. Through the Aperture of Time 3. Angela Krudeliis Ambitiosa Nokturniis 4. Angeist 5. The Darkenbound 6. L’autre Serpent 7. Separation of Æthyr 8. Wrestoration Lineup Adeptus Summum Algor - Drums Adeptus Juno Guitars, Keyboards Adeptus U.:È.:Œ.: Vocals Adeptus Hakuja - Bass

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Band Links https://www.facebook.com/SynastryMTL https://synastry.bandcamp.com https://www.instagram.com/synastry_mtl https://twitter.com/SYNASTRYMTL

We would like to tell you about musicians and bands not so well known around the world. This is the story of Synastry Industrial Death Metal band from Canada.

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Inspired to a certain point by melodic, futuristic death thrash, Synastry binds to these influences a threatening mid-paced groove, atmospheric textures, and the unmistakable gruff and mature vocals of James Aniston. Flanked by guitarist Paul Iverson and bassist Gary Vee, and backed up by the thunderous Kay Kessler, Synastry is a crushing wall of well thought out and meticulously written metal. Lyrics come from Aniston’s impression of the world and his experiences in it which are layered with the collaborative music that all band members contribute to. Started originally in the early 00s, the Montreal band took the underground scene by storm, they climbed the Myspace ranks, toured the regions, and released three albums, “Pallets Of My New World” (2006); Blind Eyes Bleed (2008). After relentless touring thru Canada, the band went dormant, where they remained until 2020. The socially conscious band awoke amidst the widespread uncertainty that swept the globe, with a mission to explore humanity, the singularity, and morality. Forged in the hotbed of metal that is Montreal, they are here to raise the temperature once again with the release of their new EP «Civilization’s Coma» on November 27th.

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Band Links https://www.fablefactory.org/cthulhu-dreamt https://fablefactory.bandcamp.com/album/cthulhu-dreamt

We would like to tell you about musicians and bands not so well known around the world. This is the story of Cthulhu Dreamt Progressive Death Metal band from United States.

Between July and November of 2020, Reed, Jeremy, Jake, and Nate created Cthulhu Dreamt; a concept album combining cinematic orchestral and synth hybrid music with various genres of metal, including djent, doom, death, and prog. The concept follows the story from a ‘found’ journal about a scientist’s efforts to be reunited with their lost child through advances in science. Beginning as a tribute to his late daughter, Reed created the acoustic track “A Thing With Wings” and quickly realized that the project was potentially going to be much bigger. Bringing in talented friends and creators, they began writing a project that will take the listener on a journey through the mind of a grieving parent and the process of their loss. Line up : Reed Reimer - Composer, Guitar, Lyrics, Vocals, Programming, Story, Producer Jeremy Myslinski - Composer, Guitar, Lyrics, Vocals Jake Myslinski - Composer, Guitar Nathan Berntson - Producer, Mix & Master Engineer, Guitar, Vocals Ben Larson - Story

Band Links https://www.facebook.com/coldraven666 https://coldraven.bandcamp.com https://www.instagram.com/cold.raven.official

We would like to tell you about musicians and bands not so well known around the world. This is the story of Cold Raven Black Metal band from Italy.

Cold Raven took form in 2013. From then on the first songs of a melodic yet obscure black metal were written. In December of the same year guitarist Vuall joins the band and they enter the studio at the end of May 2014. The first full length album, “Equilibrium & Chaos”, is recorded, mixed and mastered in three months. In December 2014 Cold Raven signed a deal with Sliptrick Records for the release and worldwide distribution of «Equilibrium And Chaos». In October 2016 Damien takes vocal duties instead of UrielRaka and in December they took part in the «Evil Over Europe» tour, supporting Belphegor, Possessed and Absu. After the tour Tenebrio joins Cold Raven as the new singer and the band started to write new material, something more mature and complex but still recognizable as the older songs. The second album «In Tenebris Silvam» was released on January 24th, 2020. So far the band has played with important acts in the underground scene, such as Nargaroth, Infernal War, Absu, Necromass, Dark Funeral, God Dethroned, Belphegor, Unleashed, Mortuary Drape, Impaled Nazarene, Imperium Dekadenz, Possessed etc..., and has played in several countries including Italy, France, Switzerland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Croatia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Malta and Germany.

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Band Links https://www.facebook.com/DuskwalkerOfficial https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrxL_aUxnRIYJK09seksCGw

We would like to tell you about musicians and bands not so well known around the world. This is the story of Duskwalker Thrash/Death Metal band from Canada.

The members of Ontario’s Duskwalker have been making their rounds in the underground metal scene for decades and their efforts culminated in the current form in 2015. Having originally started with the sole purpose of being a money-making cover band, things took a heavier turn when they morphed into a kickass metal band. They released a full-length “Codex Mystirium” in 2016 under the name The Offering and traveled extensively to promote it, however, due to another band with the same name they took the name of one of their songs. In 2019, under the name Duskwalker, they released “All They Know Is Fear” via CDN Records. They released the video for the single “Shadowcreeper” via Decibel Magazine and also won the 2019 Niagara Music Award for Best Heavy Metal Group. A heavy throwback yet modern, Duskwalker‘s album “All They Know Is Fear” as a whole is made to be enjoyed from beginning to end with carefully arranged songs that provide a well-rounded listening experience. It is a monstrous sophomore album with themes of myth, conspiracy, and horror, showing that Duskwalker have conjured a diverse mix of extreme metal that’s recommended for fans of Morbid Angel, Carcass, and Pantera.

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Band Links https://www.facebook.com/Maudiir-100174698189554 https://maudiir.bandcamp.com https://open.spotify.com/artist/7AJ76tIs73yAkgKiqc3kwP

We would like to tell you about musicians and bands not so well known around the world. This is the story of Maudiir - Black/ Thrash Metal band from Canada.

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Maudiir, coming from the underbelly of Montreal, Quebec, Canada is an outlet for observations on obedience and industrialization riddled with man-made waste. With 80s heavy metal influences alongside black metal and punk, Maudiir is unique in sound; hauntingly dark while being corrosive and galloping. Maudiir is a one-man black/thrash metal project that formed to be musically independent. Starting with guitar, F. works his way through each sullen track, adding drums, recording all the colorations and textures of the guitars, adding bass, and finally writing the words, very often at the same time they are being recorded. The pessimistic aura of the music combines with lyrics about consumer society, religion, science going awry, addiction to technology, and environmental decay. Maudiir released their debut EP “Le Temps Peste” during February 2020 and now returns exactly a year later with the follow up “ La Part du Diable” due out February 19, 2021. Creating an intensely dark sound, «La Part du Diable» was inspired by reactions from people to the health crisis created by Covid, the political climate in the US, and conspiracy theories. It’s a riff-driven EP with big bass grooves and corrosive vocals, mixing thrash metal and black metal with progressive elements, giving it a unique sound and feel. For fans of Skeletonwitch, Darkthrone, Voivod, Ihsahn, Carcass.

