#20 of Inside the Darkness by Inside The Darkness

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#20†28.02.2022

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Evgeny-Destroyer Editor-in-chief, design https://www.facebook.com/ evgeny.dubovskoy Mail: destroyerr78@mail.ru WhatsApp: +79181668693

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

Jay Parker - Editor, Interviewer, Reviewer Luc St-Clair - Editor, Reviewer of Melodeath albums Lorena Delgado - Interviewer, Reviewer Richard Keenahan - Interviewer 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 corrector, reviewer 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

Patrick Mameli (Pestilence) Aina Blackthorn (Blackthorn) Valeriy Vedishchev (Aura) Deadly Kristin (ex- Ancient) Marc Dyos (Phobetor) Wormlight (Tiamat Invictuz) Mahmud (Beheth) Hails to everyone! Liam (Consecration) This is not gonna be something unusual or sudden to say right now, but it seems like this world is running absolutely wild and Jim «Namtar Axarcuth» Downey (Plague Demon Records) getting mad more and more day by day. At such times, it’s just extremely important not to get out of our minds ourselves, and Dominik Hellmuth (Nightbearer) Stevan Chada (Calvarium) any creative activities is one of the best ways to avoid it and to keep sane whatever is happening. So we’re continuing our activity despite anything that is happening in our country, and as always we’re expressing our endless gratitude to everyone who supports us anyway. Waiting for the better times, Olga Schneider, editor

Editor’s brief

CONTENT Pestilence Interview with Patrick Mameli................................................8 Blackthorn Interview with Aina Blackthorn.....................12 Aura Interview with Valeriy Vedishchev.................16 Deadly Kristin Interview with Deadly Kristin.............20 Phobetor Interview with Marc Dyos...............26 Wormlight Interview with Tiamat Invictuz.......................30 Beheth Interview with Mahmud......32 Consecration Interview with Liam.............................34

News from hell....................................6 Plague Demon Records Interview with Jim «Namtar Axarcuth» Downey...................................38 Nightbearer Interview with Dominik Hellmuth.........................44 Calvarium Interview with Stevan Chada...........50

Best Metal releases..............52

Stories about Metal bands....................78

Inside The Darkness reviews..............84

Metalheads are waiting for it..............108

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Inside the Darkness issues

World Metal News FRIDAY ROCKEFELLER 16:30 Hamferd 18:00 Einherjer 19:30 Ved Buens Ende 21:15 Gorgoroth 23:30 Venom JOHN DEE 17:15 Solbrud 18:45 Asagraum 20:30 The Great Old Ones 22:30 Benighted

Inferno Metal Festival 2022 Location: Oslo, Norway Venue: Rockefeller, John Dee Date: April 14th - April 17th 2022. The Inferno Metal Festival is the largest metal festival in Norway and draws fans from all over the world. On the club day, Wednesday, there are concerts at smaller venues in the city centre. THURSDAY ROCKEFELLER 16:30 Djerv 18:00 Cadaver 19:30 Kampfar 21:15 Ihsahn 23:30 Triumph of Death JOHN DEE 17:15 Regarde Les Hommes Tomber 18:45 Konvent 20:30 Sylvaine 22:30 Bølzer

SATURDAY ROCKEFELLER 16:30 Dark Fortress 18:00 Asphyx 19:30 Vreid 21:15 Marduk 23:30 Mayhem JOHN DEE 17:15 Gnida 18:45 Xenoblight 20:30 Valkyrja 22:30 Tulus SUNDAY ROCKEFELLER 16:30 Whoredom Rife 18:00 Oranssi Pazuzu 19:30 Myrkskog 21:30 Kreator 00:00 Taake JOHN DEE 17:15 Eridu 18:45 Nyrst 20:30 Dyscarnate 23:00 Order

Dark Easter Metal Meeting 2022 Backstage Werkgelande, Munich, Germany 16-17.04.2022

Line-up My Dying Bride Marduk Primordial I Am Morbid Belphegor Gaahls WYRD Swallow the Sun Memoriam Imperium Dekadenz HATEOFFICIAL PANZERFAUST Endseeker ROOT VARATHRON MORK Ellende Dordeduh MESSA Wormwood Waldgeflüster Konvent Anomalie Demonical Crescent SLAUGHTER MESSIAH Kanonenfieber Velnias ROME (Jerome Reuter) Vargsheim Ars Veneficium Maahes Perchta

Pestilence-Progressive Death Metal from The Netherlands

Interview with Patrick Mameli

Interview by Richard Keenahan

Hi Patrick, hope you are well and thanks for taking the time to do the interview. I just wanted to start off by saying how much I like the new release Exitivm it’s a stellar record and is sitting towards the top of my 2021 albums of the year. Solid Death Metal with these nice technical

flourishes and it has a real groove to it. The solos are fantastic and re-

the release of Hadeon and since then you’ve taken on new blood into the band, did this have any impact on the songwriting for the new album? Not really, I have always been the sole composer for PESTILENCE.

e Old h t n i t f e l s are r u a s o n in i d t c w n i e t f x e a o y l g On will y e h T . e m a g iness. t p m e d n a School DM ation m r o f n i f o this world a l ly add something to the song. 1) It’s been 3 years since

The only thing that`s different this time are a new set of players. They have to fill in the parts to their best ability. Their talent and musical abilities is what I`ve chosen them for in the first place. They were free to roam within the PESTILENCE boundaries. I`m very keen on keeping my style pure. 2) I’d like to touch on the recording of the latest album if I may? How was the new album recorded and what guitars and amps did you use? The album was recorded at a friend’s house. His studio is called Pitch Note Studio`s. No further amps or cabs were used. We used our Kemper stage and went directly into the mixing board. Drums were recorded at Michiel`s home studio. 3) The album to me has a really clear production and a nice separation between the instruments, how important is it for you to get that balance instead of just giving people this wall of Death Metal? This has always been one of my main concerns really. You can only do this when you have solid musicians. Clarity without losing power. After Consuming Impulse, I realized, that to become a band with a clear vision, you must

create your own style. That`s the reason that I stopped listening to other DM bands. I do not want to be influenced. 4) With Exitivm you’ve got those really nice keyboard parts adding depth to the songs, I’m thinking of Dei-

out with so many killer riffs you must have a big vault of riffs, how has the song writing changed over the years? I think it`s like riding a bike. And I stick with my idea of not listening to other DM bands. It keeps my head clear to come

ficvs where they seem to add nice counterpoint to the vocals. Was it the intention to have them so much to the fore? With every album I want to do something special that works for that album. I wanted it to be more dramatic. So this was a well thought of idea. I think it works really well. 5) You’ve been around since 1986 with 9 studio albums to your name and you’re still able to come

up with PESTILENCE riffs. 6) You’ve become known over the years as a band that has influenced countless bands with your desire to push the boundaries of what Death Metal can be. Where does that desire to push the boundaries come from? I think it is within my genes to be always on top of my game and trying to, every day, to become a better musician, human being in general. 9

Pestilence-Progressive Death Metal from The Netherlands 10

7) Now the album has been out for close to 6 months are you happy with the reaction from the fans? I think that most people have been very positive about the release. To release an album that is timeless like Consuming or Testimony is very difficult. But I think that with EXITVM we succeeded in doing so. But wait until you hear PORTALS. I`m currently working on this beast. Working on the sixth song as we speak. You know, when I do check out new releases, I find most of them pretty boring and not with the holy fire they once had. PESTILENCE will make sure that never happens, or it`s time to quit.

8) In terms of listening to music are you still a metal fan or is metal more of a creative outlet for you? I really only hear PESTILENCE music. I try to analyze the songs and see what can be improved. 9) Any new bands or artists that you’ve discovered over the last 12 months? There are a few artists that I admire but they are not from the DM realm, rather jazz. Like Domi and JD Beck. 10) Consuming Impulse and Testimony of the Ancient sit with many metal fans as their favourite album or albums by Pestilence but ignoring anything after that. What is

your view on fans who only want to listen to a certain time period of a band without really giving any albums that come later on any time? Metalheads are very nostalgic. This can be both a blessing but also a curse. For me as a musician, it`s a real composer killer. I think that I became a better musician every hear. Some people like to ride only oldtimers, but that doesn`t mean an Audi R8 isn`t badass either. 11) With Streams of Ancient Wisdom Book due out soon, were you interviewed for this bookend if so did it bring back memories of the old days if so would you care to share any stories from that time period?

I remember our first US tour with DEATH and I`m proud we were able, at such young age to be successful in the States supporting a band like DEATH. 12) Do you think Death Metal is in a Healthy place going forward or are there too many bands trying to capture a certain time period without maybe the understanding of that time? Only a few dinosaurs are left in the Old School

DM game. They will go extinct in this world of information and emptiness. 13) What are your plans for Pestilence going forward? First we all have to survive this “pandemic” in order to look ahead. Our shows have all been postponed so I have no idea right now. 14) Is there anything you would like to add? Thanks for the interest in PESTILENCE. Hope there comes better times.

safe

and

bless

you!

Thank you answering these questions as a fan of the band it’s always hard to keep on track instead of asking questions that only a few people want to read about.

Blackthorn-All-female Symphonic Hextreme Metal from Russia

Interview with Aina Blackthorn

Interview by Andrew Stanton

Blackthorn has gone from strength to strength. Combining Black Metal with Gothic Metal, and looking sexy as fuck. Andrew Stanton talks to the world’s most beautiful woman, Aina Blackthorn. Hello and welcome to Inside the Darkness. “Hi, my pleasure.” - Can you tell our readers a bit about your history, please?

“BLACKTHORN is an all-female metal band from Moscow, Russia, formed in 2004. The name

concept is based on witchcraft. We incorporate Gothic and Black Metal with classical symphonies, then we add some occult lyrics and as a result there is what we call Hextreme Metal. We played many shows in Russia and abroad and released 3 full length albums: “Gossamer Witchcraft” (Russian version entitled “Аранеум”) in 2009,

tly s o m I s c i r e ly t i r w I n me e o h s W h t i w y a l sap a k c a r t a. a n o e s e s r e p c i t ama r d f o d n i k mostly refers to magical qualities of this plant/ shrub, it’s associated with witches and our entire

“Codex Archaos” in 2011 and “Witch Cult Ternion”in 2015. Some singles, EPs, piano albums and music videos. At this moment we are working on a new album!” - Is the witch theme permanent? Would you like to write songs about other things one day? “In this band – yes, it’s going to be permanent. You see, it’s not a theme we’d like to use for a couple of conceptual albums. It’s always been our stage image, our idea, our message and even a lifestyle for some of us. In fact, we can write songs about anything we want but they will be written from the perspective of a person who is into the craft anyway. So my answer is no. I’m pretty sure things will remain like they are now.” - What do you think

create. But in the end, whatever floats your boat; you do what you want in your band!” - Does it make it difficult when Metalheads expect you to be from California or Norway? When people find out you’re from elsewhere, they lose interest. “To be honest I never heard people got disappointed finding out we are from Russia, haha. However, I admit it is possible, since this world is lousy with fools who lose interest in something they liked at first, just because it’s hailing not from the country they expected. If you like it, who the hell cool, but if it’s all you have cares from what part of as a musician, you should Earth it comes. Always be take a new look at what you brave about your choices!” about certain bands using controversy to sell very poor albums? “Can’t say I approve that. Controversy can be really

Blackthorn-All-female Symphonic Hextreme Metal from Russia 14

- Why did you change your keyboard player for a violin player? Surely you can do more with keys. “Our former keyboardist left the band due to her personal reasons, so to be clear on that, no one changed her for anyone else on purpose. Anyway, there is no keyboardist in Blackthorn, but there are still keys in our music. Of course you can do a lot of things with keys, and we still do, otherwise our music would lstop being so symphonic and melodic right after Freya left. You see, Elvira is a graduated pianist plus she’s really good in sound technology and has been doing this for Blackthorn like for ages, so in fact we don’t need an extra keyboardist.” - How do you change vocas from growls to sopranos so quickly? “It’s just another operating mode of your vocal apparatus. At first blush it seems difficult but believe me it is not. You just need

to practice and then get used to fast switching, just like you switch from speaking normally to whispering.” - Are the growls and the sopranos supposed to be two different characters? “Good question, I am glad

it’s raised at last. Yes, they often represent different characters of a song; not just two, the more the better. Same thing for my screaming and choirs. The latter for instance can represent ghosts or other entities. It’s because when I write lyr-

ics I mostly see a track as a play with some kind of dramatic persona, you know. I think if you read/listen to our tracks carefully enough you notice that there are several characters.” - When you meet new people, are they often surprised you sing in an Extreme Metal band? “ W e l l , that’s true! It mostly depends on where people meet me too. I am a vocal coach and my students sing mostly classical things, so when they find out I’m in such a band, they are very surprised. I try to keep it secret from them, by the way. It’s just I don’t wanna scare them away! When people meet me at metal shows in my natural habitat, they are totally cool about it.” - What can our readers expect from your upcoming album?

“There is still a lot of work to do, but I am really looking forward to presenting the new LP! It’s gonna be a conceptual album full of sinister symphonies that will hopefully get stuck in your heads and obtain your hearts. We will try to stay loyal to our signature sound and to be different at the same time. We feel pretty comfortable playing what we play and still we want to develop, because they say if you don’t grow, you regress. T h e songs a r e based on stories of haunted places or so-called places of power where countless mystical events happened in the past so such places collected a lot of dark energy. Vocally, the new album is going to be more versatile

then before. What else? Choirs, piano, string quartet, incantations, cool artwork. I hope you will love it!” - Do you have a message for our readers?

currently working on!” Thank you for your time. “Thank you for having me, I enjoyed this interview!”

“Thank you for reading this and check out our latest full length album WITCH CULT TERNION before we cast a spell upon you with a new LP we are 15

Aura - Symphonic Gothic/Power/Metal from Russia

Interview with Valeriy Vedishchev

Interview by Andrew Stanton

Hello and welcome to Inside the Darkness. Hello, nice to meet you! My name is Valeriy, keyboardist, composer and leader of the AURA band. - Can you tell our readers a bit about your history, please? The AURA band was founded by Valeriy Vedishchev in Moscow in 2009. Initially, it was a power-metal project in the spirit of Nightwish, in the same vein a demo was recorded, one of the songs of which - “Mistress of the Runes”, contributed to the band gaining some fame. In

2010, this metal-edited song was released as a separate single on the disc-supplement to Dark City magazine. Gradually, the band in its sound comes to an organic musical fusion, the fundamental is power metal with elements of many other styles of mu-

group actively plays concerts in Moscow clubs, and in November 2011 in Orenburg it takes part in the Russian sympho rock music awards festival. In February 2013, the single “Ghost of Fate” was released, which quickly won the recognition of listeners and was aired on the “Keeper of Dreams” program on radio Echo of Moscow. In the same 2013, the group performed in St. Petersburg as an opening act for the group Xandria, receiving good reviews from the public and German fellow musicians.

ion t a r i p s n i give s n o i t o lings e m e f E l l a h t i re w and interfe tail. k c o c n o m m into one co sic - from black metal to folk. In 2012, the band released their first EP “Comet”. During the same period, the

In September 2013, the band’s first album was released, entitled “Inspiration”. The album received high marks from listeners and music journalists, both in Russia and abroad. In the summer of 2014, the group made its way through the sieve of qualifying rounds to the MotoMaloyaroslavets festival, acting as a headliner on the small stage of the festival. In December 2014, the group released a new single “Sun-Spring” and the first official video for the same song. The video and single received excellent reviews from both old and new fans of the group. In May 2015, the group releases a new EP “From the Heroes of Yore”, dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War, and also, in July 2015, takes part in the tribute to the group “Charisma” with the song “Hunter”. In January 2016, EP “From Heroes of Yore” was rec-

ognized by the European metal channel as the best in 2015 in the nomination “Best EP in the native language”. In May 2016, the band released the single “Snowstorm”, which also won the recognition of listeners, and performed at the Russian

Metal Stars festival, sharing the stage with such luminaries of Russian metal as Master, Mavrin, Catharsis, Black Obelisk, Arda, Kru-

ger, Gran-Kurazh and others. Also in May 2016, the group took part as a headliner in the annual festival Tribute to Epidemia, and the group’s keyboardist Valeriy Vedishchev and vocalist Svetlana Berseneva took part in the jam session of this event together with musicians from the groups Corsica, Coliseum and others. As a result of this event, the group released an official concert video for the coversong “Feanor”. In August 2016, the group performs as a headliner at the largest three-day biker rock festival in Altai “One Road”. In September 2016, following a trip to Altai, the group together with Vladimir “Svat” Mullov (the vocalist of the Barnaul band Territory 22) released the single “Duga”. In addition, since 2016, the group has been actively trying themselves in acoustic sets, performing in this capacity on the radio (Moscow speaking), in cult clubs (Archeology) and events (in memory of Victor Chagall in the Nikitsky quarries). 17

Aura - Symphonic Gothic/Power/Metal from Russia 18

In December 2016, the computer game “7 Demonologists of Peter the Great” was released, the soundtrack author of which is Valeriy Vedishchev. In April 2018, the band released a new single, “My Philosophy”. In the fall of 2018, the band took part in the opening act for such eminent foreign bands as Sirenia and Cradle of Filth. In May 2019, the group signed a contract to publish their second album with More Hate Productions. The second album of the group “Evil Magic” was released in September 2019, the presentation was held in December 2019 at the Moscow club Rock House. The album also receives high marks, both in Russia and abroad. In February 2020, the band released the single “A Dream to kill”. In February 2021, the first official video clip “City” for the song from the second album is released. In September 2021, the group takes part in the

Rock on the water festival on the same stage together with famous Russian bands as SLOT, F.P.G., Elysium, EPIDEMIA, CATHARSIS, BLACK

OBELISK, OBE - REK. The band filmed their second video clip in October 2021, with a premiere expected in January 2022. Also, three new songs are currently in the mixing stage and are planned to be released soon. - Who is in the band? Valery Vedishchev - keys, music, texts Svetlana Berseneva - vocals Vladimir Arekhta - vocals Axl Pekov - guitars Val Vasilieva - bass Denis Zolotov – drums

- Will your lyrics always be in Russian? It is not important for us in which language to sing, although Russian is our native language and therefore gives more expressive means for conveying our feelings in texts. We have a number of texts translated into English, perhaps after the release of the next disc we will record them for our foreign audience. - What are your lyrics about? There are completely different texts in terms of focus - love lyrics, philosophy and esotericism. There are songs about friendship and betrayal, war and escapism. Emotions give inspiration and interfere with all feelings into one common cocktail, which, through the stream of consciousness, breaks out onto paper and turns into lyrics for a song. - Your sound is like a cross between Power Metal and Melodic Death Metal. Are these two styles that inspire you?

It’s not just these styles of music that inspire me. I listen to a lot of different music - from classical to metal in its most difficult forms. In my playlist there is a place for both Vivaldi and the Behemoth. I just love to write that kind of music. -What bands did you like growing up? I think it makes sense to only talk about foreign bands) Nightwish; Children of Bodom; Blind Guardian; Iced Earth; Demons and Wizards; Finntroll; Ensiferum; Cradle of Filth; Anorexia Nervosa; Haggard; Dimmu Borgir; Behemoth. These are the ones that I remembered) It happens that you listen to some band and only one track from the album catches your ear and it settles in the playlist, and you don’t listen to the rest. - What can fans expect

from your new album? From the new - there will be a sufficient amount of male vocals, since we now have a vocalist. Otherwise, the musical component will be in the same vein. - What other Moscow bands do you associate with? Witchraft, Esenta, Anckora, Eden, Alexandrite, many of them! I would not like to offend anyone, there are a lot of talented and cool guys. And the metal party in Moscow is quite small and in fact, if not personally, then through one handshake, everyone is familiar. - Are you planning a tour? Given the pandemic, nothing can be said for sure. So far, everything is in the work of the management. - Do you have a message for our readers? We are very glad that people outside of Russia are in-

terested in our music! Visit our resources and listen to our music! And – of course – STAY METAL!) https://aurapower.bandcamp.com https://www.facebook. com/aurametalband https://www.youtube. com/channel/UCKu8CvoJlzR_GLxHSEiAxlQ https://open.spotify.com/artist/12DXJ1Ddnrfa79D23kgJiG Thank you for your time. Thank you for your questions! Pleased to meet you!

