Slowly we rot #5

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com) Cancer Astarte Blodarv Sacrifice Volturyon Nargaroth Bloodsoaked Eye of Solitude Garden of Grief Nuclear Aggressor Axa Valaha Productions

Rising Demons section + Romanian Attack section + Merchants of Death section + More than 250 reviews + Free Compilation CD!!!

Issue 5 / 2014

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

Here's the fifth Slowly We Rot issue, one that required the most amount of work so far. If you liked previous SWR issues, I'm sure you will enjoy this new release as well, it follows the path you already know, featuring the same sections (Merchants of Death, Rising Demons, Romanian Metal Attack) alongside reviews and interviews, and again the zine comes with a compilation CD featuring some outstanding bands from around the World.

By now I guess it's safe, although really unfortunate, to say Slowly We Rot is the ONLY printed Extreme Metal (or even Rock or Metal) zine still active in Romania since Cross of Black Steel, the other serious zine, had its 3rd issue out 3 years ago, and Treize zine, the zine I was telling you about in a previous issue, succumbed after only 2 issues. Even though this makes me proud and more determined to continue releasing the zine, it also makes me sad, it means there are less and less metalheads willing to spend their money on this hobby (releasing such a zine is a hobby, an expensive one). We live in a money driven world where you're bound to spend your earnings on what the TV or now the Internet advertises, and where you're ostracized if you believe and/or support old principles: a printed zine is treated as a relic, a band releasing CDs (or any other physical audio material) is laughed at, and labels are releasing more and more digital-only albums for the sake of reducing costs and increasing revenue. Does this ring a bell - reduce costs, increase revenue? We are building our World as a big corporation where we all work for an alleged prosperity and wealth, less of us work for their soul and even fewer work for leaving something behind; we don't care about the others only at a superficial / show-off level, and we are all involved in this hyper-speedy day to day routine. Back to the metal scene, yes, there are more and more webzines, the bands are all more active right in your face (FaceBook), you can have your own virtual community where to talk only with likeminded persons at any time, but what's left if or after all this ends? So far we know as a fact magazines can last hundreds of years or more, and we also know for a fact that once a webzine editor decides to quit his "job" and stops paying for hosting, all material vanishes. That's another reason I like to feature my reviews in both Pest Webzine and Slowly We Rot; the interviews are almost all exclusive for SWR. I have no idea when I will decide to stop Pest Webzine, but at least copies of Slowly We Rot are reaching all corners of this World (the only continent I sent no copy so far is Antarctica!), and I'm sure most people buying/trading SWR are die-hard collectors that will cherish their copies and read them again after years, I know that's how I do.

The Rising Demons section this time features exclusively bands from the Compilation CD that way while you’ll listen to their music you’ll also have the chance to read some facts about them, with their own words. I personally think that’s the best way to present the bands featured on this new Compilation CD that had attracted so many nice words from SWR readers. Again, if you like a band, go ahead and let them know, even a short “congrats” message on their email or Social Media is enough to give them a boost of energy, believe me!

Once again I'd like to thank my writers Sonia Fonseca, Chris Forbes and Leslie David for sharing their work with me, these are very dedicated people I feel fortunate to have around.

The layout is done by me again; even though in the previous issue I was mentioning an upcoming designer about to join our ranks, I haven't heard from him since.

Enjoy Slowly We Rot #5 and see you next time, probably by the end of 2014 if all goes according to plan, we'll see.

Slowly We Rot Slowly We Rot #5 Contents: (swrzine@yahoo.com)

Front cover: Ash (Nargaroth), photo courtesy of Sunvemetal (www.sunvemetal.de) Compilation cover artwork by Wolven Claws (facebook.com/wolvenclaws666)

3. Editorial 4. Astarte 6. Blodarv 10. Cancer 12. Romanian Metal Attack 14. Axa Valaha 17. Eye of Solitude 19. Bloodsoaked 20. Garden of Grief 22. Sacrifice 24. Nuclear Aggressor 26. Zine reviews 28. Nargaroth 31. Volturyon 33. Althotas 33. Amok 34. Apontokation 35. Austerymn 35. Bulletsize 35. Decease 36. Excruciation 36. Forstyrre 36. Haiduk 37. Madrax 37. Morbosus 37. Muyzkkubun 38. Seplophile 38. Sorrowseed 39. Sturmtiger 39. Black Vomit Records 40. Dark Horizon Records 40. Kaotoxin Records 42. Satanarsa Records 43. Reviews

All reviews, articles and unsigned interviews by Adrian All reviews also published in Pest Webzine at www.pestwebzine.com Slowly We Rot Contact: www.facebook.com/swrzine swrzine@yahoo.com Slowly We Rot Team: Adrian (Romania) – editor – layout/interviews/reviews Leslie David (Hungary) – interviews Sonia Fonseca (Portugal) – interviews Chris Forbes (USA) – interviews

Slowly We Rot Compilation CD #5 01. Madrax - Pyromaniac 02. Amok - Lawbreakers 03. Bulletsize - Dead in 15 Seconds 04. Doom Syndicate - Product of Environment (P.O.E.) 05. Haiduk - Lich 06. Decease - Exhort To Obliterate 07. Austerymn - In Death We Speak 08. Apontokation - Human Chaos 09. Daksinroy - Dictatorshit 10. Excruciation - Murmansk II (rough mix) 11. Seplophile-Under Shifting Sands 12. Eye Of Solitude - Where the Decent Began 13. Sorrowseed - Scourge of the Hierophant 14. Black Altar - The Pulse ov the Universe 15. Althotas - Forgotten Trail 16. Morbosus - Pestilential Raids 17. Sturmtiger - For Your Fatherland 18. Forstyrre - Das warten auf den Krieg 19. MuyzKKubuN - The Mallet Show Its Horror 3

“ I do not take drugs or anything to escape reality, I face things as they are” Tristessa The first all-female Black Metal ASTARTE is about to unleash a new opus… after a six-year hiatus the excitement is rising and Tristessa updated us on all the juicy details of “Black Demonium”.

What is the concept behind the new album? When exactly will it be released?

The album will be out on the first months of 2014 and it will be a Death Black album with some Thrash elements.

How many songs does the album feature? Which ones will capture faster the attention of the listener?

There must be 8 to 9 songs and I think that all of them are worth everyone’s attention.

Are the lyrics in English? Isn’t it easier to write lyrics in your mother tongue? Doesn’t the meaning get lost in translation?

I like to communicate with the majority of the fans, so English is the best way to do this in order to make myself clear and to have a straight connection to our audience. Greek language can also be very interesting if we will use it in some parts of our lyrics and Ancient Greek will sound even better. So, we may use this in a future album.

Have you mixed the album at the Tico Tico studio in Astarte were the first ever all female Black Metal Finland with Ahti as you have done with some of your band… what kind of reactions did you receive when previous works? you first started off? Were there many misconceptions The mix and mastering will take place here in a Greek studio. It is not done yet. regarding that? Did it affect you somehow?

We faced prejudice and negative reactions from fans of music and from press especially in Greece. The worst The cover artwork has been done by Maggot Meister thing is that all those who couldn’t accept women into who is responsible for many other metal covers. How Black Metal, had never listened to our music. That was all does the artwork process take place? Do you send him wrong and I put all my effort on working more and more a preview of the album and he comes up with the with my music and Astarte, I counted on myself and on concept or do you tell him exactly what you want? my love to music and I made the albums. It took me a lot We have been in contact with Maggot M since 2010 and of years to be accepted as a female artist and as Astarte. I we keep this contact because he is a great person and a am glad that today there are so many females into music great Artist. His job and some of his personal covers were as I battled to make that happen. I feel that I put all my a source of inspiration. So we found the general idea and effort all these years to open this door to females into afterwards he customized this idea according to our directions. I am more than satisfied with the results and Black Metal. with the way we worked together. He is a brilliant artist.

Now Astarte are not an all-female band, actually you’re the only woman now. What caused the line-up You are featured in most of Astarte’s album covers… change? Do you think it is easier to have female or the red eyed demon in “BlackDemonium” is you as well?! Are you a demoness trying to capture a prey? male band mates?

Yes I am the only woman right now and I always had You may say this but still I cannot speak before the album male (session) members from the first album until today. is out. The reason that we put the red eyes into the cave is What I want for the band is to have good musicians to follow me and my ideas because all music and everything is done and arranged by me. So after 6 albums and so many years I do not pay attention to the genres. The core of Astarte is still me and this cannot change.

to make people think and imagine what it can be. So, all ideas and thoughts are accepted and welcome.

Your last album “Demonized” was released by Avantgarde. Are you still signed to them?

As we are making the recordings we are searching for a Label but our priority right now is to finish the songs.

You are currently working with your husband Nicolas S.I.C Maiis. How’s this collaboration working out? Is it easy working with someone so close to you? Do your ideas ever clash?

He is my left hand in everything I do. As I put the main ideas to paper, he helps me finalizing them. We share the music and lyric ideas of the album. I need to work so close with someone like Nicolas. Our music ideas are not always the same but working together is better than what I could expect.

Are you planning on touring to promote the new album? Astarte are not really a touring band and there are lots of people who would love to see you live… Most bands say that touring really helps them promote the band; wouldn’t you like to see that happening to your own band?

I have tried so many times in the past to gather members to play live. The sad thing is that until today most of them were irresponsible persons and were afraid to work hard and take the responsibility to go abroad and play. From my side I did all the best I could but people seem to prefer to seat at home, play alone and use the internet to get more fans. No one takes responsibilities and risks. So, how can I move alone into this!? I will try to do my best to play live in the future.

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

Astarte is the goddess of war, love, fertility and the universe. She holds all aspects of the female power.

Being Astarte’s founding member, do you feel like a goddess in your own band? Are you the one in charge of all the ideas the band explores?

Astarte in my source of inspiration and I feel that her name is the best representation of the female power. That is not only for the Ancient Gods and history but also for today’s women and the battles that we fight everyday for ourselves, our families and our children. To be a mother and bringer of life is the most important role in this earth.

For the band I create all ideas and concepts trying to share my messages and my ideas with our music fans.

Astarte’s first releases are going to be released on vinyl. Do you think vinyl gives the music a more true feeling and different atmosphere?

It was one of my strongest dreams to see our 3 first albums released in vinyl. I am a vinyl collector and making my albums into vinyls would be a great reward to what I have done all these years.

Astarte has had some guest musicians in the previous releases. How do these collaborations take place? Do you invite the musicians you wish or does the label come up with these partnerships and you just go forth with them?

I made all collaborations by myself and I had personal contact or real friendship with all guests. It’s important to mention: Shagrath (Dimmu Borgir), Attila (Mayhem), Angela Gossow (Arch Enemy) TSK Henri (God Dethroned), Sakis Tolis (Rotting Christ), Seth (Septic Flesh) and Nicolas Sic (Insected, LLOTH).

All of them were so important for their real collaboration and giving their unique touch to the songs that we sang. I need to thank them and it was my honor to have this chance to work with them.

Over six years have passed since you released “Demonized”. How stronger are you now?

I strongly believe that this album will be the most powerful album of Astarte. All those 6 years my band mates and I were preparing something that you may not be expecting from Astarte. I feel stronger and I hope that our audience will be satisfied too.

How was it doing a duet with another strong female voice in metal, Angela Gossow? Is there any other female vocalist you’d like to do a duet with?

I am always open to singing with another female brutal voice. I hope to have that chance in the future.

The cover of “Blackdemonium” features a demon inside a cave whose red eyes are the only visible part of the body… what demon is this?

This is not the cover of the album. It is a photo that predicts the cover. Right now we are still in the studio making the recordings. The cover and the concept of the cover are hidden behind those red eyes that we have put in the promotional photo… so you can make your guesses!!!!!

Is there any “jealousy” between women in metal, especially since these days some mags do the “Sexiest list” and all things of the sort and I believe all women want to be at number one… or am I wrong?

I never think that way! Music is for all sexes and all tastes.

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Would you consider yourself a happy person? Why? I do not take drugs or anything to escape reality. I face things as they are, so sometimes I am happy and other times I am not!!!!!!

Tristessa, you are an extremely beautiful woman… Has your beauty ever been an obstacle in the male dominated metal territory? Did people tell you to disappear just because they thought you were a talentless pretty face?

I never rely on how I look or how people see me. Of course being beautiful is a positive element to gain complements and this is good for a woman, but not enough. In Black Metal and Astarte we started with Corpse paint and who knows we may do something extreme again in the future. I think that beauty is not enough if the band plays awful music.

In the past, you’ve stated that music was the main priority in your life… now that you’ve grown older, have your priorities changed?

Music is a way of living for me. After my son, music is everything for me. I love music and I will always try to create it. This will never change.

Does the Greek cultural and ancient heritage and natural beauty inspire you in your lyrics and personal life?

Being Greece a country facing a huge economic crisis, Of course. In every album there are many references to how difficult is it being a metal band in your country right Ancient Greece, to our history. I honor my country and I now? Has the crisis affected the band or the metal am very proud of our history. community?

Yes we are all affected in every sector, not only musically You are a mother now… has motherhood changed but also in our way of life. Music is a way of thinking your perspective of the world? Are you more positive and fulfills our minds and time with creation and “sensitive” now? energy.

I am more responsible, my priority is my son. Now I am What is the strongest aspect of the metal scene in Greece? And the weakest?

There are too many bands struggling to survive but, as a country, we have no music industry to be self-supported and we are far away from core countries which makes it difficult to tour. We are an isolated country with so many good bands.

Do you have a regular job or do you live off music alone? How would your life be without music?

Yes I have a regular job. I do not make money from music. This is a utopia!!! I cannot imagine myself without music.

Will you kindly share a final message with Slowly We Rot’s readers?! Thanks for your time!

Thank you so much for the invitation from Slowly We Rot magazine. I thank all readers and their real support. I more aggressive towards the world because I see all the hope our new album is the proof of our dedication to difficulties that my son will face and I become mad and music and to all those who believe in us all those years. angry, so I react on this. I do not accept all the things that they want to pass into the future of our kids. I turn my Interview by Sónia Fonseca back to everything that can be against my family and I try to move on with my beliefs. My son must learn how to fight for his life and to count on himself. I must show him November 2013 the way. I am responsible for him.

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

5

Blodarv stand for what Black Metal was meant for… pure and raw music! This Danish outfit claims to have energy as big as the universe… one thing’s for sure, they do have a faithful legion of fans and that is awesome in today’s scene. To keep up to date, we discussed a few topics with main man Hugin.

You have been involved in many projects ever since 1994. Why do you keep on ending projects and starting new ones? Is it because the principles and ideas change?

It’s true that in the earlier days I started and ended quite a few projects, but it has been a really long time ago since I started any new projects or felt like I had to put some to rest. I haven’t done that since 1998. With that said there were several reasons for doing this though. Some of the projects were never meant to be continuing projects, some of them where unsatisfying to play in, some of them just faded away, and some of them were specific concept bands (like SANSÂGER where the lyrics and everything else only focus on the history and myths of the island of Bornholm) or like GWATH which was an acoustic project with only very few BM tracks, or again like ESSOUPI which was a synth/ambience project and with a strong concept bound to it as well. All these bands only represented some parts of me, my ideas and visions if you know what I mean. So in 1998/99 when I got the chance to record my own solo project - the first complete BLODARV Demo “murder in the name of Satan”, all my focus turned to BLODARV which had been brewing since the early days, and which I had created riffs and lyrics for, for many years, knowing that one day I would have the possibility, the skills and the equipment to craft and record this solo project, and once this was possible I took a decision to put all other projects to rest and only focus on BLODARV. Don’t get me wrong I do some guest vocal stuff now and then, but my focus is one place and one place only, with BLODARV. In your opinion, what changed in the metal scene, especially the Black Metal one, ever since then?

Black Metal has gone from being an underground movement to becoming a part of the so called accepted music industry. These days every metal store sells Black Metal, back then there were 1 or 2 stores in each country distributing Black Metal and 3 or 4 albums that were added to the list each month at top because there weren’t many bands playing it… That’s one of the things that have changed. And of course more and more started practicing this art form, and it got many followers as the media covered it intensely in Scandinavia. These days we all know how insanely many so called black metal bands are around compared to back then but that doesn’t define it alone. Black Metal has changed in so many ways in all kinds of aspects and I could use a lot of time speaking of what has changed since those days when BM WAS underground, and most people in the industry didn’t dare to touch or promote it. These days it seems it’s more and more about fast solos and very technical played riffs, but as I’ve mentioned before, somewhere along the line I must admit that the magic becomes harder to find, the chills that make my hair stand up on my neck have become fewer and fewer, even though there are more bands now than ever.

message?

BLODARV is an energy as big as the universe… here where the demons never sleep, there are thousands of caves and mountains to climb, hundreds of rivers to sail, everlasting fields of power and energies, demon filled dungeons, countless worlds within worlds and much more... A million stories waiting to be told, so no we do not only have one main message, we have many...

Blodarv’s image is a black feathered bird… why have you chosen this symbol?

The black feathered bird you speak of is a raven. It is used as a symbol of BLODARV for more than one reason, for the symbol of the raven means many things. First of all it stands for “Hugin” which represents “Thought/s” wisdom intelligence, over-natural powers and the ability to fly between worlds. It’s the bird of the living and the dead; it brings stories from the land of the dead to the land of the living and from the land of the living to the land of the dead. A doorway between worlds. We use it in various ways in BLODARV and each has layers of meaning. I can say when we use it on the “flag” it refers to the first original Danish flag –which is said to be the world’s oldest. And allow me to give you a little side knowledge about this issue, for it is important knowledge that I am afraid is now lost to many these days. The flag from the past that was originally called by 4 names. “Ravnefanen” (meaning: the raven banner) or “Danebroge” (meaning: Mark of the Danes) or “hrafnsmerki” (Meaning:The Raven mark) or finally simply “Ravnen” (Meaning of course..: Raven) It was once well known and feared throughout most of the world as a united mark of the Vikings, and a symbol of Denmark going into war. The original ”Raven” banner itself was a Blood-red cloth with 2 black ravens embroidered on it (one on each side). It was triangular with a rounded outside edge where there hang a series of black taps// tassels. The raven on each side was representing the 2 ravens of Odin: “Hugin” & “Munin” and the intent of the flag was to strike fear in one’s enemies by invoking the power of Odin. The Anglo-Saxons for example which were well aware of the significance of Odin and his ravens, thought that the banner was imbued with the evil powers of these pagan symbols of Hugin and Munin, and when speaking about the “Raven” it was said: ”when the raven spread its wings, great victory is predicted for the Danes” (and victory was its main purpose, since the original flag was mostly used in war times during battles, and not in times of peace.). When In fear, its enemies called it “the raven of doom”.

Doorway Between Worlds Chapter 1" which features eight videos from your official youtube channel and a live recording from the show at Club Brutal, in Aarhus Denmark. How was it accepted by the fans?

Do you have plans for a chapter 2?

Yes, it was released in February 2012 mainly because there were a lot of fans asking us if we couldn’t release some of our YouTube videos on a DVD/ Video CD. It was never supposed to be seen as a pro “BLODARV DVD” meaning that it just contains videos from our YouTube channel, and were particularly made for those fans who are weary of trying to watch our videos on YouTube, at the mercy of the vagaries of their internet connections and with poor sound quality. As you correctly state the Video CD contains videos for tracks from our albums “Soulcollector”, “Linaria Amlech”, “Civitas Diaboli” and the newly released “Gâst”, as well as a live recording from the show at Club Brutal, in Aarhus Denmark, filmed in December 2012. The response from the fans was really good, but many asked for some more live material, so when we did some videorecordings of our support show to CARPATHIAN FOREST the year after & filmed 7 tracks from the Island LIVE ceremony that took place on the island of Bornholm in 2013 we decided to release a chapter 2 of “A doorway between worlds”. So it’s not something we have plans for, but something we have already done actually. So if any readers have gotten curious and are interested in chapter 1 or 2 or both of “A doorway between worlds” it can be ordered (Only) directly through the official BLODARV store at www.blodarvshop.bigcartel.com A little over a year ago, on 12th December 2012, you released “Gâst” on Self Mutilation. It contains 8 tracks in a total that overruns 45 min. It’s full of blasphemous poetry in both Danish and English. This release set the bar very high for the upcoming release… how are you planning on surpassing this one?

We never do anything halfhearted and never release something we are not satisfied with. How high the banner is set is not something that we think about, as we always strive to create albums that 100 percent lives up to the ideas and plans we have for it, and we will work on it till we are. And when we are satisfied the rest doesn’t matter.

Some may think “Gâst” is one of our best albums, others may think it’s one of the worst, and it’s the same with the new tracks, some will see all their splendor, and for them those tracks will be the best we have ever done, while others may feel different and prefer other tracks/albums instead. It all doesn’t matter, the albums are as they are and shouldn’t be any other way. We create honest Black Metal from deep inside and without filters; the outcome will become what it becomes.

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

Your label Self Mutilation Services from Mexico was recommended to you by B.G Black Hate. Why are they the right label for you?

Because they are very dedicated to what they do and they give us the total freedom we need for our art.

“Flamekeeper” 7” VINYL & “Flamekeeper” Ceremonial Box Edition will be out in the spring of 2014 on SELF MUTILATION SERVICES. The 7” EP will be limited to 500 units and the Box edition limited to only 50 units! Why do you limit these releases so Who / what is Blodarv after all? What’s your main Back in february 2012, you released the DVD "A much? 50 units will fly away on the first day of its

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Satinae Ma who does the female vocal parts makes it possible to add an extra layer to the music and the complete experience of the lyrics. She constantly evolves on her vocals, always willing to experiment with it in various directions, and is fantastic at sinking in to the lyrics, really dig into them to catch the emotions and mood of the lyric, and still add her own perspective.

Without Satinae Ma we would be a 5-arm candle-holder with only 4 candles in it, and in many ways she completes the circle. Just as every other member she fills a certain space in which would be silence and emptiness if she was not here.