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Band Link https://www.facebook.com/InsanBlackMetal https://www.instagram.com/insanblackmetal https://www.youtube.com/c/InsaNBlackMetal

We would like to tell you about musicians and bands not so well known around the world. This is the story of Insan - Black Metal band from Colombia.

Colombia’s Insan are a Black Metal band focusing on ancient Colombia. The pride of ancient warriors. Not Black Folk like it seems, but anti-religion and Satanic. They formed in 2011, but didn’t release anything until 2015. Insan is the old Celtic word for ‘essence’. They haven been very prolific on the Black Metal festival front, sharing the stage with Mork, Skeletal Remains, Therrorder and Blackmoon. So far, it seems like they spend more time on stage than in the studio. Featuring ex-members of Deathstrike and Zaitania, the sound is raw and mid-paced. Over the years they have received a lot of respect and support from European Black Metal heads. I admit I probably don’t know enough about ancient Colombia to really do this introduction any real justice, but even if you know nothing about it, Insan is worth checking out. Lineup Loreia - Bass Jose Luis Rozo - Drums Evan Zagam - Vocals, Guitars (lead)

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Band Link https://bodybaghorror.bandcamp.com/releases https://vk.com/bodybagforeverybody

We would like to tell you about musicians and bands not so well known around the world. This is the story of Bodybag - Old School Death Metal Band from Russia.

Many bands have chosen to call themselves Bodybag, but there’s only one from St. Petersburg, Russia. A very cool old school Death Metal band featuring members of Infiltration and Chamber of Torture. This is a band they have never played live but have been releasing cool stuff for quite a while. Influenced by Obituary and Six Feet Under, Bodybag have remained pretty much a studio side project. Bodybag have also stayed unsigned throughout. In 2014 they released their first EP entitled Somatic Nightmare. The sound was very much along the same lines as Cancer and Cannibal Corpse. Infiltration has remained the flagship band of Pavel Vakhlakov and Chamber of Torture, Internal Damage and Cenobite bands of Kostek Dolganov, but Bodybag are not to be ignored or pushed aside. A darker band than Infiltration, and probably not so much for Infiltration fans (I hope they don’t mind me saying so). The majority of Russian bands rarely get a chance to prove themselves internationally, but maybe it’s time for change. I present to you, Bodybag... Enjoy. Discography: Somatic Nightmare - 2014 The Bleeding Walls of my Mental Cell - 2016

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Band Links https://www.facebook.com/officialdantalian https://officialdantalian.bandcamp.com https://twitter.com/masterdantalian https://www.youtube.com/user/masterdantalian

We would like to tell you about musicians and bands not so well known around the world. This is the story of Dantalian - Black Metal band from Colombia. Andrew Stanton

Dantalian Dantalian was formed in Pasto, Colombia in 2000, but didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t release anything until 2013. They independently released their first album entitled Dark Empress - Chant of Ereshkigal. This Black Metal band stayed around the Colombian underground scene for quite a while. In 2019 they signed to Blasphemous Attack Productions and then released a short EP called Yanapuma. In 2014 they headlined a festival and in 2015, they played with Marduk and Kataklysm. Over the years, they have headlined a few festivals and tours. The lyrics are anti-Christian and the music is quite brutal. Dantalian have gained a lot of respect around their local scene. In 2021 they released the album Death Magik Blood on Namtaru Records. Along with this there will be a Latin American tour. Discography: 2013 - Dark Empress Chant of Ereshkigal 2019 - Yanapuma 2021 - Death Magik Blood

Band Link https://www.ancientspheres.com https://www.facebook.com/AncientSpheresOfficial https://ancientspheres.bandcamp.com https://www.instagram.com/ancientspheres

We would like to tell you about musicians and bands not so well known around the world. This is the story of Ancient Spheres - Black Metal band from Costa Rica.

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Ancient Spheres are a Black Metal band formed in 2010 in Costa Rica, They made a few line up changes and tried to find their sound. In 2012 they released their first EP called Cold Winds from the Northâ&#x20AC;Ś Stacked in the Deepest Woodlands. One year later they released their first album Tales of Suwoh. That same year, they decided to promote their LP with a European tour. After a 6 month tour, they made more line up changes. In 2016 they signed to Russian label Satanath Records. They released another full length album In Conspiracy with the Night. Their sound is very much along the same lines of Mayhem, Satyricon, Gehenna. Very stereotypical Raw Black Metal, but their influences are quite a vast collection. In 2018 they went on to tour Colombia and Ecuador. Unusual f o r Latin American Metal bands, theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not scared to hit the road. Their new album Prayers of the Black Flame will be released on February 15th.

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Band Link https://www.facebook.com/combatnoise https://itunes.apple.com/ca/artist/combat-noise/305740669 https://www.shazam.com/artist/41244251/combat-noise

We would like to tell you about musicians and bands not so well known around the world. This is the story of Combat Noise Death Metal band from Cuba.

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COMBAT NOISE is a Death Metal band founded in 1995 in Havana (Cuba) by Juan Carlos Torrente and Jorge Luis Reyes «Colo.» Due to the intensity of their music and explosiveness of performances the band is recognized as one of the most representative bands of Extreme Metal on the Island, so it is always a strong part in the big concerts and metal festivals of Cuba like Brutal Fest, Metal HG, Pinar Rock, Athens Rock, Ciudad Metal, etc. The band’s first concert was held on Saturday, August 24, 1996 in El Patio de María, Havana. The music is composed mainly by JC Torrente and Jorge Luis Reyes «Colo.» The lyrics address the war theme and are written by JC Torrente. In 1998 they joined the AHS and in 2008 the ACR (Cuban Rock Agency). Lineup Juan Carlos Torrente - Vocal Jorge Luis “Colo” Reyes - Guitar Yanio Lee Troya - Guitar Vaniet Gil Fernández - Bass Pedro Cruz Márquez - Drums

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Band Link https://www.facebook.com/MephistoCubanMetalBand https://www.instagram.com/mephistoband https://twitter.com/Mephist49840300

We would like to tell you about musicians and bands not so well known around the world. This is the story of Mephisto - Black Metal band from Cuba.