Deadly Kristin- Ex member of Norvegian Black Metal band Ancient

Interview with Deadly Kristin

Interview by Andrew Stanton

Deadly Kristin is a legend in Black Metal. Andrew Stanton got to talk to her about her life in the Metal scene. Hello and welcome to Inside the Darkness. “Hi guys, thank you for inviting me into your world, let’s see if I can shed some light.” - How did you get started in music? “I started when I was about 15. I used to sing all the time along with records and I had such a strong desire of expressing my-

self artistically and wanted to do more. I once recorded myself on a tape, singing over a mixtape I had made with songs of different bands, from The Cure, Depeche Mode to Sex Pistols and few death metal bands and sent

was something magical in my voice and were impressed by the different styles I could sing. That was an eye opener for me. I thought I had the skills and attitude to create my own band and just be an artist and go out and perform one day. I then attempted to form some local bands but I didn’t get too well with the other members, I felt I needed someone who had a more similar attitude and ambition to mine, or maybe more of a spiritual feel to it all. So for years it was really re-

o t s l a c o v y . r e I useedsm g n a y m expr s it over to a goth duo in Switzerland. They loved it and they told me there

hearsing and improvising in different practice room and with different people. In the meanwhile, I was writing tons and tons of lyrics for potential songs or poems at home. Until one day my path crossed with Aphazel of Ancient. We became a couple and when he heard me sing he thought I was really good and could use me in his band. For me it was a blessing, I couldn’t believe he asked me to do that. That was around 1997 1 9 9 8 . T h a t ’ s when I recorded my first album “The Halls of Eternity” and started to tour straight away. It was the breakthrough I always waited for all my life.” - Is it easier or harder working in the underground scene? “When you are in an underground band things are very much real. You are yourself, you don’t do it for the money, you do it for passion. You are free to express yourself musically with-

out caring too much what people think. When you get signed to a big label, it becomes more of a compromise sometime. Fans have expectations, the label itself has expectations. You need to follow that. In a way, it gives you a lot of exposure, they arrange all the interviews for you, they advertise you, they give

you the money for your videos and photoshoots and all. They make you feel like a freaking rockstar but if you don’t sell enough they can drop you in a blink of an eye. From a star you become a nobody from one day to the next. I had a bit of a taste of both back in the days.” - When you first started in An-

cient, I think the only women around were Sarcana, Kimberley Gross and maybe Dismal Euphony. What was people’s attitude towards you at first? “There were very few women. The only one who could sing like me was Cadaveria of Opera IX. I went to one of her concerts back in the 90’s, few years before Ancient and was very surprised to see how aggressive she was on stage. She could do deep vocals and growl just like me. Girls like Kimberly had a completely different style to mine. She was a soprano. She only did clean vocals. I despised that kind of vocals, I still don’t like it up to these days. She is probably a better singer than I am, but it was just the style I didn’t like. I thought she sounded like a nun singing on a black metal track. I was more of a Punk/Death Metal kind of vocalist. I used my vocals to express my anger. 21

Deadly Kristin- Ex member of Norvegian Black Metal band Ancient 22

I was a beast on stage. For me that is what metal was all about. I must mention Erichte, the female vocalist Ancient had after Kimberly and before me, the one who sang on “Mad Grandiose Bloodfiends”, which is my favorite album of Ancient. I simply adored her. She was doing some kind of extreme vocals too, but in a more toned way. She was a hell of a character, I adored her. I felt bad taking over after her and I only agreed to become Ancient’s new female vocalist when I was assured she was not in the band anymore because of the distance as she was in USA and Aphazel had relocated to Europe. You see back in the days people thought that the way I sang was just outrageous. A few of my friends laughed the first time I started to growl on stage as they had never seen any girl doing that before. Back in the days, Metal was just a man thing, let alone extreme female vocals. People were not used to it. Now, on the albums of Ancient that I sing on such as “The Halls of Eternity” and “Proxima Centauri” I mostly did clean vocals as I was asked to do that, but I did a lot of extreme vocals too and people would just assumed that was just Aphazel doing it. They would only found out when seeing us live that it was actually both of us doing it. Things have changed so much all these years. People were simply not prepared for that back in those

years, but I had a lot of credit from some Metalheads who appreciated what I was doing. Some other, simply couldn’t cope with the fact that a woman could sing like a man lol.” - Was your image an important part of your job? Did you have full control of it? “Yes I had a full control over it. I somehow regret wearing such sexy outfits though. People were quick to judge and label you as a slut just because I used to go on stage in a net dress who left too little to the imagination. In reality for me it wasn’t a sexual thing at all. I didn’t do it to provoke people. I just thought those outfits were cool cause nobody was wearing anything like it back then and I wanted to look different. I didn’t even make much effort in trying to obtain a certain look. I never had my hair done or my makeup done, I was doing it all myself. Some of my outfits were also semi modified by myself to make them look more mine. Most of the clothes that I wore on stage were the same ones that I would wear when going out. I was just being myself. Nowadays females in Metal all look like photo models. If you look at them now they all got professional make up on, super nice hair and all. When I see their pictures and how being sexy now is the new normal in a way I wish it could have been like that back then, as I wouldn’t

have had to face some of the judgements I had to hear for years.” - You and also Ancient seem to travel around a lot. Does it make it easier to make new contacts? “Mostly Aphazel, Kaiaphas and I were the one who traveled the most and lived in different countries. I guess this nomadic spirit that we shared in common was also part of that connection that we had. We knew people everywhere. The amount of holidays and trips I have done around the world visiting friends and contacts! It was amazing. I used to be on the internet a lot as well, back in the internet early days, I always made my own websites and blogs and that was making it even easier to connect with people. Also when you are in a band you always get to meet other musicians and people just get in touch with you constantly. It is easy to build connections around the world, nowadays more than ever with social media. I once went to visit the guys in Monstrosity in Florida. I only met them once at Wacken Festival when we played in 2000. We exchanged phone numbers and a year later out of the blue I just called them from work, we had quite a chat and I just told them “Hey I am coming to Florida next month, can I stay with you guys?”, “Yes sure”, it was that easy!” - When music turned to downloads, did the money stop like everyone thinks is what happens?

“It did! Maybe not completely but it totally turned the world upside down for the musicindustry. The way labels would set budgets for the bands. Nowadays with all these downloads if you don’t tour and sell merch, you are going to be broke. Back then we were selling proper albums and cds, in addition to touring and selling merchandise.” - How did you go from Satanic music to Islam? “I wouldn’t call Ancient Music Satanic, it was anti-religious yes, but none of us were or are Satanist. We just wanted to piss Christians off I guess. We wanted to smash the dogmas. When I was in Ancient I didn’t believe in God, or at least not in the Christian God. I have always been spiritual though, I believed there was more to this life, I believe in souls and ghosts and that there would be other dimensions out there. I had my own theories about destiny, about the universe and was doing some

research into these things on scientific books to prove my own theories. I started to study physics, chemistry, astrophysics, quantum physics and found some common patterns there which were also present in some of the world’s religions. Like for example how we would return to our Creator after death and how there are invisible things

and beings from other dimensions that come here and interfere with ours. I started to see things from a different angle. While I was doing these studies I came across some other musicians who listened to my crazy theories and happened to me muslims. They told me that

a lot of what I was saying was the same in the Qur’an. I couldn’t believe it, I could not understand how a religion would have a book saying similar things to the theories of someone like me. So I looked into it. I read the Qur’an. I approached it with a lot of curiosity and when I came across all those scientific bits that explain the creation of the universe and how it is expanding, the concept of time and space and how human beings were created, the djinns and all of that it just blew me away. It was like the pieces of the puzzle all started to fall into place and it all started to make sense to me and just had become muslim. Now, most people are very ignorant when it comes to Islam. They don’t understand it. They think Islam is the same as arab culture. Actually far from, in a way. We shouldn’t judge a religion by a culture or not even 23

Deadly Kristin- Ex member of Norvegian Black Metal band Ancient

by its followers. Because people often mix their own culture and tradition with the message and It all gets distorted. I have just studied the message in the book and that is all that counts to me. I understood it.” - Do your Muslim friends know about your Black Metal past? “Yes of course they do. I also appeared in many magazines talking about this, both music magazines and more general mags. I got interviewed by Zaman newspaper in Turkey once, which is a major national newspaper and had hundreds and hundreds of emails from Turkey, people wanted me to appear at music festivals there, people drawing me and sending me gifts. Even several Metal bands from Indonesia, Malaysia contact me and sent me gifts, such as their t-shirts and cds! People can be fans of Black Metal and be Muslim as well. How strange this is! That’s because Black Metal music doesn’t necessarily mean you are Satanic. You can like the music and even play this music and not be Satanic.” - Can you tell our readers about the day you were nearly killed?

“I don’t want to get into much details as it really hurts me to think about it and I don’t want to be involved in possible police investigations as I am not sure after all these years that all the homicides these people did have all been solved. I won’t mention any names. Back in the mid 90’s I use to hang out at

popular metal pub. A lot of musicians used to hang out there. Cristina of Lacuna Coil, used to work there as a waitress in those days. I made friends with some guys who had a brutal Death Metal bands. We were not close friends or anything but we used to hang out on weekends. One night after some beers, we just went in the car and one of them

suggested we would go to the woods. I felt super excited about it. I was like “Oh yes! How cool! Yes, let’s go to the woods, wow I have never been in the woods at night!”. One of these guys, who sat next to me in back of the car, suddenly became pale and agitated. He started to say to his friends “ No... no... no”. I think he used to fancy me actually. I didn’t understand why he didn’t want to go as I really wanted to. It is like he wanted to stop the others from taking me there. The others didn’t look happy, they looked so serious. We were driving like crazy on the highway blasting out Deicide at full volume and banging our heads in the car. I was actually sitting on a freaking hammer on the back, seat. There was also a rope there and some other tools like some kind of little shovel or something. I didn’t make too much of it back then, I thought they were just working tools and guess the guy was using this car for some kind of manual work. All of a sudden, while we were driving on that highway I suddenly remember that was a

band of friends of mine playing that night at a club. They would normally let me in the club for free, so I told the guys about the show and changed their mind. I said “Actually come with me to the gig, if you come with me they will let you in for free! We can go to the woods another time”. So they turned around the car and we went to the show instead. But they only let me in for free and they didn’t want to pay for it, so they just dropped me off and went their way. I never saw them again. I don’t remember why I stopped hanging out with them, I think it was one day I was walking in Milan with another friend and they mocked him for no reason. That really bugged me. Anyway, to cut the story short, a good 10 years later when I was living in Sweden I started to receive tons of emails from Italy from old common friends. They told me that there was this big thing on TV going on for months about a criminal investigations and that those guys I was in the car with that time, who wanted to take me to the woods had actually been convicted for murder. They had murdered some guys, one of them was even one of their band members, killed them with a hammer and thrown them into a grave they had previously been digging in the same woods were they were going to take me to. Their bodies had been found as I said about a decade

later. This was not a sole episode. It was a pure Satanic cult who committed lots of murders. I could have been one of those unfortunate souls. I know now, for a fact, the guy who fancied me, who kept saying no, was trying to save my life” - Is your music career over? What do you do now? “My latest album, “Delightful Suicides” came out in 2005, it was my own project with Aphazel called Dreamlike Horror. After that I have recorded some vocals for various artists but it was mostly dark electronic music with a real edge to it. While in Egypt I wrote about 10 new songs fir a new Dreamlike Horror album and I really wanted to release it as a video concept, almost like some kind of short film where the song intertwined one into the other. I am still very interested in this and I might do it one day, maybe even by myself as I have got a professional camera now or as a collaboration. Unfortunately, I have lost all the music files but my ex might still have them on his pc. I also lost all my recording equipment in a terrible house fire some years ago in Sweden and I never bothered to get new one again. Then I had my son who turned my life upside down, in a good way that is. So these days apart from being a mom, I am actually home creating art. During this pandemic I have discovered I

can draw and I have started an Instagram art account where I sell my portraits and take orders on commissions. I mostly draw musicians; I am pleased to say I have sold quite a few already. Please check it out: instagram.com/hayamdk_art - Do you ever get recognized when out shopping? “Sometimes. Not so much in the UK, mostly in Eastern Europe Egypt, Sweden and Italy in particular. In Italy people know me a bit better because I used to work for Rock TV as a presenter. There was a time I was more known for Rock TV than for my music.” “But it’s all people my age or older. New generations don’t know me really as I have been absent from magazines and the public eye for a while. I think this was sort of related to my question about underground stars have it easier than mainstream stars.” - Do you have a message for our readers? “Yes. Listen to the music you want but don’t flirt too much with evil. It’s all fun and games until it touches you from close, like it did to me. Keep it light hearted, keep it fun. Let it be about the music and the music only. Trust your guts always. If you feel bad vibes, just walk away.” Thank you for your time. “Thank you for this interesting interview.”

Phobetor-Groove/Death Metal from United Kingdom

Interview with Marc Dyos

Interview by Andrew Stanton

Phobetor are a very cool band from the UK. Andrew Stanton talked to drummer Marc Dyos about the new album. - Can you tell our readers a bit about your history, please? The band was formed by Debora (Conserva, vocalist) in 2018, and although the lineup was quite fluid during this early period the band quickly got to work writing original material and took to the live circuit, capped by a performance at the Camden Underworld alongside Krysthla and Me-

moriam in early 2020 which is when I joined the band. Later that year we released our debut album ‘When Life Falls Silent’. The departure of guitarist Mitch Revy following the release of ‘When

and bassist Dredgewood (Meat Train). We wasted no time in getting to work on the follow-up album, with recording completed in September 2021. ‘Through Deepest Fears and Darkest Minds’ was released on December 13th 2021. What bands did you like growing up? I suppose I took the usual path of first discovering bands like Iron Maiden and Metallica, before finding my way to more extreme bands like Carcass, Napalm Death and At the Gates.

t and n e l a t f o tage nds, but it r o h s o n s There i from newer ba to climb effort remely difficult er things”. is ext dder to “great the la Life Falls Silent’ marked a new era of line-up stability in the band with the arrival of guitarist Ross White (Pythia, Lunatic Hooker, Descent)

- Have Cradle of Filth made it very difficult for British Black Metal bands to be taken seriously? I think we fall more in the Death Metal category so I’m probably not best placed to comment, but it happens in all genres and subgenres that one or two bands takes a more accessible and mainstream direction and are immediately accused of betraying their musical roots. There’s a lot of bands out there, and if you don’t like a particular band then listen to something else. I’ve heard a few cool more recent British Black Metal bands, some more traditional Black Metal, some more ambient/experimental, but none seem hindered or affected by whatever COF are doing. I’ve not heard the new COF album as yet but will give it a spin at some point. - What are your lyrics about? Debora’s lyrics tend to be quite person-

al, so even when she’s writing about war or political systems she will write from a personal perspective, empathizing with the individual. Other than that she tends to cover quite a lot of ground lyrically, but generally quite dark and emotive. - Can you explain the cover of Through Deepest Fears and Darkest Minds, please? I became aware of Brian

D’Agosta’s work after seeing the cover art for Vallenfyre ‘Splinters’ and I thought his style would fit well with vision we had for the album. We chose that particular artwork because of certain elements contained within it. The eyes and the tower signify the constant control and power of someone or something watching, depicting a connection between the feeling of being observed and controlled from a distance, and the anxiety, struggle and fear which arises from it. The artwork ties in with the theme of the album which in many ways tries to understand and empathise with human struggle not just from the self-perspective but also from the perspective of others who have no escape from a cruel existence. - What do you think of the UK Metal scene? The music industry is in a period of transition still at present, and Metal music or the UK is no exception. Perhaps the covid situation has accelerated these changes or perhaps it will bring about a counter-change?... we will see. 27

Phobetor-Groove/Death Metal from United Kingdom 28

There is no shortage of talent and effort from newer bands, but it is extremely difficult to climb the ladder to “greater things”. Many people are prepared to pay £100+ to see the bigger bands but won’t pay £5 at a local venue to see some of the more u n d e r ground talent, which is a shame but it’s the world we live in now. Bands not only need to compete with other bands but also with home entertainment films, gaming etc meaning that people are perhaps staying in more, so those who do make the effort to attend the smaller shows, buy a CD or t-shirt really are worth their weight in gold. - Why do magazine never want to talk about Black Metal? I’ve not noticed that to be honest, but as I say, I’m no Black Metal connoisseur. The magazines that I’ve tended to read over the years always seem to have features on all aspects

of extreme metal including Black Metal, and not just the well-known bands. - What can fans expect from your new album?

The new album has definitely moved the band towards a Blackened Death Metal sound, with elements of Behemoth, Carcass and Vallenfyre. Its high ener-

gy but not afraid to tackle slower tempos and retains some of the groove and swagger of the first album. - Do you have a message for our readers? Keep supporting the underground bands. Buy a CD or some merch to help them keep writing and recording, and most of all… enjoy music!

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https://www.youtube.com/InsideTheDarknessTV

Information for bands, labels and metal fans: If you have a video and want to see it in our channel, just send it to us and we will promote it and support you!!! 29

Wormlight - Black/Metal from Sweden

Interview with Tiamat Invictuz

Interview by Jay Parker

Hi, this is Jay reporting from the chilly and grey mountains of Bogota, Colombia. Today i’ve been lucky enough to talk to Tiamat Invictuz of Wormlight from Sweden, masters of melodic BM... They recently released their new album, Nightmother, a fantastic slab of Scandinavian sorcery...