As for my opinion of woman in Black Metal I believe the same as I do with men in Black Metal. Some belong there, some don’t. It all depends on what you have to bring to the table and what you hold in your mind and soul, not what gender you belong to.

release. Do you believe it will help you achieve a cult status?

It has nothing to do with getting cult status or not, the reason for the diehard edition is limited as low as 50 units is because of what is included in the box. The 50 black candles included (1 in each box) is the 50 candles used in the flamekeeper ceremony, during which the goat bones amulets were also crafted. And as I’ve mentioned it before, in the official press release, it´s about giving the fans something unique and personal together with the album beside the music, like it was done in the early years of the Black Metal Underground. The goat bones comes from “hammeren” on Bornholm where we recorded the “I blaek og blod” Video. The bones were then first tied together to a reversed cross and used in the ceremony (this is the reversed cross that also features on the regular cover for “flamekeeper” 7” EP), and later during the end of the ceremony it was hacked into the 50 amulets in link to the number of candles used… 1 for each box edition of “Flamekeeper”. We had to use exactly 50 candles in the ceremony (Ten times Five) and therefore 50 became the number of boxes we could release for the fans including 1 piece of each of the original ceremony material. As for the regular edition limited to 500 copies, this is a simple fact of what Self Mutilation can afford to release. Vinyl releases are very expensive to produce for the record companies and the profit is almost zero, so we are just glad that we have the opportunity to release vinyl as one of the first bands on Self Mutilation Services, and even though 550 vinyls doesn’t sound like much, you will be amazed by how few people actually buy vinyl these days unless you are a major famous band. We have had the Flamekeeper EP up for pre-ordering on the official BLODARV store for 2 months now and I can tell you that the copies available for pre-ordering has not been sold out yet, so there is still plenty of opportunity to pre-order it from the shop if you want to be sure to get your hands on it, plus we will of course save some copies that will not go on sale before the actual release day, there will also be a chance to get it if the pre-orders sell out before that.

According to you, the lyrics of BLODARV explore death, micro and macro cosmos, the forces of nature, the power of the universe and all the energies that cling to it. It is hateful blasphemous poetry filled with dark visions, possessive muses, and soul-seeking demons. Will it continue to be so? What will be the main topic / message behind the new EP? Yes, the new EP once again allows the listener to get a glimpse into the dark universe of BLODARV in which we lead the listeners through a world filled with powerful demons, powers and energies. A unique journey that goes through their own mind into and through the dark universe that is BLODARV. As announced in the press release the tracks on “Flamekeeper” salutes the power of the ancient flame, the fire that feeds us and the fire that eats us. It’s about putting demons into art & protecting the old but that’s all ill explained here because the lyrics and the music speak for themselves, both have many layers, and many stories to tell. How the listeners experience this journey and what they take with them depends on the individual, and is not something we can, or will, control.

There isn’t just one “true” way to experience, feel or understand our lyrics because as I said they hold many layers. The tracks and the lyrics as well have their own life now and what people take with them after hearing it will be for them to answer. But when that is said let it be known that the messages WILL get through to those who see and hear, feel and sense. And for those fans of BLODARV who have followed us for ages it will stand bright and clear as if it was burned into wood. As with everything else we craft, nothing is done half-hearted and this new release is no different, it will in all ways be a very unique EP

Do you believe Facebook can actually help you spread the word/message of Blodarv? You have reached over 15000 likes already. How important are fans for you?

We have an extremely strong connection with many of our fans, a connection that goes way beyond most bands relations to their fans, so they mean a lot. And yes there is no doubt that facebook and the fans in there help spread the universe of BLODARV. There are so many people, bands, bookers, venues etc on social media as facebook and even bookers sometimes just write to us via FB these days, and the same goes for many others of our important contacts. It’s just faster and easier many times, and after having our own website closed and chrashed and closed again time after time, we decided to not give a fuck about it until we find a proper host for it, so we naturally post all our news on the official BLODARV page, which benefits the fans that go there. And yes we are a growing horde, actually since I got this interview we are now counting close to 23.000 fans on the official FB band page, instead of 15.000 which again makes us proud and heard since we don’t use those “Boosted” post or paid for “get more likes” thing. Everyone in there are real fans and not some fake number with loads of fake profiles as followers as you see in many places these days after FB decided to get the terrible idea of letting people buy likes for themselves.

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

You are responsible for all the layouts and covers… why have you decided to do this yourself? Don’t you trust it in the hands of other artists? Will you also do it for future releases?

Yes I think I will always do the layout, cover and artwork designs for Blodarv, I can’t imagine it any other way, the shortest path from an idea in my mind to the final physical product goes through my own hands, and I always find it easier to craft things myself instead of explaining it to others how I want it to be. It’s really not a trust issue, I see and I create and I am an artist myself, so just like a painter that has never considered asking another painter to paint his personal visions, I have never considered getting an artist to do our covers or layouts, I have too much to express myself, and I like doing these things because then I know I get it done the way I want it to be. Our covers will always be much more than “pictures and words in a nice layout” it’s a part of the entire experience of the album, and there are many links and symbolic features crafted into our covers where you can find an extra layer to the album, certain links and even hidden stories if you seek deep enough.

There’s a meaning in all our layouts, a thought behind every stroke, an energy in every design.

To something else... Has the line-up change helped the band in any way?

I believe you refer to our newest joined full time member of BLODARV our drummer Fjorgynn which joined us 3 years ago taking over the drums from Ynleborgaz (which was only a session member). And yes, Fjorgynn fit right in from the first rehearsal. He definitely gives BLODARV that final touch with his abilities of spanning over both great atmospheric drum play and really evil aggressive drums, and most important of all as I have said before that flow you can not explain... With Fjorgynn on the drums we have become an even stronger unit both musicwise and as a horde. We have already had many hours of rehearsing, planning, discussing, sharing ideas, reaching goals and setting new, sharing visions, sharing thoughts, travelled under shitty conditions and much more, which has had its affect in forming the band to what it has become today… a A VERY strong unit. Good, great, bad and worse times, we have been through it all, and all this Satinae Ma is the female witch that sings both live has of course strengthened the band in every possible and in the studio. What’s your opinion of women in way. metal? What does she add to the band?

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In a day and age in which many BM are leaving corpsepaint behind, Blodarv still use it. What does corpsepaint represent for the band?

Several things. We have always used it and always will.

Personally I have used basically the same corpse-paint for the last 20 years and it has become like a ritualistic thing.

It’s always there when we stand face to face with the demons and the energies of the great beyond, this is the face that fits our souls and who we are, like a portrait of our mind and deepest most inner self.

On live shows, apart from corpse paint, all band members use ripped clothes. Does that represent

something in particular?

It represents the journey we have gone through, a long and dark labyrinth with thorns and obstacles that shreds you on the outside and strengthens you on the inside. We never wash any of our stage cloth, which we have used since 2007, and it smells of blood, sweat spit vomit sickness flames and energies, but it’s just a part of the whole picture, cause we use a huge amount of candles, lanterns, & torches if possible and allowed by the venue.

We use haze machines, and snow machines, we got the staged stuffed with our banners, symbols, demon gates, reversed crosses, bones, leather, blood, sigils and much more.

You have some die-hard fans who have tattooed symbols of Blodarv in their skin. How does this make you feel?

Well you don’t get a tattoo of any kind unless it’s something really, really important to you that you REALLY want, and have thought well of and decided to go through both pain and money-cost to get because it means so much to you. So it naturally makes me feel very, very proud and heard. More than I can explain actually because it’s an incredible dedicated thing to do, and when you see another person that has a symbol inked that represents the universe of Blodarv, -a mark that will follow them forever,- it makes Me and everyone else in the circle very proud.

Were you educated to believe in any kind of religion or did your upbringing teach you about religion’s ignorance and hypocrisy?

Life, experiences, seeking insight inside, seeking truth of the outside, using a child’s natural intelligence to question-mark all that was laid in front of it taught me about religions’ ignorance and hypocrisy. I have never been educated to believe in any kind of religion, never been forced to go to church or stuff like that, but like all in Denmark I grew up in a country where Christianity has become the main religion, and where many believe that “the country is built upon Christian values”. So I saw and felt the hypocrisy and started putting question marks on religions, existence and the so called “truth” at a very early age, and as long as I can remember I have philosophized over life, death, existence and everything in

between, and never taken the first answer as the one truth, but seeking alternative ways of thinking. Energies have also played a big role as well as the power of the soul and the mind. Connecting with, and seeking insight into these powers, into life and death itself, and many other things has played an important role in my path to concluding that I don’t believe in any of the established religions of today, in fact, I despise them. I am a curious soul with a hunger for wisdom; I hail my old ancestors and my Bloodinherited abilities to see beyond life and this world’s borders. To be able to feel, see, and hear things that only a few can. I have my own moral standards and ethics, and my own view upon life, death and existence. I’ve build them on knowledge, insight, visions, and on my own experiences as I’ve mentioned, plus those of my respected ancestors. I don’t believe in “Gods” in the sense of which Gods are defined by humanity today, but I believe in energies and the powers of the universe. In the creative force of the Nebulas and earth’s nature, of the humanmind, the great Cosmos, and the dark matter that surrounds us with its all-time presence. I use forces, powers, and energies as they use me.

a few tight friends, my demons and my art. And I have done it since i was 15 years old and moved into my first own apartment, and even when I was 14 it was clear to me (and I made it clear to others on my path) that I would sacrifice anything and I mean ANYTHING for the art of my universe. If all else should be sacrificed to craft what I wanted to craft so be it.

Do you believe being independent from such an early age has been highly important in the way you decided to live your life and your beliefs in general?

More the other way around… the way I lived my life and my beliefs, were the main reasons I became independent at a very early age.

Denmark is not very famous for its Black metal bands… are there any worth mentioning?

Well I live very isolated with my art here on the island of Bornholm, so there is probably a lot of bands and stuff happening that I am not the first one to hear about, but I enjoy my brothers bands SEPULCHRAL CRIES (pestilens) & FJORSVARTNIR (Fjorgynn) and bands like DENIAL OF GOD, the now departed FEIKN, NORTT You moved on your own at a very early age. What and old stuff like that. “sacrifices” have you done in order to be where you are today? (Obviously you had bills to pay and had to renounce to some stuff that you wanted because of Final message to our readers please!

If some of the readers got curious about BLODARV go to that!) official band page on You have done your research well. I’ve always put my art our above my health, friends, family, lovers… anything. You www.facebook.com/blodarvofficial or our YouTube must be willing to sacrifice all and walk through fire if channel at www.youtube.com/huginofblodarv. You can that’s what it takes to be able to reach your goals. I am not also listen to over 1 hour of free BLODARV tracks on our saying it’s certain you will have to do so, but you must be SoundCloud player at www.soundcloud.com/blodarv our at www.myspace.com/blodarv or willing if it’s needed. And no, the art of BLODARV is MySpace not created on polished floors. Since I was 15 I had to www.reverbnation.com/blodarv. You can also keep up spend all the money I could on equipment, recordings etc. with the latest news and press releases of the band on being able to create and bring my art to life, and so it has Patricia Thomas band management website which you been ever since making as little compromises as possible will find at www.patriciathomasmanagement.com. On when it came to the art which of course results in lots of these pages you can be sure you can keep up with all our compromises when it comes to having money for food, activities. Booking : stafahugin@hotmail.com going to concerts, visiting friends, sleep and all that social stuff everyone else seemed to enjoy, but I am not February 2014 complaining. It’s never been a big problem as I have always been a bit misanthropic and don’t mind not having Interview by Sónia Fonseca many friends, as long as I got the right ones. I get by with

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

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Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

Then you went on European tour with Cerebral Fix, any memories about it?

A week before we went on tour to promote “The Sins Of Mankind” Carl suffered a motorbike accident. The tour was publicly confirmed with Cerebral Fix supporting and with Carl’s injuries the tour looked doubtful. In the 11th hour, the tour went ahead with Nick Barker (Cradle Of Filth, Dimmu Borgir) playing Part 2 (part 1 published in Slowly We Rot #4) drums. It was our live debut in Spain with good attendances in both Barcelona and Madrid.

Why and when did James leave the band? Was it A setback occured when drummer Carl Stokes was easy to get on well with him?

James left the band after completing the second involved in an accident, his motorbike hitting a European tour promoting Death Shall Rise. He left British Teelcom van and he suffered multiple because it was impossible to continue for logistical injuries necessitating the entlistment of Monolith’s reasons. I think his intention was to do his own group Nick Barker on a temporary basis, how did it anyway. Personal differences aside, James helped the happen exactly? Did you recruit Carl, because you group to reach more people and he played some didn’t want to cancel the shows?

We knew Nick as a friend from the days when we superb leads. used to play gigs promoting “To The Gory End”. We Instead of him, Barry Savage joined the band, was had also played gigs with his group Monolith. Nick he the first choice of the band or did you audition learnt the complete Cancer set including material from “The Sins Of Mankind” in two rehearsals, and from other guitarists as well?

Barry Savage replaced James shortly after he left. I the first gig we played, to the last gig we played on remember rehearsing with Barry for about a week and that tour, his drumming was exceptional. I actually then we played a couple of shows in Israel. He was the met up with Nick a few months ago, here in Madrid. only guitarist we auditioned and by pure luck, he He was drumming for Exodus, whilst Tom was on holiday. fitted.

At which point did you start approaching the songwriting? Did the label ask you to hear new material or to do some pre-production tapes?

We were starting to write music again after James went back to America. The label didn’t ask to hear any new material. They didn’t have any preproduction tapes because we didn’t record any.

How do you view, that compared to the first two albums “The sins of mankind” seems to have more riffs and the vocals seem to have better rhythm?

“The Sins Of Mankind” was produced by Simon Efemey (Paradise Lost, Napalm Death), who had different ideas to Scott. The group also had been writing more technical material and more complex arrangements.

The Death Metal qualities let one knows just who you really are, but Cancer took it to a whole new level, do you agree with it?

I think “The Sins Of Mankind” is a curious album in regards to Cancer’s discography. We wanted to do something more Heavy Metal that Straightforward Death Metal.

But what we got was a Cancer album which paved the way in terms of progression towards the 4th album.

were writing material for the fourth Cancer Album when Rob Tennants left Vinyl Solution. This meant we didn’t have the same team anymore. Anyway after writing four songs we recorded them with Simon Efemey and started to get interest from East/West.

They boasted better budgets and we signed at the same time we went into the studio to record “Black Faith”.

Why did you turn back on death metal?

I don’t think we turned our backs on “Death Metal”.

We had progressed musically and we felt good about our direction. Yes “Black faith” wasn’t a straightforward Death Metal album, but there still were elements of the Death Metal sound within it…Obviously it wasn’t for the few Death Metal purists out there.

How did you view the metal scene as a whole at this point? Was the scene killed by grunge and pop/punk and a lot of bands either broke up or changed their sound to somewhat that hadn’t to do with their original approach?

The metal scene during these years I think was very interesting. Metal was more popular than ever with TV programs like Headbangers ball. Grunge and pop/punk I think perhaps helped the Metal scene in general, how could we ever forget Tool and Alice In Chains, Machine Head and Sepultura? What’s so bad about bringing all the different styles of music into the homes of everyone lucky enough to have a TV?. The question is, when Metal becomes super fashionable, how does a Metal purist deal or manage the choice of either supporting or criticizing this incredibly amusing situation?

Before your last album happened a lot of changes, both musical and labelwise, what made you to sign a major label East/West and why did you leave Vinyl Solution? How much support, promotion did you get from Vinyl Solution at all?

After the European Tour, Cancer went back to America and did a tour with James Murphy’s band How do you view „Black faith” these days? Was it Disincarnate. Then a gig at the London Astoria with a natural progression, a conscious step after „The Poison Idea and various concerts across the UK. We sins of mankind” record or did you work hard on it?

Now if asked, “Black Faith” is my favourite Cancer album and still is the only one I listen to. I don’t know if it’s a conscious step after “The Sins Of Mankind”. A natural progression, yes, but also with so much more in terms of production, mixing and writing. When the group entered the recording studio, everybody worked incredibly hard until it was finished and the same went for the mix also, Sank worked all the hours he could.

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

Did you cause a great disappointment for the Cancer fans?

It’s funny, I’ve had musicians and fans tell me they were so obsessed with “Black faith” that it ruined their lives for years and I’ve had other fans tell me they didn’t see any value in it whatsoever. This shows I think what an interesting album it is.

Who came up with the Deep Purple cover?

I can’t remember whose idea it was to do Deep Purple’s “Space Trucking”, probably Simon’s.

The greatest factor in this album is the constant speed to it...there are not many breaks in this album with long and drawn out riffs, correct?

The speed of the album is constant and doesn’t vary much until the last few tracks.

We started experimenting with acoustic guitar and the lyrics were more mature, more focused and more thought out.

Following the release of the album you toured in Britain with support act Meshuggah, what do you recall of this tour?

Following the release of the album, the only gigs Cancer did was a Headline show in Candem (London) and a tour of Germany, Holland and Austria with pagan metallers Skyclad.

Was it a kind of concept album?

To what did the title refer?

The title of the album is the concept.

The title refers to humanity or the lack of it. Any connections made between the song titles and the album title is for the listeners conscience alone…

Is it true that Barry Savage sessioned for Cradle Of Filth in 1996?

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I think Barry did session for Cradle Of Filth. I don’t remember if it was 1996 or not!

I know Nick Barker was playing in Cradle Of Filth during this period.

avenues but now I mostly write music without caring or noticing what’s happening with other groups or with scenes. My main influence now is life itself and with Liquid Graveyard I have the vehicle and freedom to write in this way.

At which point did the band break up? What kind of reasons did lead to the band’s demise?

The group broke up shortly after the London show. During the time that “Black Faith” was released, the band changed its management and then changed it again after the London show.

It was a sad end but also it had a sense of relief. For seven years we’d worked, through many different experiences, and it felt necessary to stop.

Cancer’s early materials was pure death metal, then you progressed to a thrashier sound on „The Sins Of Mankind” and finally an attempt at going mainstream on „Black Faith”. Due to unconcern of fans you split-up, how do you explain this?

It’s very easy for the people to see the band splitting up because of the idea “black Faith” was some sort of major label failure but there were other reasons involved that were instrumental in the group’s demise.

Some of those reasons were out of the band’s control but influenced the group all the same in a negative way.

Did you remain in touch with each other after Cancer’s break by the way?

After the group split up. Barry moved to Switzerland and I didn’t see Ian or Carl as often as I had during the band’s life.

Any plans with Liquid Graveyard and Absolute Power?

I don’t know about any future plans with Absolute Power, but Liquid Graveyard has recorded a full length CD titled “On Evil Days” and this is due out on the 16th of October. You can check out a sample of it on the Liquid Graveyard myspace site. After the release of the CD, our intention is to promote it by The “Corporations” EP was diverse and the song playing some shows across Europe.

“Oil” was relevant to the time of release as the 2nd Gulf War had started. The EP also included a cover of Would you say, that Cancer left its mark on the Celtic Frost’s “Dethroned Emperor” (for Saddam scene and the band’s name is still big and in Hussein) and a revamped version of “Witchunt”, with people’s minds? an “Oil Remix” contributed by Ian Buchanan. “Spirit Some people from the scene probably remember, but I In Flames” had material which was perhaps similar to don’t know if the band’s name is still big in some some of the earlier recordings. It featured the lead people’s minds. Still without re-releases, or re-issues, guitarist David Leach who was from the band there are people who haven’t forgotten.

Pulverized.

Are there any plans to re-release „To the gory end” Cancer broke up again, according to you Cancer is and „Death shall rise”? no more, but Carl Stokes revealed plans for a new I don’t think there are any plans at the moment to reband billed Hail Of Fire featuring Dave Leitch and release “To the Gory End” or “Death Shall Rise”. I’ve Barry Savage on guitars, Ian Buchanan on bass had some interest from record companies so maybe in and Rob Lucas on vocals, they released a demo in the future those plans could change.

2006, have you ever listened to their material? Are they still active?

How would you sum up Cancer’s career? The best Yes, Cancer broke up again, but it wasn’t my decision and the worst memories? Would you something to end it, just like it wasn’t my decision to end it in change on it?

1996. I never quoted “Cancer is no more”. Perhaps my Cancer’s career I think is best summed up as a Death move to Spain might have influenced whoever it was, Metal band that progressed beyond its original to make the decision to end the band. As for Hail Of sentiment and intention. Rather than sticking with the Fire, I didn’t listen to their demo so I can’t comment same formula, Cancer were brave enough to diversify about it. I don’t think they’ve managed to stay active. and take risks. The best memories? Recording the CD’s and playing interesting places like Mexico, You are involving these days in Liquid Graveyard Portugal and Spain. The worst memories, too many to and Absolute Power, what can you tell us about mention, but probably for me the last Cancer gig. these bands?

I recorded some guitars for Absolute Power before John, thanks a lot for the chat, anything to add Cancer reformed in 2003. It’s basically Simon Efemey what I forgot to cover? and Shane Embury’s Power Metal project, including a Ok. Thanks for the interview, I hope the information few other special guests such as Ripper Owen. Liquid has been of some use to you. Hasta luego.

Graveyard is my new band and for me this is the correct musical direction and as I’m not doing the lead Interview by Leslie David vocals, I’m able to concentrate my energies on the Answers by John Walker guitar. My wife encouraged me to keep playing metal after Cancer’s split and since I’ve moved to Madrid, August 2009 the metal fraternity here have received me with open arms. On bass we have Adrian de Buitléar from Mourning Beloveth, on drums we have Acaymo D. and my wife Raquel Walker handles the vocal duties. The concept of the band is principally songwriting using the metal sound. So far we’ve played some gigs here in Spain and recorded a demo which led to us getting signed by Italian Record Label “My Kingdom Music”.