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The band Mephisto was founded in September 1997 in the city of Holguin, Cuba. Mephisto was the first Cuban metal group to combine a multitude of organic and orchestral sounds to emerge as the pioneers of the Black Metal genre in Cuba. Building on their unique sound, the band continued to push contemporary boundaries by appearing on stage in full make-up and costumes, another pioneering first, which caused a great movement within the national scene. With momentum building, 2018/2019 saw Mephisto welcome international representation with a view of developing a larger global following. Immediately Mephisto rebranded their image, logo and on stage style whilst simultaneously moving towards a more digital platform to facilitate the advancements in technology being felt throughout the music industry. With a grittier live performance harkening back to a more traditional hard edged Mephisto appearance, old fans and new ones alike, resonate with the Pioneers of Cuban Black Metal. Lineup Osney Cardoso Riano -Vocals Alexander Jorge Parra - Bass Kevin Chaperon - Guitars Fabian F. Rodriguez Gonzalez - Guitars David Leonardo Nieves Naranjo - Drums

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Band Link https://www.facebook.com/SilencedMinstrel https://silencedminstrel.bandcamp.com http://www.twitter.com/SilencedMinstr1 https://open.spotify.com/artist/3bzBoq26KOir3aZ9i2ObcE

We would like to tell you about musicians and bands not so well known around the world. This is the story of Silenced Minstrel - Death/Black/Gothic Metal band from Malaysia.

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Silenced Minstrel is a full time singer, songwriter musician from Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. Been playing music since 1991 he co-founded HALUN, a gothic black metal band back in 1996, produced several demos, one EP and one LP before the badly deformed monstrosity was laid to rest in 2015. Writing and producing mostly in his bedroom studio nicknamed “Sky Panacea Enterprise” he spent the entire 2016 gathering writing and recording materials for his debut album “Volume 1” choosing to name it as such as to not make it sounds too rockstar-ish. The artist is currently occupied promoting his new album, gathering materials for future albums and also working on his other band “Shadowed Grace” playing New Age Scifi Fantasy Instrumental Synthesizer music. Silenced Minstrel is unsigned and is looking for exposure, a recording contract and developing fanbases all across the globe. Discography 2017 - Volume 1 2018 - Volume 2 2019 - Vol. 3 2020 - Vol. 4 2020 - Volume 5 2020 - An Ode To A Sickening Year (Compilation) 2021 - Dark Musings of the Ages (Split)

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https://www.facebook.com/ProfanityDeathMetal

Review by Andrew Stanton Profanity Fragments of Solace. Technical Death Metal was never my thing. It’s basically just too good for me. They take the fun out of Death Metal, but I can 100% appreciate it without liking it. Certainly very impressive. The growls are very good and the guitars are maybe a bit too good. The bass is awesome. The blast beats kick in and you will love it. Some quite long songs on this one.

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It’s all just very perfect and polished and I sort of wish it wasn’t. I can understand why some people love this stuff. It takes a listener who can appreciate it. It is ridiculously perfect. If you’re looking for some great, catchy songs, forget it. Profanity is about musicianship. It’s not really about anything else. It’s just amazing, that’s all. If I’m honest, I envy them as musicians, I don’t envy them as songwriters. If you’re looking for something truly

amazing and perfect, you will love it, but if you just want good songs, avoid this one. Nothing for you here. Musically it’s a real masterpiece, which I don’t really like. It’s very much along the modern Jazz path. If you’re one of those people who thinks Death Metal is just talentless shit, Profanity WILL make you eat your words.

https://www.facebook.com/sahharbm

Sahhar - Tigrif talGnus As far as I’m aware, this is the only music I have heard from Malta. This is one man playing everything. A very prolific man, releasing stuff all the time. He released 3 EPs in 2018. The blast beats are amazing. I don’t actually like this though; too long and slow. The album starts off with an instrumental song and then begins properly. It’s all very epic with songs ranging from 6 to 9 minutes. I don’t think any of this is in English and I have no idea what the songs are about. We have some clean female vocals on ‘It-Twegiba’ ( the best part of the album so far ). Very slow Black Metal (not DSBM or Post Black Metal). Similar to Burzum at times. Surly there’s not much of an

Review by Andrew Stanton audience for this. Most Metalheads would find it very dull. Way too laid back. I almost fell asleep at one point. I can never understand why a band wouldn’t try to be as fast as

possible. If I was scoring this out of 5, I would give it a 2 just for the song with the female vocals. Coming up to the end of the album, ‘Belt Stuprata’, is a surprisingly lively track. But by and large, it’s an epic failure. If Sahhar is reading this, seriously, just cut the songs down to about 3 minutes and make the as fast as fuck. I really just can’t work out who this is aimed at.

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https://www.facebook.com/Tristwood-117030138385682

Review by Andrew Stanton Tristwood Blackcrowned Majesty Certainly very interesting Industrial Death/Black Metal. The sound is very chaotic at times in the way Ministry tried to be. Unlike The Prodigy that brainwashed people call ‘Metal’, Tristwood clearly has a better understanding of the genre. The use of growls, synthesizers and blast beats are done very well. But it’s very scifi themed, rather than dark ambient. I think Nocturnus

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would be kicking themselves if they heard this. As for their influences, I’m not really hearing anything, whilst hearing pretty much everything. I could take a guess as to them being influenced by old Grindcore like Napalm Death and Carcass, but also there’s parts that remind me of early Mayhem and E m p e r o r,

so it’s certainly a bit odd, but in a good way. If you’re expecting

Fear Factory, forget it. This is a Metal band. I like this. This is my first time hearing this band, even though they came out in 2001 which is quite embarrassing. But I definitely will be hearing more of the next few weeks, because I’m intrigued. I think I need to say, don’t confuse Techno with Dance music. This isn’t an album to dance to. Not as extreme as Anaal Nathrakh, but I don’t think they’re trying to be. The Techno music is used in a better way than Anaal Nathrakh. It’s a Techno album for Metalheads.

Review by Olga Schneider seconds. Oldschool guitar riffs are one of the most blasting moments of this creation, they really stuck in your head for a while, sometimes for a really long time, and you simply get some craving for re-listening to it the whole time. They make the album sound really filthy and... Kinda nostalgic for those people who grew up with such music. And of course the drums as the top of the album. In combination with guitars, they create really filthy mix which sounds like a hit into your face. It’s blasting and so cold and kinda misantropic at the same time... Also a bit hypnotic, you simply don’t notice time fly

while listening. And yeah, I simply can’t avoid mentioning the inclusion the Darkthrone cover Transilvanian Hunger. Yeah, this song has probably thousands of variations, both from the most known Extreme Metal bands and the youngest ones. But IDK... Heads for the Dead made their version one of the most remarkable ones, especially due to the ending. A killer combination of highest creams and raw guitar... So for me this release was a bit unexpected, but in the end, it became one of the most killer ones from 2020.