1 - Tell us about Wormlight? When and where was the band formed?

and released the Ep under that moniker until the name change in 2015 along with the release of the second Ep Bloodfields. Currently Wormlight is made up of Tiamat Invictuz on guitar and vocals, King on drums and Arktos on bass. 2 What inspired you to form the band?

r e h t o o t n e t s i l o t ’m t o n I try too much whilelbuIm s a s d n a w b e n n o g workininimize the influence. to m Who’s in the band? The band hails from Umeå and was formed under the name Unhallowed in 2014

The band was form out of a shared interest in music and as a platform for creative expressions. 3 - What are the bands musical influences? I try not to listen to other bands too much while I’m working on new albums to minimize the influence. But naturally the music I create will be in the same vain as my overall music preference. While mastering the growl/screaming kind of vocals in my youth I would say Jon Nödtveidt and Nergal’s styles of vocals that inspired me. Musically its probably a fusion of Norwegian black metal, Swedish melodic black metal and the polish blackened death metal. 4 - Run us through your records, from start to finish. Where was the last album recorded? Who wrote the tracks? Tell us about the new album... Wormlight has released two Ep’s, An Ancient Enemy [2014], Bloodfields [2015/2016] and two full length albums, Wrath Of The Wilds [2018] and the latest album Nightmother [2021]. I joined the band in late 2014 and has since been the primary writer of both music and lyrics, and nightmother is no different. The drums and guitar album was recorded in a local

studio, while the vocals, solos, bass and additional recordings was recorded at Wormlight HQ. Finally mixed and mastered by Ronnie Björström of Enhanced audio production (E.A.P). 5 - What are your palns for the future? Are you playing live/recording at the moment? Due to the pandemic we have, after the release of Nightmother and in absence of live shows, begun the work on a new album. But when the venus opens

we’ll look for some live gigs and a break from the writing. 6 - Tell us about your best and worst experience as a band... I would say its mostly ordinary things that tends to happen for bands on the road. Things go missing, people don’t show up and stuff break in the last moment. 7 - You obviously come from a scene with a rich and defining history... do you listen to bands outside sweden? What are your favourite bands at the moment? I listen to bands from all over the world. I tend to listen to a few bands at a time

and go all in on them and deep dive into their discography. 8 - Your music has got some lovely guitar melodies and very complex rhythm structures... tell us about your experience as musicians... when and why did you start playing your instruments? Have you / do you play in any other projects? I started out as a vocalist in a local metalband probably 13 years ago. I founded Sons Ov Omega in 2012 togheter with Arktos where i played bass but the switched to guitar. 2014 i joind then Unhallowed and has been active in both projects since. 9 - What is your all time favourite album (not necessarily BM) and why? I would have to say Dissection’s Storms Of The Light’s Bane. It was one of the albums that got me into black metal. 10 - What was the first album you bought as a kid? I dont know to be honest. Obviously nothing worth remembering. 11 - How do you think BM will evolve in the next 10 years? Time will tell. Art is ever shiftung and impossible to predict. Tak sa myket guys!!! Thanks for your time ;) J

Beheth-Black Metal from Bangladesh

Interview with Mahmud

Interview by Jay Parker

Hi this is Jay reporting from Bogota Colombia... Today I’ll be talking to Beheth, from Bangladesh, rising stars of Asian black Metal and a band that is certainly getting a lot of attention... 1) Tell us about Beheth... who is in the current line up? - Beheth is a threeman band from northern part of Bangladesh formed in 2020. - S i x s i x tysix (Guitar/Bass) - Butcher (Drums) - Xic (Vocals)

- Zylo (Band Manager) 2) Why, where and when was Beheth formed? - Back in 2020, Sixsixtysix & Butcher planned to

middle of all these believers’. In fact, it’s kinda hard to play extreme metal here. Still someone should break the boundaries right? After that butcher suggested Xic for the vocals. And Xic was the perfect one for Beheth. That’s how the journey started. 3) What is the inspiration behind your music? - Seeing all the elder bands of our country smashing the stage, is a great inspiration for us. 4) Who writes the tracks and what is the process?

o t n i t o g y l ate r a p e s s u ith W . e All of r n e g l a t e M ... s e i r o t Black s fe i l t n e r e 3 diff form a black metal act in the northern side of the country. Well! It’s pretty difficult to do the black metal genre in the

- Sixsixtysix comes with guitars and bass lines. While Butcher puts the drums and Xic gets the vocals parts with the lyrics. 5) Tell us about the lyrical content... you’re pretty big on blasphemy... War and Blasphemy is a cracking track... My personal favourite (so far). - Really happy to hear that you enjoyed this track. The main view of this track is against all the false activities from religion that creating false information in people’s mind about the darkside if not followed! An old shaman summoning war as the doom of all those mislead beings that destroying the world peace. 6) Where do you record? What equipment do you use? - We have a home studio for our band here. And basically we don’t have premium equipment’s here just because it’s really difficult to afford expensive musical gears in our country but still we have whatever is necessary to record and play black metal. 7) Tell us about your album which is due out in 2022 and eagerly awaited... - Right now! We are planning to release an EP at the end of this year. Which is already we are working on. Currently just going to hit the stage and spread the blasphemy everywhere haha. 8) When did you guys first

get into black metal and who introduced you to it? - All of us separately got in to black metal genre. With 3 different life stories but if I want to explain in very short, this is completely self-taught and exploring every single day for more and more. 9) What are your favorite bands and who has been your big-

gest influence, musically? - Some of our favorite bands are Bathory, Dissection, Mortuary Drape, Tribulation and among them we are mostly influenced by Bathory and Dissection. 10) Tell us about the metal scene there in Bangladesh… recommend some local bands for our readers to check out... - There are so many fucking in-

sane extreme metal bands are here in our country. Such as Orator, Eternal Armageddon, Burial Dust, Jahiliyyah and more great bands. There are many extreme metal communities are here. Every month communities are organizing extreme metal gigs with various genre bands. 11) Tell us about your plans for 2022 and ahead… after the album, are you planning to play live and perhaps tour outside Bangladesh? - Right now we are just going to play live gigs and that’s all. Already we have released our new debut single with merchandise. And hopefully we are going to complete an EP within 2022. If we get any chance to play outside of our country with opportunities, then definitely we are willing to do some live gigs outside of Bangladesh. 12) What is your opinion of the current Black Metal scene and newer bands? How do you think it will develop in the next few years? - I guess all the bands are already developing on their own way. Seeing new releases of lots of old and new bands, which is completely amazing for the current black metal scene. 13) Would you like to add anything for our readers??? - Cheers to all the readers out there. Would love to get some support and keep listing to black fuckin metal. Hopefully we can see it publish as soon as possible. Thank you! Mahmud 33

with

Liam

Consecration-Death Doom Metal from England

Interview

Interview by Richard Keenahan

Today’s interview is with Liam from the last 2 years or so since Andy The UK metal band Consecration. joined the band, we now have 2 guitarists churning out new riffs 1. Liam how would you left right and centre. As a band we best describe Consecration? then pull it apart and If I could describe Consecration, it would be brutally low, eerie, heavy Death/Doom that harkens back to the old school sound of the 90’s. 2. As well as being the guitar player are you the primapiece it all tory songwriter? gether so we’re all happy with it. Yes/No... At one point a lot of the 3. This year has seen riffs were coming from me but for an ep released on Cavern-

ous records, this is older re-recorded tracks. Why did you decide to re-record older tracks? Originally, we were going to record some covers, the main one being a Venom track. After a while it didn’t really fit with us a band so I think it may have been me that suggested we did some older songs we weren’t happy with. It wasn’t met with much enthusiasm but in the end it paid off and we’re all much happier with the new versions of the tracks.

ssive a m a n e re’s be e h t d i more v o g n i t n a Since c ople w e p ack l n i o t k e r u a sp ds d n a b d n u ds. n a undergro b r e g g i rom b of tours f

4. Did the band’s sound develop naturally or was the intention to always go Low and Slow? The band was formed to try and cement some Doom into the local Norwich metal scene. At the time it was mostly Thrash and we wanted to show the scene a different style of metal. Throw in that we were bang average musicians and going fast wasn’t in our repertoire yet ha-ha. 5. Your also what I would class as a traditional band in terms of you practice together, was it easy to find like-minded individuals? I joined the band in the latter year it was formed. At the time, most of the original line-up was in other bands and they wanted to form something special and dedicate a lot of time to it. To this day we treat it like a social event, jam some riffs, escape the real world for a little while and pretend to be rock stars. 6. Who comes up with the lyrical themes for the band? That’s all through Dan, he has always been the one who writes all the lyrics in the band. He has a big old tome of lyrics, poems ect he’s wrote over the years, and he’ll often refer to that for new lyrical ideas. 7. What does the future hold for the band?

Well, we have a new album out next year through Redefining Darkness and once that drops, we will hopefully gain a few more opportunities for gigs/festivals going forward. Other than that, it’s all about enjoying it and writing music we can be proud of. Once that stops then the band will stop. 8. Do you have a local scene where you are? We do but being honest I haven’t

been to a local show in Norwich for a long time. We used to have some cracking death metal bands but over time they’ve vanished and trendier metalcore bands or genres I don’t even know have appeared. Usually, I head to London as it’s about a 2.5-hour drive. Spoilt for choice in that part of the world for bands. Background 9. What was your introduction to metal?

My introduction to metal came from what I remember an uncle who was a maiden fan but it didn’t click properly until I was in high school and discovered the nu metal stuff that was all over the music channels. Once I heard Korn it just clicked for me. 10. At what point did you decide you wanted to play metal? I’ve always been a day dreamer and when I listen to music I transport myself to a place where I can actually play these songs and I’m up there on stage giving it all that etc. Once I got to college, I picked up the guitar ‘for real’ and muddled my way through songs I knew. Sabbath seemed to be the easiest way for me to learn power chords and write metal songs and helped me form my love for doom metal. 11. Was there a turning point album for you? Likely it would have been Korn ‘Untouchables’ as that album started my metal journey shall we say but there’s many that inspired me into different sub genres etc. 12. Did you have an album that at first you thought was too extreme, but you persevered with? Yes! It was Cannibal Corpses ‘Eaten Back to Life’... around 2000 I used to think Korn was the heaviest band on the planet. 35

Consecration-Death Doom Metal from England 36

A school friend showed me the cover of CC and said that was what we should be listening to but I completely dismissed it as noise but there was some parts my head was nodding to. Fast forward and that’s one my favourite CC albums haha. 13. What keeps you excited about metal? For me, it’s the sheer amount of music you can find that may go under the radar if you just stick to your usual haunts on Spotify or your usual go to place for music. I try and listen to as many people’s opinions as possible, since collecting again I’ve gained that spark to find albums I haven’t heard in years, and it’s been a real help creatively with my own music. 14. So, the New Wave of UK Death Metal, is it taking steps to world metal domination? It’s certainly a scene that has gotten stronger and stronger. Tom from Celestial Sanctuary has all the credit for coming up with that term for it. Since covid there’s been a massive spark in people wanting more underground bands due to lack of tours from bigger bands. I feel now you can be in any kind of project and if you know how to social media and have a base following you can take that project anywhere. 15. What are your listening habits like? Usually, it’s based off what I’ve purchased if I’m sitting in my man cave. I try and give everything a good couple of listens before moving on to the next lot. If I’m out and about it’s all Spotify. I create playlists of what

I own and albums I need to check out if I’m thinking of picking them up. 16. Any bands you would like to recommend? That list could be very long, I would say for this interview go check out Visions from Beyond, Eternal

I should got one with a clean channel and one that doesn’t weigh the same as a small car. From there I run into a Revv G3, this has been a game changer for me and for the price it was worth every penny. On the side I use a boss tuner, Kirk Hammet Wah,

Rot, Enchantment & Unnatural. Instruments 17. What was your first instrument? Keyboards in school was my first dabble in music but it never amounted to anything. I’ve been music mad since I was a kid but playing one never occurred to me until I was in my late teens. 18. What does your rig look like these days? My rig hasn’t changed much for many years. For amp, I use a Laney GH100TI as at the time I saw it was a Tony Iommi sig and that’s all I needed. Hindsight would suggest

Delay/Reverb and boost if I need it. 19. Any bad gear decisions along the way? Like I mentioned, the amp in practical terms wasn’t my best choice, these days I essentially use it as a power amp as my Revv g3 does all the work. I’ve used those stupid multi effects units but when it comes to play with them outside the bedroom it all goes horribly wrong and 9/10 you look like a muppet on stage when you go for a boost or delay and end up with something that sounds like a dog bark. 20. Are you still searching for your perfect tone? Always, I can honestly say I’ve nev-

er personally been satisfied with a tone recorded on a Consecration album. If you have the contacts or money to throw at the premium amps you can achieve it but with a mortgage, kids, and commitments you must usually settle for what you can get. If you can make it all work though and write music your happy with. then you’re laughing. 21. What makes a great band mate? Someone who doesn’t question your ideas, does what you say and lets you take all the credit… in all seriousness though, just people who can gel ideas together is a big plus for me. I’ve been in bands where there’s no creative spark as a band or someone just refuses to open their mind to what you think may work. Without the chemistry when writing then it doesn’t work in the long run. YouTube 22. How long have you had your channel? It’s been over a year now. Time flies when you’re having fun. 23. What’s the main purpose behind your channel? The purpose was to do something during lock down here in the UK. Being a music nerd and seeing like minded people do it, I thought I should give it a try. The channel has morphed slightly and it’s more now promoting bands and getting music out there I think people should hear rather than me just showing what I’ve spent my pocket money on. 24. How do decide what makes the channel?

Usually, I script up what I think may be interesting but mostly it’s showing what I’ve picked up and hopefully give people a spin on what it could be to them and why they should check it out. I love describing music to people, just showing it is pointless. 25. Is the goal to be the UKs version of Ken’s

26. Any hobbies other than music? These days it’s mainly weight lifting and spending time with the kids. Nearing my mid 30’s, being in a band seems to be the only cool thing you can do. Once that stops it’s likely going to be sat on the couch watching ‘cash in the attic’ haha. 27. Any burning ambitions

Death Metal Crypt? Absolutely not, Kens crypt is one of a kind to me and couldn’t be replicated. Long term goal for me would be for bands to see me as a way of promoting their material if they chose to and for people to respect my suggestions and go check out the bands for themselves. I know what I like, but if I can create a platform that can help others then I’m all for them using it to show the world their music. Hobbies, future

to branch out musically? I’d love to DJ my kind of playlists to see what reactions I would get. I see so many that I think are rubbish or just your fisher price metal heads ‘anything that’s in Kerrang’. Would love to do a set of proper metal songs and see what would happen. Thanks for your time. Rich.

Plague Demon Records-Black Death Metal Label from the United States

Interview with Jim

Interview by Jay Parker

Hi Jim hope this finds you well. Here is the interview for Inside the darkness. This is Jay reporting from Bogota Colombia. Today I’ll be talking to Jim “ Namtar Axarcuth” Downey owner and founder of the diabolically delightful US label, Plague Demon Records... 1) Hi Jim, thanks for taking the time to talk to us... tell us plague demon... when /where/ why did you set up the label? I pulled Plague Demon Records

together after a lifelong dream to not only be a musician, but to also help out our once mighty scene that seemed to be coming back to life, and giving bands what I never got, a label that won’t lie to you! From the

Storm has lied to us and breached contract, except for Gothic records from California as well as WW3 records who was run by the same great guy, my friend Enrique Chavez. I was actually going to start my label a year before I did, but was doing a release with Afterworld Records (Namtar u - A n cient Serpent -7inch) and didn’t wanna step on the guys’ toes, so I waited a whole year for my record to come out and week one of my release, this guy goes and harasses the beautiful

l a t e m y t h g i e v m i r r h u t O ene will sc ce again! on biggest to the smallest almost every label we ever signed with in all 3 of my career bands being Namtaru, Perverseraph, and Blood

and very awesome Kelly Tee with insane drunken ramblings, which we will not discuss the inappropriate stuff he said, but he sank his own ship. Bad move on his part, but he turned over all 500 copies of my NAMTARU 7 inch to me. And then some, He knew he was done and I told him I was starting my own label. So in the long run I became friends with Kelly Tee for apologizing on behalf of the bands mostly Namtaru and The Primitive as I was in constant contact with the mighty Jim Roe on how we should handle the situation, Afterworld Records big screw up. And had quite a bit of stock for the label to begin with, it was a good place to start. In the very beginning i found Caezar Lazo who now does Blaspherion, Moribundus Christus and Ritual Possession, and also in the beginning I found Peter Bohm and Alvarez, these were my 2 first bands and my very close brothers I speak with as often as possible, Caezar and I speak daily he is that guy that always sends you videos of his songs hahaha! I love it brother keep the videos coming! And Peter and I speak to as often as possible, it’s hard for him most of the year because of his seasonal job. But they both helped me greatly in the beginning stages of the label we threw ideas all around and came out on top! Those 2 guys will forever be my brothers no matter what happens! But year 1 for Plague Demon Records was awesome we did 16 phenomenal releases and had one of the greatest

graphic artists in the world Keith Simpson who will always be a friend and a part of the family to us at PDR. Year 2 was very impressive I joined forces with Blasphemous Creations Of Hell Records run by war brother Chuck Manganiello with another 28 releases and for part of the year we had Wyl from ASMODAEN BLOOD COVEN doing the graphic art we ended the year with catalog number PDR042. So things have been going excellent the first 2 years of the label. We later wound up with no graphic artist and Chuck and I learned some helpful art programs and we do the layouts and adds ourselves as we were growing tired of people leaving on us. My goal in the beginning was to only release black metal bands but my mind got changed by bands like Alvarez, Blood Temptation Booze Serpent, I Misanthrope and Goatthornsskullbonecrusher. I heard their albums and had to pick them up, they are all elite bands, from all over the world, all great! stand up! and get shit done without the ego’s, type of people, My kind of people. I have had the awesome pleasure of having so many great bands released on my label. I honestly couldn’t ask for a better group of bands and personalities that I interact with on a daily basis. I have seen a great bit of support from friends and metal Tyrants far and wide! We all support each other in this scene. So we all help each other or we fall! 2) Give us a run through of

the bands that you’re working with at the moment. Manthat’salonglistbutherewego. Of course I release my own Namtaru releases, Alvarez (Austria/ Czech republic), Blaspherion (USA), Deceiverion, Old Pagan (Germany), Ritual Possession, Moribundus Christus, Legio Inferi (Colombia ), Serpent Ov Old, Blood Temptation, Kvlt Ov Odium, Booze Serpent (Turkey), Svartmass, Valefar, Selvmord, Himetuks Himi N, Goatthornsskullbonecrusher, Eirik, Morkhgrat, Lawrence Wallace (Serpent Ov Old), I Misanthrope, Primordial Serpent, Frozen Fortress, Aeigort, Isataii, Nekcrium, Sisters Memon (UK/ Poland), Bloodrust, Howling, Absentia, Indre Mørke, Temple Of Gorgon, Zwetwezen, Necroroots (Mexico), Thale (Norway), Pestalagon Presmitrius, Charon Kruk, Yaldabaoth and 4 releases a month from now to October which I won’t reveal just yet. Hopefully I didn’t forget anyone. But every band we have released is excellent to say the least! 3) What was the last album you released and what is the next one to be released? The last album was actually a compilation of all new songs, never released before by 26 bands on the PDR/BCHR roster called Blasphemous Plagues Of The Underground Volume 1- on digital download and 2 disk CD package. I must say this compilation destroys all by far every band turned in a beyond excellent song for this 39