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

After the band’s split Carl Stokes was involved in Nothing But Contempt with Barney and Danny Herrera from Napalm Death and Rob Engvikson from Sacrifical Altar, Asatru, were you known of the existence of this short lived act? Have they ever recorded some materials?

During this activity, I was actually travelling through India, I don’t recall them recording anything.

In 2000 Carl also filled in for Telford Hardcore mongers Assert, and he busied himself with a new project titled Remission with you, can you tell us more about it?

Remission was a very short lived Stoner Rock band that never happened. A demo was recorded which contained the song Solar Prophecy which ended up on the “Spirit In Flames” CD. What about Ian Buchanan at this point? Was he also involved in several acts or…?

Ian was doing electronic music during these years, working mostly on his own.

Cancer made a return during 2003 with you, Carl Stokes, Rob Engvikson and Adders, how did that happen exactly? Whose idea was to reform the band at all?

Cancer basically reformed to play live and with a few new ideas we recorded the “Corporations” EP. It was Carl’s idea to reform the band. We both knew Rob and Carl knew Adders from his time with Assert.

You released an EP called „Corporations” and a full length titled „Spirit in flames” (both of them

by Copro Records), can you give us details about these materials since I never listened to them? Was it distributed worldwide or…?

Both “Corporations” and “Spirit In Flames” were released by Copro Records. I don’t remember what the distribution was, I know that it was released in the UK but that’s all, I have no other details.

Did you always keep an eye on what’s going on in the underground? Are you the dude that rather prefer the old school stuffs or do you consider yourself an open minded musician?

Back in 1988-1994 I did keep an interest in what was happening on Were these materials written in the early Cancer the underground Metal Scene. As a musician I’ve explored a few vein? How did they sound like?

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Romanian Metal Attack – Romanian Metal Attack – Romanian Metal Attack face as on this demo, there's a lack of such bands nowadays when everyone is trying to sound as brutal, or as melodic, or as technical as possible.

APA SIMBETII - Nihil Sapient (full-length, selfreleased, 2013) I don't know how, but I managed to buy 2 CDs with this album instead of 1, see what too many drinks make from a normal man? Haha. Anyway, I always thought this was another Pagan Black Metal band, their name means Saturday's Water (the connection with Hell) in Romanian's folklore, and that's why I thought they would follow the same path in their lyrics and music, too, but I was wrong. Apa Simbetii is an interesting experimental combination of a myriad of Extreme Metal elements (mainly Death and Black) with lots of progressive and highly technical influences even up to jazz. This is an impressive debut album although there are some dull moments here and there, but the band shows such a high potential that I can only predict they'll release an astonishing follow-up.

DEATH NOIZE - Conquest War Famine Death (full-length, Metal Or Die Records, 2013) After discovering Koldvoid is actually a Romanian project, here's another surprise, Death Noize are again a Romanian band. This is their debut album but I haven't heard about them not even once, I guess they are not actually a live band although they have a full line-up. A mix of Thrash and Punk on the instrumental part with Black Metal on vocals, using what seem to be analog recordings, I'm sure it wasn't easy to obtain such a dirty and old-school sound, but it lacks of some catchy choruses or guitar riffs to be a good release, now it sounds only amateurish. The cover artwork, on the other side, is excellent, I'd buy this album only for the cover art. :)

BUCOVINA - Sub Stele (fulllength, selfreleased, 2013) Beside Trooper, Bucovina is probably the closest Romanian Metal band to both mainstream and underground, and that attracts, beside a massive following, also a lot of envy from fellow musicians. I've seen more people at these guys' shows than at, let's say Vader's or Decapitated's, and that's incouraging for the Romanian bands but at the same time discouraging for the heavy underground. Anyway, this is their second album, recorded at their own studio and mixed / mastered by Dan Swano at Unisound. Although it features less catchy songs than their debut, this one is better recorded, better crafted and better executed, and I guess the only reason this is self-released is because the band is pretentious, and why not admitting it, they do a shitload of money by themselves, why involving a label? If you haven't heard this band's music before just think of a combination of Viking Metal, German Epic Heavy Metal and some Romanian Folk with lots of acoustic touches, choruses and catchy riffs. The last track, the only one in English, is like a light old Amorphis track, nice.

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

HTETHTHEMETH / THE BIPOLAR DISORDER PROJECT - The unhuman Split (Split, Evil Records, 2013) I'm a Hteththemeth fan, I've listened to this band's music so much lately that now I manage to write their band name even without looking somewhere else to copy it, and as you can see that's a real achievement.

They name their music style Unhuman Music, I'd say it's an Experimental, Theatrical, Atmospheric Metal with Progressive Rock and even Jazz influences, a real delight if you're looking for something new but not necessarily

commercial. Can't wait for a full-length album.

Bob, guitars/vocals in Hteththemeth runs this other project by himself and this is the first time I've heard about it. It's strange combination of Ambient Metal with Progressive, Avantgarde Metal, with lots of excellent calm, semi-acoustic parts and other, more energetic and less successful (the growls are boring to death). This project's real strenght is in the long instrumental parts of its tracks, the guy is a talented musician and he manages to create way better music without the need of adding dull vocals.

Anyway, a good discovery, I'll buy the next TBDP release, too.

CODE RED - Dominions of Our Deceitful Beliefs (full-length, selfreleased, 2013) I really wanted to sign this band and release this album under my label but the guys decided to do it themselves.

Anyway, without a doubt this is one of the best Romanian Technical Death Metal bands and their debut album proves this theory, it's an excellent display of old-school Technical and Brutal Death Metal, the US style. Maybe choosing Brian Elliott (known for his work for Cannibal Corpse, Hate Eternal or Dying Fetus) and Mana Recordings for mastering brought the band's sound in that direction, too. The 8 tracks featured here sound awesome, you get everything you'd expect from such a release, highlighted by an exceptional drums' work and great old-school Melodic guitar solos. Fans of the above mentioned bands shouldn't miss this release.

KAMEN - Self Destruct (EP, selfreleased, 2013) Well, this quartet won the Romanian Best Metal Newcomer award offered by a webzine after a vote on FaceBook (that's so relevant...), and they didn't accept it. Kudos for that!

The band plays a traditional form of Thrash Metal with mostly fast paced rhythms, quite simple structures, cool bass linesand a good vocalist (only if he could be more versatile...). The sound isn't the best around (the drums - or drum machine? - suffer the most from that crunchy and dry sound), but is clear enough not to be annoying and allow a relaxing audition. The EP lacks a bit of more catchiness also, so I won't say this impressed me in any way. The girl drummer has some amazing nice eyes though. :)

CROSSBONE - Skate x Mosh x Destroy (EP, selfreleased, 2013) This is a young band both as members' age (I think all are under 18) and as foundation (started in 2012), I've only heard about them recently and soon after I found this demo so I had to buy it mostly because I don't think I've heard a new Romanian Speed Thrash Metal band since the '90's, the beginning of the '90's when I was just starting to discover the underground. Yes, Crossbone are a Speed Thrash Metal quartet playing a la '80's US Thrash Metal bands, simple, memorable, full of energy, as dirty as it can get and most importantly they play with passion, I only hope this passion will last and they won't wimp out soon. I also hope their music will remain as simple and straight to your

KOLDVOID - Roadside Ghosts (full-length, Valse Sinistre Productions, 2012) I had no idea Robert from Valse Sinistre Prod. / Sun & Moon Prod. was involved in this project, too, and finding about it was such a nice surprise. I popped this CD in my player and spinned it for a couple of times then I was ready to write a few words on it so I browsed the net for more info on Koldvoid (I could bet it was an Italian or Scandinavian project, not sure why) and got my surprise. Koldvoid's music is desolate, meditative, and even industrial at times, portraying an dreamy, post-apocalyptic atmosphere that reminded me somehow of the movie The

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SINCARNATE - Nothing Left to Give (fulllength, Hatework, 2013) After a well-received debut album in 2010, Sincarnate are back, this time with a new EP made of 4 tracks. Their style changed a bit becoming more aggressive and a bit more modern, so I'd say at the moment labelling Sincarnate as Atmospheric Death Metal would suit them better. Old-school fans of melodic Death Metal will enjoy this EP a lot, there are plenty of slow to mid-tempo parts lead

by Atmospheric keyboards and fine-flowing guitar leads, but the brutal parts are not left aside either, so all in all I'd say this is quite a complete release.

It reminds me of Therion's "Symphony Masses: Ho Drakon Ho Megas" both in composition (well, of course Sincarnate is a lot more modern) and vocals (same type of phlegmatic growls and occasional

Road with Viggo Mortensen (and not because of the album's title), and more precisely of the main character's multiple hallucinations. An excellent Ambient music release, if you're into such music make sure you get it before it's too late, Roadside Ghosts is limited to only 300 copies.

KULTIKA The Strange Innerdweller (full-length, selfreleased, 2013) Kultika started as a Post-Black Metal band under the guidance of one of the most prolific Metal musicians, Fulmineos, but after a short while the line-up was changed and so was the musical orientation and now the band looks like a gathering of hipsters and sounds nothing like they used to. But who cares, they never had a strong following before and now, on the contrary, I guess they'll attract loads of new listeners. Cult of Luna and Isis are two bands that might be mentioned as Kultika's main influences for this album, but apart from that they did an excellent job, the sound is excellent as well, the presentation too (digipack), so I see no reason why one couldn't check it out. (still only if you're into post-Metal)

screams).

THE THIRTEENTH SUN Genesis (full-length, selfreleased, 2012) I have to admit I've heard a lot about this band but was never curious to check who they are or how their music sounds. Now I bought their debut and so far only album and I love it, it's a great combination of Atmospheric Rock and Metal with Psychedelic and even Folk touches, a mesmerizing journey through the worlds they manage to portrait; clean vocals, psychedelic choirs, impressive keyboards, synths and piano, insane but at the same time subtle drumming, and a cosy, epic atmosphere surrounding this all. Definitely a highlight of the Romanian scene in the past few years.

SICULICIDIUM - Hosszú út az örökkévalóságba (full-length, Sun & Moon Records, 2013) This could also be considered as an anniversary album for Siculicidium as they reached their 10th activity year. In the meantime, even without much live activity or none whatsoever, the band managed to build a good reputation in the underground and this second album is the proof of the band's own style you're able to recognize after half minute from a track: raw old-school Black Metal with nostalgic, melancholic atmosphere and raspy, comprehensive vocals, and some Post Metal rhythms, too. This is an excellent album, definitely their best work so far, I'm curious what the future will bring for Siculicidium. Good, good band.

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

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Here’s an interview with Mihai “Coro” Caraveteanu, owner of Axa Valaha Productions and Booking Agency.

Although I highly disagree with some of his points of view, I have massive respect for what the guy did and still does in the scene, he’s a dedicated maniac determined to live for and from music, definitely one of the most important figures in Romanian Metal Underground. Enjoy the read.

Hi there Coro, thanks for taking your time to answer my questions. Please say a few words on yourself for the ones unaware of who you are.

Hi, Adrian! I‟ve always had a problem when speaking about myself, anyway I will try to make it short, cause I don‟t know how relevant it is. I‟m Coro, 33 years old, the main person behind Axa Valaha Productions the last 15 years. I started Axa Valaha Productions in late 1997, together with the fanzine under the same moniker. Since then, I produced more than 20 releases with bands from all around the world, in different formats, from the homedubbed demo tapes, through home-made CDRs to real professional pressed CDs and vinyls; I also released several issues of my fanzine, mainly in English, and I also booked and did the production of hundreds of major and underground concerts and tours. I always liked to travel and, due to all these tours I arranged, I was able to visit places that I never imagined I would ever see, also life in tour changed myself dramatically, a step that I assumed from the very beginning of course, cause living on the road and actually being one of the last modern nomads is never for the weak.

How come you're at home and not on the road? As far as I know your main job at the moment is promoter, am I right? Please tell us something about your booking agency.

It happens that I am not touring now, but I prepare myself to hit the road again soon enough for some dates with Agathodaimon and two excellent Swedish black metal bands, Netherbird and Withershin, a tour that will be done and finished when this interview will be published. My main job these days is being the booking agent for several bands and being involved in touring projects all the time, helping bands to get shows, cause actually that‟s the only way an underground band can get noticed nowadays, when the internet killed most of the metal music sales, so a band that wanna get better exposure really needs to tour a lot. The booking agency is nothing new, Axa Valaha Productions always booked bands and arranged shows since its foundations back in the late „90s. When there was no real scene anymore in Bucharest back in the late 90s, I managed to organize four editions of an underground festival in my small hometown from the Danube, gathering there most of the relevant underground extreme metal bands from Romania. Then, starting from 2004, I was the first one to invite foreign underground bands to play club shows in Bucharest, many of these concerts having a huge impact on the local scene. I still remember that show from January 2004, with Hyperborea from Bulgaria, plus the local heroes Avatar and Kratos, that gathered more than 500 people in a famous club from Bucharest, those were beautiful times, when everybody was happy to be part of this growing movement and nobody suffered about being more special than the other.

Unfortunately right now there is just the garbage left, people who pretend they are the keepers of the truth, when the only thing they do is to act like the Nazis or the Reds did the last century: who‟s not with us is against us… Anyway, all this retro movement is a fucking joke, that‟s clear, there are too many people wearing the patched denim vests without having a clue about what it means…

fanzines, we were blessed on having Kogaionon Magazine, that was always eclectic and special, so damn special that I didn‟t like it anymore, cause I never thought the metal scene is a gathering of special souls, my approach was mainly about blood, sweat and metal…

Also Negura Magazine was really cool, beside the obsession of the editor to publish interviews with retarded nsbm bands that were shocking on paper with their radical opinions, but sucked bad on their records (n.ed. here the reader shouldn't think Negura or Negura Magazine are NS oriented, that's not the case). I am happy Emi of Legiunea din Intunerec zine is still in the scene, organizing some killer shows sometimes, or Laurentiu or Infernal zine (this was the best extreme metal fanzine this country ever had!) (n.ed. it would have been better said "my fave extreme metal fanzine", but "the best" is far from right from all points of view) appeared at November to Dismember Metal Fest to have a good time, but there are not new people to start new fanzines, only because of laziness and commodity perspectives. I met some young boys and girls in the local scene of Bucharest that had so many coherent opinions, so dedicated approach to extreme and old school metal that I advised them to start a xerox fanzine and make it happen at least once a year. Of course nothing really happened, as there is always another priority to cover, things like beers, girls, ordering expensive stuff via ebay and so on…

started to live in different cities, some of us got married, so there was no real mood left for playing satanic metal anymore. I thought to officially release the old recordings of Irkalla, but there was always that feeling that the material was decent for its time as a demo, but nothing more, I mean the sound of the release is terrible, so the only way that stuff should get released officially would be to re-record it nowadays, which is far from the reality.

That stuff was never officially released, I tried to get the band signed, there were some offers coming from some underground labels and I spread some copies to several fanzines and magazines that published some promising reviews, but nothing really happened. To tell you the truth, I think I produced much better bands than Irkalla ever been, even in our best days, so there is no bitter taste when thinking about the fact that “Psalmi de Diavol Valah” was never released. I met two of the other former members of Irkalla several times last year, we killed some beers and time together speaking about the old days and one thing was clear, that the old times were good, but over and there is no change to get back together. Never Now let's talk a bit about Axa Valaha Productions; which were your best releases so far and what bands say never, though… do you have in your roster at the moment? What's the You also used to run the Axa Valaha printed zine and plan for, let's say, the next 2 years? as far as I know you never announced its demise. Do Axa Valaha Productions always worked as a one-person underground business, never got help from anyone or you plan on releasing a new issue anytime soon?

I never announced to stop the fanzine cause I hoped that asked for help. I signed bands and spent cash on releasing at some point I would be able to return with another issue, them because I trusted in their music or in their future even it was supposed to be the final one. Actually I with metal. Some were more successful, some others not. prepared more than 60 pages of the new issue, copied it The best releases of local bands were definitely on an excellent xerox machine, but I never been able to Satanochio and Sincarnate debut releases. Satanochio and finish the reviews section, in the meantime some of the their debut “I am Satanochio” which was released in June interviewed bands disappeared or completely changed 2006, was also my first pro-done CD release and it was their musical direction, so everything became too sold out in less than two years, after intense promotion outdated to be somehow valuable. I still enjoy reading and doing trades all around the world and Sincarnate fanzines, I was so impressed about the comeback of released their debut MCD “On the Procrustean Bed” in Horrible Eyes zine after a decade, I liked so much the way February 2008 and got sold out again in less than two those two guys did it back in the days and their comeback years, after the band toured a little bit in Europe and was amazing, both from the visual point of view, but played some major shows and festivals in Romania, due mainly because its content (n.ed. right, the new, and to my management and booking abilities. I think their unfortunately last Horrible Eyes issue is a massive piece debut is the only release of them that got sold out, they of literature, try to find it somewhere, you won't be changed the label and management after that, because I disappointed). I also enjoy reading Necroscope zine, I was wasn‟t able to give them a decent deadline for a new in touch with the guy since forever, we traded tapes and release and they were tired to wait me, but remained close our fanzines back in the days and I also met him by friends of mine, good people with strong characters and chance in a small Polish town while touring. It‟s devoted to extreme metal. Then, I am really happy I unbelievable that he did this the last two decades and he is signed KroW from Brazil back in 2008 and released their well and running the oldest and generally the most honest debut album for Europe in 2010. Since then I arranged underground publication I‟ve ever read. I just got his #27 more than 150 shows for them, sold a lot of their CDs and issue and it‟s such a nice reading (n.ed.you'll also find a merchandise and generally moved the band to the next review of this zine on some other page of this issue). level where Axa Valaha Productions is too small for their Generally speaking, I totally prefer fanzines or magazines needs, so right now I am looking to sign them on a bigger published on paper than any webzine, also it‟s pretty easy label, with better conditions and expectations businessto realize that, with few notable exceptions, the paper wise. They recorded two new songs in a Swedish studio, zines are more influent and serious when speaking about with Ronnie Bjornstrom from Aeon behind the mixing reviews and interviews than the webzines. On the other desk and I use the material as a demo to get the band hand, I‟m into reading big online magazines, as they are signed on a bigger and better label than my own label is, always really updated, the interviews are really fresh and also we plan to release this stuff as vinyl EP if that would

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

More than 10 years ago you also had a band, Irkalla, how do you recall those times? What actually happened that lead to the band's broke-up? Ever thought of getting the band back together or maybe re-releasing its '99 EP? Irkalla is long dead and there was no serious talking about getting the band back to life, as two of the guys have not too many things in common with the metal scene nowadays and Insepultus, the former guitar player of Irkalla, is playing bass for Taine since years already.

There was not a single reason why we disbanded back in early 2001 or 2002. We simply got other priorities, we

there is a different approach when asking questions and getting answers that will be published the upcoming days, not the up-coming weeks, not at the end of the month or of the semester...

Anyway, Romania never had a real tradition of underground fanzines and I think you‟re one of the last fighters on publishing underground stuff on paper, but this country always sucked ass considering the general number of

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be possible. Also, two songs from their debut demo were remastered by the Romanian most famous underground producer and sound engineer, Marius Costache, for a future EP, and we also have an excellent live recording from a show KroW played in Germany in 2010, the guy there recorded it with a mobile studio and then mixed and mastered it, and I‟m thinking of having that released on tape by my label, an old school release like in the 90s, maybe followed by tape versions of the first two KroW albums… One of the dear bands that is still signed is Casus from Germany, they released their debut MCD on my label and right now they just finished the recording of three new songs that we plan to put on some vinyl EP or split EP release, I think we will manage to release some new stuff in vinyl later this year and there are also plans to release all their old demo songs on a tape as well, a thing that the band wanna do it by themselves. I also released my first vinyl LP, a split release with two Polish bands, Kill at Command and my old friends from the old school grindcore band Parricide, that also involved three other labels, so we shared expenses to release 500 copies of black wax. Nadimac from Serbia got a tape release of their album by Axa Valaha Prods, Spiritual Ravishment got their debut album released on pro-CD as well, Eufobia released their MCD “Insemination” with me, followed by two big tours for them, so I think there was quite a lot of activity label-wise, I kept myself busy all these years and spent much more cash on releasing all these bands than simply buying drugs or booze for instance…

So everything you do is around this name, Axa Valaha, then why not naming your new fest Axa Valaha, too? And I mean here the November to Dismember fest, of course.

November to Dismember Metal Fest is not Axa Valaha Productions alone, the whole idea about the festival was built together with Dan from Ribcage Booking and it is a big coproduction. People tend to think NDMF is my own festival for the simple reason I am much more active than Dan when interacting business-wise with people. I mean I do all the booking, can decide who‟s good enough to play the fest and who‟s not, keep the relations with the different booking agencies and try to get the most interesting bands available, according to our budget plans, while Dan is taking care about logistics and arrange a lot of details that I am sick with.

We‟re also big friends, so everything is moving very smooth. You know, we got kicked out from the Romanian Thrash Metal Club together as well, mainly because of this festival topic, which was one of our biggest relief to not be linked anymore with an organization that would not have happened without me, but in the same time transformed from a selective metal club with preeminent members and advanced opinions into a cheap booking agency / distro run by amateurs. Don‟t understand me wrong, most of them are really nice people, but the whole spirit of a metal club, the way I understand it, was transformed into a ridiculous and childish vendetta. As Dan said it once, it‟s like I should be ashamed that I like Slayer, Paradise Lost and Lamb of God, or I should think At the Gates is a shit band just because all the metalcore and deathcore bands were inspired by them. Not to say the whole club thing was really opaque financially speaking, meaning there were always bigger minuses after the shows the club organized, so the club members were put in the position to pay the debts…

the right bands and we‟re not afraid to spend extra to have them all playing in our festival. The fact that I travel a lot and visited a hell lot of club events and festivals all around Europe help me to have a more elevated opinion about the value of a certain band, no matter what kind of metal they play. Generally it‟s not about being old school or new age, it‟s about playing good or bad music, nobody can change that, so you still suck ass with all your bullet belts and patched denim, when you can barely play guitar and cover your inabilities under the old school moniker.