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https://www.facebook.com/headsforthedead

This review is gonna be dedicated to the international project named Heads for the Dead. The band consists of Ralf Hauber (known for his work in Revel in Flesh nowadays and with Immortal Rites before) as singer, Ed Warby (ex-Gorefest drummer) as drummer and Jonny Pettersson of Wombbath as guitarist and bassist. On December 2020, the band released its second album titled Into The Red. The music can be generally described as classical Death Metal, but I guess it’ll be killer for Black Metal fans and even some Thrash and Heavy Metal fans as well. First of all, it’s about vocals. Ralf Hauber has a really wide and strong range, from deep growls to almost hysterical screams that can be described as some mix of banshee screams and pain shok sounds. Really breathtaking and keeps the atmosphere on top. This was actually one of the aspects who made me fall in love with Revel in Flesh music years ago. I mean that’s truly unique and you recognize him at once from the first

https://www.facebook.com/abigorblackmetal

Review by Andrew Stanton Abigor - Totschläger (A Saintslayer’s Songbook) If I’m honest, I’m really finding this hard to describe. Similar to Arcturus and The Bishop of Hexen and Sigh and something else. A good use of grand piano on this. Great guitar work. Some great bass slapping here. When the blast beats kick in, they’re here to stay. And an interesting use of classical drumming. I must admit, I haven’t heard much of the Austrian scene, but this band seems to be verging on veteren status.

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Quite a unique band. I’m not really getting any of it. No idea what language it’s in. There’s a very posh side to this album. I’m trying very hard to

good album and a good sound. According to Metal Archives, this band came out in 1993, but I have to say, I can’t imagine a band sounding like this way back then. The music and the songwriting is all over the place (in a good way). Songs are hard to keep track of. This is always normal for Black Metal, but even more so with this album. It’s a very lively album, never boring. Very fast vocals on the last track. All I can really say is if there are any faults on this album, then I couldn’t find them. describe this, but I don’t think it could be any more I’m aware I might perfect. not really do it any justice. It’s a

https://www.facebook.com/diramortis

Dira Mortis - Ancient Breath of Forgotten Misanthropy. Some epic Death Metal from Poland. And definitely way too epic. The songs remain slow-ish and that doesn’t help. I got bored after the first 3 minutes. Definitely borderline Doom. The songs just go on and on and on. There’s no problems here that can’t be fixed by just shortening the songs. Dira Mortis has been around for a while and this is my first time hearing them. The musicianship is very good here with good growls. The backing vocals are very much in the Black Metal range. Once in a while the blast beats kick in and the vocals speed up, but even that can’t save

personally, I sense a bit of lackluster Review by Andrew Stanton here. If you love a bit ( or a lot ) of epic Death Metal, them. The lead guitarist has you’ll probably love this. his little melodic moments at Another album completely times. All the musicians do ruined by the songwriting. a great job to be fair, I just It’s a gruelling listen. need more than that. This Other than the excellent musicianship, I’m really backing singer struggling to find anything good to say about this album.

needs to join a Black Metal band one day. To me

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https://www.facebook.com/constructoflethe

Review by Andrew Stanton Construct of Lethe Corpsegod. Another very sophisticated Death Metal band. Though not overly sophisticated. The guitars are pretty amazing here. The drums are very good. The growls are okay. At times the growls are more like Pantera than Napalm Death (if that’s your thing).

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In this issue I reviewed the new Scour album, this is similar but with much longer songs. Sometimes it reminds me of old Pro-Pain. It’s very much somewhere lost between Death and Hardcore. This is American Death Metal (not from Florida). When the lead guitar kicks into overdrive, it’s very much from the Alex Skolnick school. The vocals remain

slowish, too slow for me p e r s o n a l l y. It’s an album pretty much dominated by the drums and guitars. I have no idea what any of this is all about. We have a Sumerian song thrown in for good measure. It’s only really let down by the slow vocals as far as I’m concerned. If you’re buying it just to hear some great musicianship, why not? Because it is quite perfect. Mostly, It’s just not my thing. I’m quite sure that what I’m describing might sound amazing to you, and you might even love it to be fair. I’m sure ultra fast music isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. If I was marking this out of 5, I would give it a solid 3. But you might give a HUGE 5 out of 5. I think I’m gonna have to let YOU decide on this one.

https://www.facebook.com/fortid

F o r t í ð World Serpent. My first time hearing Icelandic Viking Metal. First of all, it’s not crap. Not as good as Enslaved or Ensiferum, but not crap. I think it’s more along the lines of Tyr and Isengard. Some beautiful music on this album and mostly all clean vocals and all in English. If I’m honest, I think the beautiful parts are the best parts of this album, or maybe I’m just old. The album seems to concentrate more on it’s beautiful parts and it’s epic storytelling than its energy. But not a boring album. Not as good as Enslaved and Ensiferum and they probably agree with me to be fair. More laid back than those bands. Not as extreme as Enslaved. The musicianship is probably

Review by Andrew Stanton nothing to write home about. Fortíð keeps things simple. Fans of Tyr need to hear this. As much as I enjoyed this, it’s mostly just not crazy enough for me. But for people looking for more laid back Viking Metal, this is your thing. In fact it’s so laid back, it probably took years to write and record it. The epicness doesn’t suit me either, but it’s almost to be expected for this

genre. But there are parts of this album I love to bits. Definitely worth listen.

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https://www.facebook.com/vathosband

Review by Olga Schneider Váthos - Underwater. Váthos is actually a very young project from Bucharest, Romania. The dudes started in 2017 and have already managed to share the stage with some world giants as Belphegor, Goatwhore, Theatres des Vampires and some other strong dudes. In 2020, their very first album named Underwater was released.

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As I mentioned many times, I’m not a fan of any modern stuff born from traditional genres, but I don’t know how the destiny brings us so many interesting projects who develop in these modern genres! Váthos is a Post Black project, and even if the album is named Underwater, while listening you get a sudden and strong wish to go up to some roof at night, sit down and start

to sadly look far. That’s the only way I can describe the whole album so exactly. The whole creation is filled with melancholy mood, but that’s not any global melancholy as some life credo, but rather a period for a short time. These are primitive Black Metal riffs combinated with completely modern sound completed with some kind of a bit Metalcore vocals mixed with some clean vocals. Actually, I got a strong double feeling hearing these clean vocals there. On one hand, I cannot accept such things and for me it makes music sound like some teenager stuff. On the other hand, it creates some part of common atmosphere of the album! It’s always hard to say anything evident when it’s about such kind of music. But I think this album is not bad at all.

https://www.facebook.com/Tragacanth

Tragacanth The Journey of a Man. Certainly a very interesting album. Blackened Death Metal with a lot of different sounds coming through. Double vocals - deep growled and screeched. Very good musicianship and great songwriting. Great bass on this one. Bass fans will love this. Some of the songwriting reminds of Sigh; heavy with relaxing interludes. If that makes sense. From what I can make out, it’s clearly a concept album of some kind. No idea what it’s about, as I can’t be bothered reading lyrics. But all in English. Some of the songs go on a bit, but it’s not dull. It stays cool. They’re definitely not scared to experiment a bit. The more I listen, the more I’m reminded of many different bands.