Plague Demon Records-Black Death Metal Label from the United States 40

compilation and the awesome Sisters Memon has 2 songs on there! My next release will be Himetuks Himi N, this kid has given me 2 releases in less than a year he actually waited from the age of 16 to 18 to be on the label, his first message to me was” I want to be on your label”, this kid is awesome and bringing great melodic black metal to the fucking table, he is also doing something quite different, his writings are based on Native American folk lore and beliefs which I myself find quite unique, followed by Isataii for the 2nd release by us as well and Charon Kruk who joins us for their first release for the month of January, all kick ass, killer, and amazing bands and people! 4) What is your approach as a producer? Many albums today sound so over produced, in my opinion the band loses a lot of character... personally, I much prefer the old school sound, it’s so much ‘truer’ I think… do you try and keep that old school feel or does each band have a different direction sound wise? I go for whatever is excellent to me personally, some have a great production, some sound like they were recorded in a cave with a lowfi sound including my own release with Legio Inferi (Colombia) it was a last minute decision to put Namtaru on there and we came up with the most low-fi release of my career but we wrote it as we went along it was more of an experiment in writing, we were never so unprepared and inventive and it

turned out great for what it was. So I would say it goes on a case by case scenario, but all of our bands capture a beautifully executed old school sound in my opinion! 5) Tell us how you’ve adapted and survived during these last 2 years? How has all this madness affected Plague Demon and your bands? Well honestly if anything is going right for me in life the last 2 years it’s my label and bands, outside of that life is a fucking shit show. I would just like to say I believe were all being led into some New World Order and the sheeple need to open their eyes to what’s going on, I would like to give a big fuck you to, COVID, vaccines, human waste and American television scare tactics, I’m tired of all of it and the time to stand up and give a big fuck you to all of our countries leaders and take a fucking stand is now! Stop giving your freedoms away. We are all going to wind up dead or enslaved by rich filthy millionaires who want nothing but your death and numbers, fuck them all with the biggest fist up the ass!!! To quote Destroyer 666 Aware, Beware, War!!!!! 6) With the current resurgence in popularity of cassettes and vinyl, do you see a brighter future for smaller record labels? Hell yes! We must all support each other in these dark days. If we allow one another to fall, we will have no scene, there’s a lot of great labels and bands today. I am seeing more and more great underground

bands and labels and I support you all. Put out all of these great bands, get your name out there and for all the fans, fuck this digital age, you new comers have no idea what the great days of metal were like. Buy CD, cassette and vinyl. If you truly support your scene buy your favorite albums in physical format, or at very least buy digital very often as we the labels get raped on digital sales. Stand together and rise together Mighty Metal Tyrants!!! 7) Tell your best and worst experience working as a record label... My best experience was probably starting the label and my partnership with BCHRECORDS , it was a great choice we made together to work as 2 separate label’s, that work together as one, our partnership brings a lot more to the table as we are 2 working together and we can pull a bit more off such as Chuck has been doing our weekly radio show Blasphemous Plagues Of Hell, which I will eventually take over every other week and I’m constantly searching for bigger and better for all of us as a whole, I have great ideas and find all the best ways for us to do more in every direction within reason for our budgets and it cuts costs in half which allows us both to bring more awesome releases to our killer followers and fans, and my worst experience is a hard thing to answer for me as I haven’t had any problems, besides the awful costs of shipping, especially overseas and just so you all know I’m working on a way for us to open shop in Europe and other great continent’s I find

trustworthy people in, in the near future. As well as the great people my partner in chaos Chuck finds for us to work with. All i can say is if you’re unreliable don’t bother to reach out because we are all about spreading the Plague to all around the world and if you fuck with the Demon you get the horns!!! 8) As an old school metalhead, you’ve seen many things change over time... tell us your opinion on the evolution of metal, and where you think it will go in the future... I definitely come from a day when the scene was alive, exciting, and thriving, I had a great many awesome experiences, more than most these days, but for a while I was growing bored with bands and our once great scene, as many of them that lead the way in the beginning are boring as all fucking hell, don’t get me wrong some still kill it but most are either repetitive, I mean how many albums can you write about Satan or chopping up bodies? Try opening your minds to a whole other world of occultism and study, read, and grow, look past the box that Christianity put inside your head and see the bigger picture! I guess that’s a whole other topic of discussion. But then out of the ashes of war

thousands of great bands started emerging, bands that made me feel as though the Black/Death metal scene was born again through Chaos, something has awoken in these new bands that was missing for year’s! What brought it I can’t say and it can’t be these fucking millennials because you can’t even

speak your mind in a free country like the USA without someone’s pussy hurting, that’s right I said it! So what caused this, maybe the fucked up state of the world we all live in, maybe these new great bands are fueled by the hatred of today’s world. Whatever it is I’m fucking loving it! So as a whole I

see our underground scene emerging victorious in the end. I’m hearing stuff that should have come out in the 80’s and 90’s and if everyone just does their part in supporting new bands and labels. Our mighty metal scene will thrive once again! 9) Now you’ve got a very impressive catalogue at Plague Demon, some great looking cds and vinyls and some belting bands from all over the world... choose three of the very best to recommend to our readers. Why did you choose them? OK PLAGUE DEMON RECORDS bands I just have to say you all rule!!! But if I had to pick I would have to go with the bands that do the most foot work on their own and help me as much as I help them! So number 1 would be my brother Geist with his 2 bands on my label BLOOD TEMPTATION and TEMPLE OF GORGON, 2nd would have to be the mighty female fronted (Natalia) and equally as great male musician/ movie writer Martin Daniels and their awesome creation SISTERS MEMON, 3RD my brother from Germany, Machosias and his 2 bands OLD PAGAN and GOATTHORNSSKULLBONECRUSHER and I’m gonna have to add a 4th band here with the awesome WVLGAR and his bands 41

Plague Demon Records-Black Death Metal Label from the United States 42

KVLT OF ODIUM, ISATAII and NEKCRIUM. But I must say it was very hard for me to choose, as we now have 45 great releases and each and every one as good as the next so check out our whole catalogue of bands! 10) Is there any band that you would like to work with but have been unable to? I haven’t quite hit that road block yet! I haven’t asked anyone out of my league quite yet and I will clarify that in a moment, I have a very great history myself with Namtaru, Perverseraph and Blood Storm. I realized from the start some bands I know quite well, are living off of their music, or running a label themselves so why would I being a newer label try to pick up a band who’s needs I can’t quite meet yet, keyword YET. I have great plans for the future of PLAGUE DEMON RECORDS/ BCHRECORDS we will continue the barrage of releases and awesome bands!!! I do all I can for our bands, and as with all things in life sometimes we run a bit off schedule, or sometimes I change the schedule and my partner Chuck probably hates me for it hahaha, as he writes up the schedule for all releases as he is more organized then myself, then i break it, but only for the greater good of the labels and especially for pre-existing bands. But I trust more in the bands we already have then the bands who are equally as good but more known at the moment, to rise up and take off.

I work very hard to promote and take these bands to the next level and as we grow they grow with us, and I will say this one last time! We the creator’s and fans of underground metal must unite, help each other out, spread each other’s word’s, songs, art and albums! Metal is might. Let’s take the world by storm together!!! This will only be achieved by uniting and supporting our fellow bands and independent and underground labels!!! 11) Tell us about the equipment you use... what kind of studio set up do you have? I have built my studio up quite a bit at home, I guess almost everyone has a studio in their house these days. So what I’m using to record is actually a free DAW now CAKEWALK by Bandlab but at the time I aquired it was still a $600 program put out by Sonar, so I believe I have a bit more to work with then the free version but its equal to any other DAW out there today. I can use my old zoom 16 Track, 8 input, digital recorder as an interface as well as a Tascam interface I have bought. I run this through my laptop with a 50-inch monitor and Mackie studio speakers. Which gives off such an amazing sound. I have 12 guitars of which I really only use 2 being my Ibanez 6 and 7 string RG’s, Marshall halfstacks, 4 basses to choose from, and quite a few drumsets including an electric drumset for those times when the neighbors may call the cops and I may have to tell them to piss off hahaha but seriously! I have

been working on some new songs for a 6 band split and a full length for Namtaru this year and I have released nothing done in my own studio yet other than some mixing and mastering of others songs. We have done our last few releases in my other guitar player John (Shaitan) Litchko’s studio he calls The War Room. And the Darkthrone cover we did for the USBM Tribute To Darkthrone and compilation song for Blasphemous Plagues Of The Underground volume 1 titled HYMN TO THE ANCIENT ONES were done on my old 16 track recorder, so you will hear the outcome of my own studio in the upcoming Namtaru releases. 12) As a musician/producer/ label owner with nearly 30 years’ experience, you must have run into some strange and colorful characters over the years in the business... tell us a funny story... Man I have so many awesome and funny stories to tell this is a hard choice and colorful characters don’t even scratch the surface of some of the people I have met in my career! But I want to save some stories for my upcoming writings for Inside The Darkness as that will be the basis of my writings. So I’ll be a good sport and tell you a story where the laugh was on me, to save further stories for future writings. So while traveling often with Blood Storm, we would mess with each other and break each other’s balls to pass the time, we were all pranksters. What else do bands have to do while driving almost 24 hours a day. We were

all good sports and able to laugh at each other and ourselves (well most of us anyway hahaha), a few bands we played and toured with told us that they were waiting for a fight to break out for the things we said and did to each other and other bands wound up sharing our sense of humor such as Enthroned who fit right in with us. So we were on a 3-day drive in a minivan from Philadelphia PA to San Antonio TX to play the Sacrifice Of The Nazarene Child Festival put together by Alex from Thornspawn, sleeping was a hard thing to do when crushed in a minivan for 3 days with 7 people and all of our equipment. So I finally fell into a deep sleep where I wasn’t waking up for anything after about a day and a half drive and we pulled up to a rest stop to use the bathroom, as I awoke everyone in the car was hysterically laughing, which set off the alarm in my head, what did they do to me while sleeping? I looked down to see the socks almost completely burned off of my feet and saw the video camera sitting in the middle console, picked it up and rewound it only to see Frank (Teloc Coraxo) Gamble spraying my socks with a flammable aerosol liquid and lighting my feet on fire over and over again, I never even budged, I just played there sleeping still as can be with my feet on fire, over and over again while everyone laughed, only to wake up with burnt socks and no clue what happened, until I found

the video camera. I had to laugh because it was something I would have laughed at had I been on the other side of the joke and revenge always came later when the next person fell asleep, sometimes we would wait days to pull another prank on each other and we all loved to laugh as much as possible. Although many didn’t understand us, it was how we passed the time and I’m sure someone out there has the video and laugh’s when they see it. Just know I’m laughing along with you. A day in the life of touring with Blood Storm hahaha! 13) Do you have any words of wisdom for up and coming labels/producers looking to achieve your level of success? Well honestly I feel we have a long way to go still, we have come a long way in just 2 years as a label, I don’t know if any other labels have done 45 releases in 2 years? So I can’t really compare it to anyone else because I’m only keeping track of my own accomplishments. But I definitely feel we have grown worldwide in a very short period of time, and if I was anyone else would people still look at the label the way they do? I am a humble guy, I can’t stand egos or shit talkers, I do like to laugh and pull practical jokes but only with people who I’m comfortable with. So as a label and a band I would say only work with people you know aren’t going to pull the ego trips on you, there’s enough big heads in the world, don’t feed into the bullshit of others who are usually just

jealous of what you are accomplishing, and when the going gets tough ,push harder to achieve your goals the word “can’t” is a poisonous word that I have no time for in my vocabulary, you can do anything you set your mind and heart on, always follow your gut instincts they are usually right and never stop growing as a band, a person, a label or anything you aspire to be. Times are tough all around these days, just do your best and keep pushing through the assholes who want you to fail, and give them a big middle finger and a smile when you accomplish your goals! 14) Would you like to add anything for our readers? I would just like to say support underground labels, bands, smaller distro’s and record shops, help the little guy’s live their dreams!!!! Also I would like to thank you Jay for the killer interview and all that we will achieve together in the future, there’s no other music in the world that brings people together like our mighty metal scene! World strong we are all united for the same cause! Hails and thanks to Inside The Darkness and all metal supporters across this wretched world!!! May the great old ones rise up to devour all of humanity for we are the true Plague!!! Thanks Jim for taking the time to talk to us, we congratulate you on the amazing job you’re doing at Plague Demon and may your success continue!! All Hail the Plague Demon!!! 666

Nightbearer - Death Metal from Germany

Interview with Dominik Hellmuth

Interview by Richard Keenahan

Hi Dome, hope this interview finds you well. I first heard Nightbearer through your YouTube channel and your pedal demos. I really enjoyed the video for Beware the Necromancer. 1. Would you like to give our readers a quick history of who you are and the bands you’re involved with? Hi Rich, thanks for having me talk with you and it’s great that you like our music. We put a lot of effort into making it, so your ap-

proval is highly appreciated! So to introduce myself, I’m Dome and I have a YouTube-Channel where I talk about guitar effect

lead guitar player and producer of Nightbearer, an old school Death-Metal band from Germany, heavily inspired by Swedish Death Metal. And I recently joined another band, the Melodic-Death/ Thrash-Combo Burden of Grief. They were actually one of the first bands to play Melodic-Death-Metal here in Germany. 2. How would you best describe Nighbearer?

y a l p a n n wa y e l l m a o e s r e v e a W h d n a b n i u l a c g a h e t v o i l b , g n i m o c gigs s and festivals. show pedals, especially Boss HM-2 style pedals, amps, music theory and so on. I’m also the co-founder,

Nightbearer is – in my opinion – the perfect fusion of everything Micha (co-founder and vocalist) and I wanted to have in a band. As mentioned before we play Death-Metal that is heavily influenced by Swedish bands like Dismember or Bloodbath, but also takes inspiration from other bands and genres like f.e. Blind Guardian or some Black Metal. Plus, we want to bring you the ultimate HM-2 sound. Our lyrics however aren’t your typical Death-Metal lyrics, but more on that later! 3. The album Tales of Sorcery and Death was released 2 years ago on Testimony Records, how has the response been on the album? Oh, the response was very positive. The overwhelming amount of critics were good or even great and we even made it on place 7 in the monthly poll of the German „Rock Hard“. But not only did the „professionals“ like our music, the resonances of the fans were also awesome, which is way more important in my opinion! Even without playing lots of gigs due to Covid we quickly sold out all the vinyls and even our digipak got a second pressing. So all in all, I think people liked what they heard! 4. The art work is fantastic, how did that come about? I’m glad you’re liking it as well. The initial idea came from Micha, and then Juanjo Castellano Rosado took over and created this masterpiece. The album is called „Tales of Sorcery and Death“ and

the cover shows one of those tales. We think that lyrics and artwork or overall design are as big a part as is the music, so we really think this stuff through. However, Micha is the guy when it comes to design. I’m sure he could write you a book about it! 5. Where do the lyrical ideas for the songs come from? Lyricwise we stay in the realms of fantasy novels and authors like J.R.R. Tolkien, George R.R. Martin and so on. We don’t want to share our personal experiences or thoughts on different subject, but rather tell stories. If the listener dives so deep into the story that he grabs the book the song is based on afterwards our mission is completed haha. Our next record will be based entirely on a very famous fantasy book series actually, but I don’t think I’m allowed to talk about it yet! 6. Nightbearer is just yourself and Michael Torka for writing, do you have other guys come in for recording? We are actually a full band that consists of 5 members, but with Micha and Me being the masterminds who decide everything. This was actually an evolution, because Nightbearer started with just the two of us. I even recorded the drums (well... the cymbals to be honest) for our EP „Stories from beyond“ myself. But for „Tales of Sorcery and Death“ and our upcoming release our regular Drummer Manu took over and we recorded

the Drums in his studio. Apart from that, all instruments are played by me and all vocals are done by Micha. I also do the production, mixing and mastering included. 7. Nightbearer put out a cover of the Blind Guardian song Born in a Mourning Hall for the 25th Anniversary competition. Was it a challenge to bring that song into the Nightbearer realm and how far did you get in the competition? I wasn’t challenging at all, because we covered the song before this competition a few times live. We chose it because it was the easiest Blind Guardian song to adapt to our style. Yeah, I know it’s a very cheap answer but it’s the truth. We did in fact make it to the finals, but since it was a voting-competition and we didn’t want to spam everywhere we didn’t won anything. But that’s ok, simply knowing that the guys listened to us and thought we were cool is an outstanding feeling. 8. With Nightbearer you have that wall of chainsaw but to my ears it’s not in that typical Swedish way of songwriting, you’ve got your own identity with that sound. Did you set out to have that chainsaw sound? Yes, it was our intention to build the band around that HM-2 sound. The songs themselves are written in the style Micha and I write for years, so we couldn’t change it drastically, even if we wanted. But I have to say we kinda evolved since not everything sounds good with a huge chainsaw sound. I mean, there is a reason, 45

Nightbearer - Death Metal from Germany 46

Nevermore didn’t use one haha. 9. It says on your Bandcamp page that your from NRW in Germany which covers a fairly big area. I lived in Bielefeld for 4 years and regrettably didn’t get involved with any bands there. What’s the local scene like where you are? That’s funny, because I don’t live too far away from Bielefeld. Our first gig ever was in Bielefeld actually. I myself live in Warburg, where we don’t have as many bands. Burden of Grief is the only that comes to my mind and I’m now a part of it haha. In Paderborn are a couple more bands and musicians and we are proud to call most of them our friends. The scene is small, but bigger than you think. There were shows on a regular basis in a couple of locations... and will be soon again, I’m sure! 10. Germany has a history of producing fantastic metal but most notably for the big thrash bands, are they are German Death metal bands that you’d like to tell or readers about? Well, I talked a lot about my own bands, so you should check those two out before anything else! Apart from that we have some fantastic Death-Metal bands like Deserted Fear, Revel in Flesh or Fleshcrawl. If you don’t know, you should also check out Obscura, that are more technical! And be sure to check the music of our friends WILT and Scalpture, that also

feature the HM-2 in their music! 11. What does the future hold for Nightbearer? Well, I said it before but we are currently finishing our next record that will hopefully come out in 2022. Plus we really wanna play live again and have some gigs coming, both club shows and festivals. I deeply hope we can enter the stage soon. And you now what they say: After a production is before a production ;-) The beginning 12. So we’ve discussed Nightbearer but we’re did it all start what was the song or album that set you on the metal path? I originally started with „Die Toten Hosen“, a German punkband. From there and thanks to some of my friends of that time, I quickly discovered Power-Metal such as Blind Guardian, Iced Earth or Gamma Ray. So... to answer more precisely... The album that set my way was „Opium für’s Volk“ by „Die Toten Hosen“ and the song... I think it was „Melancholy“ by Iced Earth. 13. Bolt Thrower was the band that made we want to play Death Metal. What was the band that pointed you down the route of wanting to play Death Metal? In Flames for sure. The record „Clayman“ was the first time I listened to them and I was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of aggression and melodies those guys could blend together. The

song „Swim“, that’s definitely not the best song on this record made the biggest impact on me. And from there on I discovered all the other bands. I have to say that I still prefer a melodic approach in Death Metal. That’s why I’m not really into US Death-Metal for instance. But I didn’t know someone could growl this low until I saw a music video from NILE one night on television. So I didn’t neglect the US guys haha, but I highly prefer a melodic approach over a technical one. 14. So why Chainsaw? That’s simple! Bloodbath. „Grand Morbid Funeral“ had the meanest and beefiest sound I have ever heard. So I wanted to sound like Bloodbath. I just later found out that even In Flames used the HM-2 on their first records so that’s a nice coincidence because I always liked their tone as well. And from there on, pretty late actually, I discovered all the good stuff and did my research on the sound! YouTube 15. I’d like to talk about your YouTube channel. I first came across Nightbearer through your YouTube channel when I was looking at picking up a new HM-2 pedal. Where did the idea come from to start doing videos on the HM-2? That’s funny because I initially started doing YouTube-videos to promote Nightbearer. The first videos were even playthroughs of our debut-EP.