When I am thinking about NDMF 2013, there are several details about the logistics of the event that I would definitely improve, it‟s clear we need more than just one shuttle, it‟s clear we need a bigger and more skilled festival crew, beside the basic team we already have and so on. Fortunately we have an excellent sound crew by Adrian of The Backline Shop, a team that includes very skilled people who understand what a metal production means because they are metalheads themselves. Also, our stage manager is Guilherme from KroW, who did an awesome job last year, the main result being the fact we didn‟t have any delays and the festival program was completely respected, which is not the case with most of the events happening in Romania. And finally, we would need to improve the alternative ways of promoting the festival, with paid ads and partnerships with more corporate companies and agencies, but without losing our independence about the music itself.

I've seen you already started announcing bands that will be featured on the next edition, could you share

What do you do in a regular day, when you're not on tour?

I don‟t have a regular job, like I had when I was younger.

I quit my regular job in the office of the Work Minister of Romania and then as a state attorney for the Mayor office in Bucharest almost ten years ago and dedicated myself to Axa Valaha Productions and all the activities behind it.

So, when I‟m not in a van, touring Europe, I‟m at home, sending tons of emails to arrange the next tours, arrange trades or distribution deals for my bands, visit the post office at least twice a week to send the mail orders and generally listen to a hell lot of music while doing most of these. Beside that, I try to spend as much time as possible with my girlfriend and my cat. I also think I should have kids. I‟m getting older, so I started to not enjoy the nights partying hard and so on, I rather prefer to roll a joint and prepare a rum cola cocktail at home than visit a party in town. You see, because I spent so much time on the road and in bars, clubs, venues etc, I don‟t find the mood of doing this in my free time anymore. Of course, I visit the best metal bar in town, Private Hell in Bucharest, often, but that‟s because I live pretty near and also because there is a special atmosphere in that bar, a vibe that I really like and where I can find people to speak about metal music in a relaxed way and moreover because I can see nice band playing loud for a bunch of people, it‟s nice.

You've been in a lot of countries, which one is your fave and why?

Well, to tell you the truth, I was in a lot of countries already, I almost covered the whole Europe touring, but I didn‟t see much. When I‟m touring, I have a job to do, and my job is to take care about the bands and make them comfortable, because it‟s not an easy task for a bunch of guys to stay together in the same van for some weeks or months.

Everybody has his own habits, some people need more time to shit or to drink a coffee before shit and so on, and things that we don‟t even think when we‟re at home can become heavy issues on the road. Not to say, sometimes vans get broken, backline gets damaged, car accidents happen, people get drunk, stoned, violent, best friends start fighting on the road and somebody needs to be in charge and fix this. All these aspects don‟t make a tour looking like a tourist trip, but quite the opposite. Anyway, I have several places in Europe where I feel like home, Istanbul being my fave city, while Turkey is one of the shittiest countries to tour in, as most of the promoters are amateurs and liars; I miss the Turkish promoters who were active in the previous decade, those guys were speaking English, fixed everything for the bands and even joined us when we visited the city, those were the times that I loved! Best country to tour and have a good time while touring is Germany, excellent promoters, nice venues, very well-prepared club crews and also a lot of excellent local support bands, I don‟t remember last time when I saw a bad German band live on the stage. They are maybe not the most talented bands, but they play their own shit with a lot of spirit and this can be noticed pretty easy when watching them live.

Dresden is my fave city in Germany, that‟s where we also fixed our western office, and Sebastian from Sado Sathanas and Enni of Skullcrusher Dresden made my stay there fabulous most of the times. I also like Berlin cause it‟s pretty cheap, but the local scene there looks pretty low, not to call it dead. I like a lot the Polish metalheads, even if some of them tend to be right-wing radicals, and I‟m talking here about real adults, not about teenagers trying to impress their girlfriends. They are absolute titans for the drinking sessions, but they can be killed easy with weed or hash. Denmark is awesome, despite de fact there are never too many people coming at the shows, but the events are well organized and they are really friendly as well, same about Sweden countryside. Finland is cold and wet, but I spent some of my best days at a farm in the Finnish countryside, when a nice lady, the mother of the promoter, hosted me and my tour crew, KroW from Brazil and Undercroft from Chile there, and the shows

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

The November 2013 edition was its first one, right? I know it was a big success with people showing up from all over Europe, what are your thoughts about it now, after a few months?

Yeah, you‟re right, the 2013 edition was the debut for November to Dismember Metal Fest. Considering the circumstances, I think we managed to offer an excellent event to the people who visited it. Being the debut edition, we fixed an initial turnout of 1000 people, a target that we managed to reach pretty easy, mainly because we choose

some names with us, too? What will you be doing different from the first edition?

Yeah, you‟re right again, actually we confirmed the first bands for the 2014 edition even before the 2013 happened. We‟re professionals and November to Dismember is not an event to happen once and then disappear, so it was necessary to offer a high standard of stability and reliability. Right now we have several headliners, as well as a hell lot of support bands already confirmed, the most important being Asphyx, Morgoth, Pungent Stench, Tankard and Esoteric. We‟ll confirm at least two or even three headliners more, plus a total of 20 valuable metal bands from all around the world and of course we won‟t forget the Romanian bands as well, but we decided to get some that don‟t play Bucharest too often, when still being excellent and having something to offer live on the stage. There won‟t be any substantial differences compared with the debut edition, beside a long list of different bands. We decided to make the festival longer, so the 2014 edition will happen in three long days, from 28th to 30th of November; there were 19 bands playing last year, now we will have a total of around 28 bands, so the whole festival program will be longer, we‟ll start earlier and won‟t let anybody sleep until the morning after. The main point with NDMF is that we‟re here to offer the people a high protocol selected bands‟ list, trying to mix the underground values with the more relevant corporate way of doing business and being able to offer a diverse and interesting lineup with at least 70-80% of completely new bands for the local audience.

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there were decent as well. Finally, one of my favorite places is Chisinau, in Republic of Moldova, I have a hell lot of friends there, all of them are friendly and ready to party, also the metal concerts are excellent, not to say they have some of the best weed lately. I don‟t like Italy, because the gas is fucking expensive and also the road tools, same with France. Holland is fine due to the drugs policy, and the same applies to Belgium, where I also have some close friends, the guys in Agathocles, always ready to arrange something, a concert or a party at somebody‟s house. I don‟t know if I answered correctly your question, because I never thought to move in any of

these places, it‟s good to get there for player on the local underground market, but this is the big some time, but I always felt I need to fat truth. come back here, back in the dark hole where I belong.

Thank you for your time Coro, please tell us what should we expect from you and your bands in the near What does a country's underground future. scene need in order to be considered a Thanks for giving me the chance to have a good time answering your questions, I didn‟t do it for a fanzine since healthy scene?

Don‟t know, I mean if I knew this, ages, but it was definitely a good time and I would love to Romania would have a healthy scene see the final result and feel the smell of the fresh ink on already, hahaha! A healthy scene means paper. As mentioned already, I will have a mini-tour with first of all decent people, I think, which is Agathodaimon, Netherbird and Withershin in April 2014, not the case with our Romanian then the final part of the Negura Bunget European tour, underground movement, people to that I booked for late April / early May, then I have a lastbelieve in what they do and put some minute tour for a killer bay-area thrash metal band from effort in it. You see, the moment when I Costa Rica, Heresy, that is not booked yet, but it will be realized something is really wrong with soon, so then the fans in Romania, Bulgaria and the other my involvement in Romanian Thrash Balkan countries can see a very exotic band live on the Metal Club, it was clear that has nothing stage. I also have plenty of dates booked for Casus in to do with the wrong premises about how Germany, Czech Republic and Holland, but these are it started, it had to do with the involved more like weekend dates, not a real tour like the one it people and the spirit, or better said, the will happen in August 2014 in the wild, wild East. lack of it. This is the main reason why Meanwhile for the summer time I have my bands playing there is nothing much happening here, several festivals in Europe, then KroW will jump on the there is no trust in the subterranean scene, road for the 4th time for two months, from late August to as it is not trust about our life standard late October, but without me on the road, as I‟ll be busy generally. People don‟t want to get with the second European tour we make for the Malaysian involved, people don‟t want to make death metal machine Humiliation and then we will slowly efforts, they keep looking for the easy prepare the last details for November to Dismember Metal way opportunities and because of this, Fest, while we will have a tour of Undercroft from Chile they are just shadows of what they could to finish at our festival and another tour for an Irish have been. You see, there is no real fantastic band that play our fest right after that, then in scene, just young bands who don‟t know late December, christmas time, I will be on the road with shit about how to do it or old bands who another exotic band, this time from Africa, called either don‟t know shit about how to do it or they consider Lelahell. I try to keep myself busy, as always, and so themselves too old to do so. Same about the media, there there are my signed bands. Good luck with the fanzine, is no real high standard media in this country, all our only print is real! Cheers! media (web and print) is smaller than what happens in only one city in Poland or Germany. Everybody has his Axa Valaha Productions / November to Dismember Metal own strong opinions about bands and music, but there is Fest almost none to assume this by writing a decent review, for Email: axa666@yahoo.com fuck sake. There are no real labels, to invest not only in Tel: +40721.107776 releasing CDs, but also in supporting their bands in tours www.novembertodismember.com or for the tours and so on. I don‟t complain, because this makes me and my Axa Valaha Productions the only real Interview by Adrian March 2014

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

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I am indeed. As I previously stated, this is not an easy subject and author whose shoes are not really easy to fill.

However, I am completely happy and satisfied of how things turned out to be. We tried our very best to amalgamate both the lyrical concept and the follow of the music's course and that wasn't easy for sure.

Eye of Solitude is a Doom Death Metal band from UK founded and lead by a Romanian guy, Daniel Neagoe, who moved over there some time ago. He was a really active Metal musician when in Romania, too, so seeing him having the so-much-deserved success with Eye Of Solitude makes perfect sense.

Here’s an enjoyable chat with Daniel, enjoy and don’t forget to check out their latest album, Canto III, a real gem of the nowadays Doom Death scene.

If budget wouldn't be an issue, how would you portray the track from this album in videos, or at least one of them? And talking about this, what special effects or whatever you'd use on stage to fully capture the atmosphere of Canto III? However, budget is always an issue haha.

Video wise, I cannot relate too much, as we are already doing it very soon and I would totally spoil the plot and visuals in the video, thus I'd rather keep it silent for now, at least. What I can say is that the video will be having a dramatic storyboard and will be equal in length with the track, around 9 minutes. I would say, expect a big surprise.

For live appearances we will implement a new set of visuals too, which will include projections and an extremely special background. Again, I cannot relate too much on the subject, however, who will come to see us, will definitely know what I'm talking about. Atmosphere is a key word for this band, so we're making all possible to have it in full at our gigs.

Greetings Daniel, how are you? So, Eye Of Solitude released its third full-length album, congrats for an awesome job, how do you feel?

Hi guys, I'm good thanks, hope things are good back at your end too. Yes, on the 25th of November Canto III has seen the day of light. And that feels amazing. Since then we've had some really positive reviews which make us Now let's talk a bit about you. You're originally from even happier.

Romania where you played in lots of bands, when did you move to UK and why? Did you regret leaving the Please tell us about this album from the technical country or the bands you had here? point of view, where was it recorded, how much time it I moved to the UK in 2007 for personal reasons. If I took you, who mixed and mastered it. Also who worked on its cover and booklet artwork?

The album was recorded in London at our home studio and was mixed and mastered by our own Indee Rehal -Sagoo. We did feel that we can work a lot easier and faster this way and hopefully the results have not been bad. It took us 3 weeks to record the whole album and I think it took another week for mixing and mastering. To be entirely honest it took a lot less than we have actually anticipated.

The cover is done by Giannis Nakos of Remedy Art Design www.facebook.com/RemedyArt Design. We worked with Giannis previously on the Sui Caedere cover and since then we've kept the collaboration, and I'm sure it won't stop here. We're regret leaving Romania? Very little. Actually very very very pleased with his work. little. And that's due to personals again. I do regret the

Some of the people came in the band's life spontaneously and stuck around, becoming important members, and the rest of the guys have been welcomed in the family a bit later, nonetheless, acquiring the status of family members.

Besides Eye of Solitude you're involved in some other projects and bands, Unfathomable Ruination being the most well-known. Why do you need all these projects and how do you manage to be involved in all of them, especially now that you became a dad for the first time? By the way, congrats, how do you feel to be a dad?

Well...apparently I suck at everything else, so music IS indeed an important percentage of my life. I can express myself doing different genres of music and it feels simply awesome. Also, I have always been interested in expanding my musical horizons and being capable of handling more than one genre.

Time? You make time. If you want to make music, you simply make time. There are a lot of sacrifices, and that means pissing loved ones off. I also call that dedication. I really want something from music and that's not going to happen if I just sit on my bottom doing fuck all.

And thanks a lot, yes recently I did become a father and it there are really no words that can portrait my feelings and inner happiness.

How's your live activity with Eye of Solitude? I know you've been to Romania's Ghost Gathering Festival, how was it? Any tours in plan?

We don't have many gigs. We are not being selective, however, most of us play in other bands too. And at times, things can become quite hectic.

The people at Ghost Festival were absolutely amazing. The response we've had was overwhelming and I'd like to return to Romania real soon with the band.

Tour wise, we have a mini tour booked with Marche Funebre in January in UK and we're hoping to hit the European roads later on this year, fingers crossed!

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

Being your third official release what parts of your music are were improved, what are you most proud of on this album?

Simply everything. We pushed very hard to achieve a lot of things and I like to believe that we also did.

From composition to execution, interpretation and individual contribution, to conceiving the album. I am proud of the cover, of the fact that we managed -one way of another - to englobe a difficult subject in the narration, like Dante's Inferno. I like to believe that we have finally achieved something that we all wanted for quite some time.

From what I've seen the reviews are already raving placing Canto III among the best releases of 2013.

How do you feel? What do you think will follow next or what do you hope will follow?

I'm really stoked about them all. People look like they like what they hear and that can only be uplifting and ambitioning in the same time. What's next, I really don't know for the moment. Apart from a short UK tour with our buddies from Marche Funebre and filming a video for one of the album tracks, we don't have anything settled or written in stone. I do hope we could take on to more and more gigs and have the people seeing what we're all about. Because we're playing our hearts out that's for sure.

Please tell us about the lyrical content of Canto III, I know it's based on Dante's Inferno, are you satisfied completely of the blend between music and lyrics?

bands though. I had absolutely amazingly good and shit times and I miss them a lot.

What do you do in UK now and how did you adapt the now country, the new culture?

I'm working like everyone else, and making time for music and for my family. I guess you HAVE to adapt to a new country's culture, customs, and so on. I mainly came here for music, and that's my goal. Following the rules though, and the regulations, will ease the transition.

You founded Eye of Solitude as a solo project and released the debut album by yourself. What were the dreams back them? And how come you decided to go for a full line-up rather than continuing by yourself?

Please tell us a few words about your band members and how you guys met.

Yes, I've started Eye Of Solitude back in 2010 and had no real thoughts about what it would be. At that time I was simply sick and tired of making music for other people and none for myself. So I've written an album and recorded it myself and released it, not giving a shit of what people would say about the compositions or the sound or whatever. I had stopped doing music for almost 2 years then and most of my gear had been sold, intentionally.

However, some of the people who have listened to the music advised me to continue and try to bring EOS to life as a regular band, with full time members. And so I did.

We went through some line-up changes and finally after three years we have our dream team - as I like to call it.

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Kaotoxin mentioned your low vocals as the highlight of Eye of Solitude, and I agree with them, but what other aspects of the band you'd see as being original, what makes it so different from the others?

Oh, that's a real compliment.

Almost blushing here, thank you! I see vocals as another instrument and try to treat it as such. However, the whole assemble in the band is something extremely worthy of mention. I guess for Kaotoxin this is a way of marketing and some sort of description to the band.

What makes us different - not original, is the fact that we don't give a fuck about the outside elements and will always, but always create music that we feel. We will never ever make music to become famous. If this happens along the way, then fine - so be it, we'd love that shit. But we will never change our music or the way we write it or interpret it. It is the way that all of us feel the need to write or to play that brings in something sincere and emotional.

On the same topic, what made Eye of Solitude such a respected name in the scene? How is the UK public, a fine connoisseur of Doom Death, treating the band?

Erm... I think we are a long way from being a respected name in the scene, but we are working on that haha!! But I guess there are all the things I've mentioned above.

Uk can be a double edged blade. Some will criticize - due to their kvlt nature, other will feel exactly what we feel on stage and go rampant, emotionally speaking. But then again, this is worldwide, not only the UK. Well Daniel, this was it, thanks a lot for your time.

Best of luck to you and the band, and hope to talk again soon!

Adrian, thanks ever so much for having me say a few words and for the wishes and hope to share a bottle of vodka soon my friend! Cheers!

Interview by Adrian December 2013

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

How does the public react when seeing you're only one man on stage and not a full line-up band? I mean the public that's not aware of the band, of course.

No. When I first started Bloodsoaked it was a studio only project with no intentions of ever playing a live show.

Once the first album was released I slowly received offers to play shows and it was nothing I was thinking about. I had to learn to do everything myself and that took some time to get used to but finally figured it out. When I play a show and the audience has never seen Bloodsoaked they are a little confused seeing no drummer but once the show starts they forget there’s no drummer.

I pretty much hate interviews that end up with having questions longer than answers, and here’s that case…

Anyway, Bloodsoaked is a Technical Brutal Death Metal band I like a lot and being a live duo only makes it more interesting, so I had to have a chat with Peter Hasselbrack, the main person behind this band.

Hi Peter, how's the weather in North Carolina lately? Using this little tool called Google Earth I browsed a bit over Raleigh and to me it seems like a nice, quiet city, but is it?

Weather in NC now is great about 70 degrees during the day and 50s at night, perfect. NC is a great place to live, nice and laid back.

I saw you have a good following in South America where you played a lot too.

Tell us a few words about your trips to South America. Any special memories?

South America is my favorite place to play, Colombia to be specific. I’ve played Mexico a few times, Colombia and Venezuela as well and the fans are always the best in South America, they are crazy and make the shows the best to play.

Colombia is my second home playing 3 times now and hope to be back in 2014.

I'm curious, what made you first pick up a guitar and start jamming? Maybe it was a gig, or a tape/CD? I liked Kiss in the late 70s and then Quiet Riot and other Metal bands in the early 80’s. I got a guitar because I wanted to play some cover songs and it slowly progressed from there.

In '89 you started with Thrash Metal band Deslok, but things got brutal around the 2000's when you were involved in 3 different Death Metal bands: Bloodsoaked, Disfigured and Archaic Winter. This interview will be about Bloodsoaked, but please tell us a few words on each of the other bands you played in and what do you know about their current status.

Deslok was a Thrash band I was in during the late 80s up in Boston, MA. It was a great band and we had a lot of fun, I moved away from Boston and stopped playing guitar for many years. I had a promotion company (Bloodsoaked Promotions) from 1995 to 2004 and a Record label (Bloodsoaked Records) from 2001 to 2004 so I was still involved in the underground. Once the label closed I started playing guitar seriously again and started Bloodsoaked in 2005 I think. I was never in Disfigured, for some reason Metal Archives list Disfigured but I was never in that band. I performed vocals on the first Archaic Winter album and that was all I did. Bloodsoaked has been my band since 2005 and I have recently added a second guitarist/Vocalist (Joseph Darling).

In 2011 you played in India, how was that? Are there any other exotic places you'd like to visit soon?

India was crazy, I did that when I was playing alone and traveling half way around the world alone to play a Death Metal festival in India was insane! The fans knew the music and lyrics and were singing along to the songs, it was great. I will travel anywhere to play Death Metal.

How was it to have as guest on your latest album none other than the Death Metal legend James Murphy? Honestly do you think this thing increased album sales?

I don’t think it increased album sales but for me it was a dream come true. Having listening to many of the albums he played on growing up and then to have him play two solos on my album was great.

2014 should bring us a new Bloodsoaked album, "Devouring Abomination".

Please tell us a few words about it. Do you already have all tracks composed?

Where do you plan on recording it? Will you have any more guest musicians featuring on it?

I don’t think any guest musicians this time but you never know. The album is coming together slowly, we have two songs written so far and some random riffs.

If it’s released on a label it’ll be Comatose Music but I’m also considering releasing it free online digitally as a download. The songs are riffs are pretty similar to the last Bloodsoaked albums, with catch songs and lots of choruses.

Bloodsoaked is now a duo, am I right? Why have you decided to get a second musician after all that time playing by yourself? How do you get along with each other? Are there any plans of adding more musicians to the group any time soon?

Yes, Bloodsoaked is now a Two-Man Band. I always felt that having a second guitarist/vocalist would add a lot to the live show with a lot of dual vocals and the second guitar has helped a lot as well. I knew Joseph for many years from his other band Malebolgia so I knew his stage presence and a bit more. The live Bloodsoaked show is now 100 times better. At this time Bloodsoaked will remain only us two.

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

You have 3 professional videos released until now, how important is this aspect for Bloodsoaked?

Actually I have 5 professional videos (Rotting in Filth, Suicide, Unborn Horror, No God and Infestation). I think videos are great for a band so fans can put a visual to the music and it can reach more fans than only albums.

The band's name comes from a distro you used to run. Is it still active? I'm not very sure, but I remember there was also a Bloodsoaked zine back in the '90's; anything to do with you?

Bloodsoaked Promotions and Bloodsoaked Records are no longer active.