I’m intrigued to hear soon. My only real issue is the screeched vocals, I think they’re not growled enough. It almost sounds very Hardcore. Other than that, the album remains fairly perfect, or perfect-ish. I think it helps if you know a bit about music. You might appreciate it more. One of the great bands in my opinion.

Review by Andrew Stanton Some parts remind me of old Florida Death Metal, while other parts remind me of the Black Metal early years. And still there’s more. The bass solo on ‘Nightmare’ is amazing. Sometimes it reminds me of old Egyptian music. So yeah, the songwriting is a bit all over the place, but it’s good. I admit I’ve never heard of this band before, but they released another album in 2015 that

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https://www.facebook.com/NihilumMusicOfficial

Review by Andrew Stanton Nihilum - Call of the Void. Even though I don’t really like this, it’s certainly a very impressive debut. It’s not quick enough for me personally. It stays along the midpaced speed right the way through. I don’t really like any of it, but they can definitely play and that’s why I’m interested to see what Nihilum does

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next. Some of this is a bit weird to me for some reason. Maybe I just get the theme or something. With faster vocals I would love this band. It’s one of those bands where you can pretty much understand

everything that is growled quite clearly. It’s not terrible. I’m fully aware some people prefer slower Black Metal bands. And you might really love this. It also lacks any atmosphere. I’m not sure if i n t e n t i o n a l l y, but this really could have been amazing. This is a short EP from America and it’s not bad. I can guarantee there are bigger Black Metal bands out there far worse than this band. And this is only day one for Nihilum, so be fair. Their second release might be the greatest Black Meta album since ‘Welkin’. I don’t know if Nihilum read Inside the Darkness, but I hope they do. And if you are reading this, speed it up guys. We want trailblazing vocals.

https://www.facebook.com/gatesofdoom

Gates of Doom - Aquileia Mater Aeterna. As soon as this started, I quite liked it. The vocals are very good quality. Good guitars and blast beats. According to Metal Archives they write songs about Friulian history and heritage, so it doesn’t really mean a lot to me personally, but I know good music when I hear it. This is Italian Black Metal, but with some clear influences from Power Metal and Viking Metal (not like Bal Sagoth). These guys remind me of a lot of different bands. A higher level of energy would have made this perfect in my opinion. Faster vocals and basically just more crazy, but it’s good as it is. It gets a bit melodic in parts. There seems to be a lot of different kinds

Review by Andrew Stanton of Black Metal being used. Sometimes they remind me of Ensiferum, other

times they remind me of Endezzma. This is perfect for the Black Metal virgins. They seem to concentrate more on entertainment rather than

just all out noise. According to Metal Archives, this is a band who have changed their style a few times, and it sort of tells. If you’re one of those people who hates Black Metal, I think the quality of this might change your mind. Without really knowing what any of this is about, I still enjoy it. Definitely not crap.

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https://www.facebook.com/rancorumband

Review by Andrew Stanton Rancorum - The Vermin Shrine. Romania’s Rancorum are very similar to old Cancer and Morbid Angel. Good, slow growls for you to enjoy. Very much along the old school Death Metal path. It’s quite good. It’s almost like the Romanian version of Death Shall Rise. The songs remain sort of simple, nothing too fancy here. Some long-ish songs, but not boring.

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Rancorum writes songs about religion, death and politics… So pretty much everything really. Even though quite slow growls, not exactly easy to understand. I admit I haven’t understood a word of it so far, but it is all in English. Certain parts of this album almost remind me of Death’s Spiritual Healing. Older

Death Metal heads are gonna love this. A lot of the songs end with little ambient outros that last for about 10 seconds. No idea why, but they’re cool. This is a band that clearly listens to some very cool bands. If you ever fancy testing out some old school Death Metal, start here. Very enjoyable and easy to get into. I’m half way through the last song and it’s all been good really. And basically, I need to check out more Romanian bands I think.

https://www.facebook.com/mercysdirge

Mercy’s Dirge Live, Raw and Relentless. I don’t know if I’m the only one, but I expected a live album. It’s certainly very rough and raw. Nothing really nice here. Very much in the vein of Deathwitch. According to Metal Archives this Romanian band have been around forever and have only really started releasing stuff. It’s like a bit of a cross between Black Thrash and Raw Black Metal. This album would have been suited more with faster vocals, it would have given it that rougher edge. The whole album remains fairly simple, or simple-ish. If you’re a fan of very raw Metal, you will love this. For me personally, I would have preferred faster, wilder singing. The album would have been close to perfect to me. The more I listen, the more I want the singer to speed up. It’s almost annoying me.

Review by Andrew Stanton I don’t know much about the Romanian scene, but if this is anything to go by, I like it. After i have finished this review, I doubt I will

ever listen to this again. But they’re definitely a band I will keep an eye on. Not as good as Fedra, not as fast. I’m kind of praying these guys read Inside the Darkness, because I’m giving them some good tips here. This band could be huge I reckon.

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https://www.facebook.com/AztlanOfficialBand

Review by Andrew Stanton Aztlan - Legion Mexica. As probably the only European who loves this Mexican band, I felt I had to step in to review their new album. All the trademarks are definitely here. Fans of 2019’s Mexico Inmortal will love this. And another great start to the year. The trademark steel strings are used heavily here. The bongos and the pan pipes all play their parts, along with the blast beats, power chords and growls. I often wonder why these guys aren’t bigger. All in Spanish and no idea what

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any of this is about (but that’s never stopped me before), but I know this is a political band. Having never visited Mexico I can’t really comment, but I know great Metal when I hear it. It’s all very Mexican and cool. I’m a very proud fan of these guys. The album starts with an absolutely epic opening track at a whopping 9

minutes. But

never boring

- Aztlan don’t do boring. All the way through I’m just reminded of El Mariachi and Samba de Amigo. Very, very cool. Certain parts do remind me of Mexico Inmortal, but I still love it. The full album is over an hour long. As a European, I have no idea what all this Day of the Dead stuff is about, but who cares? Aztlan clearly love their culture and heritage, and why not? I can fully understand it’s not for everyone, but they definitely deserve a minute of your time to check out properly. It’s Death Metal, but it’s very cool and beautiful. Definitely one of the most unique bands.