Mission accomplished haha! I basically thought about what kind of kinda unique content I could bring and since I owned a couple of HM-2s and clones I started by reviewing and comparing them. Plus I thought that all the other videos and comparisons weren’t done properly, so I do them the way I would want to see a pedal demo. 16. You go into a massive level of detail on your videos, the eq comparison really helps get over the differences. Where did the idea for that part come from? I can’t r e m e m ber why exactly I chose the eq comparison, but I knew that the HM-2 has a very significant EQ-Curve. So I thought that it would be very easy to spot differences if you could actually SEE it and not only listen to it. The YT-compression sucks some details so I thought it’s a nice addition although I know it has it’s limitation. Plus it looks cool haha. 17. You’ve become in my opinion one of the experts on

the various chainsaw pedals which is your go to pedal? Well, I hope I am. Otherwise it would be pointless to own this many haha. For live I use the Lone Wolf Audio Left Hand Wrath. It’s in my opinion the perfect evolution of the HM-2

pedal. Joe (owner of LWA) improved every single aspect of the original design and I simply think it sounds the best out of all the stuff that I have. In the studio I also use the Left Hand Wrath, but in the Deluxe version, that gives me more options. But I don’t limit myself to just use one pedal. I prefer to mix them to get different flavors. For instance I heavily use the KMA Audio Machines Wurm or Guardian of the

Wurm as well as their Dead Stag, a Fuzz/Distortion pedal that can produce a nice supporting chainsaw. I also like to use the Decibelics Angry Swede V2, because it’s so small and quiet. I mostly use it for practicing or when I want to have the original HM-2 sound. To be honest: there are too many good options to list here. But I think I covered all my go to pedals haha. 18. Do you think all these new pedals forced Boss into making the Waza craft H M - 2 ? Well, they didn’t make the HM-2w because they wanted to support Death Metal. I think they made it because they saw the potential market and so many people lusting after an original. That’s why they even put the Standard-/ Custom-mode switch on the side, so that the pedal looks as close to an old one as possible. Without all those pedals, Boss would have never made one, but they wanted a piece of the cake, because the cake was finally big enough! 47

Nightbearer - Death Metal from Germany

19. Did any pedal surprise you in its ability to create the perfect chainsaw? I was mostly surprised that there are so many old pedals that create a chainsaw sound, for instance the DOD American Metal, the Danelectro FabTone or all those japanese/taiwanese plastic clones. The biggest surprise in recreating the original chainsaw was the Angry Swede, because I didn’t expect it to be this close which is basically identical. Another big surprise are all the modded pedals from AIB-Customs from France. They are able to deliver awesome quality and can basically make everything chainsaw. I think that’s a true superhero power! However I wasn’t surprise by any of the Lone Wolf Audio or KMA Audio pedals, because I already knew they were great haha. I also think the Left Hand Wrath delivers the perfect chainsaw sound! Gear 20. What is your go to guitars and do you have set recording and live guitars? These days I exclusively play seven-strings in all my bands. I’m just so used to them that I don’t really want to go back to six strings. I own a couple, but I mostly use them when I’m in a specific mood or want a different kind of inspiration while writing songs. My main live-guitars are 2 BlacKat Custom fanned fret seven-string guitars, but I should be getting a new guitar by

XTN-Guitars soon, which will become my main live guitar. It’s a fanned fret seven string as well. For the studio, I currently use another BlacKat Custom Leon Baritone and a Mayones Setius 7 Baritone. When the XTN arrives, the Leon will retire and one of the fanned fret BlacKats will take its place in the studio. I generally try to have fixed recording and live instruments, so that I’m able to record whenever I want with a new’ish set of strings instead of constantly changing strings or doing mediocre takes that I have to redo eventually. But when I know that I will record a whole album, I use the guitar that fits and sounds best for the project! 21. I know you use the Axe Fx 3 for your videos is it the same love or do you drag out the tube amps? I simply use the Axe-FX 3 for ease of use. It’s just so easy to fire it up, create a patch and jam or record with it. Plus the sound quality is extraordinary. But I do own a couple of tube amps and I will use them on future records. But as of right know I have to build an isolation room for my cabs. Otherwise my neighbors are going to hurt me badly haha. 22. What’s the rest of your set up and do you experiment at all? It all depends on the mood I’m in. I have a fixed setup that I can rely on, both in the studio and live. In the Studio it’s mostly a selection of the aforementioned pedals with my Axe-FX

3 and some Jens Bogren IRs for instance. However I own around a 100 different pedals plus a few amps, cabs and mics to select from. Live it’s the Left Hand Wrath together with the Fractal FM-3, the little brother of the Axe-FX 3. However I experiment a lot on rehearsals and of course in the studio. But that’s basically more for the fun of it, because I think that I have found my live-sound. For the studio though... I can achieve a good sound, but maybe I can achieve an even better one with one or two experiments haha. For mixing and all the stuff that happens inside a computer, I use Cubase and a couple of different plugins, most of them from Plugin Alliance and Audiority. My monitors are Yamaha HS-7s and I have a pair of Sennheiser HD650 Headphones. 23. I struggled for years to play even the most basic solos, which do you prefer Rhythm or lead playing? For years I was mainly focused on rhythm playing but over the last years I took over more and more lead parts and had to practice quite a bit. While I’m not saying I’m a spectacular good shredder or soloist, I can come up with some nice melodies and try to become better with solos. I prefer rhythm though, because it’s much more convenient. And you can better bang your head live! 24. Who made you want to play guitar? That’s actually a bit embarrassing, but when I was 8 or 9 years old, my mother loved the band „The Kelly Family“ (If you don’t know them, I won’t tell you :D) and so did I, be-

cause it was the only stuff I could listen to. And all those guys played guitar and had long hair, so I wanted to play guitar and grow my hair haha. The first guitar players that really inspired me were André Olbrich (Blind Guardian), Björn Gelotte (In Flames) and later on Jeff Loomis and Jason Becker. 25. Over your years of playing to you have any regrets gear wise. Oh yes, plenty! For instance I once had a Gibson Explorer and sold it for under 700€. And I had an Ibanez RG2027xVV and sold it for around 1000€. Both guitars and much more expensive nowadays. I also bought a lot of stuff I really didn’t need. But all in all: If I haven’t had bought and sold this stuff, I would not be where I am right now, so that’s something! Graphic Novels and Books 26. You did a video where you went over your Graphic Novel and fantasy book collection. I was big a big. 2000AD and Judge Dredd fan growing up. Which is your favourite Graphic Novel series? I’m a huge X-Men fan, so this will always be my all-time favorite Comic-series. But I also really like „The Darkness“ from Image comics. I have read so much that I don’t want to tell you only one series, so here are 5 runner ups (without the aforementioned 2) in no particular order: Watchmen (Alan Moore) The Life and Time of Scrooge McDuck (Don Rosa) Lazarus (Greg Rucka)

Fables (Bill Willingham) Saga (Brian K. Vaughn) 27. In the same video you went over the Fantasy series you like, where did you start with fantasy novels? I started where everyone should start: The Lord of the Rings. I still think this is the only high fantasy novel you have to read. I think I read every book that was published in German by Tolkien. The Silmarillion twice actually! In the future I want to read it again, but this time the english original! That being said: Game of Thrones is quite good though. 28. Have you ever come across The Belgariad series of books? It’s not got your usual Orks and Elves, which type of fantasy novels do you prefer? I haven’t read the Belgariad series yet but since you are the second person who suggests it, I will have to check it out haha. I actually prefer Science-Fiction. The harder the better. But I do enjoy Urban Fantasy as well. Apart from LotR, I highly recommend Otherland by Tad Williams, His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman, the Spin-trilogy by Robert Charles Wilson, everything Douglas Adams has written and basically every book Andreas Eschbach has ever written and will ever write. He is one of the greatest authors I know! His books aren’t always sci-fi, but sometimes it only needs a spark of fantasy to in-

crease the enjoyment enormously! 29. What is it about fantasy novels that seem to work well with Heavy Metal? Oh, tough question! I think that they have in common, that most of their readers aren’t mainstream and you can really sink into both those worlds and the music. Plus the creators put so much detail and love into their work. The fan appreciates and enjoys this details and stays with it. And the combination of Fantasy and Heavy Music has a history. Led Zeppelin were the first to include some fantastic motives in their music and I think now it’s common sense that it works well without actually knowing why. At least that’s the case with me haha. 30. Would you ever consider doing a Nightbearer series of Books of Graphic novels? No. While the idea might sound tempting, I have neither the abilities drawing and writing-wise nor the money and time to spend for such a big project. I can only speak for myself though, maybe Micha has already a bunch of scripts under his pillow haha. But since we tell stories that already exist, we would either have to get the right or come up with our own stories. Or in other words: I love creating music, but I much more enjoy to consume literature than to create it. However, if there is some artist that wants to do a definitive Lord of the Rings graphic Novel... call me! Thank you for taking the time to do this interview and stay safe. Rich. 49

Calvarium - B lack Death Metal from Indonesia

Interview with Stevan Chada

Interview by Jay Parker

that formed the band. Some of bass, and Gil who also play them now resign from Calvari- guitar (he join US last year). um, the band have a long list of 2. Describe your sound in 5 words. ex-members. the current line up Rebbellious, Ellegant, Meloend up with me on Vocal since dious, Explosive, yet Spiritual. 2019, Pangkunang as a guitar- 3. Run us through your releases, ist and Asmodeus on first to last... where do you 1. Tell us about record? What Calvarium... are your fuwhen and where ture plans was the band for albums? formed? who is We release in the current the self-titled line up? Why was back in 2013, the band formed? then the EP The band was voices of devil inside formed in 2012, d r u m in 2014 (re-released in 2015), and it’s a long journey since i am not (They were the band’s found- then the full length came out in the founder of the band, it was As- ers since the beginning), we 2020. We are planned to do our modeus and some of his colleague also have Andre who played next full length (now in process). Hi This is Jay Reporting from Bogota, Colombia... Today I’m lucky enough to be talking with Stevan from the Indonesia band Calvarium... Hi man, thanks for taking the time to talk to our readers...

, m s i n a t a S t u g abo n i k l a t f gh o u d o a r h t n Inste o i l l r rebe u o d e s ith s e w r p m s i l we ex a t n ame d n u f e. s r u e o i w y l l relig a e r estors c n a r u o t a wh

4. Who writes the music/ lyrics? Pangkunang and Asmodeus were wrote almost every music in Calvarium, I wrote the lyrics for the latest album. 5. Your sound is a vast dark cold wasteland of metal and melodies... what is the inspiration behind your sound and the lyrics? The sound really has a basic Blackened Death Metal vibes on it since most of US influenced by BM/DM bands like, say... Vader, Vital remains, Behemoth, or Rotting Christ. Pangkunang have this riffing style since back then. Calvarium never changed a lot of the sound. And since I joined the band, the lyrics have more improved to the journey of mythological and folk theme. We brought up Sangihe pagan folklore and myth because I think that’s more important and fit with the band’s overall image since most of US came from Sangihe island (or had a bloodline related to that origin). Instead of talking about Satanism, we expressed our rebellion through religious fundamentalism with what our ancestors really were. 6. Your sound is very technical and symphonically polished, when did you start as musicians? What inspired you to become a black metal musician?

I personally started played rock

music since 15 years old. My first black metal band formed in 2011, the time when I was 16. Black metal had something different and have an important role through my teenage life. It’s not just about having beer and played loud music. It is truly about digging deep through your deepest dark heart. And ready to question everything about your existence. There’s a lot of philosophical aspect in black metal than in any other heavy metal subgenre. It is dark a mysterious but at the same time you ended up find beauty in it. 7. Tell us about the metal scene there in Indonesia... Metal scene in general was pretty big in Indonesia, but if we talk black metal scene in specific, we have an awesome under-

ground community in almost every island. From Java to Sulawesi. You can hear some of the popular Indonesian black metal band on YouTube. But you know, if you digging deeply into the scene. You’ll always find interesting bands/projects. 8. What are Caldarium’s plans for the future? Are you recording at the moment? We planned to do our first video clip, we also on the process of recording our single for now. The new split with The Witch from Colombia Will also planned to release at the end of this year. 9. If you could play or record with any musician or band live or dead who would it be and why? Dead from Mayhem and B from life lover. They both inspired me personally. 10. Do you have any advice for up and coming musicians out there? Do not forget who you really were. Stay safe and keep up the good work and spread the rebels! 11. Would you like to add anything? I recommended you to listen to Natjaard or Glora Nexus if you are new about Indonesian Black Metal. 51

Latest releases

Ereb Altor Viking/Black Metal band from Sweden released the ninth Full-length album Vargtimman on January 14, 2022. Ereb Altor always promises one thing with each release: Epic, Folk-blended Metal inspired by the Norse legends. “Vargtimman” shakes things up again with a true and sincere Pagan theme in its lyrics and art. Each song delivers majestic riffs and some of the best vocal work from the band. Sharp Heavy Metal riffs, Nordic melodies, catchy choruses and pounding drums burst set

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the tone for the rest of the album. This is by far the best composed and therefor mature Ereb Altor album in their already impressive career, thanks to its added keyboards, good blend of epic and more traditional riffs, and the vocals being arguably the best ever laced on an Ereb Altor album. “Vargtimman” is among the best Viking metal albums in many years and possibly one of the better one in 2022!

Tracklist: 1. I Have the Sky 2. Vargtimman 3. Fenris 4. Rise of the Destroyer 5. Alvablot 6. Den dighra döden 7. Ner i mörkret 8. Heimdals Horn Lineup Mats - Vocals, Bass, Guitars, Keyboards Ragnar - Vocals, Bass, Guitars Tord - Drums Mikael - Bass, Vocals (backing)

In Loving Memory Melodic Doom/Death Metal band from Spain released the third Fulllength album The Withering on January 14, 2022. In Loving Memory was incorporated in August 2005 by four musicians of two extreme metal bands as were Forensick (Juanma, guitar & Raúl, bass) and Lost Emotions (Aitor, drums & Jorge, guitar). The Withering is presented as a conceptual album focusing on the decadence & annihilation of humanity due the most probable causes: natural catastrophes, pandemics, humanity’s own actions, etc. Each song tells a story about one of those causes and how to struggle with suffering,

death, fears, hopes and face the inevitable end. In the musical aspect, the band grew up to a more open & progressive sound but with the original melodic doom/ death parts that earned the status of “underground cult band” in the past by some specialized media & fans, with strong rhythm section and melancholic melodies accompanied by dual vocal performance, guttural and whispers. Not the typical doom band. Not the usual melodic death metal record. Not the expected progressive combo.

Tracklist 1. Stellar Runaway 2. Lead Clouds 3. The Dance of Moons 4. Dawn of Misery 5. Fractured 6. Translucid Remains 7. Sun of Ebony 8. Nothing But Pain 9. The Reversal 10. Martyrdom of Light Lineup Juanma “Xykhron” B. Guitars (lead), Vocals Jorge Araiz - Guitars (rhythm) Alberto. D - Keyboards Txerra G. - Bass

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Latest releases

Grieve Atmospheric Black Metal band from Finland released the first Fulllength album Funeral on January 14, 2022. It was but 2020 when GRIEVE emerged from the darkness with their selftitled debut EP. Although otherwise meant to exist strictly in that darkness, it was soon discerned that the band included veritable Finnish black metal royalty within its ranks. Nevertheless, the swiftly uncompromising nature of Grieve was felt: Northern Black Metal Exclusively From the 1990s. No more, no less, no progression, no fun. The same banner is upheld

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Tracklist 1. Lethal Wind of Destruction 2. Winter of Torment on Funeral, GRIEVE’s highly 3. Possessed... anticipated debut album. Aptly 4. Nocturnal Cries titled, Funeral is also the band’s 5. Requiem of Mankind final recording, and a more fitting 6. Helvetin valtaistuin epitaph one will not find. Recorded 7. Funeral Path in Hell during the diabolical summer of 2021, GRIEVE’s first Lineup full-length is a fiercely focused V-KhaoZ - Drums, Keyboards one, solely featuring funereal Werwolf - Vocals, Guitars, Bass marches by V-Khaoz and last rites Everything by Werwolf. Beyond cold, utterly grim, violent and restrained simultaneously, Funeral is a record out of time, one where the last couple decades of «black metal» never existed.

Hegeroth Melodic Black Metal band from Poland released the fourth Fulllength album Sacra Doctrina on January 24, 2022. The music of the Silesian band fits in with black metal, which pays tribute to both the most important features of traditional metal and openness to new experiences. The energy, rhythm and clarity of the musical message are enriched by the variety, variability and layering

of melodic forms. For Fans Of: Dark Funeral, Immortal, Naglfar, Old Man’s Child. Tracklist 1. In Torment - Part 1 2. Out of Habit 3. With Adoration 4. In Torment - Part 2 5. From Nothingness 6. In Torment - Part 3 7. With Devotion 8. In Torment - Part 1

Lineup Bene - Guitars, Bass Edward - Vocals Bila - Drums

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Latest releases

Sarcasm BMelo dic/Blackened Death Metal band from Sweden released the fourth Full-length album Stellar Stream Obscured on January 28, 2022. Sarcasm has had a storied career. Originally formed in Sweden in 1987, Sarcasm would release blistering Death Metal throughout the early and mid-90’s. After a short-lived reunion in 1997, they would come back into the fold in 2015 with a new re-designed version of their lineup. Now they return with their new full-length

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album “Stellar Stream Obscured”. A concept-based album that is a journey. A lot of times the old school Death Metal bands seem to be stuck in their ways, but Sarcasm has implemented the more melodic sound to their brutal repertoire. One should appreciate the vile black metal styled vocals on the album, as they work so well together with the professional sounding musicianship. Take Black Metal, melodies, and Death Metal and blend it all up then you’ll have “Stellar Stream Obscured”.

Tracklist 1. Through the Crystal Portal 2. We Only Saw the Shadows of Life 3. Ancient Visitors 4. The Spinning Tomb 5. Obsidian Eyes 6. The Powers of Suffering That Be 7. Apocalyptic Serenity 8. Let Us Descend Lineup Heval Bozarslan - Vocals Anders Eriksson - Guitars Peter Laitinen - Guitars Jonas Soder - Bass Alvaro Svanero - Drums

Muert Black Metal band from Spain released the fourth Full-length album Haeresis on January 28, 2022. Muert came to this world by Ebola (voices/guitars) & Guayota (drums). Muert are ready to unleash their 4th full length album which is entitled «Haeresis» upon the masses. A record that is so filthy you can hear the corpses crawl amongst you. A record so vicious and brutal that you want to break shit and smash your head through a wall. Pure Necro aggression with a perfect blend between the brutality of Death Metal and the furiousness of Black Metal combined in a Death / Black Metal Masterpiece.

Tracklist 1. Metal ¡Enajenación! 2. Axantemir 3. Dámaso, El Brujo 4. La Maldición de Laurinaga 5. ¡La Niña de las Peras! 6. Las Brujas del Bailadero de Anaga 7. El 4° Jinete Sobre la Adelantadía 8. Majanos de Chacona

Lineup Guayota - Drums Ebola - Vocals, Guitars

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Latest releases

Dawn of Solace Melodic Death/Doom/ Gothic Metal band from Finland released the third Full-length album Flames of Perdition on January 28, 2022. Already while recording the album it was clear that DAWN OF SOLACE was brought back to life and this time without the passing of another 14 years! «Flames of Perdition» picks up where DAWN OF SOLACE left off with «Waves», creating a world full of electrifying melancholy that evokes profound sadness. Like life itself, the darkness of DAWN OF SOLACE has evolved and made a few

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steps towards the void. This time with an extra amount of solitude that we all have gotten to know during the past 1,5 years.

Tracklist 1. White Noise 2. Erase 3. Flames of Perdition 4. Dying Light 5. Event Horizon 6. Black Shore 7. Skyline 8. Serenity

9. Lead Wings (live) 10. Dead Air (live)

Lineup Tuomas Saukkonen - Vocals (harsh), Guitars, Guitars (acoustic), Bass, Drums, Percussion, Keyboards Mikko Heikkila - Vocals (clean)

Devourer Black Metal band from Sweden released the fourth Full-length album Raptus on January 31, 2022. Devourer was formed by multi-instrumentalist John Falk (Sorcery, ex-In Aeternum) in Sandviken, Sweden 2002. The first demo came out in 2003, and in 2022 four full-length albums and a handful of videos and singles have been released. Vocalist Fredrik Håf (Patronymicon, Sordid Flesh) joined Devourer in 2007, and bassist Oksana Falk (Teodolit)

In 2022 Devourer celebrates its 20th year of existence, always creating its own blend of the extreme metal genres that isn’t easily placed under any genre label. Lineup John Falk - Guitars, Drum programming Fredrik Håf - Vocals Oksana Falk - Bass Johan Wickholm - Guitars

and guitarist Johan Vikholm (Sorcery, Patronymicon) joined the band in 2019. Tracklist 1. Bearer of Dark Tidings 2. Terminous 3. TON 618 4. Apokruptein 5. Malformed 6. Existencial Abhorrence 7. Visions from Megiddo 8. The Arbter of Nulification 9. Torrents to the Void

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Latest releases

Persefone Progressive/Melodic Death Metal band from Andorra released the seventh Fulllength album Metanoia on February 4, 2022. Hailing from Andorra, outstanding progressive/ melodic death metal outfit PERSEFONE is known for their band of rich soundscapes and technically precise work that sets new standards in modern extreme progressive metal. The band has toured worldwide with notable acts like Obituary and Leprous, has hit stages at important festivals such as Wacken Open Air, Metal Days, Brutal Assault, ProgPower and

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70,000 Tons of Metal, and is now set to release their new album, metanoia, via Napalm Records! «metanoia sets off with the opulent opener “Katabasis”, drawing dramatic, cinematic soundscapes mixed with electronic influences. The soft, clear vocals of Marc Martins alternate with sharp growls and pierce through constantly changing riffs. Tracklist 1. Metanoia

2. Katabasis 3. Architecture of the I 4. Leap of Faith 5. Aware of Being Watched 6. Merkabah 7. Consciousness (Pt.3) 8. Anabasis Pt.1 9. Anabasis Pt.2 10. Anabasis Pt.3 Lineup Toni Mestre Coy «Fragment of Silence» - Bass Carlos Lozano Quintanilla «Rüdiger» Guitars (lead) Miguel Espinosa «Iawr» - Keyboards, Vocals Marc Martins Pia - Vocals (lead) Sergi Verdeguer - Drums Filipe Baldaia - Guitars

Vanaheim Epic Folk/Pagan Metal band from Netherlands released the first Full-length album Een verloren verhaal on February 4, 2022. With a mix between epic pagan metal and typical, catchy folk metal Vanaheim is ready to hit the stages! Their energetic, but vivacious sound makes you want to move, whether it’s headbanging, moshpitting or straight out partying! The debut full length album «Een Verloren Verhaal» of Vanaheim will pull you straight into an ancient forgotten story. The intensity of this concept album will grab you tight and bring you to undiscovered lands, where a tribe fights for their freedom.