Bloodsoaked Promotions was very popular back in the mid 90’s and early 2000s, it was a predecessor to sites such as Metal Sucks, Metal Injection and Blabbermouth. I am still very proud of the work I did with Bloodsoaked Promotions, I helped a lot of bands with promotion and gain tremendous exposure.

What do you guys do besides playing in Bloodsoaked? Are your daily jobs related to music at all? How it is when you have to go on long tours? And since you are only 2 in the band, is this making the band cheaper to book than a full line-up band? This should reflect in the amount of gigs offers, does it?

My day job is sitting at a desk on a computer all day, good solid job but nothing to do with Metal. Having two people now makes it a bit more money for a promoter to fly Bloodsoaked but we are still getting offers to play so that’s a good thing.

So far you have released 3 full-length albums, how would you point out the progress or differences between your albums?

Each album has seen a steady progression in song writing and a very small amount of technicality but for the most part each album is just solid Death Metal. The albums have gotten better production with each album and the song writing has gotten better as well.

After your 2 Europe tours in 2013 you are preparing for a third one for April 2014. Do you know which countries will you visit that time?

How are your fans in Europe?

Yes, we will be back again in April 2014 for a 10 day Eruope tour. It’s still being booked but at this time I believe France, Germany, Poland and The Netherlands. Please Europe is great and the venues always treat the bands great.

You're with Comatose since the beginning, and that's a rare situation. How have you met and came up with this long term deal? Or there were actually more one-album deals?

Each album Comatose has released was a different deal each time; I have worked with Comatose since the beginning and have no plans on working with anyone else. If anything I might release an album Digitally only for free but as far as another label, no, only Comatose.

Ok, thanks a lot for your time Peter, and best of luck with the works for your fourth album!

Thank you so much for supporting Bloodsoaked.

Although a one-man-band until not long ago, Bloodsoaked always had many shows and tours. Was this the main goal, to have as many gigs as possible?

November 2013 Interview by Adrian 19

year to find out what's new and what's really worth listening...By using the internet you can plow through the shit much faster than without but you still have to search and decide on your own what makes it into your all-time favorite playlist.

At first I wanted to have some session musicians record the stringed instruments for Garden of Grief because I had the songs finished, but I had been unable to play any stringed instrument back then, only drums. Then I realized that this approach is very time consuming (finding session musicians for a studio project is not easy at all) and it also makes you depend on others for creating basically all of your music. That's not the reason you want to start a one-man-band for...so I decided to really become independent and practice stringed instruments as well. It was a good decision because now, 5 years later, I can play most of what I want to and I don't rely on anyone else when it comes down to recording.

There are lots and lots of one-manbands in the underground, especially Black Metal, scene nowadays. I wanted to get an insight on one of them so here’s an interview with Austrian GARDEN OF GRIEF. Hi there Alex, how was 2013 for you and the band?

Hello Adrian! Well, for me it was a good year but as far as music is concerned it was as though it didn't happen at all. I only practiced on the instruments but I didn't work on any recordings besides the promo track for the new album.

If Im correct there are no more official GoG releases since your 2012 split with Neige et Noirceur, how come?

Yes, that is correct. I have been working on the album "Endstation" since 2011 but after the music had been fully recorded sometimes in 2012 (actually before the N&N split was finally produced) I got stuck with the lyrics. In 2013 I managed to finish and record lyrics for one track, which is the promo track for the album now. Then I moved to a new apartment and with all the work that came along with that step I didn't manage to get myself into a state of mind that would result in the kind of lyrics needed for that album.

I usually need some time to focus on the atmosphere that I want to represent in certain songs and last year I felt that there would have been time to do something but not enough to really get the result I wanted.

Do you agree that major part of these bands is pure childish attempts of creating music? Please tell us a few such bands we should really keep an eye on. And since we're here, tell us what's the hardest part in running such a band, and what's the most rewarding.

As I have already mentioned, there are people who just want to play music because they think it's cool and then they never manage to produce something worth listening. It's easy to record something at home without spending too much money on hardware, so basically everyone can record and release whatever they call "music". I think that is a good development for the music itself gets democratized that way. Talented musicians are not limited by their financial situation anymore because anyone who tries hard enough will eventually be able to get a quite good production with only a few hundred Euros. Of course it also enables less talented people to produce loads of crap but in the end only decent quality will prevail. As for black metal one-man-bands I can highly recommend for example (and not to be seen as a complete list) Neige et Noirceur, Frostwork, Funeral Fornication, Totale Vernichtung, Buer, Bleeding Solitude, Ov Hollowness, Lamentations of the Ashen...

The hardest part of being alone in a band is that you are responsible for everything on your very own. That is also the most rewarding aspect since you always know that whatever you have achieved is only the result of your own work. Sometimes having to learn all the songs on all instruments and practice them for recording can be tough compared to having a "professional" for every instrument. But then you just have to remind yourself that being able to play everything alone also means that you only have to check for one person if there's a good time for recording and therefore you are noticeable faster and more flexible than a full band.

Do you know there's another Garden of Grief band in Colombia? Any problems with the name? By the way, how is your band's name nowadays, Garden of Grief or Garden ov Grief?

I know - I came across that band a while after I started my own. I didn't know before because their genre was (and still is) completely irrelevant to me. Besides it seems that band had been inactive since even before my own project started so there won't be any confusion.

The name is "Garden of Grief". You may have been confused because when Facebook deleted my original profile and page I created a new one. Obviously the word "of" is not allowed in names there, because it only produced errors when I tried. Replacing "of" with "ov" did the trick to fool the system but it had only been a temporary change while setting up a new Facebook page. The problems with that network did obviously not have any effect on the band name I want to use. Anyway, the page is now again available with the correct name: www.facebook.com/gardenofgriefofficial

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

Where does your pseudonym, Boronian Sturmfels, come from?

I had used that alias for several purposes even before I started this project and so the identification with this artistic "character" was already there. No need to change a winning team, you know...

Your fifth album is on its way, correct? Please tell us a bit about this album and the tracks that will be featured on it. Is Endstation a temporary name for it, or it's the final title? If so, why Endstation?

Indeed, I'm still working on that album but it's not too much work that is left now. At least I can say that the music for all black metal tracks is fully recorded and as far as the instruments are concerned I only need to record acoustic guitars for an interlude and an outro track. Vocals need to be recorded for 3 songs, and as soon as the lyrics are written that can be done quickly, depending on the song length of course (there are again two tracks bordering on the 20 min mark and those require a certain amount of time for recording, no matter what instrument it is).

The tracklist is as follows: Auftakt: Angriffskrieg, Initial Command, Aufbruch: Anfang vom Ende, End of the Line, All Out!, EndlĂśsung: Vernichtungskrieg, Genocide Crescendo, Endstation: Aschenwind The title "Endstation" is final and the whole album is built around it. The title means "the end of the line" in German, the final stop of a train. Album structure, titles, lyrics and artwork are part of the album concept but I don't want to give away too much at this moment. There is room for interpretation if you just give it a listen with only having that ever present train-theme in mind and not a complete explanation of what my whole intention and thoughts on the album actually are.

I've listened to all your releases and in my opinion the music gets more and more Ambient influenced and more atmospheric. Am I right? How would you describe your music to someone who never heard it before?

Well, I guess it depends on how you look at the releases - either in the order they had been released or in the order they had been written/recorded. Of course anyone else than me can only look at the release dates to describe a change in style over the years. I would say the progress is rather from slow, simple and atmospheric to a more complex arrangement and a more aggressive approach. At the moment I would say I have found a good mix between a certain melancholic atmosphere and brutal aspects. I like a good production that is still raw in a way but not too much (at least for my own music, depending on how complex the songs are in simpler songs a bad production won't swallow important details of the music) and I also focus much on the vocals, which are probably the part that makes people remember and recognize my music best.

Nowadays there are loads and loads of one man bands around. How do you feel about that? Was GoG intended to be a one-man-band from the start or something happened that made you decide to continue on your own?

I'm not sure how you expect me to feel about other people starting one-manbands...it depends on the quality of the music they are able to produce, of course.

There always have been people who want to play music and then never manage to record a decent demo or even album and on the other hand some people just catch your attention and also respect with their output. The huge amount of bands and one-man-projects makes it harder each

Looking back to when you first started this project, how do you feel now? Have you accomplished what you wanted or is that still in works? By the way, what's the main aim with GoG? There's no aim behind my project other than recording the music I would like to listen to myself. Except for some technical aspects that I would do differently if I recorded older releases again, I don't feel that anything has gone completely wrong until now. I still have enough ideas to fill many more releases so I would say that it might take long until I will have accomplished what I wanted...in fact it is most likely the case that you aren't even able to ever reach that point as an artist.

20

in Austria. I have a lot of contacts (both fellow musicians and fans) in the USA, Canada and some European countries and I feel that the international scene in general is a better audience than the local one. Of course I don't have as many fans in a single foreign country, but together I guess that my music has a bigger impact on people abroad than in Austria.

Probably because I have never tried to get popular here around - local followers find you on their own, but for someone across the big water to hear your band's name you actively need to get your music there first.

And...no maniacs so far - do I need any?

Fanatics tend to overreact if they find out that you are maybe representing something completely different than what they have thought you to be...I rather have some serious fans who like the music on a reasonable level.

Fanboys are not really what you expect to get as a black metal artist.

Lately I saw a blooming Austrian Extreme Metal scene, but how do you see it as an insider? Are things getting better over there? How's the Extreme Metal scene, the one you follow?

I don't really follow the local scene. The last concerts I visited had been then ones I played myself - I guess that says a lot about how much I'm interested in what's going on around here. I follow the bands that I'm interested in and that's it basically. In addition there aren't any good metal pubs near my location anymore so going out in metal-based surroundings also belongs to the past. Some years ago I would frequently go to events and stuff but nowadays I rather have a good scotch at home with my girlfriend or with our friends. For me black metal lives in my mind and not in the public these days. A really outstanding concert once in a while will get me to drive some distance though.

I've seen you worked with quite a lot of labels so far, aren't you looking for one to settle down with? You know, as in real life when you look for that special one to get married and settle down, haha.

You're right as far as private life is concerned but I don't think that a permanent contract with a single label is what makes you happy as a musician. That would only work if that label offered exactly the kind of production you want for each release you have finished. I have worked with various labels until now because no single label had been able to produce every release in the way I wanted it or at the time I needed it. The ultimate goal is to be able to do whatever I want at the time I want and have no problem in having it produced in whatever way I want. I think this is rather possible by creating ways of producing on your own or together with other fellow musicians than with any label I could make a deal with at the moment.

I know live gigs is not an out of the question topic for GoG, you mentioned that only time will tell, but what exactly are you looking for or what are you missing now to start playing live too?

I've already played some shows in 2011 and 2012, for example with Hecate Enthroned or Forteresse...I prefer exclusive concerts in nice locations, and of course the bands you are playing with have to be interesting. In my opinion there's no sense of bringing a studio project on a stage just for the sake of playing live. There has to be a reason for practicing all the songs again with a live crew and that reason is definitely not "getting known" by playing in front of an audience that just happens to be there because they are actually waiting for another band than you. My focus is on recording - playing live is a possibility, not a must.

Ok Alex, thanks a lot for your time and answers. Best of luck with the band!

I thank you as well for the interest in my music, Hails!

Are you in touch with fans of your music from other countries? Where's your biggest following? Do you have any maniac fans, any fanatics?

Yes, I am and with social networks that is quite easy. According to the Facebook page statistics the biggest fanbase would be located in Germany, which is also how I have experienced it so far. At least the interest in my music is much bigger in Germany than

Interview by Adrian January 2014

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

21

SACRIFICE, one of the most important Thrash Metal bands coming out of Canada and at the same time a legend of the scene, with more than 30 years of activity underbelt, agreed to answer my questions through their founding member Rob Urbinati.

Greetings Rob, thanks for your availability. Are you looking forward to celebrating 30 years of Sacrifice soon? Are you planning something special for 2015, maybe a tour to celebrate the 3 decades?

I haven't given it any thought. I didn't realize until you mentioned it. There won't be a tour, but I am sure we will do something special.

In some online Sacrifice bios the starting point for the band is 1985 and in other it's 1983, please enlighten us on this matter.

I think our current lineup came together in 1985, but we had been together before that. Let’s just say 1984.

What made you form the band in the first place?

Were you previously involved in other musical projects? How did you find the initial members?

We were into the NWOBHM bands, and especially the newer bands that were taking things to another level like Venom, Mercyful Fate and Exciter. We wanted to form a band that was as heavy as possible.

Bands like Metallica and Slayer came along next and gave us more inspiration. Joe Rico, Scott Watts and I came together first, we were all into the same bands and eventually we found Gus Pynn to play drums.

telling us if something sucked or if it was there any notable facts about these projects except great...almost like he was in the band. for Tenet who later on signed with Century Media and relased an album (were you on that release, How would you sum up the '80's from the Sacrifice too?)? point of view? What's your best memory from No, none are still active. Interzone released a very rare CD in 1999, and I was not on the Tenet CD, although those years?

A lot of great memories. Somehow, just the thought of I demoed some stuff. I loved the stuff Jed Simon the 4 of us in the back of a van listening to Scott's wrote, just didn't have the time to devote to it cassette collection on the road is something I think unfortunately. about often. Some shows were really memorable, opening for Slayer in Toronto on their Reign in Blood How did you get in touch with the Brazilian tour, No Speed Limit in Montreal, The 1st Milwaukee Marquee Records, or how did they? They reMetalfest, Le Rendezvous in Winnipeg. Seeing our released your first 3 albums on CD. Had this fact video on television for the first time. The great feeling anything to do with the reunion of the band later we had when a recording was finished. on in 2006?

Armando got in touch with me and I finally gave him In '91 you signed with a label that seemed to the go ahead to do the rereleases. They are pretty become a big name in the scene, Fringe Product, incredible. Both of us hated how bands rereleased old having already signed Razor, too. How come you stuff without any effort to make it special. Marquee signed with them and why only for a 1 album deal? remastered, had tons of bonus tracks, insane amazing Fringe Product was doing our distribution prior to packaging...basically what fans were starving for then. that. Our deals with them were pretty informal.

The label War on Music also re-released your In my opinion, and not only mine it seems, demos on vinyl the same year under the title "Soldiers of Misfortune" was your best release. "198666". Please explain that title to us.

How do you feel about this album now, more than The main demo on it was our "Forward To 20 years later? Do you think it could have been Termination" one recorded in 1986. promoted better at that time?

You would be surprised how many count that as their Your reunion gig from 2006 was recorded for a favorite one. I love the album. I think it is the most DVD release, but that DVD was released only in technical recording we have done, our playing was 2012, what happened? super tight. The speed and precision we performed Not really sure. with even impresses us when we listen back. There was no studio trickery back then, what you hear on How do you feel now to be back with the band? Do Sacrifice albums is us really playing...no triggers, no you feel you receive the respect and consideration amp modelling, no drum edits. Metal Blade did a you deserve? Honestly. pretty good job at promotion and we were on TV Sure, we feel respected. Sacrifice isn't the biggest every day in Canada, the bad thing was that we lost name out there by any means, but we are content to our Roadrunner distribution in Europe. This really remain underground. Sacrifice never really cared hurt us. much about being rock stars. We enjoy performing and don't really feel like we deserve anything. I like to I guess that album brought the deal with Metal stay down to Earth and not convey any arrogance to Blade later on, they were already distributing your people that like our music. material since your debut, am I right? How were the following years for the band apart for the line- What's the plan now? Are there any new tracks up changes? How was it to be finally in the Metal waiting to be recorded? Will you continue playing Blade roster? that wicked, fast paced, catchy Thrash Metal you It was too late for us. Brian Slagel is a great person, used your fans with? as was the Metal Blade staff, but he runs a business. We have no plan. We just take each day as it comes.

Thrash was dead by the time "Apocalypse Inside" Sacrifice performs so infrequently that when it does came out and it was difficult to sell us. happen, it means as much to us as people who have waited 30 years to see us play. Some tracks have been Sacrifice called it quits in '93 after just having worked on but there is no schedule for recording. released the new album and toured North America with the famous Death. What happened? The band I guess you see a lot of old friends and fans at your faced so many line-up changed along the years that gigs nowadays but how are the kids, the new I don't think it was a line-up problem after all. Or generation reacting to your music?

Great. Younger fans always like to remind me that was it?

We really only had 2 lineup changes, that wasn't really they weren't born yet when we started which makes the problem. Death Metal took over because thrash me feel old, but really I still feel like I am 20. You bands were too busy chasing Metallica's success that hear the same things from Slayer, Exodus, Artillery, the music became too watered down. There weren't bands from the 80's...there is a whole new generation any albums like "Seven Churches" or "Darkness of thrashers.

Descends" coming out, everything sucked in the Thrash genre by this time.

Please present us the current line-up of the band.

What do you all do besides playing Thrash Metal?

I know you formed some other bands during the Does any of you live from music?

Sacrifice silence. Are any of them still active? Are The current lineup is the same one that we recorded 4 albums with. Myself, Joe Rico - guitars, Scott Watts - bass and Gus Pynn - drums.

None of us have ever been able to make a living from music, we all have regular jobs like anyone else.

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

What other bands were active at that time in Toronto, bands that played a similar style? How were the relations with them and with the Canadian metal scene in general during your first years?

There wasn't really anyone else but us, Slaughter and Razor to start with. We got along great with those bands. Razor lived outside of Toronto, so we didn't see them as much, but Slaughter and Sacrifice were inseparable back then.

Your first 2 tapes were actually rehearsal recordings of a couple of your own tracks and a few covers of Metallica, Slayer and Exciter songs.

How beneficial were for the band those rehearsal tapes? Have you traded them a lot? Were they released for finding gigs or were you actually selling them?

They were just really to get our name out with tape traders. We didn't sell any and it was probably better back then to not let the venues hear what sounded like.

It was pretty insane music in 1985.

Unlike your rehearsal tapes, your first official demo tape had a lot of own compositions. What that tape "the reason" you got signed with Diabolic Force a year later, in '86?

I guess so. Brian Taylor our producer funded the demo, and sold it at his store.

The response was great and he signed us to Diabolic Force/Fringe Product. He was working with hardcore bands back then and we were similar.

What's the next target for Sacrifice and what should we expect from you in 2014?

MARYLAND DEATH FEST.

Once you signed with Diabolic Force were there any obvious benefits to the band? Since you released 2 full-length albums on this label I guess you got along pretty well with them, am I right?

By the time "Forward To Termination" came out, we were pretty big here in Canada, and gaining a lot of ground in the rest of the world. Yes, Brian was really close to the band. He had no problem

Thanks again for your availability and thanks for your patience in answering all my questions. Much appreciated!

Thanks for taking the time to interview me.

Interview by Adrian October 2013 22

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

Corpse and also the most brutal thrash bands like Morbid Saint, Protector and Demolition Hammer. We owe this bands a lot for our style, IMO. I think that we came to a good point with the debut album. The previous releases helped us a lot for our style's development and my opinion is that we recorded the album in the right moment.

When I heard Nuclear Aggressor for the 1st time I was totally blown away and I knew an interview was in order so here is one with Hellvis the, bassist and vocalist!

Tell me how the 3 of you guys came together and what bands were you in before the coming together of Nuclear Aggressor?

Well, Fabio and our former drummer, Cris, created Nuclear Aggressor in 2010, when Violent Assault disbanded. I joined them a few months later. Just 5 months ago Cris left and Luka stepped in.

About other bands where we played...well, I was guitarist and founding member of the black/death metal band Azrath-XI and bassist in another thrash band called Eerie Sin. Fabio was in Violent Assault and Luka played in some HC bands.

What went on with the band in all of 2011 as you released nothing in that year?

In 2011 we were busy with shows, if I remember well ahahah! But in December 2011 we went to the studio again to record 6 songs that we released lately in 2 split CDs.

Do you think you are a good live band and have you got to play many live shows and are any live clips up on say You Tube?

What were the early days of the band like and how about the early practices?

We have to make a lot of experience on stage. We don't play live too much, I can only remember the time when I joined them...it was cool, we started to make unfortunately, for the reasons I told you before. We should go on tour to grow our music together and I had the chance to express myself and develop my style, as considerably as a live band. If you want to see something you can find some old a composer. recordings on You Tube, just search for Nuclear Aggressor!

When the band first began, did you have an idea of what you wanted the band In 2012, you released 2 split releases. Let’s talk about the 1st one, which was to sound like? called, "Blasphemic Aggressor". Who was the other band on the split and I As I have said before, I joined them a few months later. I can say that I have put am assuming we are talking about a cd and not a 7’ or am I wrong? Did this my influences inside their sound. come out on a label and what was the response to this release like?

Yes! The other band is Blasphemic Forces, a thrash band from Pordenone! We In 2010, you released the "Violent Thrashing Rage" demo. Tell me a bit about self-released a split-CD because a 7' is REALLY expensive, believe me! It this demo. When it was released, was the idea to try and get a record deal received a very good response. For me, releases like those splits allowed us to with it? How was it going into the studio for the 1st time as NA.? How many grow a lot. We used that chance to develop our sound and see where we could go songs are on it with our music. and how was the response to it The other split back then? was called, The first demo was "Osterreichisches planned to be a Kustenthrash".

Violent Assault Was this a cd or a demo and I didn't 7" release? Who play in it. Fabio was the other and Cris completed band and why did the songs and bass you decide to do 2 tracks were played split releases in by Violent the same year?

Assault's bassist.

"Osterreichisches My first studio Kustenthrash" was experience with also on CD and the N.A. came 5 other band is months later, when GraveLead, from we recorded the Trieste. Well...we "Human never decided Pulverizer" EP and anything, really. it's been a cool We had 6 songs experience.

I and we decided to remember that I split them in two recorded my bass CDs and tracks really collaborate with quickly! other bands from Going back to the our country. demo...there were 5 songs, including a Minotaur cover, and it received a quite good response, even if In 2013, you released a compilation called, "Raw, Fast and Brutal". Did this the sound was very, very raw. But we never had the idea to get a deal with it. contain all the stuff on your demo, ep, splits, etc? Did you put that out or did a label put it out?