Review by Andrew Stanton pretty much stays the same throughout. The sound gets a bit stale after a while. And I have to say, if it wasn’t for the guitar solos and the b a s s lines, I would

elements keep me interested. But as I said earlier, I would have preferred faster vocals, even if just on two songs just to mix it up a bit. By and large, it’s okay. This could have been pretty amazing if they wanted it to be. Take a leaf out of some Slam bands books. Often like some of Deicide’s slower numbers. Hopefully my review will give them some ideas for next time.

probably hate it. Some great

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https://www.facebook.com/blessedbyperversion

Blessed by Perversions Remnants of Existence. Greece’s Blessed by Perversions are pretty much like Morbid Angel. At certain times they remind me of a Satanic version of Bolt Thrower. Slow, deep growls. Great guitars and bass lines. Very old school. As a band, they definitely all do their parts well. I would have preferred faster growls personally, but what do I know? I know fans of slow growls are out there. Bands like Incantation and Pestilence are clear influences here. I’m absolutely obsessed with the bass on this album. This is a short 24 minute album. Only 6 songs. The album

https://www.facebook.com/endezzma

Endezzma The Archer, Fjord and the Thunder. Some quite raw Black Metal from Norway. An almost cross between Raw Black Metal and Black Thrash. Rather than reminding me of Emperor and Mayhem, I’m reminded more of early Voivod and Celtic Frost. Early on in the album I’m having memories of Killing Technology and To Mega Therion. It’s fair to say, I’m really enjoying this. I have to admit I’m not really getting what any of these songs are about, but definitely not Satanic and definitely all in English. Endezzma definitely keeps the energy up -

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Review by Andrew Stanton no boring shit here guys. The more I listen the more I’m wondering what Black Metal bands influenced them. I would say some clear influences from Venom and probably Motorhead, but definitely Black Metal. They just have the rough edge sound. Fans of the early days of Metal will love this album. It’s pretty much Voivo d

with all the Black Metal trademarks. I don’t know how strange I’m making this sound, but my description is very accurate. I’m about halfway through the album and they have not slowed down as yet. This is a band who are all about energy and entertainment and fuck everything else. Quite a unique Black Metal band. They don’t really remind me of anyone else in the vast Black Metal scene ( or at least no one I ever heard ). If this band toured with Voivod, I might have to go to see them live.

Hell-Born Natas Liah. Quite frankly, another great start to the year. Some Blackened Death/Black Thrash crossover Metal from Poland. Slow but not dull. Faster is always nicer, but I’m not complaining. Reminds me of some of Deicide’s slower songs. Poland has become quite successful with it’s Metal bands. I wouldn’t really compare this to Decapitated or Mgla,

Hell-Born seem to be in their own league. The lyrics are Satanic from what I can tell. This is one of the Extreme Metal albums you will sort of understand most of what is sung (in English). Sometimes it reminds me of Massacre and Benediction, but a lot of Black Metal trademarks are present throughout. When I was first introduced to Death Metal in around 1990, this was similar to the style I prefered. Fans of old school Death Metal will love this

album. Certain parts of this remind me of the very early Deicide ‘Amon’ demos. A lot of memories coming back with this one. It’s not as utterly shocking as the likes of Deicide or Cannibal Corpse, but so what? When I first read the press kit and saw the album cover, I expected something like Nocturnal or Lucifera, but what I got was something much slower and darker. I like it.

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https://www.facebook.com/officialHellborn

Review by Andrew Stanton

https://www.facebook.com/tableaumort

Review by Andrew Stanton Tableau Mort - Veil of Stigma. Book 1: Mark of Delusion. It’s always quite refreshing to find Black Metal that isn’t Satanic. This is the debut album from a British band. British Black Metal was destroyed by one band, and the UK is struggling to make up for it. Quite an odd sound. Like Raw Black Metal with hymes in the background. Not symphonic by any

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means, but clearly influenced by a lot of stuff. It’s actually quite good. Almost like

Uada. Sometimes it’s quite laid back. Not crazy enough for me personally, but it’s

okay. Tableau Mort seems to be one of those bands where image is everything. Little Classical pieces appear every once in a while, usually at the start or at the end of a song. Not as good as Bal Sagoth or Old Forest, but it’s not terrible. Some will appreciate this a lot more than I do. To me, it’s only okay, but you might love it. I think they’re that sort of band. A beautiful interlude on ‘Beyond His Gaze’. The beautiful parts and the horrible parts seem very separate on this album, whereas Emperor and Enslaved seem to do them at the same time… If that makes any sense. There are a million bands worse than Tableau Mort, so I can at least give them credit for that. A million times better than Carach Angren. Not as cringy as them. Maybe it’s just me, but I think they’re a band who are still trying to find their sound. They definitely show promise. Good luck with the future.

https://www.facebook.com/mormantdesnagov

M o r m a n t de Snagov Depths Below Space and Existence. I’m going to be very honest about this album. When it first started, I hated it. The vocals w e r e n ’ t g r o w l e d enough. Very Screamo. Until the keyboards kicked in, and the album started to blow me away. Quite fast Black Metal, good energy and very entertaining. Some beautiful parts on this album. Maybe not quite in Sigh’s league, but very pretty. According to Metal Archives, these guys write songs about blasphemy and anti-religion, but I’m really getting any of that personally. Unless this new album is

Review by Andrew Stanton just different. Sometimes these guys remind me of old Emperor, Gehenna, Khors, and Sigh, but they’re definitely not ripping anyone off. There’s some pretty amazing parts on this album. Very enjoyable and easy to listen to. People always talk about where to start when it comes to Black Metal, well look no further.

Mormant de Snagov started some ten years ago, and I’m quickly starting to wonder what I missed a decade ago. An absolutely amazing start to the year. One of the greatest Black Metal bands on the planet. Stop wasting time and just buy it. You deserve it.

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https://www.facebook.com/curseofeibon

Old Ones from HP Lovecraft’s mythos. Review by Andrew Stanton I can’t really say much more than that. Heavy Metal has always done the Curse of Eibon - Book to get into, even the blast beats are Cthulhu stuff a lot of justice over the years, and this is no different. enjoyable. of Eibon. Brand new on the scene and Imagine Massacre’s From Beyond HP Lovecraft would probably be a with the right support will with really nice, crisp keyboards. Metalhead if he was around now. become very successful. It’s It’s very hard not to like it. They’re Prove me wrong. Melodic Death not as intense as a lot of the In Metal seems to do for Sweden mid-paced growls what Black Metal did with keyboards. for Norway. It seems It’s a short EP to be a bit of a staple and it’s very good. on the Swedish map. A kind of cross Flames stuff, this tends And of course, the easiest kind of between old school Death Metal and Melodic Death to be more mellow. According Death Metal to get into. You really Metal from Sweden. A lot to the press kit, this is an occult can’t go wrong with it. I’m not of the time it reminds me of band. Without a lyric sheet I can’t really finding any faults here, at the old Massacre stuff. Very really comment. I’ll just have to least nothing I noticed. Just a great take their word for it. What I do debut. I couldn’t really understand entertaining. The entire EP stays very easy know is Eibon is one of the Great anyone not liking this.