Tracklist 1. Uit steen geslagen 2. Onbevangen 3. Rusteloos 4. Reuzenspraak 5. Verloren 6. Gevallen in de nacht 7. Uit steen geslagen (folkestral track) 8. Onbevangen (folkestral track) 9. Reuzenspraak (folkestral track) 10. Gevallen in de nacht (folkestral t r a c k )

Lineup Zino van Leerdam Vocals, accordion Michael van Eck - Guitars Mike Seidel - Bass Bram Trommelen - Drums

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Latest releases

Mystic Circle Melodic Black/ Death Metal band from Germany released the eighth Full-length album Mystic Circle on February 4, 2022. Twenty-two years after going their separate paths, the visionary heads of MYSTIC CIRCLE have reunited continuing right where they left off in 1999. It’s a blasphemous comeback, a renewed pact with the devil, and a return to form with their old logo, fury in their hearts, and fresh darkness in their souls!

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Lineup Aaarrrgon - Drums, Guitars, Keyboards Graf von Beelzebub - Vocals, Bass, Guitars, Keyboards

Tracklist: 1. Belial Is My Name 2. Seven Headed Dragon 3. Hell Demons Rising 4. Letters from the Devil 5. Darkness in Flames 6. The Arrival of Baphomet 7. Curse of the Wolf Demon 8. Satanic Mistress 9. Death Metal (Possessed cover)

Amorphis Death/Doom Metal band from Finland released the fifteenth Full-length album Halo on February 11, 2022. The day has finally come and Finland’s metal legends AMORPHIS have released their new album «Halo». After receiving raving reviews from all over the world and being voted to #1 of the soundchecks of leading metal outlets like Metal Hammer (D), Rock Hard (D), Legacy (D), Spark (CZ) and Metal. de (D), the band’s stunning 14th studio album is finally available on CD, 2LP vinyl, cassette and collector’s boxset and transcends the realms of metal and rock with its sheer profoundness and musicality. Considering the band’s three-decade journey at the forefront of

innovative metal music, it’s difficult to comprehend how AMORPHIS manages to raise the proverbial bar time and time again, presenting a more than worthy finale to the trilogy that began with 2015’s «Under the Red Cloud» followed by 2018’s «Queen of Time.» Tracklist 1. Northwards 2. On the Dark Waters 3. The Moon 4. Windmane 5. A New Land 6. When the Gods Came 7. Seven Roads Come Together

8. War 9. Halo 10. The Wolf 11. My Name Is Night Lineup Olli-Pekka Laine - Bass Jan Rechberger - Drums, Keyboards Esa Holopainen - Guitars (lead) Tomi Koivusaari - Guitars (rhythm), Vocals Santeri Kallio - Keyboards Tomi Joutsen - Vocals (lead)

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Latest releases

Nervochaos Death Metal band from Brazil released the tenth Full-length album All Colors of Darkness on February 11, 2022. Nervochaos was born in Sao Paulo – Brazil in the spring of 1996, with the idea of creating aggressive and chaotic extreme music. The band gained cult status in the music scene due to their hard work over the past 25 years, offering a sonic extravaganza in their unique way. The group has nine full-length studio albums out and is constantly touring worldwide to support their releases, doing around 100

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concerts per year – from clubs to festivals. “All Colors Of Darkness” will be released on LP (black and transparent orange vinyls, each limited to 300 units), CD and digital formats. Lineup Edu Lane - Drums Luiz ‘Quinho’ Parisi - Guitar Woesley Johann - Guitar Brian Stone - Vocals Pedro Lemes - Bass

Tracklist 1. Wage War on the Gods 2. Golden Goblet of Fornication 3. Dragged to Hell 4. Beyond the Astral 5. All Colors of Darkness 6. Gate of Zax 7. Umbrae Mortis 8. Suffer in Seclusion 9. Camazotz 10. Demonomania (The Misfits cover) 11. Three Shades of Black (Hank 3 cover)

Immolation Death Metal band from the United States released the eleventh Full-length album Acts of God on February 18, 2022. New York death metal giants, IMMOLATION, are proud to announce their latest immense creation, Acts Of God. The 11th studio album serves as the next chapter of IMMOLATION’s death metal epic. With 5 long years passed since Atonement, Acts Of God vigorously showcases IMMOLATION’s ability to consistently create fascinating sounds, while still keeping their feet firmly rooted in the old school, New York Death Metal for which they are renowned. Acts Of God saw the return of long-time friend and recording counterpart Paul Orofino of Millbrook Studios (BLUE O Y S T E R

CULT, BAD CO, GOLDEN EARRING) while final touches were brought about on the mixing and mastering by Zack Ohren of Castle Ultimate Studios. For the cover artwork, the band enlisted Eliran Kantor to create the haunting new masterpiece that featured the muted colors and ethereal images that are hallmarks for IMMOLATION’s artwork. Tracklist 1. Abandoned 2. An Act of God 3. The Age of No Light 4. Noose of Thorns 5. Shed the Light

6. Blooded 7. Overtures of the Wicked 8. Immoral Stain 9. Incineration Procession 10. Broken Prey 11. Derelict of Spirit 12. When Halos Burn 13. Let the Darkness In 14. And the Flames Wept 15. Apostle Lineup Ross Dolan - Bass, Vocals Robert Vigna - Guitars Steve Shalaty - Drums Alex Bouks - Guitars

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Latest releases

Nightrage Melodic Death Metal band from Greece released the ninth Full-length album Abyss Rising on February 18, 2022. Nightrage is a Greek/Swedish Melodic Death metal band originally from Thessaloniki. They later re-located to Gothenburg, Sweden. This band needs no introduction: NIGHTRAGE has left its marks in the Scandinavian metal scene and is a force to be reckoned with that stands for quality. Over the years, and releases mastermind

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Marios Iliopoulos & Co. have discovered a general, persistent sound that brings together the best moments of melodic death and harsh thrash metal with progressive tendencies and reflected guitar work. Lineup Marios Iliopoulos - Guitars Ronnie Nyman - Vocals Magnus Söderman - Guitars Francisco Escalona - Bass Dino George Stamoglou - Drums

Tracklist: 1. Abyss Rising 2. Swallow Me 3. Nauseating Oblivion 4. Dance of Cerberus 5. Falsifying Life 6. Portal of Dismay (Interlude) 7. Shadows Embrace Me 8. 9th Circle of Hell 9. The Divergent 10. Cursed by the Gift of Sight 11. False Gods 12. Pest Ridden Tide 13. Silence of the Darkened Soul

Pure Wrath Atmospheric Black Metal band from Indonesia released the third Full-length album Hymn to the Woeful Hearts on February 18, 2022. PURE WRATH - formed 2014 in West Java, Indonesia - is the soulstirring atmospheric Black Metal project of multi-instrumentalist Januaryo Hardy. A continuation of preceding EP «The Forlorn Soldier», 3rd full-length «Hymn to the Woeful Hearts» is a wounded, epically emotive exploration of timeless grief which ascends to the next level - simmering down past symphonics and ramping up the

bitterness, aggression, textural dynamism and melancholic conviction. Tracklist 1. The Cloak of Disquiet 2. Years of Silence 3. Presages from a Restless Soul 4. Footprints of the Lost Child 5. Those Who Stand Still 6. Hymn to the Woeful Hearts Lineup Ryo - everything

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Latest releases

Shape of Despair Atmospheric/Funeral Doom Metal band from Finland released the fifth Full-length album Return to the Void on February 25, 2022. There are few funeral doom bands out there that manage to express sorrow and despair in such a majestic and beautiful manner as Finland’s SHAPE OF DESPAIR. The band’s latest full-length is a product of their environment, enveloping the listener in cold, eternal darkness like a

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lonely Finnish winter. And much like the long, funereal winters of their homeland, the atmosphere in ‘Return to the Void’ is bleak but ethereal. Return to the Void is musically and thematically that same journey, one of perpetual solitude and aching hopelessness, driven straight into the heart of frigid twilight. As ever, this is cheerless music for sunless days.

Tracklist: 1. Return to the Void 2. Dissolution 3. Solitary Downfall 4. Reflection in Slow Time 5. Forfeit 6. The Inner Desolation Lineup Tomi Ullgrén - Bass, Guitars (rhythm) Jarno Salomaa - Guitars (lead), Keyboards Natalie Koskinen - Vocals (female) Samu Ruotsalainen - Drums Sami Uusitalo - Bass Henri Koivula - Vocals

Ultra Silvam Black Metal band from Sweden released the second Full-length album The Sanctity of Death on February 25, 2022. ULTRA SILVAM return with their second full-length, The Sanctity of Death. As suggested by its title, The Sanctity of Death bears a more regal aspect to the band’s undulating coils of coruscating violence…but “regal” is only relative here. For ULTRA SILVAM let loose with a whole host of more wholly HEAVY METAL moves that are turned into tornadolike torrents of black metal classicism. Verily, The Sanctity of Death slices and swaggers with addicting aplomb, the band seemingly drunk on their own power as they dole out teethgnashing screeds of sin, salvation, and swallow-your-soul darkness. It’s more immediately memorable and more incredibly

finessed, as that crazed execution of yore remains but has been tightened up ever so slightly, allowing these eight bangers & clangers to create an all-enveloping atmosphere of delirium and dementia. You’ll be winded after the album’s over, perhaps, but emboldened by bountiful visions of a dread future – and one worth returning to again, and again, and again. Tracklist 1. Dies Irae 2. Sodom vises himlafärd 3. The Sanctity of Death 4. Tintinnabuli Diaboli 5. Förintelsens andeväsen

del II: Den deicidala transsubstantiationens mysterium 6. Black Soil Fornication 7. Incarnation Reverse 8. Of Molded Bread and Rotten Wine Lineup M.A. - Bass, Vocals A.L. - Drums O.R. - Guitars

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Latest releases

WinterMoonShade Melodic Black Metal band from Portugal released the second Full-length album Eternal Haunted Shores on February 25, 2022. The music of WinterMoonShade is inspired by the nature and spirituality and also mixing those two elements with the personal perception, creating a journey between dusk and dawn, the brilliant sight and darkness converging into its own sound.

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Lineup Fenrir - Bass Zefir - Drums Haze - Vocals, Guitars

Tracklist 1. Drifting into Land 2. Lusitania Might Noises 3. Wolf Whispering Dream 4. Eternal Haunted Shores 5. Origins and Solitude 6. Nightfall Muse Medusa 7. Cold Howling Wind 8. Dungeon Rusty Window 9. Winter Moon Shades

Allegaeon Technical Melodic Death Metal band from the United States released the sixth Full-length album Damnum on February 25, 2022. The title DAMNUM is Latin for ‘loss’, which fits many of the lyrical themes explored on the album. «The band experienced a lot of death within our personal lives, and it colored the album,» explains Burgess. For McShane, centering his lyrics on processing sadness, anger, grief, and loneliness, his intention is that some people might take solace in the words and use them as a resource to cope with their own experiences. «We all experienced something over these past couple of years that took a lot out of us emotionally, and as musicians, we tend to

turn to our art to process those emotions. Throughout the album, there are many metaphors for mental health and my hope with these lyrics is to have them be relatable to listeners and show them that they’re not alone when they’re experiencing the gamut of negative emotions - someone else is out there feeling the same way. Facing some things about my experiences in life and in music over the past few years brought me to a few very intense moments of reflection and emotional overload and getting through those moments was often much harder than anticipated.»

Tracklist 1. Bastards of the Earth 2. Of Beasts and Worms 3. Into Embers 4. To Carry My Grief Through Torpor and Silence 5. Vermin 6. Called Home 7. Blight 8. The Dopamine Void, Pt. I 9. The Dopamine Void, Pt. II 10. Saturnine 11. In Mourning 12. Only Loss

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Latest releases

Svartsot Folk Metal band from Denmark released the fifth Full-length album Kumbl on February 25, 2022. In August 2004 the folk/ black metal band «Skoll» was formed in Randers. A change of direction occurred in early 2005 as the songwriting began leaning towards a more pure folk metal style, so it was decided to rename the band to «Svartsot». Svartsot means «black sickness» in older Danish, a type of jaundice that causes a person’s skin

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to turn black. Denmark’s original and leading folk metal band since 2005. SVARTSOT mixes tales from Denmark’s history and folklore with folk and medieval inspired melodies on folk instruments and lead guitar on the one side and crushing melodic death metal on the other side.

Tracklist 1. Den hoboeken dans 2. Nu stander landen i våde 3. Carmen vernale 4. Ebbe Skammelsøn 5. Kragevisen 6. Villemand 7. Liden Kirsten 8. Rottefængeren 9. Den store stygge stimand 10. Drømte mig en drøm 11. Ramund 12. De to ravne

Sepulchral Death Metal band from Spain released the first Full-length album From Beyond the Burial Mound on February 25, 2022. Hailing from the Basque country of Spain, the wretched entity called SEPULCHRAL crawled out of the coffin in 2016. Main composer, Dusk, gathered some ghouls to deliver an unrelentless form of putrid metal of death in the form of 2 demos and one EP. Now SEPULCHRAL arise from the tomb with their first full-length, packed with catchy, putrid, crusty death metal that will make you jump from your coffin!

Tracklist 1. The Funerary Dirge 2. Harbor of Drifting Souls 3. Ceremony of Putrefaction 4. Sepulchral Fumes 5. Cursed Epitaph 6. Coffin Miasma 7. Tombstone Thrower 8. Caravan of Putrid Flesh 9. Bastards from the Grave 10. Blood Freak

(Necrophagia cover) 11. Eyes Like Burning Catacombs Lineup Dusk - Bass, Vocals Gorka Pérez - Guitars, Drums Gaueko - Vocals

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Latest releases

Sothoris Black/Death Metal band from Poland released the second Full-length album Wpiekłowstąpienie on January 6, 2022. Tracklist . 1. Proroctwo 2. Potępieniec 3. Człowiek z marmuru 4. Przykazanie śmierci 5. Opus Dei 6. W cieniu Golgoty 7. Wpiekłowstąpienie 8. Requiem dla hien Lineup Lord Ghash - Bass Sharghall - Guitars Hrist - Drums Hex - Guitars Raven - Vocals

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Oar Post-Black Metal band from Australia released the first Fulllength album The Blood You Crave on January 7, 2022. Oar is the soundtrack to the devastation to which it itself brings. The title track single The Blood You Crave cuts across post-black metal and doom to articulate oppression, self-loathing and vengeance. Tracklist 1. The Blood You Crave 2. Doomed and Damned 3. Perfect Agony 4. Souls Lost in the Frost 5. What Once Used to Bloom 6. Wrongful Death

Milvus BAtmospheric Black Metal band from Italy released the first Full-length album Milvus on January 8, 2022. Milvus music is a celebration of Nature and its creatures and sentences the evil hand of mankind. Tracklist 1. Skies 2. Lands 3. Wind I 4. Mother Nature 5. Lakes 6. Wind II 7. Mountains 8. Homeward Lineup Osten - Synths & Keyboard Iblis- Bass Vulak- Guitars A.O.S Heirdrain- Vocals Draugr Krypt - Drum

Wintaar Atmospheric Black Metal band from Russia released the thirty-first Full-length album Deathentrance on January 12, 2022. Tracklist 1. You Require Me to Pray 2. Nails of Rebirth 3. Total Invocation 4. Hymn to Equality 5. Break and Shatter 6. Humanity 7. Apocalypsis Lineup WV Vocals, Guitars, Songwriting, Lyrics E.J.C. - Drums, Bass Namiros - Guitars, Songwriting

Eisflammen Atmospheric Black Metal band from Russia released the second Full-length album Следуй за мной (Follow Me) on January 19, 2022. The band name is German and translates to «ice flames». Tracklist 1. Следуй за (Follow Me) 2. Огни костров (The Bonfires) 3. Как пепел (Like Ash) 4. В мистериях ночей (In the Mysteries of the Nights) 5. Край (The Land’s Edge) 6. Под натиском воли (Unyielding Will) Lineup Maxim Lomonosov - Bass, Vocals Valery Kuznetsov - Drums Vyacheslav Oboskalov - Guitars, Vocals (backing) Eugene Yarutin Guitars

Embrace the Devil Black/Death Metal band from Brazil released the first Full-length album Death Is Only a Chapter on January 21, 2022. Tracklist 1. Devil Knows Who I Am 2. Nosferatu 3. The Chronicles of a Host 4. Connection with the Vampire 5. Dead Inside 6. Son of Wallachia 7. Blood on the Wall 8. Devil in Monastery Lineup Joyffer Colman - Drums André Martins - Vocals Rodrigo Lacerda - Vocals, Guitars

Latest releases

Tlepsh Melodic Black/Death Metal band from Jordan released the second Full-length album Hexed Sword on January 28, 2022. Influenced by extreme metal music, Tlepsh’s tribute of songs is for war, personal struggles and ancient mythos. Hailing from Jordan, Tlepsh’s creations can be heard on two independently produced albums; “DYNASTY OF BLOOD” and the recently released, “HEXED SWORD.” Tracklist 1.1. Spoils of Tranquility 2. Crystal Gazer 3. Genocidal Incarnate 4. Hammering Perdition 5. Waters of Abzu 6. Misanthrope 7. Sulfur 8 . War Impaled

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The Devils of Loudun Symphonic/Melodic Death Metal band from the United States released the first Full-length album Escaping Eternity on February 11, 2022. From Seattle, located in the heart of the rain drenched Pacific Northwest, comes The Devils of Loudun. Melodic death metal outfit named from a tale of religious fanaticism and demonic possession in 17th century France. Formed in the Summer of 2009, the bands ever-evolving sound has been called a combination of Scandinavian melo-death, symphonic power metal and American death metal.

Asgaard Gothic/Black/Doom Metal band from Poland released the seventh Full-length album What If... on February 18, 2022. Metamorphosis, constant evolution and stylistic unpredictability – amalgamation of these three phrases has become signature quality of Asgaard’s body of work. The band exists and has been present in the scene for over 25 years. Tracklist 1. Sisyphus 2. Creeping Miss Lunacy 3. Sny na jawie 4. Horizon Upside Down 5. What If... 6. Blind Man’s Buff 7. W sercu nieswiata 8. Not Ever Again! 9. Sny na jawie (radio cut) 10. W sercu nieswiata (radio cut) Lineup Hetzer - Guitars Flumen - Keyboards, Samples, Drum Programming Quazarre - Vocals

Mordenial

Melodic Death Metal band from Sweden released the third Fulllength album To Heaven Below on February 18, 2022. Mordenial formed early 2000 like a projekt and recorded a 2track demo «from ashes risen» around Mordenial was formed in early 2000 like a project, and recorded a 2-track demo «From Ashes Risen» around 2002. It became a real band in November of 2008. . Tracklist 1. Heaven Below 2. Devil from Behind 3. Digging for You 4. From Another Dimension 5. Reign of Fire 6. Into the Desert Storm 7. To Become the Kind 8. Angel Without Wings 9. Labyrinth of Souls 10. Twice the Pain Lineup Kjetil Lynghaug - Guitars Martin - Guitars, Bass Matthias Fiebig - Vocals, Drums

Askalaphos Black Metal band from Greece released the first Full-length album March of the Damned on February 18, 2022. Askalaphos (=Ασκάλαφος) in ancient Greek mythology, was a demon and Acheron’s son.