Were you playing many live shows and from where you are based out of, is That compilation contained the songs from the split-CDs and a song from the there a good underground metal scene?

"Human Pulverizer" EP. We released it because our friend Camilo Pierattini from We never played too many shows because our country sucks about metal and Suicide Records asked us to do it. We were very happy to do it because we have everything around it. For example, we played just twice this year, and only one of many fans in South America and that compilation was mostly for them. those concerts was in Italy! There is not a "scene" or something like that, just assholes. There are good underground bands but everyone thinks about himself.

Now are all the releases, minus the demo, still for sale or are they sold out?

And also, venues are closing day by day because of the crisis and there aren't so Everything is for sale! We print copies again if they're sold out. Indeed, for the many places where we can play. It's not a good situation but be do what we can. moment we prefer to sell our debut album, instead of our previous releases, but they're still available, for sure.

Later on in 2010, you released an Ep called "Human Pulverizer". Did you release that yourselves or was that on a label? Did it contain all different Now how does a song come together and around how time in any given week songs that were on the demo? is spent doing band related stuff?

It was a self-produced EP, yes, with all different songs. We never re-recorded a Usually, I and Fabio compose our songs at home and we bring the stuff at song, for now, from the demo or from other releases; we don't feel that it's rehearsals. This is how we ever did but I'd like to do something different for the necessary. future songs, like more jams or something like that. It's all about developing and growing up as a band and as friends.

How did you come up with your band name and what other names were considered?

Out of all your songs, what has been the hardest song to write and the easiest Well, Nuclear Aggressor was the "war-name" of Fabio in Violent Assault. It was one and why to both? good and they used it for the new band, very simple ahahah!

I can't answer to your questions because I use my instinct when I write songs. I just play the guitar and write what it comes, if it's good. So it's always easy, for me, What would you say your musical style is and at what point do you think you when I'm inspired. If something is not good I simply erase it and go on. Nothing came up with the Nuclear Aggressor sound? else.

We like to call it "Brutal Thrash", because of my old-school death metal influences that I put inside our music. I love bands like Asphyx, Grave, Entombed, Cannibal

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

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Now you recently released a full length called "Condemned to Rot" on Punishment 18 Records. How did you hook up with them and what are your thoughts on this record as I personally love it?

Thank you! Well, we came in contact with them in 2011 as they listened to "Human Pulverizer" and we signed 2 years later as we finished the album's recordings.

How easy was it going into the studio with this release and where most of the songs ready to go when you went in?

It was one of the hardest trials for us! Making an album is always more difficult than other small releases because you feel more pressure around you. Fortunately, we were ready for that. We had 10 songs ready and we recorded them all, we don't compose in studio. We just changed some little things but nothing relevant.

How did you end up hooking up with Punishment 18 Records and how have things been working out with them?

We signed with them when the album was ready to be released. I am very happy about this because they're very good and professional people. It's an underground label but they work great and what they do is perfect for us, I could never ask more!

How did you come with the title for the album and the cd cover how did that come about?

We came up with the title one day at the rehearsal room. I just asked my comrades about it and we decided to give the album the same name of one of my songs. The CD cover was painted by my woman (we like to do things "in family" ahahah) and I like it a lot! It's strange and a little unusual for a thrash band...I just had to give her the "Condemned To Rot" song lyrics and she did the cover.

Do you ever play any cover tunes and if so, what songs do you mess around with?

We played some covers in the past; just for fun...we played songs by Minotaur, Sodom or Dark Angel at the end of our concerts. You always have to give the assholes something that they know; otherwise they will never move their ass. Be as good as you want but, if you are unknown, this is what you need to do, in Italy.

And that is bullshit.

Tell me a bit about each band member and what are some things you like to do when not doing band related things?

I speak only for myself, sorry. In my spare time I play the guitar and compose for my other bands and project ahahah I can't live without playing! But I also like to read books and walk in the woods behind my house Do you still see the band around in say 5 years?

I hope so, if we won't die tomorrow or the day after. Death is certain, life is not (as Dark Angel say).

When you listen to a band, what are some of the things you look for in the music/vocals?

I can tell you what I don't look for: plastic recordings, slut vocals, homo keyboards and boring music!!

What are some of the best concerts you have seen and what would be a dream concert line-up be for you?

I think that the best show I've ever seen was...VON!!! Since I've seen them, everything else is behind!!! Of course I've seen great shows of bands like Gorgoroth, Exodus, Shining (Swe), Asphyx, Taake and many more.

My dream concert line up would be...Dark Angel, Asphyx, Morbid Saint, Desaster...and Nuclear Aggressor, obviously!!

Do you guys have any goals as a band?

If we have any goal...well, we take what we can from every single day but we don't Please plug any websites you have? like to do "long term plans" or stuff like that. We'd like to go on tour, in the future, We only manage our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/nuclearaggressor as soon as we get the chance.

Any last words? Horns up for the interview.

Do you think you will ever get to play a show in the US, even if it is a festival? Thank you very much for this interview and keep thrashing!!! And don't forget to I'd like to to do it! Even for a festival! I've never been to US and I'd like to see buy our album ahahahah!! what's going on there...I'd like to play somewhere in the north-east of US because I love Lovecraft's books and one of my dreams is to see the places that inspired his Interview by Chris Forbes universe.

January 2014

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

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ZINE REVIEWS – ZINE REVIEWS – ZINE REVIEWS ARCH VILE #1 / 2013 (Hungary) English, 40 A5 pages From its cover artwork and format you can sense something's different with this zine, and when you dig in deeper you understand where it takes its inspiration: PC games (old-school games) and Grindcore. This is released

by David from Posthuman zine and one of his friends who calles himself Divine Chaos. It features interviews with: Faction Disaster, Whoresnation, Sordo, Jack, Karak, Chappa'Ai, lots of interesting articles, reviews, all on a unique PC games influenced layout. A great read especially if you're into Punk / Grindcore / Powerviolence stuff.

Contact: posthumanzine@gmail.com / kbtv@freemail.hu BLESSED ALTAR #3 / 2013 (Portugal) English, 52 A5 pages New issue of Blessed Altar and War Faust, its editor, seems to be determined to release 2 per year, like I want to release SWR. This time War Faust talked with Caverna Abysmal Records / Escritas de Subsolo zine, Front Beast, Nox Illunis, Saattovaki, Scent of Death, published a good deal of reviews, a few fest reports, an article about a castle in his neighborhoods, and a movie reviews section I personally find funny but a waste of space. As lay-out Blessed Altar is similar to SWR but it's on A5 format, not glossy, and fitted in one-column pages. Go grab yourself a copy, this goes sold-out fast!

Contact: blessedaltar@gmail.com

US based zine featuring interviews with: Clandestine Blaze, Dawn (ex-Rain Fell Within, I had no idea they changed band name), Negative Existence label, Warblade, Blodsgard, interviews that I simply loved. On the other hand I hate the 1 column layout, the '80's-like pictures and the full-page childish cartoons, there's too much wasted space in this issue. The reviews are short but to the point; good approach.

Contact: eclecticartszine@gmail.com ENSLAIN #11 / 2013 (Finland) English, 64 A4 pages Started in the States by Lady Enslain, this zine relocated with its editor to Finland, and now it seems it's a free zine although it's professional to the bone and it is the work of two individuals, Lady Enslain and Ossi, both very talented writers. Features interviews with Nuclear Omnicide, Throes of Dawn, Solothus, Absu, Rytmihairio, some of the most interesting articles I've read recently, actually real investigations on: Finnish new Old-school Death Metal scene, festivals in Norway the writers attended, Metal cruise phenomenon and a few reviews and gig reports. Such an awesome magazine... don't miss it!

Contact: contact@enslain.net

BLESSED ALTAR #4 / 2013 (Portugal) English, 52 A5 pages War Faust is back with another issue of his Blessed Altar zine. Not much difference from the previous so if you already know this zine you know what to expect; limited to 200 hand-numbered copies. Featuring interviews with: Antropofago, Cristalys, Dawn of Ruin, The True Endless, The Sorcerer, Skoll, fests reports, reviews. A great read, recommended!

Contact: blessedaltar@gmail.com

editors: Death Metal to the bone! The zine is pro-printed with good quality, using cut&paste layout, and unfortunately very bad English. Interviews featured: Resurgency, Chordotomy, Soils of Fate, Birth of Depravity, Internal Bleeding, Carnal Redemption, plus a very long and interesting Spanish scene report, a few reviews, all in all a good read. If they continue the same way (enthusiasm and correct attitude) I can see Massive Brutality becoming part of the leading Death Metal fanzines in Europe, its name at least is perfect, they only have to improve their English.

Contact: massivebrutality@gmail.com METAL HORDE #12 / 2013 (Portugal) English, 42 A4 pages A nice read this new issue of Metal Horde, once I started reading it it was hard letting it go. Metal Horde features interviews with: Alchemist, Agresiva, Eulen, Darkest Era, Outrage, Necroscope zine, Tankard, Arkham Witch, Iron Kobra, Ravenshire, Christophe Szpajdel, a few band bios, reviews, all on a nice and clean layout without wasted space. Good stuff!

Contact: metalhordezine@gmail.com METAL HORDE #13 / 2013 (Portugal) English, 56 A5 pages Except for the fact that not Metal Horde is on A5 format pages nothing changed in its vision and path, Nuno still keeps supporting and promoting Underground Metal all the way. This new issue features interviews with: Aeurtum, Dementia 13, Revtend, Diabolical Demon Detector, Fingernails, LA Riot Survivor Records, Hammer, Attacker, Speedemon, Miss Cadaver, Insulter, Headhunter DC, Cruz de Ferro, gigs reports, loads of reviews, Mchinergy studio report, all in all a very cool fanzine that deserves your attention and support!

Contact: metalhordezine@gmail.com

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

METALEN #5 / 2013 (Austria) English, 16 A5 pages Nice little magazine from Austria shared apparently for free. Color, glossy paper, focused on Extreme Metal, this first issue features very short interviews with Grave, Jungle Rot, Cauterization, Brutality, Resurrected, Sodom, Sidious and Paul Speckman, a few reviews and loads of ads. The zine comes with a professional Extreme Metal CD featuring 16 bands from around the world.

Contact: info@metalmusic.at

BRUTAL SURGERY #1 / 2013 (Argentina) Spain, 64 A5 pages Brutal Death, Gore and Grind oriented zine with simple one-column layout, written in Spanish, featuring interviews with: Devourningore, Lamida Vaginal, Coprocefalia, Monigo, Fermented Fetus, loads of bios (I find them useless though in this age of internet) and reviews. The zine comes with 5 (!!!) free DIY splits and demos of brutal bands, and that's the most original thing in it I guess. Anyway, if you're into Brutal Death Grind this zine needs your support.

Contact: brutalsurgeryrecords@hotmail.com

CLANDESTINE #3 / 2013 (Italy) Italian, 28 A4 pages Look at this zine's cover artwork and you'll get what it's all about: Extreme Metal, the most extreme of Metal.

Photocopied quality, cut & paste but quite clean layout, featuring short interviews with Electrocution, Hateful, Modern Age Slavery, Logic of Denial, Jesus Ain't in Poland, Asphyx, Negatron, Tutti Pazzi zine, Grimwald, Jewish Juice (wtf?!?), Profanal and Urnaa, plus loads of bands bios. The zine is accompanied by a double CD compilation featuring bands from the Emilia region (there are some awesome bands over there!). If you know Italian don't pass over this zine; it's hand-numbered but I don't know if it's limited.

Contact: durettomarco@gmail.com CRITICAL SITUATION #9 / 2011 (Poland) English, 12 A5 pages Well, this is not actually A5 format, but it's close and I didn't know which is it exactly. This is a violent zine from the first to the last page, featuring interviews with ReCharge De-Charge, Terror of Dynamite Attack, Melanocetus Murrayi, SMG, Damage Digital, Harsh Supplement RX, Syntax, Anal Penetration, loads of reviews, Indonesian Scene Report, all printed with small fonts, on excellent layout, and although it has only 12 pages, it's an awesome read, don't miss it if you're into the above mentioned bands.

Contact: krytycznasytuacia@interia.pl ECLECTIC ARTS #2 / 2011 (USA) English, 44 A4 pages

KALEIDOSCOPE #11 Part I / 2012 (Finland) English, 28 A4 pages A zine split in 2 parts, the first one is the softer, more experimental part featuring interviews with Choir of Young Believers (good questions & good answers), Hexvessel (very long, in depth interview), Joose Keskitalo (religious / christian music), Pyha Kuolema (neofolk) and Tenhi, and except for Tenhi and Hexvessel the other acts were totally unknown to me. There are no reviews, no ads, no articles, so the zine might seem a bit boring, but the interviews are interesting enough to make it worth your while.

Contact: kaleidoscopezine@luukku.com KALEIDOSCOPE #11 Part II / 2012 (Finland) English, 28 A4 pages This second part features interviews with a bit more aggressive acts: Agatus, Barbarian, Innsmouth, Vordr, Wulkanaz, and again except for Agatus and Innsmouth the other bands were unknown to me. The interviews keep the same interesting approach, so all in all Kaleidoscope proves to be a successful experiment, 56 pages of interviews only.

Contact: kaleidoscopezine@luukku.com MASSIVE BRUTALITY #1 / 2013 (Greece) English, 48 A4 pages I think it's a trend nowadays to have that annoying onecolumn layout in underground zines and Massive Brutality is not an exception. Anyway, I love the enthusiasm and the uncompromising attitude of this zine's

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METALEN #6 / 2013 (Austria) English, 32 A5 pages The new issue is twice as thick and keeps the same professional, glossy/color attitude; if it keeps it this way, Metalen will become one of the leading Extreme Metal magazines in Europe, no doubt. Features short interviews with: Grand Supreme Bloodcourt, Watain, Spiritual Holocaust, Immolation, Overoth, Necrocurse, My Dying Bride, Impiety, Karnak, Man Must Die, The Nihilistic Front, Rex Shachath and Malevolent Creation, a few reviews, loads of short bios, all with excellent layout; and again the zine comes with a compilation CD. All free, you only have to pay for shipping but it's well worth it!

Contact: info@metalmusic.at NEGRO METAL #6 / 2013 (Argentina) Spanish, 36 A4 pages This is a photocopy-quality zine limited to 300 handnumbered copies and written in Spanish, so I had a bit of hard time getting into it, I understand Spanish but not perfectly. I don't like the 1 column layout, the low quality pics and the amount of reviews (only 9!), I think the editor needs a bit more work in order to make this an important name among other zines. Features interviews with: Dark Blasphemer, Hadez, Shot-Gun, Scent of Death, Abolitio Nominis, Sirion, Narbeleth, Illska Hatur, most of them I haven't heard of, bands that will never make it anywhere. Sorry but this issue didn't impress me at all.

Contact: hanoi-22@hotmail.com PERVERSE GOSPEL #5 / 2013 (Finland) English, 48 A4 pages The only zine with a yellow cover I have in my collection, although I have lots of black, blue, red, and even pink cover zines, yellow is a first and it really stands out; what a great advantage for Perverse Gospel, at least when it's on a merch table at festivals. The zine is Death Metal

This is not a metal zine, it is actually an artbook featuring full-page artworks by Cesar Gustavo Ramirez Jimenez, a Death Metal oriented artist. I like the idea of printing it newspaper style, I always likes zines printed like newspapers, don't know why.

Contact: perropateado@hotmail.com

oriented and features interviews with: M.A. Numminen (well-known Finnish artist), Root, David Tortydod (the man behind Killtown Fest), Impetigo, Morbus Chron, Areadeath Productions, Loss, Worship, Saturnian Mist, Denial of God, Funebrarum, and Hellspirit, plus an in depth journal of the editor's trip to USA, a beer reviews section, and a couple of band bios. Not at all a boring zine, and except for some parts of their trip journal, I have deeply enjoyed this zine.

Contact: perverse.gospel@gmail.com

TORNADO #8 / 2013 (Denmark) English, 56 A5 pages Ustu finally released its new issue and it seems he's starting to slowly switch it from a Metal zine to a Horror zine, now featuring both areas of interest. Tornado is released on pro-printed not glossy pages, small fonts printed white on black, with little or no wasted space, and professional approach, the man certainly knows what he's doing. Extensive and interesting interviews with: Kathaaria, Griftegard, Autopsy, Hour of 13, Crucified Mortals, Cauldron Born, Evil Spirit, Confraternita Del Vuoto Immenso, Abramelin, Undergang, Hell, Hobbs Angel of Death, horror flicks director Dante Tomaselli, loads of reviews on movies, music and zines, a great article where different musici and recall how they first got into Metal, and an article about a couple of Slovenian serial killers. A highly respected zine, no wonder why.

Recommended!

Contact: ghoul@get2net.dk

REBORN FROM ASHES #7 / 2013 (USA) English, 58 A4 pages Old-school Death Metal zine printed following the tradition of '90's zine: photocopied (good quality though), b/w, nice layout, a few cut & paste additions on pages, and small fonts, so you get plenty to read. Featuring long and in depth interviews with: Anatomia, Horrendous, Revel In Flesh, Razorback Records, Offal, Bloodsoaked, Xolotl, plus lots of reviews and an excellent, tasty Mexican Death Metal scene report. Kick-ass old-school zine limited to 300 hand-numbered copies!

Contact: intheshadows96@aol.com SATANIK TERRORIST ELITE #3 / 2012 (Mexico) English, 68 A4 pages This extremely aggressive zine from Mexico comes with a cardboard cover and black & white not glossy pages, and features interviews with: Eliminator, Godslaying Hellblast, Satanic Malediction zine, Morbid Goat Tormentor, Paganfire, Death Invoker, Ominous Crucifix, Dybbuk Records, Hellscourge, Grave Ritual, a few reviews on music and zines, a long article on Snakes in Mexican folklore, an article on Lovecraft, and articles about serial killers. Sick literature for sick people.

Contact: satanikterroristelite_zine@yahoo.com.mx

A cut& paste B&W art-book I didn't understand at all; I have no idea what the editor is trying to express through his art or if I should get anything from this zine. It's a waste of money if you're not into as-weird-as-possible art.

Limited to 100 hand-numbered copies; I did a trade with this guy but my pack returned after not being picked up so I paid shipping twice...

SMOKE SIGNALS #1 / 2013 (USA) English, 28 A5 pages

SOPA DE LEPRA 2011 (Mexico) 12 A4 pages

TRIBAL CONVICTIONS #9 / 2013 (Poland) Polish, 52 A4 pages This is an awesome zine, too bad it's all written in Polish. Tribal Convictions features this time interviews with: Rancid Flesh, Trenchrot, Mastabah, Arma Christi, Punishment 18 Records, Offence, Moloch Letalis, Deathstorm, Ragehammer, Deathmarched, an excellent layout full of Death Metal art, articles, reviews, and comes in pro-printed format, with a bonus Death Metal compilation CD, a real treat for any Polish Death Metal follower. Highly recommended!

Contact: robert@wydawnictwopsycho.com

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

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Pest Webzine / Slowly We Rot had the privilege of conducting a long and interesting interview with Ash, the man formerly known as Kanwulf, the ever controversial founding member and mentor of Nargaroth, in which many questions about Nargaroth were answered and some issues properly clarified! A mandatory read!

Hello Ash! It’s a pleasure to talk to you since you are a talented musician that had a huge impact on Black Metal! Let me begin by asking, why have you changed your nickname from Kanwulf to Ash? I wanted to come off some things in my past. And as I developed over the years the name and image of Kanwulf didn’t fit anymore.

When will the fans have the pleasure of listening to a new album from Nargaroth? Are you already working on it? What can be expected?

I don’t know. The actual waves in Black Metal bother me.

People hailing bands that are totally crap in my eyes. I don’t waste my time like the zombies and slaves of nowadays’ “bands”.

When Nargaroth releases a new album it will be released via No Colours Records because you promised them you wouldn’t leave?

I stayed with NO COLOURS RECORDS all the time. I overcame big troubles with them because of their reputation, because I felt bond to the word I gave him back in 1999 when he helped me out of deep trouble. But over the past years, especially in 2011, I got more and more the impression, that he didn’t put enough energy into his label. To my eyes, in the last decade, he lost the grip to the changing label work. Aside that I felt he lost interest in the serious metal work. In a conversation he partly agreed with it. It's fair for me. I understand that there can come a time when you must reorganize your path and maybe you find out your old ways aren’t proper anymore for you. But you must be fair enough to tell it to the ones who depend on you, the bands who expect you to do a good job, to work in their interest. And in that case NO COLOURS RECORDS haven’t done the necessary.

Almost all the big bands that were on NO COLOURS RECORDS left, cause they saw the limits of the label. I have accepted these problems for a long time. Problems with the quality of thr merchandise, the small international distribution of NARGAROTH’s releases and many more that I won't discuss here. So, after many years of conversations and promises to change from his side, and having only done small or no changes at all, I told him I couldn’t stay under his flag anymore. It's hard to act against my word, but I gave him more than enough chances... I will release further NARGAROTH releases on my own.

Why are these songs the ones that touch you the most? In 2000/2001 you rejected the BM scene and recorded Because the source of the songs were intense feelings of the demo “Fuck off Nowadays Black Metal”… but pain and agony and their creation is, in parts, a relief. then you returned. What encouraged you to return in a time in which the scene seems to be even worse and What is the band’s current line up? In the band’s more filled with hipsters and fakers? Do you think you official facebook page you thank the line up… why? can endure it this time around? What’s your opinion on 2013’s Black metal scene?

Do you believe this is Nargaroth’s best line up ever?

The last line up was the worst I ever had. It existed from Black Metal is in my veins, in my mind and in my heart. the beginning of 2013 until August 2013. It was just a The European tour in 2011 connected old friendships again and it healed some wounds in soul. I missed some bunch of drinking, mentally weak, lazy, self-pity losers.