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https://www.facebook.com/silencedminstrel

Silenced Minstrel - An Ode to a Sickening Year. According to Metal Archives this is supposed to be a Black/Goth crossover band, but I’m not really hearing any of it. At times they remind me of Carach Angren, Babylon Whores, Notre Dame, Exodus, Black Flag, The Anti Nowhere League, Celtic Frost probably not as good as I’m making it sound. It’s quite a hard sound to categorize. This is Metal from Malaysia, I’m not really sure what kind. Imagine The Anti Nowhere League with a bit of Classical piano pieces (if you can), and you’re sort of halfway there. It takes

very unusual album. Review by Andrew Stanton T h e musicianship is fairly perfect, but a lot of getting used to. The there are bigger songwriting is seriously all issues here. This is my over the place and often first time hearing any very random. Malaysian Metal, I just Some of this I love to bits, wish I didn’t start with this and other parts I wish band. It’s definitely gonna they left out. I’m really be a love/hate relationship struggling to make my for most people. I don’t mind up about this album. know. This is a very oddball band. Mostly I’m not always sure of their intentions. This

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https://www.facebook.com/phobosmonolithmx

P h o b o s Monolith When the Light Will Fade. Some very enjoyable Melodic Death Metal and sometimes quite pretty. This is a very impressive debut from a Mexican/American band. Very hard to dislike. Just good songs. Right off the bat it’s great, and then just manages to keep it up. It never gets shit. The vocals are a deepish growl while the guitars and keyboards add the grove. It never gets too extreme and doesn’t bother getting pretentious at all. I might get into trouble if I say they’re the best Melodic Death Metal band, but they definitely rank high. I’m not really finding any faults on

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Review by Andrew Stanton this short EP. According to Metal Archives, this is a Melodic/Doom crossover band. I must admit, I’m not really getting the Doom part. It’s just Melodic Death Metal to my ears (really good Melodic Death Metal). If you hate this, you must be very hard to please, and I probably just feel sorry for you. I

really have no idea what any of this is about, but it’s all in English from what I can tell. I will take a wild stab in the dark that it’s some space themed lyrics, but really no idea. But never goes down the space ambient path. I’m so close to calling this ‘perfect’. I think this is the third or fourth great album I have reviewed so far this year. So 2021 is looking like a great year already. With quality music like this, I think they can take In Flames’ throne quite quickly. I love these guys. If Phobos Monolith read Inside the Darkness - I salute you.

Luciferianometh - The Command of Lucifer’s Heart. My first time hearing any Sri Lankan Metal. So far it’s not amazing. The vocals often remind me of Gehenna, but musically it tends to be a bit more melodic at times. Certainly much rougher than Gehenna. The guitar work is very rough and raw and may take a bit of getting used to. The vocals so far are a bit slow. It’s not an easy listen, the song arrangements are a bit of a mess. It has a very amatuer sound to it.

All the instruments sound like they’re parts of different songs if you know what I mean. It’s a tough, tough listen even to the more experienced Black Metal head. According to my resources, these guys released three albums last year. I hate to say it, but after hearing this, I’m no longer interested in what else Sri Lanka does as far as Metal goes. This is really below average. I’m trying very hard to stay open-minded about this album. I think the main two issues are the messy song arrangements and the lack of insane energy, which the latter would have made this pretty great

just on it’s own. If you hate Black Metal, I doubt this album will do much to change your mind about it. All the songs seem to sound sort of the same. But what do I know? You might actually love this. If you’re looking for a bit of a challenge ( quite a HUGE challenge ). Maybe my review even makes it sound good. Black Metal isn’t usually easy to listen to at the best of times, so that makes this an incredible hard sound to take. If Luciferianometh are reading this, just speed up the vocals and the guitars and I think you’ll do fine.

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https://www.facebook.com/Luciferianometh-104870041332404

Review by Andrew Stanton

https://www.facebook.com/Urfeind

Review by Andrew Stanton Urfeind - Wraipaz. According to my resources, this German band didn’t even have a name until a few years ago. This is a short, 4 track EP of Black Metal instrumental songs. And I have to say, I’m not really sure what to say about it. The musician ship is very good on this, but the songs aren’t amazing. It’s only okay. The songs have a habit of sounding quite

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similar. Some of this I like, but it’s definitely not for everyone (but what is?). A lot of this reminds me of Kvlt of Eblis without the singing, same sort of style. Many will argue

it needs vocals to be Black Metal, but I definitely hear

it as Black Metal. Definitely not anything else. I just would have preferred some screeches and growls. As I said, it’s only okay. It will take the right sort of listener to enjoy or respect this. If I’m honest, I actually quite liked it, I will more than likely never listen to it again, but it was cool to hear once. According to my resources, this band does actually have a lyrical theme, so this must be just a one off instrumental EP.

take a wild guess that they are Review by Andrew Stanton influenced by Deicide, Morbid Angel, Arcturus, then all of sudden they N i g h t w i s h , give us this. And I have to Emperor, Sigh, Dimmu say, it was definitely worth Borgir - yes really. At the wait. From what I can times this is quite a posh tell, it’s all in English ( I sounding album. It’s might be wrong ). It’s not very entertaining and ridiculously extreme, it’s enjoyable. Sometimes just a fun album. Almost they remind me of Carach like Death Metal with a Angren without the stupid strong gothic influence. parts. Very, very good. I’m not exactly finding a lot of faults here. I will

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https://www.facebook.com/mephistocubanmetalband

Mephisto Pentaphixion. According to my resources, this is a Black Metal band from Cuba, but there’s definitely a big Death Metal presence here. The vocals are very good, with good energy and basically just good songs. The keyboards are used heavily with this band and gives the album that majestic feel. There’s certainly not much to hate here. As a person who follows the South American scene quite closely, I’m a bit embarrassed to say I’m not too up on the Cuban scene. But after hearing this I think I should be. This band have been releasing short demos for quite a while and

https://www.facebook.com/SkinningMetal

Review by Andrew Stanton Skinning - Homicidal Experimentations. I must admit, I have never heard of this band before, despite them releasing a few full-length albums since 2014. As soon as the album began, my attention quickly turned to the insane blast beats. Maybe the best drummer ever. The vocals are a deep growl that concentrate more on brutality rather than speed. But the drumlines, holy shit. Beginner drummers need

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to hear this. I’m struggling to really concentrate on the other instruments. Quite a short album this one. Songs range between the 3 and 4 minute mark. Not exactly

sure what any of this album is about, but I’m guessing these are songs about revenge and violence and other charming stuff. If you listen carefully, you

can actually understand a bit of what he ‘sings’. I’m about halfway through the album now, and still I’m struggling to pull my attention away from the drum kit abuse. I occasionally hear the odd guitar riff, but my attention is quickly directed away. Apparently he’s the drummer from Hacksaw and Koltum (anyone?). Coming up to the end of the album now. This has been some great Death Metal. I wouldn’t exactly call it ‘old school’, but old school fans will love it. I hear a tiny bit of Hardcore in his voice. It’s been quite a brutal album. No happy ballads on this one.