Diablo BMelodic Death Metal band from Finland released the seventh Full-length album When All the Rivers Are Silent on February 25, 2022. Diablo albums are known to be carefully handcrafted, and WATRAS makes no Tracklist exception. The leading duo of 1. The First Conjuration the band, Rainer Nygård (voc, 2. Invocation of the King of gtr) and Marko Utriainen (gtr), Fire have written an intense collection 3. Abyssal Calls of songs which radiate great care 4. Netherworld Visions for detail. The album concept 5. Shadows of Chaos and visuals take the band 6. Mortem Obire back to its very roots, river 7. The Nocturnal Nymph Kalajoki in the Northern 8. Gates of the Black Light Ostrobothnia, Finland. Tracklist Lineup 1. The Well of Grief Dark Invoker of Chaos - 2. Unhola Everything 3. Grace Under Pressure 4. Jack of All Mistakes 5. Titan 6. The Stranger 7. The Extinctionist 8. Shackles of Fear 9. Parathon 10. When the Rivers Are Silent Lineup Aadolf Virtanen - Bass Marko Utriainen - Guitars Rainer Nygård - Guitars, Vocals Heikki Malmberg - Drums

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Band Links https://www.facebook.com/Milvus https://milvus-blackmetal.bandcamp.com/album/milvus https://www.instagram.com/milvus_black_metal

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

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Milvus is an Atmospheric Black Metal band from Italy born in 2020. Music is a celebration of Nature and its creatures and sentences the evil hand of mankind. Line up: OstenKeyboards, Synths and Songwriting (Orgg, Raven Legacy) Iblis- Bass (Funeral oration, Orgg, Iblis, Velch, Mek Na Ver) VulakGuitars, Mix & mastering (Orgg, Proxima Obscura) A.O.S Heirdrain- Vocals and Lyrics Draugr Krypt - Drums

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Band Links https://www.facebook.com/Bonfire.Burn.In.Hell https://bonfireburns.bandcamp.com/releases https://www.instagram.com/bonfire_burns

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

These days, old school Black Metal isn’t as popular as it deserves to be. But one band that blew me away was Colombia’s Bonfire. When they originally started out in 2014, they wanted to be an all female band, but they couldn’t find a female guitarist so they had to let a man on board. It took them until 2018 to release their first album entitled “Into the Demons Flame”, and was it worth the wait? Quite frankly, the level of energy was through the roof. Fans of old school Venom and Celtic Frost will wet themselves. Even though they call themselves “old school Black Metal”, fans of classic Black Thrash will be in heaven. Fans of Lucifera and Octagon will love it. You really can’t go wrong with this band. If I’m not making myself clear enough here, I mean Black Metal with raging guitars and clean vocals. I wish there were millions of bands like this (well, maybe there is, but I haven’t heard them). The last 23 of December of 2021 their last EP called “Goat Woman” was released in New Zealand by the label Hells Vomit Production, 500 copies are Rolling around with 4 own tracks and 1 cover inside this Cd for kick your heads in the same way as they us to do and more. Bonfire is a band I’m so happy I discovered and they are quickly becoming one of my favourite bands. Impossible n o t to love. Line up Unholy - vocals Wicked - drums Aggressor - bass Moonblood - guitar

Band Links https://www.facebook.com/orobband https://orob.bandcamp.com/album/aube-noir

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

Founded in 2010, Orob quickly built itself a solid sound of its own. It comes through a heavy and misty blackened prog metal switching from majestic atmospheres to abrasive riffing and hypnotic clean guitars. Borrowing the powerful rock’n roll structures of Enslaved, mixing them with the avant-garde madness of bands such as Code or S.U.P. and a dose of nearly gothic, doomish coldness, they carved their path through two EPs and shows with influential acts such as Solstafir, Carnival in Coal, Dagoba and many others.

https://www.facebook.com/ErebAltorOfficial

Ereb Altor Vargtimman. Ereb Altor are a Swedish Viking metal band, they sing about Norse mythology and legends. With roots dating back to Bathory, they’ve been pumping out albums and rocking music festivals since 2003. Vargtimman is their 9th studio album. Their sound seems to be a melting pot of familiar bands of the genre like Kalmah, Ensiferum & Tyr, just to name a few. The album is split into English and Swedish languages with Mats on lead vocals manifesting both clean and harsh vocals, I’m always impressed by this display of talent. I won’t review every single song, so I’ll just pick a few. We begin with what is clearly the catchiest tune on the album, “I Have the Sky” is undoubtably an anthem song that I hope to see live one day. I can just see it now, the crowd pumping their fists simultaneously to the beat of the song, cheering on the band. Since I obviously don’t speak Swedish, giving my opinions to the lyrics of some songs would be impossible, but the title track “Vargtimman”

Review by Luc St-Clair feels like an emotionally charged song with sorrow and despair, I got that from the somber video. Lead singer Mats does his duo voice thing and has moments of creepy whispering in Swedish that gave me chills. A great song. “Rise of the Destroyer” has is more of an Amon Amarth vibe with its speedy and killer riffs and thrashy break at the halfway mark. Pump up the volume to the max on this one.

Things slow down a bit with “Alvablot”, a tune of epic proportions that feels like a journey. Fans of Iotunn and Kaunis Kuolematon will dig this one. One song that particularly sticks out is “Den Dighra Doden” because of it’s uneasy feel to it. It has the sound of crows and this siren-like walling throughout the song which gives it a very ominous & creepy vibe. With 8 songs and at a tight 42 minutes, “Vargtimman” is a very enjoyable album steeped in Viking folklore, mystery, passion, and rage. Most definitely, an album worth your time and money.

https://www.facebook.com/urkullanthu

Urku Llanthu - Waka Isku. Some dark ambient music from Ecuador. Clearly more Folk/ tribal themed than Sweden’s Arcana. Not as creepy as Arcana, but still very good. Seems to be mostly all keyboards. No tambourines or drums, no flutes or vocals, and I think this album really would have benefited from these extras. It would be really suited to a video game soundtrack as far as I’m concerned. I have reviewed albums from this man before, and I think I remember saying that I prefer this guy’s stuff over the M o r t i s stuff. It m i g h t

Review by Andrew Stanton help if I knew more about Ecuador’s history and folklore. It’s a very relaxing, chill out album. Something for you to mellow out to. If you’re looking for super brutal Metal, just forget it. You’re not getting it on here. It’s nice keyboard music and every now and then we get the sound of waterfalls or birds

chirping. I can fully understand some Metalheads not liking this kind of music, but for the rest of us, Urku Llanthu is definitely a cool guy and definitely deserves a minute of your time… Enjoy.

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https://www.facebook.com/ShadowofIntentCT

Shadow of Intent Elegy. Shadow of Intent are an American deathcore band from Connecticut, they got their name from the Halo video game series. Elegy is their 4th studio album. I’ve been a fan of them since their last album, 2019’s Melancholy. As a deathcore band, they’ve certainly redefined the genre by adding an abundance of orchestral and symphonic death metal elements. For the most part, the songs are brutal & relentless, with a few quieter moments peppered throughout. Accompanied by both backup singers, guitarist Chris Wiseman and bassist Andrew Monias, lead singer Ben Duerr’s incredibly low growls create an amazing amalgam of different voices that is all over the place, but not in a bad way. The guitar solos are alive and electrifying, they really stand out and really take a life of their own. The circle would not be complete without the thunderous drums of newest member Bryce Butler, this guy is relentless with dynamic drumming and copious amounts of blast beats. All the songs are damn good, but for the sake of keeping this review shorter, I’ll mention a few. The album starts with a bang with the cinematic “Farewell”.

Review by Luc St-Clair “The Coming Fire” & “Intensified Genocide” are chugging opuses with rapid fire drums, quick guitar hooks and its Septicflesh-infused sound. “Of Fury” is an incredible catchy tune with a Dimmu Borgir influence you cannot overlook. Things slow down just a tad with “Life of Exile”, this one is the most emotionally charged song on the album. “Where Millions Have Come to Die” has guest vocals by Whitechapel’s Phil Bozeman which fits perfectly. “From Ruins… We Rise”

perfectly defines the sound of this great band and it’s my favorite on the album. “Reconquest” is an instrumental number and it’s fantastic, you just lose yourself with the rhythm, the bass and those awesome guitar solos. I think metal bands should have more instrumentals. The final last songs are a trilogy with more Septicflesh influences (Elegy 2: Devise) and this time, some Gojira (Elegy 1: Adapt) and Fleshgod Apocalypse (Elegy 3: Overcome) vibes as well. I have mixed feelings about these tunes, they’re not bad, but something a bit more epic would’ve really brought the house down at the end of this album. In the end, what you got here is one solid album by a very talented band. If you’re not into deathcore, this band offers something a little different and I invite you to check it out. An excellent start to 2022.

Review by Andrew Stanton Metal songs on here are the real stand out tracks. A lot of the Death Metal is a bit too slow for me. I think we can safely say, if you hate everything on here, you’re probably not really a Metalhead at all. There’s definitely a lot of good stuff on here regardless of what you listen to. CD content: Natron - Undead Awake Angel of Anger - Ars Moriendi In Autumn - What’s Done Is Done

Desecrate - Burning Books Forsaken Legion - Inner Shadow Gorepest - Ceremony of Xul Humangled Wallstreetcleaner Stormcrow - Nanga Parbat Orve - Unmasking the Lamb Kryptonomicon The Experiment of Dr. K Cronoth - Uncrowned King Seraphs From Hell - Cynical Raid Dowhanash - O.N.W.O. Obscurum Malum Phantasma

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https://www.facebook.com/OcularisInfernumBookingandPromotion

A Time of Sorrow. First of all, a very random compilation released on Black Tears. All kinds of Black Metal and Death Metal of all description. So obviously, bound to be something you like here. It would take a very open minded Metal to love everything on here. The album starts off with a bit of slow Death Metal with deep growled vocals, and then some Black Metal comes into it. So yeah, it’s pretty random. If you’re new to Metal and fancy introducing yourself to a few bands, then this is perfect for you. Some of these bands I know, the others I’m not sure about. But I’m enjoying checking them out. If you’ve been listening to Metal as long as I have, there is so much on here that reminds me of the music of my childhood. I think the Black

https://www.facebook.com/dawnofsolace

Dawn of Solace Flames of Perdition. Formed in 2006, Dawn of Solace are a melodic death/doom/ gothic metal band created by Wolfheart frontman Tuomas Saukkonen with lead vocalist Mikko Heikkila from Kaunis Kuolematon. “Flames of Perdition” is their 3rd full length album. With the exception of the excellent “Lead Wings” from 2020’s “Waves”, that album didn’t really leave an imprint on me, it’s not that the songs are bad, they just didn’t connect with me on any level. Here we are two years later with “Flames of Perdition” and it’s definitely an improvement, songs are still gloomy, but have more heart this time around, for some bands, being locked up by the pandemic, although dark & somber, you

Review by Luc St-Clair can find inspiration and ideas without developing this type of metal that can sometimes sound pitiful & repetitive. Here are a few songs that really shine; the first track is “White Noise” which sounds like a Wolfheart intro, vocalist Mikko Heikkila starts off slow, but eventually reaches for the sky with his heavenly pipes and lamentable, but never dull style of singing. Backed by Tuomas’ acoustic guitar & screaming electric guitar solos, this is a great song. The title track “Flames of Perdition” has both quiet and loud moments. We begin with delicate piano and then morphs

into a crushing impact of guitars, bass and drums. “Event Horizon” has a chorus I cannot get out of my head, wonderful acoustic guitar moments, it’s a counterpart to “Lead Wings” sound wise and packs quite an emotional punch. And finally, “Skyline”, released as a single last year, here’s another emotionally charged song beautifully written and performed. In conclusion, this isn’t a completely depressing album like other doom metal bands, not that there’s anything wrong with that, but after listening to it while relaxing with a niceglass of the darkest of ales, I find myself in complete awe and serenity.

https://www.facebook.com/muert666

Review by Andrew Stanton Muert - Haeresis. Surprisingly for me, I’m not that familiar with the Spanish scene. This is Black Metal, but would definitely appeal to most Death Metalheads. It’s a very extreme album. It reminds me of Cadaver at times. It’s a sort of mix of Blackened Death Metal, Black Thrash and Raw Black Metal (or at least I think so). The blast beats and the

growls just kick in… And why not? Certainly not a nice album. I admit, I’ve never heard of this band personally, but they came out in 2012. Some of the vocals remind me of the early Deicide demos. Nothing particularly groundbreaking here and I’m quite sure that’s not their intention. From what I can tell, it’s all in Spanish. Apparently they write songs about Tenerife folklore - doesn’t really

mean anything to me personally, but from what I can tell, it’s very cool. It’s not an easy listen, but it’s not ridiculously over the top. Well I like it, but you can make your own mind up. Very different from what South America does. I might never listen to it ever again, but it’s cool. It’s only a short album, so just enjoy thrashing out to it for a bit.

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https://www.facebook.com/Milvus

Review by Andrew Stanton Milvus - Milvus. As far as I’m c o n c e r n e d , Atmospheric Black Metal is the hardest kind of Black Metal to listen to. It definitely helps to really appreciate Black Metal noise. It helps if you understand music a bit. It helps if you know what you’re listening for.

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What I’m hearing so far is really good, and strangely charming. Songs about nature and nice things. I’m not gonna say it’s easier to listen to than other similar

bands, but it is very good. This is a new band from Italy. At times it reminds me of a cross between Burzum and A r c t u r u s . Sometimes it gets very beautiful ( At m o s p h e r i c Black Metal beautiful ). At times it becomes quite a relaxing listen. I’m guessing it’s all in English, but don’t quote me on that. If you ever want to introduce yourself to some Atmospheric Black Metal, Milvus are a great place to start. Sometimes the Atmospheric side of this album reminds me of the early Gehenna days. A great start to the year as far as I’m concerned. And quite frankly, I hope they become huge because Metalheads need this band. Just go out and buy it, you deserve this one.

Review by Luc St-Clair Pia, I couldn’t find information online on who’s who, so from this moment on I will refer to them as the clean & harsh vocalists. Next up is “Architecture of the I”, this one scream tech death and I didn’t like it much at first, but it’s a song that has layers upon layers of complexity while still remaining prog elements. It’s about the self, taking care of yourself, thinking for yourself, making decisions for yourself and finding one’s place in this universe. It’s a fantastic song. “Merkabah” is another powerfully heavy song with softer moments provided by the clean vocalist, he really shines in this one. The next song is the longest on the album, it’s also one of the best instrumentals you’re going to hear in 2022, well so far anyway. At 11 minutes and 7 seconds, “Consciousness (Pt.3)” is a prog metal musician’s

wet dream, it’s a crazy musical opus that continuously keeps changing and evolving, guitars, bass, drums and keyboards are thrown into a vortex of sound that will blow your mind and your ears. The album completes with a song in three parts entitled “Anabasis”. Part 1 starts off slow, it’s an intro after all, but then Part 2 explodes with guitar riffs that sounds like melodic death metal masters Mors Principium Est, but the song goes to a quieter place of piano keys and jazz infused soundscapes, I shit you not. It eventually comes full circle and ends with Part 3, a dream-like number of piano and clean humming vocals. It’s the epiphany of serenity. In the end, my only complaint is that the album had too many instrumentals, but I’m just nitpicking and if you haven’t guessed by now, I simply adored this album. This will most definitely make my top 10 metal albums of 2022 come this November, hands down.

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https://www.facebook.com/persefoneband

Persefone - Metanoia. Persefone are a progressive metal band formed in 2001 from the small nation of Andorra. Metanoia is their 6th studio album. The group has lyrics on the themes of Greek mythology, mysticism, spiritualism, identity, rebirth and the human spirit. The sound is at its heart prog metal, but also has a bit of melodic death and tech death as well. It took me a while to really appreciate this album, I am not a fan of tech death, it’s a very specific metal genre that I find peculiar and extremely difficult to get into. Having said that, after many listens, the album grew on me and I realized that it’s a structured and complex journey that feels like a concept album, but it isn’t. All the songs feel like a collective with every song flowing organically into the next one with gentle and powerful moments from wonderfully emotional piano pieces to crushing guitar riffs to electrifying guitar solos peppered with out of this world soundscapes from the use of keyboards. The album starts with the intro and title track “Metanoia”, a short, but moving song with guest singer Einar Solberg, I have to idea who this dude is, but his soothing and powerful voice carries the song to the next one and ends with keyboards taken right from The Matrix movies. Some industrial music influences too? I believe so. This leads to my favorite song, “Katabasis”, an epic number full of catchy and intricate riffs, wild soundscapes and vocally, has the best of both worlds with clean and harsh vocalists by Carlos Lozano Quintanilla & Marc Martins

https://www.facebook.com/orobband

Review by Andrew Stanton Orob - Aube Noir. I can’t say I have heard many French bands, but the ones I have heard I liked. A lot of different sounds coming through here - Melodic Black Metal, Dark Ambient, Doom Metal, Raw Black Metal, Blackened Death Metal. It reminds me of Arcturus, Emperor, My Dying Bride, Gehenna, In The woods. It’s hard not to love so far. If you’re a Black Metal hater, you still might like this. O r o b h a v e been around for quite

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a while and I’m already dying to hear their early stuff. From what I can tell, it’s all in English. Unlike most Black Metal albums, a lot of clean vocals are used on this, and I mean a lot. It’s very easy to just jump right into it. I absolutely love it. Definitely the best French Band (of the ones I have heard). It doesn’t seem to be Satanic, but maybe it is, what do I know? I do actually think this is perfect. The drums keep a good pace with the occasional blast beats.

Some of the guitars get very pretty at times. I think this is a concept album, but please don’t quote me on that. Not much more to say, just f**king buy it. You deserve to hear this. It really is that good. And I’ll say it again, I do think this is perfect. Enjoy guys.

Review by Luc St-Clair still enjoyed it, it’s a very easy album to listen to with it’s 4-to-5-minute songs that are extremely catchy, there’s nothing really to hate here, except that horribly bad “My Name is Night”. Here are a few of my favorite tracks. “Northwards” is a wonderfully epic and heavy song, at the halfway mark, the song morphs into a progressive style as it spirals into a keyboard frenzy and a heavenly chorale. “On the Dark Waters” is typical of Amorphis’ style and sound with that magnificent middle eastern part, but nevertheless, a great song. “The Moon” check marks all that I want and like about Amorphis; catchy

chorus, slick guitar hooks and a melodic perspective. And finally, “The Wolf ”, a heavy number with moments that remind me of Amon Amath’s brutal & crunchy guitar riffs and passionate guitar solos. To wrap this up, I’d say that if you’re a fan of this group, you’ll probably enjoy Halo, but if you’re new to them, I’d say sure, give it a try, but I’d strongly recommend Under the Red Cloud & Queen of Time. As for me, I believe it’s not their best by any means, but that doesn’t make Halo any less addictive. If you’re a bit confused by this review, don’t worry, you’re not the only one.