I formed another line up. High professional musicians, of the bandits of the old times. disciplined and loyal as soldiers, culture interested, active Nowadays BM is strange to me. I do not understand it and not wanna-be-stars. I recognized that the problems well. The bands look all alike. All seem to be a Watainwith the former line up were not made by me, cause with wannabe, the singers growl instead of screaming and there are many cock-sucking depressive bands. No real the new line up all runs straight. men anymore with pride and discipline... and strength.

Though you haven’t released anything new recently, you’ve been quite active live. How do you manage to Most of your releases have titles in German which is a language that not all metal fans understand… why keep people interested in your band?

No idea. then have Nargaroth achieved a cult status?

Cause I am with all my mistakes, with all my shit I did in You have banned your country from your concerts… the past, but also with all the music and feelings I created why? Don’t you think you might have die-hard, real with NARGAROTH, very, very real. fans there that really wish to see you play live?

I haven’t played in Germany from 1999 to 2011. I was In 2009 you released an album dedicated to the tired of their laziness. Germany is a small country and Southern American fans for giving you the strength to bullshit gets around faster than a phone talk. The German go on… do you think Black Metal there still has the Scene in my time of absence was a miserable place in my intensity and truthfulness it had here in Europe in the eyes. I got many offers from around the world, so I played early nineties? in all the other continents. Now I do play again here, but Yes. I do believe that. the chemistry between me and the Germans doesn’t always works. I guess we have too many issues.

Nargaroth deals mainly with the fallible humanity.

What is the weakest aspect of humanity?

Nargaroth played live in Portugal in 2005 at the Steel Malign Narcissism.

Warriors Rebellion Festival. What’s your opinion on Why do you consider narcissism to be the weakest my country?

I played at the SWR BARROSELAS METALFEST in aspect of humanity?

2005 I remember but I only saw the airport and the A certain level of self-esteem, self-respect and self-love festival place...so my impressions are very limited. I just are healthy and needed in life. But I mentioned malign don’t like how the European Politicians treat Portugal, narcissism. Its the worst form of selfishness, because the especially in the matter of the financial crisis. I think you suffering is multiaxial. The people that are around such an people work as hard as everyone else in Europe to get a individual suffer from his egocentric behavior of using others for his own benefit. But also the individual good life. suffering from eternal and unsatisfiable hunger for attention and confirmation mixed with merciless selfcontempt hidden behind a bloated image of omnipotence. Individuals like this do everything to get what they desire. They even destroy other people’s life.

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

Have you received any offers from other labels interested in releasing Nargaroth's material?

Since the release of the “Black Metal ist Krieg” album, I've got offers from big international labels. But taking in consideration my promise made to NO COLOURS RECORDS in 1999 and my lack of interest, I refused all offers.

Actually I am not looking for any label.

Nargaroth still use corpse paint… most BM bands have stopped using it… what’s the meaning behind the corpse paint for you?

It’s an emotional, demonical tradition of BM. I am traditional.

As an artist all your creations must be extremely important but which is the song that has more importance to you? The one that comes straight from your heart? The ones that touches you more deeply?

A Whisper Underneath The Bark Of Old Trees, Left Behind In Suicide and Amarok III.

Do you believe your attitude onstage reflects on your fans? What’s the highlight for you when it comes to live performances?

The tears in the eyes of people in the crowd when

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I play “Seven Tears Are Flowing To The River”.

According to you, you cannot read music notes and have no ideas on how to write or read Tabs. How did you learn how to play then? By ear or by heart?

I guess by heart, cause I still cannot catch guitar riffs by listening and replay them. When I got my guitar I started to do “things” and the results are my albums. I play emotionally and very unorthodox. By the way I am highly positive surprised how good informed you are. Very good.

Are you still obsessed with Black Metal or do you listen to any other genres?

I always listened to other things, to all that touches me in any way. But in my opinion there are only two kinds of masculine musical arts. Black Metal and traditional, rural Flamenco, especially when it's just vocals (canto) and guitar (guitarra flamenca). Both arts deal with very masculine, rudimentary topics and contain deep (male) pain and suffering.

How have you discovered Flamenco, a tradition that is so far off Black Metal? Do you have any favorite interpreter? Have you by any chance heard the Portuguese "Fado" which is a very traditional but also dark music style?

A long time ago, I watched a flamenco duo, a guitar player and an old man singing in the most touching agony I've ever seen and felt. I was told that he sung about the hard rural life, when his old mother had to walk many miles to he next city to bail him out. And he sung about a beautiful young woman that twists every young mans head and mind.

But that he could see through the veil of her beauty and saw that she was born illegitimate. And if you grew up and were molded in poor rural areas as I did in the 70's of the last century, you know exactly the meaning of what he sings about and that something like 'illegitimacy' matters a lot in these societies.

For example: my parents got married as soon as my mother discovered her pregnancy at the age of 18. So I can totally feel the moments when the audience start to cheer when the singer finishes a special, heavy weighted phrase of his song.

Later I discovered the female flamenco dancers and some of them have a tremendous grace. Yes, I have a favourite interpreter. He is the best in my opinion and (I think) I do feel the agony in every line he intones. His name is Manuel Agujetas. I prefer him, because he sings the oldest form of Flamenco singing that is called “Cante Jondo” and means “Inner Chant” which is much different to the more commercial, popular Flamenco Styles that developed in the 60's of the last century. One of my deepest regrets in my life is that I've never seen him performing. Not in a big venue, but in a small, cigarettesmoky and vine filled spanish tavern, masculine cheering together with all the other old men the notes of every melancholy poem. He is a very impressive performer, when he sits there in his raven-black suit, white vest and a vine bottle in his hand, his eyes closed, his face in sweat, chanting his agony.

And yes, I've heard of “Fado”, the Fate as you say.

Thematically its very alike Flamenco, especially when it is about unlucky love and misery. Just the style of the singing is more smooth and harmonic than in Flamenco. I prefer the more intense, staccato-like cante of Flamenco.

This kind of melancholy suits me naturally. It's like the heart bleeds directly in the open wound. My words.

In an interview you stated “There are just blind short timers, who will abandon Black Metal with the end of their adolescence”. Don’t you think maturity helps people broaden their interests?

Totally. Maturity and a special way of mental distraction is needed to become Black Metal. We have too many nerds that explore Black Metal in their adolescence and even start a Black Metal sounding project. When you close your eyes it sounds like BM, when you open your eyes you see onstage some fancy haircut boys in baggy jeans and chucks. Unacceptable for me. Worst, there are people who believe that’s BM and the cocky mainstream metal press feed this lie because with the Avantgarde bands they have this tame and all-the-way political correct slaves that they need and have never found among the REAL BM bands.

How does it make you feel knowing that you have fans crazy enough to tattoo the band’s logo or lyrics on their bodies?

Satisfaction.

The books you wrote dealt with which issues? Have they been published or are you planning on doing so in the future?

The first was a small book with a collection of poems published by a small private student company. The second was unpublished and destroyed later, as I burned all in a stone pit close to the place I grew up. The album “Between the Stones” from the side project TORRENT of Akhenaten (JUDAS ISCARIOT) and me is based on that book with vulgar content. Another, very old novel, stayed unfinished somewhere in my documents.

Publishing a book? That’s what the world needs. Another waste of resources to justify the own existence. No, I am not interested. There are already too many books from too many writers. I release albums, that's punishment enough.

What upsets you the most about the media in general and music journalists in particular?

That they claim to make the rules and say the total truth.

They create much bigotry and lies, but have the bigger power instrument.

You enjoy traveling… have you ever visited a place in which you found people to be more “pure” and Is Nargaroth your mental therapy? Where would you be mentally if Nargaroth didn’t exist? When will you “honest” towards themselves and the others?

On a certain level all humans are alike. stop creating music?

Kind of yes. Where would I be... I cannot say. I'll stop I saw an interview of you saying that you started when I am not able to take anymore the rumors that have writing poems as a teenager because you were weird… already affected my private life and destroyed my social do you believe that if you were popular at school your life. But I still have power to fight.

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

Do you ever listen to your own releases?

Which is the one you listen to the most?

I do. SPECTRAL VISIONS OF MENTAL WARFARE I listened most recently.

How’s your relationship with other metal musicians from your own city/country?

I don’t like to fraternize.

You are a member of the “German War Graves Commission”.

How important it is to remember all the soldiers that have died

fighting a war? life would be different?

I would be a gray career zombie I guess. Adapted, boring Yes, I am a supporter of the German War Grave Commission since the middle of the 90's and a member and soulless. for some years now. In my opinion their request or rather Being a psychologist do you ever relate to your mission is a noble and important work. patients? Unfortunately there are many societies in My first encounter was in the early 90's when my which looks have a huge impact and having long hair grandmother received a letter and started to cry. I asked and being “so evil”… do your patients trust you? my mother why she cried and she answered me that “they Don’t they tend to think you’re weirder than them? found her brother”. I wondered because I never heard of a What have you “learned” about Man that you didn’t brother of my Grandma and I asked myself what meant “found”. So I got told the story of the family members know yet? When did you find interest in such topics?

In the beginning they looked strange to me, but in 11 lost in the 2nd WW (I posted pictures of them in the years I got a reputation. I am a very disciplined, strict but booklet of the “Black Metal ist Krieg” album). I was fair therapist. My mainly young, criminal, addicted disturbed by the fact I've never heard of them before and patients highly respect me. I guess they can easily identify asked how can that happen in a family. This way I got with me, because of my tattoos and long hair. I don't look into this topic. Along with the first TV documentaries like I am from another world, instead I look familiar to about the “War Generation” and quite good portraits of them. I am like an example because I look and am the times then and the humans in it, I completed, or better, different but I’m not necessarily a loser at the bottom of I corrected a picture of these soldiers, these men, fathers society. I am a very good and competent therapist. That in and sons. I grew up in the socialist GDR. Beginning in the the end weighs much more than looks.

Kindergarten I heard of gruesome fascist Germans and that the Soviet Union liberated us from these monsters. I The book “On the road” by Jack Kerouac and “Into truly grew up with this picture; and believed in it. Then, the Wild” had a huge impact on you… why? Have you staring at family photos of these “monsters”, I saw a 17 ever considered writing a book? What would it be year old boy in a too big uniform in front of a painted canvas looking as disturbed as I did when I firstly heard about?

I already wrote books. Future books would be about being of him. He died shortly later when a grenade hit his on the road (on the run maybe), travelling, being armored vehicle and he burned to death at 17. In restless...its a part of me. The roaming wolf. television documentaries they interviewed former German

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soldiers, now old Grandfathers, and I saw them crying and talking about having cried out for their mothers as they were under artillery fire. They interviewed British, American and French soldiers that cried too and survivors of concentration camps who also shed tears. And I couldn’t see a difference in their tears. All had their own hell to survive. I didn’t see the monsters anymore, I saw the humans behind it. And that part of them I wanted to remember and to respect. I never accepted war crimes or excused them in any way. But I tried to make it different than the eternal judging and blaming.

I furthermore believe that true forgiveness of crimes in war can only happen when the generations understand and respect the past. And Grave Site Care is a part of that.

So I do totally support the exchange of young school classes to take care of the others Grave Sites. So Polish and Russian teenagers come to Germany and German teens go to Grave Sites in the East to take care and learn history and – maybe – grow up with forgiveness and a bit of mildness in their hearts. I hope that future generations can overcome nowadays’ prejudgments. I have to add, that what I do is not limited to German Soldiers. I am active in the same way for the M.I.A. (Missing In Action) that has the same goals but for fallen U.S. Soldiers in the Vietnam War. Therefore I also travelled in 2006 to Vietnam. You see its not a nation limited interest I work out here, it's for fallen humans in battle in general.

When you see what my intention in the involvement in the German War Grave Commission is, you can maybe imagine how angry I get to see my intention misunderstood as political rudeness. At the same time I could slap myself for the juvenile provoking way in which I wrote the lines in my first album. Cause I was responsible for laying the first step of many misinterpretations of my engagements. Maybe these lines here will help clear up a bit the haze among the considerations of NARGAROTH and the topic of the remembrance of fallen soldiers of many nations.

album he musically liked a lot), I removed all critical contents and stopped the sale of the albums first press. So around 200 Cd’s with this mentioned booklet content got sold, the rest got destroyed and henceforth we sold the album with the new, edited booklet.

I personally have never dealt with political issues in my music or my private life. My father is a (left-winged) politician on a city level and I support him in his idea to stop criminal, political business of the powerful parties and politicians and to educate the ordinary people about what happens behind closed doors. My life reality has nothing to do with the content written in that Wikipedia article, that tries – in my eyes – to paint a merely negative image of NARGAROTH in every manner.

I would like to adapt this article to the reality without removing my past mistakes, but by including all my statements – like this one here – which I made over the last 10 years. But the authors of the article don’t take my statements into account. They consider them as lies, attempts to worm myself cowardly out and have decided to ignore my decade-long trial to get straight with my past while using quite often highly questionable unobjective sources written by clearly identifiable NARGAROTH bashers.

I have no idea why Germans have such a hard time accepting the development of my person and NARGAROTH. They gave the chance to other bands already that also have a controversial past in this matter like DARKTHRONE, DESTROYER 666, INQUISITION and even Roman from DRUDKH. Maybe I am still a thorn in their eyes cause I never socialized with the mainstream press but still made it to an international touring Black Metal band. Or maybe my attempts have been way too crippled for nowadays’ standard where regrets are written with big unnappropriate words.

support our troops abroad. I am active in different charitable institutions that feed homeless people in my country, I donate for a Kindergarten in Peru and a hospital section for children in Romania and sometimes the fee I get for my shows goes directly to special charity bank accounts.

That’s my “political” involvement.

What are my thoughts about 'Nazism'? It’s a very problematic construct and conversations about it must be reasonable and careful, especially towards the German history. I see growing movements in all Europe and when grievances occur in societies we face a popularity of these movements. I do not believe in a well-being within a dictatorship. I grew up in a system that was close to a dictatorship and I know how the tight regalement influences the daily life. We Germans fought hard for a basic set of rights – no matter how much they got undermined nowadays – so we should not give'em out of hands easily.

Regarding my music activity it affects me in the way I have to deal with accusations permanently. I loose concerts frequently and regarding the reality, that I am not into the politics, it's hilarious and frustrating. Especially when my musicians experience repression by their endorsement partners because they play in NARGAROTH. NARGAROTH is no NSBM and it never was. But especially in Germany this idea, this lie is resistant like cancer. I got over the years the impression that it's not so much about if someone is really into NS or not to label him as NS related. I saw too often in the music business that bands and persons with well-known NS past never had to disassociate themselves from it. And bands that never dealt with political elements appear in encyclopedias or social talks among music magnets as NSBM bands. And too often public dissociation from made mistakes regarding political mistakes or pasts doesn’t correspond with the reality seen “backstage”, if you know what I mean. I claim that maybe the designation or marking of someone or a band as NS(BM) is often used as an instrument to control and repress elements that does not want to swim with the mainstream.

But this is just my point of view.

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

Would you describe yourself as a misanthrope?

More as maverick and loner.

I know that the info available on Wikipedia has brought you some personal problems. Care to elaborate on that?

You are right. The German Wikipedia article causes several problems in different areas. In one hand I lost many concerts in Germany and in Austria. On the other, in times when it’s (almost) usual to google people's names, it influences highly my private life, including losing jobs.

The controversial part in the Wikipedia article is the paragraph about the accusations regarding political attitudes in and around NARGAROTH. They base their argumentation on ambiguous written lines in my first album from 1998. I have to admit, that my lines about the German Army 1933 – 45 and the phrase “From white man, for white man”, I wrote in the juvenile provoking manner of a Black Metal debut release, include a high level of misunderstanding potential. I wanted to express my support for the noble request of the German War Graves Commission – of which I am a supporter and also a member, as written above. Regarding the mentioned “white” phrase I wanted to give some thoughts a space about experiences I made with western Black Metal contents in other cultural areas. In the early 90's I lived in Munich and introduced Polish and Norwegian Black Metal with Satanic and Celtic background to Vietnamese and Iranian People who lived in the same house I did and got shocking reactions that resulted in the destruction of the tapes I gave them to listen. So at the age of 17/18, I truly believed that cultural topics in extreme music might only be understood by people of the same culture. That’s what I wanted to express with this phrase. But I wrote it in such a provoking way that it had to be misunderstood. And yes, I wanted to provoke, but I didn’t want to be mistaken for a political herald! When I got to know how people understood it (a magazine author explained it to me in a phone call after he requested the booklet to review the

You’ve often been associated with Nazism and, once again, faced major problems because of this association. What is your opinion on Nazism? How has it affected you personally?

That’s right. As written before, this allegation caused several problems in my live activity with NARGAROTH, but also in my private life.

As mentioned in the previous answer I see myself not as a political active person. I do like my country and I do

Why have you decided to help the kindergarten in Peru and a children's hospital in Romania? Did you visit and were shocked with what you saw?

I guess I have a socialist heart. I grew up in the GDR (German Democratic Republic). My whole education was socialistic. From Kindergarten until the end of school (except Highschool) we learned solidarity with the oppressed and the poor. We packed solidarity-packages for Vietnam and things like that. Well, one way or another, you can grow older, change your system of values but you cannot escape from the roots you're connected to, because they drag you. Once I saw a documentary about the Romania of Nicolae Ceausescu called “Ceausescu forgotten children” or so, I cannot remember exactly. After I've seen the desperate situation there I thought I had to do something. The same happened with the Peruvian Kindergarten. During my travels with NARGAROTH that led me to these countries I could see the efforts done with the help of others, yes.

But, honestly...I don’t wanna make a big thing of it. I don’t like to demonstrate such charity things too much. I have been doing it since I was a child, when I gave food to starving Soviet Soldiers. And I have done it quietly.

Unfortunately I sometimes feel forced to talk about it when I see the wrong image of me painted on the internet and it hurts my principles of existence.

So Ash, how can a Black Metaller be such soft at heart?

Oh contraire... don’t get the wrong impression. I am everything but softhearted. I just have a socialist morality. But at the same time I could destroy a whole universe in the blink of an eye and not feel a thing.

Interview by Sónia Fonseca Photos by © (www.sunvemetal.de) January 2014

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Sunvemetal

When I heard the crushing death metal assault of the band VOLTURYON I knew I wanted to interview them so here is an interview with Johan and Tim.

Does the band take advantage of all the social networking sites at all?

Tim: I'm an internet junkie, I mean how fuckin' great is it to be able talk to a friend in Chile at the same time talking to a dude in Australia while sitting at home in Sweden and not needing to wait for a letter that takes 3 weeks to get here?

Johan: We have a Facebook page (www.facebook.com/Volturyon) and we try to use that as much as possible for updates etc.

Tell me a little bit about the

beginnings of the band and how many line-ups did you go through till you found the right one so to speak?

Johan: We started in 2005. In the beginning it wasn't even supposed to be a proper band. I had some riffs and I asked Crille (drums) if he wanted to add some drums to them and then maybe record it, just for fun. We were very happy with the result and thought: "Hey, let's just form a band and play this shit." We've had some line-up changes over the years. Most notably, I think, three singers. Our first singer was Tobias Netzell (In Mourning), who was only with us for our first demo, and then Olle Ekman (Deals Death), who left the band soon after our latest album, "Coordinated Mutilation". I think the band is quite stable at the moment with our new singer Alex Högbom.

With so many bands out there, what are some of the ways you guys promote the band and how do you feel about people just wanting to download stuff and not pay for that?

Johan: You can’t stop evolution. I think this is similar to tape trading back in the days, but in a way larger scale. But I can understand that people who put shitloads of money and effort into things can get pissed. Nowadays, you'll have to concentrate on the gigs and merchandise. I think that the way music has been spread in the past is just that, a thing of the past. This is the reality of today, you might as well embrace it and use it to spread your music and make people come see your shows, buy merch and support the underground.

Tim: I believe that the best promotions are done just like before. Talking to people. We used to write letters and trade tapes now we instant message and trade links, it's the same monster just with sharper teeth.

I love pirate sites! I have downloaded every Metallica album, twice! (Ironic smirk)

At what point did the lovely world of underground music enter your life and what were some of the early bands that you got into? What were some early shows you saw?

Tim: I grew up in northern California in the early '80's so I would have to say when the early thrash bands like Slayer released Show No Mercy and seeing shows at the Stone in SF. Later on I moved to New Jersey where I hooked up with Henry Veggian and John McEntee who were looking for a bassist in a band called Revenant. When I showed up to a rehearsal I was hooked by a music that was conjuring extreme and vile malevolence. I was asked to join and it began. We played a lot of shows with bands like Ripping Corpse, Immolation , Cannibal Corpse, Napalm Death's first ever US appearance and even toured with Morbid Angel on the Alters of Madness tour. Just to name a few we tape traded, and played with a lot of the original North Eastern U.S. underground bands.

Johan: I think that, for me, it was a steady climb up the ladder, so to say.

When I was younger I listened to Kiss, Mötley Crüe (still do) and bands like that. From there I went to Metallica and then i discovered Slayer. But it was probably around 1993, 1994 when i heard Cannibal Corpse for the first time that I became a fan of underground music and particularly death metal.

Tell me how a song comes together?

Johan: It’s mostly Andreas, Crille and I who write the songs. Andreas or I come up with the riffs and then we get together with Crille and start to build up the song part by part, then we record it. It normally takes a couple of changes before we’re satisfied with the song.

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

Are lyrics important to you at all and what kind of stuff do you mostly write about?

Johan: Well, you've got to have some kind of lyrics.

Hehe. In the beginning I wrote all the lyrics as well, and I think that the gore/horror thing came naturally. I didn't want to write about politics or other "current events", and you can't sing about watering flowers in a death metal band. Now Alex writes most of the lyrics, so I can concentrate on the music.