http://www.hån.ch Hån - Breathing the Void. In theory, Switzerland should be one of the countries that makes really great Black Metal. The sound is quite raw and not completely terrible. Sometimes a tiny bit like Mayhem. The energy is okay here. The songs range between 4 and 5 minutes. It’s not an easy listen by any means, but it’s not super extreme. I think the rhythm guitarist plays a big part of this band ( or at least this album ). Like Deathwitch but not as intense. The vocals are an okay growl, not deep but not shit. This is one of those albums where the songs stay more or less the same. It’s almost like it’s found itself lost between Black Thrash

n o t quite Darkthrone, but not exactly Review by Andrew Stanton Lucifera either. But it’s okay to be fair. This is one band that will attract all the right sort of metalheads. Some of you will love this band. It’s absolutely not awful. It’s very much for the Raw Black Metal connoisseurs out there. It’s not really for and anyone else. They’re another Raw band adding to the ever Black Metal. expanding Black Metal pool. I hear a lot of both in this. It’s

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Upcoming albums

After four years of incubation, Ablaze My Sorrow announce their triumphant return with a new album. The fifth full length, entitled Among Ashes and Monoliths, introduce new vocalist Jonas Udd, whose aggressive rasp fits the passionate band to perfection. The other four members return intact from prior releases. Still fresh sounding in 2020, the band present us with an opus of impassioned self-reflection, tackling themes of depression and self-worth. Across twelve tracks, the band speak catharsis from experience, and the truth of their words is evident. Including speed/thrash metal energy, the veteran group, this time, brought more dynamism into their crafts. An underrated gem, the Falkenberg quintet once again let their emotional style of Melodic Death Metal do the talking for them. «Among Ashes and Monoliths» will be released on February 12, 2021.

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With North Star, Viking Metal pioneers EINHERJER release their eighth studio album, proving their status as the pioneers of blending Nordic Black Metal and Folk Metal genres once again. The Norwegian metal outfit remains musically true to themselves and reinforces their exceptional position. North Star is EINHERJER’s musical mission towards something bigger - the search for guidance by the North Star in a constantly changing world that is searching for stability. The album’s opener, «The Blood And The Iron», peppered with uncompromising double-bass thunderstorms, pulls the listener in from the very first second, while «Stars» stomps through atmospheric soundscapes with dark chords. «West Coast Groove» underlines EINHERJER’s technical songwriting sophistication with finest guitar solos. North Star will be released on February 26, 2021.

«Ad Numen Satanae» - XEPER’s striking new and fourth full-length album full of power, grandeur & passion! XEPER was formed in 2007 in Treviso, Italy by guitarist Guh.Lu, best known as former member of international bands such as Setherial, Impiety and currently bass player in the Norwegian Black Metal band Gorgoroth. The project features musicians from the worldwide Black Metal scene such as V. Einride (Whoredom Rife) on drums, Maelstrom on vocals and guest appearances of Blasphemer (Vltimas, ex-Mayhem), Mantus (Patria) and various others. Tracklist: 1. Fiat Interitus 2. The Hidden Genesis 3. Under The Will Of Satan 4. Riding The Spiral Of Lilith 5. Purity And Death 6. Snake That Brought The Flame 7. Ad Numen Satanae Lineup Guh.lu - Guitars, Bass Alekht - Bass Maelstrom - Drums Ad Numen Satanae will be released on February 26, 2021

The new EP will see TAAKE join forces with HELHEIM, and will be the last of the three 10» splits. Titled ”Henholdsvis” the EP will appear on Bergen’s eponymous Dark Essence Records, the long-time label of both bands, and is set for release on the 5th March 2021. For «Henholdsvis» TAAKE has recorded two new tracks, «Brotne Bein og Mannefall» and «Ein Baat i Foss», whose lyrics are based on poems by the famed Norwegian writer Arne Garborg (18511924). With these new tracks, the band has produced the kind of Black Metal fans crave - dark, cold and gritty. HELHEIM, on the other hand, will present two covers. The first is a remastered version of EMPEROR’s “Heksesabbat / Witches Sabbath”, which originally appeared on the tribute album “A Tribute to Emperor – In Honour of Icon E” in 2012, and which has now been totally remastered. For the second of the two covers HELHEIM have chosen to go down a very interesting path by recording a very different, and original, version of “Orkan” , from TAAKE’s «Noregs Vaapen» album. Henholdsvis will be released on March 5, 2021

Finnish death metal unit WOLFHEART continue their heroic battle with the upcoming Skull Soldiers EP, which includes two frostbitten new singles and two special rarities. The new studio singles “Skull Soldiers” and “Hereditary” both explore new territory while maintaining the WOLFHEART trademark sound – searing through the mountainous ice with colossal, guttural vocals, driving blastbeats and rhythms. The tracks tell awe-inspiring tales of a small, special warfare unit of powerful Finnish soldiers who painted skulls and skeletons onto their helmets during the Winter War, continuing on the battle theme of Wolves of Karelia. The music further embodies the aura of freezing winter temperatures and the crushing weight of the Finnish army, never willing to surrender. The EP is also accented by two rarities: the first – an eerie new acoustic version of the Shadow World (2015) track, “Aeon of Cold”, featuring the airy, chilling clean vocals of bassist Lauri Silvonen, and the second – a flawless live version of the Wolves of Karelia single “Reaper”, recorded during the band’s virtual concert stream performance that aired in early 2020. Available in digital and a strictly limited vinyl edition, Skull Soldiers is a must-have for diehard and new WOLFHEART fans alike, staving off cravings until the band’s next offering! Skull Soldiers will be released on March 5, 2021

Following on mercilessly from 2020’s aptly titled ‘Pesta’ EP, Norwegian act Mork resumes its ascension through the ranks of the Scandinavian black metal scene with the fifth chapter, ‘Katedralen’, venturing ever further from the more primal early Darkthronebased foundations, while still fundamentally keeping the grim flame of the old school in its DNA. ’Katedralen’ is undoubtedly Mork’s most accomplished work to date, pushing new creative frontiers with a more dynamic approach to the song composition and an expanded breadth to the riffs and melodies, weaving a new masterpiece of groove, harshness, grandiosity, sadness, beauty and power in the process. Including guest appearances from members of Darkthrone, Kampfar & Skepticism. Katedralen will be released on March 5, 2021

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Darkness crew is always open for any collaborations with bands and labels, including upcoming albums text reviews and video reviews in particular. If you have any questions or enquiries, feel free to contact us. the

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