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https://www.facebook.com/amorphis

Amorphis - Halo. Amorphis are a Finnish metal band founded by Jan Rechberger, Tomi Koivusaari & Esa Holopainen in 1990. Initially, the band was a death metal act, but on later albums they evolved into playing other genres, including melodic death metal, progressive metal and folk metal. Halo is their 14th full length studio album, now that’s quite an accomplishment. My experience with Amorphis is somewhat limited, I’ve listened and enjoyed Under the Red Cloud, Queen of Time and years ago my brother introduced me to the album Elegy with the one song I clung to, My Kantele. Back then, my horizons weren’t broadening like they are today. No one sounds quite like Amorphis, they have a unique style I recognize immediately. I’ve sampled a few songs from past albums here and there and I must admit that this incarnation of Amorphis is the one that suits me the most. Emotionally charged songs, keyboards, catchy choruses, melodic & symphonic tunes, a wide variety of instruments, sometimes exotic in nature and the cherry on top, Tomi Joutsen’s impressive vocal talent with his shifting of vocal gears from clean to harsh. Here’s by biggest problem with the album, if feels like they took songs from both Under the Red Cloud & Queen of Time and hit copy/paste. Having said that, I

https://www.facebook.com/sacrilegiousimpalement.official

Review by Andrew Stanton Sacrilegious Impalement - II Exalted Spectres. Some quite high energy Black Metal from Finland. They call themselves Black Metal, but Death Metal fans shouldn’t be put off. Sometimes they remind me of Cadaver, but not as crazy. It’s just good Metal really. The guitars get a bit tingly at times. Not dull at all. Just done properly. The songs aren’t amazing, but it’s a good effort. They’re a band I will be keeping

an eye on in the future. It only slows down for some slow intros, that’s all. The more I listen, the more I’m reminded of some Death Metal bands, more than Black Metal. They don’t really remind me of any Black Metal bands. They remind me more of European Death Metal stuff. I admit I’ve never

heard of this band before, but I’m not really sure why. Maybe I’m not very cool or something. Well I love it and I’m quite sure you will too. Definitely an album for the genuine Metalheads. Apparently they write songs about depression and sadness, but nothing I could tell. Just a fun album.

Veldraveth - Martyrdom. Some Raw Black Metal from Venezuela. Bit of a slow album this one. Slow growls and slow guitars. Would definitely be better done faster. The blast beats give it some energy, but it needs more. It seems to be in the same sort of style as the early Burzum stuff. Not my thing personally, but I try to give a fair review. Whenever I hear

bands like this, I can never understand why they don’t go as fast as possible. The drums are amazing to be fair, I just wish the rest of it was. A lot of these songs sound the same to me if I’m honest. If they added

a few faster songs they would have avoided this problem automatically. Because of the slow vocals and slow guitars, the sound

does get a bit ghostly at times. Which might appeal to some people. Not really sure if that’s intentional though. If you prefer Black Metal a bit slowed down, then look no further, this is for you. It never quite reaches the Blackgaze level, but prob ably not far off it. Obviously some people will love this and love their style and you probably know who you are.

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https://www.facebook.com/veldraveth

Review by Andrew Stanton

https://www.facebook.com/DESECRATE.Official

Desecrate - Orpheus. Even though it’s Extreme Metal with quite deep growls, there’s a definite Pop element here that isn’t gonna please everyone. And it’s very hard not to notice. As soon as the album started I twigged it straight away. It’s Melodic Death Metal with a very commercial feel to it. Saying that, it’s good quality music. Reminds me of In Flames at times, especially the Reroute to Remain era. It can’t be avoided, there will be people w h o worship

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Review by Andrew Stanton this, but there will also be some die hard Metalheads who detest it. There’s a good arrangement of music here. Lot’s of different styles used (and done well). To be fair, I’m probably not the right person to be reviewing this, so respect my honesty please. Like with Most Italian Metal, it’s all in English, but I can’t quite work out what the songs are about. More than anything, I’m

tempted to say it’s like a Melodic version of Opeth. Like a less serious version of Opeth. It is great to be fair, but buy with caution, because some WILL hate it with a passion. It’s a definite “try before you buy” album. I like it, but you can make your own mind up.

https://www.facebook.com/sarcasmsweden

Sarcasm - Stellar Stream Obscured. A Death Metal band who have been around since 1992 who I have never heard of. I’m intrigued already. First things first, they definitely have their own sound. They don’t really remind me of anyone. According to Metal Archives, this band has changed their style many, many times in the past. Like pretty much every style, and even the lyrical topics have changed many times, from gore to philosophy. I will say, I don’t exactly like it, but it’s interesting. I definitely have some respect for this band. I mostly just don’t like the songs. I’m half way

Review by Andrew Stanton through the album and none of it has been amazing, but it’s definitely not shit. I can understand fans of these guys. From what I have read about their history, I imagine they make and lose fans all the time. The songs play at an okay pace, it’s not trailblazing, but it’s not boring shit. I truly believe t h i s

band could be amazing if they wanted to be. I’m coming up to the end of the album now. At times they remind me of Death, Cancer, Instorm, Carcass. But I say ‘they remind me’, they definitely do their own thing. All in all, it was good. It was definitely interesting. If you’re looking for something truly amazing, this isn’t for you. But if you’re looking for something a bit fresh, then I recommend checking them out. But at the end of the day, what do I know? You might love it.

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https://www.facebook.com/Tlepshofficial

Review by Andrew Stanton Tlepsh Hexed Swords. My first time hearing any music from Jordan, and so far it seems good. This is just one man playing everything, and it appears to be war themed Melodic Black Metal. Black Folk might have been more suited here, but each to their own. I’m about halfway through, and it’s really good. In fact, I love it. Some beautiful musicianship on here especially the bass and some

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beautiful guitar solos. I have reviewed stuff from the Middle East before, but this seems very different. At times Tareq Mirza vocals sound a bit like Gabriel Thomas. So far, none of this has been crap. I will say, the more I listen, the more I’m desperate to check out more Jordanian bands. I’m interested

to know what I have been missing all these years. I won’t call it perfect, but maybe as good as. The lyrics are very good, not exactly Motorhead, but still good. All in English. Fans of pretty melodic guitar solos, I would say it’s worth the money just to hear them. What more can I say, I’m a new fan. I’m glad I was introduced to this, and Tareq Mirza, I salute you. Good job sir.

Review by Andrew Stanton Metal, and I’m guessing this is what they mean. It’s Black Metal, but Death Metalheads shouldn’t be put off by it. In fact, I think some Death Metal fans might prefer it over Black Metalheads. Not the heaviest band I’ve ever heard, but definitely a contender. A lot of the

time, the songs slow down a bit for interludes and whatever. I don’t like it personally, I just don’t like the songs. But I know some people will love every second of it. If you love it super heavy, just ignore my review and just buy it. This is your thing. It’s obviously amazing to the right listener. Maybe I shouldn’t be reviewing it.

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https://www.facebook.com/devourermetal

Devourer - Raptus. Super heavy this one. Not one for beginners. The drums just explode on this. It’s a super hard listen. The vocals mostly stay mid-paced. The speed of the vocals is what ruins this for me personally. Some people WILL love this and say I don’t know what I’m talking about, but I respect your opinion. I have heard quite a few times people talking about super extreme Swedish Black

https://www.facebook.com/immolation

Review by Andrew Stanton Immolation - An Act of God. I have to admit, I don’t know much about the New York scene. In fact, I didn’t even know there was one until now. Loving the growls on this. Good deep, gravelly singing. This is very old school Death Metal, and surely that should tell you all you need to know. Immolation have been around forever, but I confess, this is my

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first time hearing them. So excuse my ignorance. It’s strangely different from the old 90’s Florida stuff. This is Immolation’s first album since 2017. It’s quite a l o n g album; nearly an h ou r. Sometimes t h e y

remind me of Nile, but I think an easier listen than Nile. According to Metal Archives,

they write songs about all kinds of shit. As much as I’m enjoying this, a lot of it does sound the same. I’m not exactly blown away by it, but it’s not shit by any means. It just has that Death Metal staleness that we always talk about. I think Immolation would have benefitted from a shorter album here. It goes on a bit, but it’s very good. They should have taken a leaf out of Deicide’s book and kept it at 30 minutes. It’s one for the old school guys.

Atra Haeresis - Pretium. This is a Melodic Black Metal band consisting of members from Russia and Belarus. So far, I would say it’s some fairly easy Black Metal to get into. Just fun and cool (fun and cool by Black Metal standards). The music stays a bit laid back during the versus, but then the blast beats explode into rage at the interludes. A few different kinds of vocals used on here. It’s a short album, only 30 minutes. It’s all

in English and good lyrics as far as I’m concerned. If you’re looking for something truly extreme, this isn’t for you. But if you just want some nice, enjoyable Black Metal, then you need to hear t h i s . I f

you’re one of those people who straggles to get into Black Metal, then look no further. This is a great debut. I’m not really finding any faults. Sadly limited to only 500 copies, but I wish more people get to hear it. It’s very hard to love, just good songs. I’m already dying to hear their next album. I’m not gonna call this a masterpiece, but I do love it. Just buy it, be one of the 500 owners. You deserve to hear this one. Enjoy.

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https://www.facebook.com/atrahaeresis

Review by Andrew Stanton

https://www.facebook.com/winterblackmetalfromural

Review by Andrew Stanton Wintaar Deathentrance. One thing about this Russian Black Metal band, they don’t half churn out albums. I’m talking like 3 or 4 albums a year. They released 8 albums in 2020. I think they really need to take some time off. Have a holiday. They haven’t been around for very long, but their discography is endless. I’m actually amazed and shocked by this. I have never

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heard of them personally, but so far I’m enjoying it. They write songs about winter and nature and other nice things. Atmospheric Black Metal is never an easy listen, but as I said, I am enjoying it. Sometimes the sound gets a bit ghostly. The songs play at a fairly decent pace. Quite good energy. One thing I love about Black Metal is the switch between beautiful

sounds and big, ugly noise, and Wintaar do it really well. They’re a band I definitely like and I do want to hear some of their other stuff. I’m mostly intrigued how they can release so much, so often and still manage to stay original. If Deathentrance is anything to go by, Wintaar are one of the cool bands. If you’re a fan of this kind of stuff anyway, then you can buy with confidence. Because this is very good. What more can I say? I love this band.

https://www.facebook.com/MysticCircleOfficial

Review by Andrew Stanton Mystic Circle - Mystic Circle. I don’t know if it’s just me, but this German band sounds like Black Metal sometimes and Death Metal the rest of the time. It’s a very heavy album, I admit I turned the volume down a bit (yeah, sad I know). I love the cover on this one. They remind me of Carcass, Ancient, Deicide, In Flames, Impaled Nazarene. But as I said, it might just be me. Apparently it’s Melodic Black Metal, but personally I think there’s more to it than that. It’s

definitely not as lopsided as I’m probably making out. The sound and style does stay the same throughout. So far I’m quite enjoying it. Good energy, good vocals, good guitars. Definitely not shit. I won’t call it a masterpiece, but it’s very good. According to my

resources, Mystic Circle has been around for a very long time and changed their style many times. Never heard of them personally, but maybe you have. You can call it Melodic Black Metal if you want to. You might even think I don’t know what I’m talking about. It’s super heavy, but it’s not a ridiculously hard listen. It goes on a bit, nearly 50 minutes of noise. This band has been around since the mid 90’s, but this is their first album since 2006, so this is like a comeback album. So with that, I say welcome back.

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https://www.facebook.com/VanaheimBand

Review by Andrew Stanton Vanaheim Een Verloren Verhaal. Some epic Folk Metal from the Netherlands. From what I’m hearing so far, it’s definitely more Ensiferum than Korpiklaani. I always believe being too epic can ruin Metal, but so far, this has been good. This is Vanaheim’s first album, after their EP The Dwarf Chant released in 2017. It’s pretty much what you expect. I would call it Black Folk with flutes and keys and some very pretty guitar solos. It’s epic, but it’s not boring. I’m enjoying it. Over an

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hour, but don’t let it put you off. The songs have good energy. This band seems to concentrate more on pretty music instead of big anthems like most Folk Metal bands. The vocals are more growled than Korpiklaani. I admit I never heard The Dwarf Chant, but I guess it’s like this. It’s all very Lord of the Rings and The Dark Crystal sort of stuff. I always say you can never go wrong with Folk Metal/Black Folk, they really do make t h e

effort to write good songs. If you love Enslaved or Ensiferum, you will love this. I’m about halfway through and I’m not bored of it yet. When I first started working for Inside the Darkness, I remember being asked to review something very similar to this, I can’t remember what it was though. I admit, when I first saw the albums run time, I was put off by it. But as soon as I pressed play, I started enjoying it instantly. Reading back on my review now, I think I’ve pretty much hit the nail on the head here. Most buyers will know what to expect from this.

Nervochaos - All Colors Of Darkness. Brazilian Death Metal isn’t really my thing, but this really is brutal. Fast and short which I like. Some fast vocals on this one. Sometimes they remind me of Deicide, but not always. It’s not exactly an easy listen, but it’s shortness and simpleness make it easier. Some nice musicianship on here. Some nice guitars and bass. Nice drums. Apparently it’s Satanic, but I don’t get it personally. It’s

Death Metal, but it has that Hardcore element added that I never like. Fans of Hatebreed would love this. This is some of the fasting singing I have heard for quite a while. This isn’t their first album, but it’s the first one I have heard. I hope their older albums use fast singing like this one,

because I hate all that slow, angry singing. The album very oddly finishes with a cover of Hank Williams’ “Three Shades of Black” ( yes, really ). And obviously sounds completely different to the rest of the album, but who cares? It’s a good song. A little over 30 minutes, what’s not to love about it? The songs aren’t exactly works of art, but they have done a good job putting this album together. It’s fun and cool. One to check out if you have half an hour to spare. You won’t regret it.

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https://www.facebook.com/NervoChaos

Review by Andrew Stanton

https://www.facebook.com/purewrath

Review by Andrew Stanton Pure Wrath - Hymn to the Woeful Hearts. I know I probably sound like a broken record a lot of the time, but I always say two things, firstly, it always annoys me because of the amount of Black Metal bands people choose to ignore, because they don’t come from a certain country. And secondly, you know how I feel about solo artists in Metal. The amount of work that goes into it is impossible for me to ignore. This is one of those Atmospheric Black Metal

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albums about nature and trees and stuff. It’s all very charming and cool. I know not everyone gets this sub genre, but I do recommend being very patient with it

(VERY PATIENT). Some of the melodic parts of this remind me of Sigh a lot. On his slower parts, it’s very similar. On his faster parts, it’s more similar to

early Gehenna. I always hate to use the word ‘masterpiece’ when reviewing any Black Metal album, but this is very, VERY good. Not as good as Khors, but it’s definitely brilliant. It’s an album to listen to on headphones, preferably in a forest, and maybe at night if you’re brave enough. It’s not overly epic, a little over 40 minutes. If you’re one of those people who only listens to this sub genre, then you need to buy this.

Sepulchral - From Beyond the Burial Mound. A new old school Death Metal band from Spain. So far it reminds me of a cross between Incubus and early Death. It’s a very raw album with good energy. It has that unrehearsed sound that some love and others hate. At certain moments, the album does start to sound like ‘Scream Bloody Gore’. The blast beats kick in and stay permanently, it’s not as guitar

based as Obituary. All the guitar solos so far have been quite melodic, they don’t shred. But despite the guitar solos, this does have quite fast vocals. Those people who are struggling to live without Death, probably should check this out. There is a heavy use of drum and bass on this album that gives it a real kick.

You only really notice the guitars on the solos. It’s a good album, but it seems to go on a bit. For fans of old school Death Metal, you really can’t go wrong here. Just buy it. Sepulchral have been releasing demos and EPs for a few years now, but this year we get their first attempt at a full length album. And it was definitely worth the wait. Enjoy.

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https://www.facebook.com/sepulchraldeathmetal

Review by Andrew Stanton

Upcoming albums

Thuringian Melodic Death Metal trio DESERTED FEAR will release their brand-new full-length record “Doomsday”. Fans of the previous release “Drowned By Humanity”, which conquered the Top 20 of the official German album charts, may rightly expect the desired melodic death metal inferno we know from DESERTED FEAR. The album will be available as Ltd. CD Digipak, Ltd. Gatefold LP and Digital album. The Ltd. CD Digipak features two bonus tracks “Funeral Of The Earth” and a cover of In Flames entitled “Artifacts Of The Black Rain”, which is known as an absolute classic in the Melodic Death Metal scene. The Digipak also comes with a special DESERTED FEAR beer mat. The Gatefold LP features a A2-sized poster with the amazing cover artwork by Rio Krisma, Cygnuslab Studio, Indonesia. Fans of the previous release “Drowned By Humanity”, which conquered the Top 20 of the official German album charts, may rightly expect the desired melodic death metal inferno we know from DESERTED FEAR. «Doomsday» will be released on March 4, 2022.

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Approaching nearly 30 years since the beginning of their journey as one of Swedish Black Metal’s most genuine and unvarnished exemplars, Dark Funeral continue to reach for new heights to bring audiences into its otherworldly & unholy visions on the band’s seventh full-length LP, ‘We Are The Apocalypse’. The songs look more mature and speedier but here you can hear a stronger bond between the band’s members. Dark Funeral lineup: Lord Ahriman - guitars Heljarmadr - vocals Chaq Mol - guitars Jalomaah - drums Adra Melek - bass. We Are The Apocalypse will be released on March 18, 2022.

Riff-maestro Abbath Doom Occulta cements his place among the metal hierarchy with ‘Dread Reaver’, his third album with eponymous project ABBATH. His signature blend of blistering speed metal, traditional metal influences, and touch of ice cold black metal creates a sound and style that is distinctly his. Its spirited, balls-to-the-walls energy certifies ‘Dread Reaver’ as the quintessential anthem for total metal mayhem. Lineup Abbath - Vocals, Guitars, Bass Ukri Suvilehto - Drums Mia Wallace - Bass Ole André Farstad - Guitars ‘Dread Reaver’’ will be released on March 25, 2022.

The Finnish Melodic Death Metal band Mors Principium Est return with their new album “Liberate the Unborn Inhumanity”. For Liberate the Unborn Inhumanity, vocalist Ville Viljanan brought together the original line-up, guitar players and MORS PRINCIPIUM EST co-founders Jori Haukio and Jarko Kokkoo, as well as bass player Teemu Heinola rejoining the band. Mors Principium Est make it clear in which direction the album aims. No programmed drums, double riff power, no superfluous gimmicks and no experiments. The band has been around for over 20 years and they know how melodic death metal coupled with typical Finnish melancholy should sound. A combination of progressive and yet songserving structures. Or in other words: complex instrumental passages meet goosebump melodies, crowned by Villes Viljanen’s rough vocals. Liberate the Unborn Inhumanity will be released on April 4, 2022.

Swedish folk metal wolf pack MÅNEGARM take another stroll through ancient sagas and myths of long forgotten times on the successor of chart-breaking Fornaldarsagor (2019) – the upcoming 10th studio album Ynglingaättens Öde (Engl. the fate of the Ynglinga kin). In this multifaceted world of sound, MÅNEGARM incorporate Pagan inspired lyricism based on the old Norse poem Ynglingatal, that describes the fate of an old Norse dynasty - the house of Ynglinga. Ynglingaättens Öde offers balanced variety and atmosphere, breathing new life into ancient myths. With Ynglingaättens Öde, MÅNEGARM underline their standing as spearheads of the world of Viking metal once more and keep Pagan traditions alive, even after 25 years of existence. “Ynglingaättens Öde” will be released on April 15, 2022.

«The Agony & Ecstasy of Watain» is the group’s seventh album who continue to electrify their audience with an unmistakable brand of Black Metal Magic. Recorded inside an old church on the Swedish countryside, WATAIN take the listener closer to the innermost heart of a band that despite always being surrounded by rumors and controversy strives for the most sincere ways of expression. With 10 songs written by the founding trinity of WATAIN (E. Danielsson, H. Jonsson and P. Forsberg), it is also the band’s first album to be recorded with a full line up completed by A. Lillo, H. Eriksson and E. Forcas. The material is further enriched by noble contributions from Farida Lemouchi (Ex The Devil’s Blood, now in Molasses) and Gottfrid Ahman (ex In Solitude, now in Paga). The Agony & Ecstasy of Watain will be released on April 29, 2022.

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#20 of Inside the Darkness

Articles inside

Calvarium. Interview with Stevan Chada

Nightbearer. Interview with Dominik Hellmuth

Plague Demon Records. Interview with Jim «Namtar Axarcuth» Downey

Interview with Deadly Kristin

Wormlight. Interview with Tiamat Invictuz

Consecration. Interview with Liam

Aura. Interview with Valeriy Vedishchev

Beheth. Interview with Mahmud

PESTILENCE. Interview with Patrick Mameli

Phobetor. Interview with Marc Dyos

Blackthorn. Interview with Aina Blackthorn