Does the band get to play live a lot and is there a solid metal scene where our based out of and what are some of the bands you have played shows with?

Tim: There is an awesome metal scene in Sweden in general. Where we live reminds me a little of Pittsburg. A medium sized industrial city. A perfect atmosphere to breed anxiety filled musicians which in turn produces dark angry music.

Johan: Unfortunately, the extreme metal scene kind of sucks here, so we always try to play anywhere else but Sweden. We did an East European tour with Demonical in 2011 and that was awesome. The metal culture in Poland, Romania and such countries are totally different, so we'd like to go back there and play anytime.

Were you in any other bands before Volturyon?

If so, how many?

Johan: Too many to count. I honestly can't remember how many.

Tim: '88-'94 Revenant (US Death Metal) Nuclear Blast ect '96-2000 HatePlow (feat. Members of Cannibal Corpse and Malevolent Creation) Arctic/Pavement 2011-13 Margrave -Old School Death Metal . TBR on Bifrost records. Besides Volturyon I also sing and play bass in a Southern Metal / Groove Metal band called Methane which is more in the vein of Pantera / BLS. For those who have never heard of the band, what would you say the band sounds like?

Johan: That's a hard question to answer. I think that so far our albums have sounded like brutal death metal with some elements of thrash metal and semi-technical death metal. With the new material I'm writing at the moment, I've tried to stay clear of the "thrashier" stuff and focus more on brutality. I've heard people compare us to Cannibal Corpse a few times, but I don't agree with that at all. Of course, there are maybe a couple of riffs here and there which may have been influenced by them, but as a whole I don't hear a big resemblance.

Do you think you’re a good live band and have you ever thrown in a cover or 2 during a set?

Tim: I haven't had a chance to play a show yet with the band. But when we start giging it's going off the hinges.

Johan: We've talked about doing a cover or two for a long time actually, but so far we've never played one live. We'll see what happens in the future.

Around what would you say is the band doing band related stuff?

Tim: Rise ,Destroy, rebuild. Everything from writing, to making new contacts. Over all getting ready for a new onslaught starting with the next release.

How many releases does the band have out now and tell me a bit about your latest release and how has that been doing for you?

Johan: We have released two albums so far, "Blood Cure" and "Coordinated Mutilation". Both albums got good reviews and sold as well as can be expected on a small indie label.

Where do you see the underground headed in say the next 5 years? Do you ever see CDs becoming no more so to speak?

Tim: CD's are already obsolete, in 10 years they will be a cult object just like cassettes and records are now.

Does the band have any goals for yourselves?

Johan: I think our main goal is just to write good music and get out and play as much as we can. So far we've played throughout Europe and have had a blast doing it, but it would be really cool to be able to play outside Europe, like in the US, Asia and so on.

Hopefully, we'll do that soon.

Tim: Our immediate goal should be finding distro and a strong backing for the new material. Then I am hoping to influence newer songs with some more bass driven riffs.

When can we expect some new music from the band?

Johan: We have some new songs ready for an EP. Unfortunately, we’ve had some technical problems during the recording process, and that has delayed the process. But hopefully we’ll have it out within 2-3 months.

Tim: I am 3 songs deep into the new EP. As soon as I have the material down tight I will jump in the studio and lay down my tracks.

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Tim: Not so much, classic rock sometimes.

When you hear a song for the 1st time, what do you look for in a song?

Johan: That’s a difficult question. I just go by feel, I think. I know if I like it when I hear it.

Tim: Some kind of hook, originality.

Why should a record label sign your band?

Tim: I think in a world of 360 deals and all the possibilities in the world to release your own stuff. Why should bands sign with a label? Marketing, distribution and tour booking is becoming more important.

But of course if the opportunity should appear from the shadows with a company that wants a tight experienced unit, it could make things more interesting.

What are some of the things you like to do when you’re not doing band related stuff? Do many of the band members hang out with each other?

Tim: I go to the gym, work, drink, fight and fuck. Of course, some of the greatest plans are forged over a beer.

Johan: I like to listen to music, drink beer with my friends, play video games, watch TV-series and Japanese dramas and anime.

Plug any websites you have.

Our Facebook page, Reverbnation and our website, www.volturyon.net Any last words to wrap this up?

Tim: Thanks man. It's an inspiration to see and talk to so many "old school" heads still out supporting the scene.

Johan: Thanks for the support!

Tell me something that might surprise people?

Tim: Polar bears do not walk the streets in Sweden.

Johan: Jesus is not coming.

Do you listen to any other kind of music besides metal?

Johan: Yeah, mostly metal but I also like rock and roll, hard rock, punk rock, classical music, some pop music and more. If something is good it doesn’t matter that much what the genre is.

Interview by Chris Forbes November 2013

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

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ourselves, that the work in question doesn‟t belong to the creator anymore, but to the listener who is inspired by it.

Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.

Pyre: We come from a small town named Sept-Îles, in the north-eastern part of Quebec, Canada. Zombi (Drums, Bass, Synth) and I had a band together in the 90s, Ammoniac. It was kind of a traditional metal more in the vein of let‟s say Danzig. Then I had two projects with Vile (Guitar); Rebellion and Profanation, where we explored death and doom metal. We decided to join forces and we jammed a while as a trio. At that point I was handling bass and vocals. We were obsessed with the album Osculum Obscenum, by Hypocrisy, and I suggested that we take the last track title as our moniker; Althotas. The name stayed but we gave it our own signification, with a concept that evolved with time. It is the name of the dead forest where the major part of our malefic stories take place. I then switched to guitar, and we began dual guitar arrangements. Zombi knew an impressive vocalist by the name of Peltös. The chemistry was there from the first meeting, just talking about the future of the band.

In 2001, we recorded a five songs demo titled Haunted Forest. This was our first experience in a studio. This CD sold out and the responses were very good. We then took matters in our own hands and in 2003 and 2004 recorded two other demos, Dead In The Woods and Enucleation.

The sound was raw and not a lot of people have heard those. I moved to Montreal to experience the big city and to be able to go to a lot of metal shows, which I did, and we continued to compose long-distance.

What have you released so far and how were your releases received by the public/media?

Pyre: Haunted Forest was very well received at the time in our lost region, and we still hear from that album from time to time. It was very underground but still found a way to travel and be known as far as Russia (a lot of metal websites have it as a free download). It got some airplay on metal radios and made an impact on followers in the west of the province. I was quite surprised when I found about that surfing the internet.

Our new double album ResurrectDead is surpassing all of our expectations for now. All the reviews to date are very good and the average classification is above 8/10! A special edition with an added artwork, bound in a burnt parchment and sealed with wax is very appreciated too.

We also discovered we have fanatics in various parts of the world, which is a great bonus for a band as underground as us!

Do you play live as well? How's your live activity so far?

Pyre: We sometimes play live but for us (and the dead!) only. We build a big stage in the forest, install generators and equipment, and play a full set with fires, explosions, dry-ice effects and switching lights. You can have a glimpse of this on our website with the song Infinite Nightmare that we recorded on video on such a night. We plan to reiterate such a show, but with people around. But they‟ll have to take the right trails to find us.

Plans to do other shows are in discussion. We have yet to integrate a bassman and find a way to jamm long-distance for a better rendition of the songs. We are perfectionists, the feeling has to be right. We are one of the only three metal bands I know from Sept-Îles, with Feast Of Corpses and Mortuas. I like those bands, cool guys. I‟m sure we could put up a show with them in a short notice.

Zombi: I like to play in the woods but I hope we‟ll have the opportunity to play on a real stage in a venue. We are not limited to that. I hope we‟ll pierce the abscess one day How would you describe your style? Which bands and that it‟ll make north-eastern metal history. We‟ll have influenced your music? to prove ourselves, something small to begin with. Better Pyre: I like to call it Black/Death/Horror Metal. People to play great for a few die-hard fans than for a big crowd say we are old school, that our style is Swedish that doesn‟t give a shit. black/death from the beginning of the 90s. Our influences don‟t really show that much in our riffs, but more in the What should labels/zines/promoters know about your atmospheres I think. We are more influenced by old band? Why should they be interested in it? horror movies from the 70-80s, the soundtracks from that Pyre: We are passionate and obsessed by our metal! We period, like the Italian scores. The extreme scene from blend morbid elements with atmospheric parts, 1989-1994 is the one that gave us the need to put together perversion, crass with an epic and melancholic touch. Our the band. Hypocrisy, Summoning, Amorphis, Dissection, music is evoking feelings we don‟t find very often in Autopsy, A Canorous Quintet, Mayhem, Paradise Lost, other bands (that we know of). It plays a central role in Emperor, Deicide, Morbid Angel, Samael… My first our lives. It accompanies particular moods that we think extreme album was Broken Hope‟s Swamped In Gore in can be common with other metalheads. We once recorded 1991. My universe got turned upside down!

Peltös‟ vocals for our second demo on a winter night, Peltös: For my part, I would add some formations from outside in the middle of nowhere in the woods. We these cult years like Dark Throne, Burzum, Beherit, plugged our portable recording device in a car battery and Necrophobic and old albums by Venom, Bathory, he sang the whole five songs fucking out there! That‟s Metallica, Slayer, Kreator, Sodom and more particularly dedication if you ask me!

Iron Maiden that made me a slave of Metal at age 6.

Peltös: Metal runs in our veins, all we want to do is craft Zombi: For me, apart from the metal realm, Rush had a more songs… huge role to play in my drumming skills.

Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.

Stephen: We actually started out as a bit of fun between Calum and Greg back in 2004. Back then, Calum was a drummer, playing prog metal and Greg was a classic rock and blues guitarist. Both however were in a heavy Metallica and Slayer stage which led to Calum picking up guitar to jam metal with Greg. Their efforts culminated in home recordings on an 8-track under the name of 'Beer and Crisps'. Glasgow metal was bleak back then so it wasn‟t long before they saw the potential in their work, leading to the birth of Amok. Keith (Calum‟s brother) wanted in on the action and picked up bass as a beginner and our then drummer Jamie who was a seasoned live drummer, was poached to bring some experience. As for me, I was more of a death metal guy but signed up after Calum laid out his blueprint for thrash metal dominance when we worked together in a local hotel!

Quickly we hit the scene and raised a few eyebrows with our performances full of youthful intensity! Thrash was practically non-existent in Glasgow so at first we had the novelty factor. Our reputation built up fast and several home recorded demos followed as we fine-tuned our early sound. 2007's 'Operation Thrash' demo, featuring 'Kill the Gestapo' and 'Thrash Island' really saw us arrive! That content went into 'Downhill without Brakes' which was picked up by our label Witches Brew in 2008. A year or so after its release we took a self-imposed sabbatical, but we're back and stronger than ever with our 2nd album 'Somewhere in the West'. 2014 not only marks our 10th year but the dawning of a new era with a new line up featuring Matt Storry behind the drums! The benefits Matt has brought to Amok are many; he has added a totally new dimension to our sound.

Matt: With my old band Abraxas we played a lot of gigs that shared the bill with Amox so I got to know them through that. Calum even played lead guitars for us when we were between guitarists. Likewise, I filled in for Jamie (Amok's previous drummer) for a gig he couldn't make (which didn't go ahead in the end!)

Later, Calum started up a side project, Disintegrator. He asked me to play drums and Keith came in to play bass.

During that time we got pretty tight as a rhythm section so on the back of that they asked me to join Amok when the vacancy came up

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

Rising Demons

Why should a metalhead buy your demos/albums?

Pyre: From comments we received so far, our compositions possess a mystic aura and the riffs are memorable. They seem to trigger mental images to the listeners, who often describe the feeling they get in a very visual way. Our lyrics are meticulously crafted to tell a story that fits perfectly with the music. Some part horror, science-fiction, gore, anti-religious, perverse, but with a cinematic feel.

We do everything ourselves, from composing, mixing, mastering, designing and drawing the booklets, etc, then we send it to press and manufacture. We are very passionate. Peltös even does the pyrotechnics and effects when we jamm in the woods!

We do the band to satisfy our need to create, to release our imagination. It‟s a way to recycle all the hate and darkness that habits us.

Peltös: I like to believe that the subjectivity of our songs, including our lyrics, inspire more then we have imagined

What plans do you have for the near future as a band?

Pyre: We began working on new songs. We have accumulated a shitload of riffs over the years, song structures, and lyrics. We want to release a follow up to ResurrectDead as soon as possible. We have learned a lot about recording and our tactic is to keep doing it instinctively and aim for atmosphere and feeling. We don‟t use a click track, we try to not overdo anything, keeping it real. We do it ourselves. I‟m also working on tshirt designs that will hopefully be available really soon.

If everything goes as planned, and if the weather allows it, we‟ll do a show in the woods this summer near Sept-Îles.

It‟s gonna be underground and yet hopefully epic!

Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?

Pyre: A few tracks are available on Youtube to get an idea of what we‟re about. You can visit www.althotasmetal.fourfour.com to buy the album and merch. Reviews, comments and videos are available there as well.

I‟d like to thank Francisco at Profusion Metalstore in Montreal for pushing our album so much and for great advices too! Go to www.prcmusic.com and ask Remi for our CD and discover other bands from the underground as well.

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How would you describe your style? Which bands influenced your music?

Calum: When we first started Amok I lived and breathed thrash metal, my style was definitely born out of my obsession with the bay area scene in the 80‟s. When I was writing our first album I used to stare at the cover to Exodus - Fabulous Disaster as I wrote to try to get me in the mood and escape the fact I was in a bedroom in the shitty town near Glasgow. We are more drawn to the less grim side of things in metal, I find all that really fake, so I naturally found bands like Anthrax and Exodus appealing as they had a lighter side to their attitude and Anthrax in particular has clever lyrics and sometimes sang about real issues as supposed to just death and killing folk. When I hear our first album I hear our influences much more than our recent album, but that‟s only natural as you find your own way. With this album I think all our influences are still there, but they are less obvious and we definitely know what we are now. We are much more focused, and anyone who listens to the album will know we are the real deal, and much more than a „neo-thrash‟ band. A lot of the recent thrash bands try too hard to be „thrash‟ and it then becomes a parody of itself that religiously adheres to every stereotype there is. We have been around 10 years, so we pre-date that movement. Yes we play thrash, and we are proud to say it, but the difference between us and a lot of bands is when it‟s un-cool again we will still be there playing it because it‟s something we genuinely love.

Keith: We try to write thrash that has a groove to it. It‟s my opinion that thrash should not only get you headbanging but also get your toe tapping! I think we have hit the balance right on this album as there are some really fast, heavy songs but at the same time keep a certain catchy groove to them. Make Time To Kill Time is a perfect example. We also put a lot of emphasis on our vocals when we write. Vocal melodies are just as important as a good riff and I think a lot of bands miss a

to a wider audience. The reviews from that where positive worldwide and 'Thrash Island' from that album took us all by surprise and went on to become something of a cult anthem for thrashers. The YouTube hits for that song are near the 100, 000 mark which is pretty cool! As for the new album, so far the reviews from fans and critics alike has been fantastic! The feedback is very positive and everyone really seems to be feeling the love for the new, more focused and mature sound we have adopted. Everyone has come a long way musically since our beginning and with Matt onboard now things have only got better.

trick on this. Stevo has such a powerful voice and an amazing range so we utilize that to the max!

Matt: Style wise, I'd describe it as identifiably 'thrash' but with its own flavor. We have a good range of influences from across the rock genre and I think they come across.

Why should a metalhead buy your demos/albums?

Stephen: Simply because whether you‟re solely into thrash or one of the many variants of the genre, our album has something that will appeal to everyone. Our sound is so diverse by comparison to many thrash acts. The new album 'Somewhere in the West' is an evolution of our distinctively heavy, yet very accessible sound we have been perfecting over the past 10 years. The album fuses together technicality, speed, aggression, power and melody to produce a fresh outlook on modern thrash metal that is bound to get even the pickiest of metal fans banging their head and tapping their feet!

Calum: It is also an album that means an awful lot to us personally, and I think this comes through on it, makes it genuine. We sacrificed a lot to get this done, and hopefully the level of detail, attention and love for what we are doing translates to the listener. When Stephen was recording his vocals I was in Australia looking for work and possibly never coming back. It was quite surreal writing lyrics and singing melodies down the phone at 5 in the morning but we got there in the end. Before I left we didn‟t even have a drummer, so I spent a week recording drum guide tracks for me to play my guitar parts over. My hands were bleeding by the time I got to my guitars, and I wrote and recorded all my solos the day before I had to fly out, but again we got there. It‟s these unusual circumstances which laid on the pressure and forced us to do something special which I think comes out on the CD. Those solo‟s for all I know could have been the last notes I ever did on an Amok track. I remember recording those and thinking about how I was about to leave everything and everyone behind and it takes a lot for a thrash dude to admit but it was pretty heavy going haha, helped get some more feeling into those bends!

Matt: Because I think they'll enjoy it. Haha! Simple as that!

Do you play live as well?

How's your live activity so far?

Stephen: Of course!! Getting out there on stage and playing live has always been the most satisfying thing about this band for us all. Granted, over the past few years our live activity has been pretty sparse but that was our own doing on account of various changes in our own personal lives. I think things got to a stage where we hit burn out and were running on half empty with the enthusiasm draining quick. Our self-imposed sabbatical was probably the best decision we have made in our time together as it let us get some time to think, look at things objectively, and ultimately regain the desire and drive to rise again. Now we are back, we are signing up to as many gigs as we can possibly do. We've already played a few return shows, to a great reception and have many more booked up already. We aim to play more throughout the U.K to promote the album and hopefully venture into Europe for one or two shows if possible also.

www.facebook.com/amokscotland. We also have our own YouTube channel - AmokThrash.

If you like what you hear and want to buy both our albums then head over to our online store atwww.amokthrash.bandcamp.com or go direct to our label Witches Brew at www.witchesbrewthrashes.de!!

Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.

Apontokation was born in 2010 by Sijmen (Drums) and Patxi (Guitar) in Guadix, a city in the south of Spain. In 2010, 3 new member joined the band, Dod (Bass), Tito (Guitar) and Vera (Voice). After hard work and a lot of concerts we recorded our first demo “Awakening The Beast” in 2011. With this demo in our hands we kept doing a lot of concerts and playing in some metal festivals in the south. After the first demo Tito had to leave the band. Therefore changes were made, we decided to record two of our new songs and made a new demo called “Bloody Carnival” (2013). Months later our singer Vera and the bass player Dod decided to leave the band for personal reasons. This is when Gustavo joined the band to play bass and a month ago Manu Garzon joined the band as the singer. As a result we are ready to play live again.

We have a lot of new material to show so we are beginning to record, maybe a full album hoping to have a better sound.

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

Rising Demons

What have you released so far and how were your releases received by the public/media?

Stephen: Prior to our latest release, our 'back catalogue' if you want to call it that is pretty sparse. In the early years we wrote, recorded and played an incomprehensible amount of songs but few made it out into the public domain. The problem was that we were really striving to find a sound that defined us, so the turnover of material was so vast that demo's were outdated before the idea of putting them out had been considered! Looking at it through more mature eyes now, we did miss a trick there.

Back then we were pretty unorganised and we only really cared about playing live so we kind of neglected the importance of 'the whole package' - promotion, branding, and of course, the release of our material! There are a few rare cuts of early Amok out there, but our most notable efforts are definitely the demo 'Operation Thrash' which formed the foundation of our first album 'Downhill without Brakes'.

Keith: That‟s the one that caught the attention of our label Witches Brew who re-released it and exposed our music

What should labels/zines/promoters know about your band? Why should they be interested in it?

Stephen: Because we are unique in a genre plagued by its own stereotype. When it comes to our sound, we he haven't sold out - and it shows! Too many of the modern thrash bands prescribe to a generic formula which is not only extremely mundane, it‟s becoming tedious. Unlike the pack, we write what we like first and foremost and that translates when you listen to the album. As a band, our personal music tastes are extremely varied and that filters through into our own music. We take influence from all areas and the overall product sounds more organic and genuine, not like some of the paint-bynumbers robotic efforts released by many modern thrashers. One listen to 'Somewhere in the West' will only confirm what we have been saying for years, we are the premium brand of thrash metal in Scotland.

What plans do you have for the near future as a band?

Keith: Right now we want to continue promoting “Somewhere In The West” and play as many live shows as we can! There definitely won‟t be a 5 year gap in releasing new music like we had between “Downhill Without Brakes” and “Somewhere In The West”! As stressful as recording is, we are all keen to release new material! Matt is working in Japan at the moment so I‟m hoping he will be back soon and be part of the writing process. I‟m the fortunate position that Calum is my brother so I get to hear a lot of the early demos before the other guys and the new material that I hear is sounding fucking amazing!

Stephen: We undoubtedly have the wind well and truly in our sail again with the new and improved line up and the release of the album. That enthusiasm has everyone firing on all cylinders. So much so that new material is already being written with view or releasing some demo material hopefully by the late spring/early summer.

How would you describe your style? Which bands influenced your music?

We like to describe our music as Death / Thrash metal, with a lot of influences. We have as a common influence bands like Carcass, Nile and a lot of thrash and death metal bands, but every member also has their own influence hehe..

Why should a metalhead buy your demos/albums?

Because we work hard and although we have much to improve in many ways, I think our music can appeal to the people fond of death or thrash or many other styles within the metal, and on the new album we will have very interesting lyrics.

What have you released so far and how were your releases received by the public/media?

Our first two demos have been well received, not everyone likes as usual but in general terms we have had good reviews. We only need to improve the sound quality Do you play live as well? How's your live activity so far?

Yes we play live too of course. Our shows are just direct and aggressive hehe like our music. We try to make the people move in the shows and have a good time, what a metal concert should be.

What should labels/zines/promoters know about your band? Why should they be interested in it?

There is nothing special to know about us, we are just 4 guys making music and working hard to attract people and trying to bring something new to the scene, even knowing that it is very difficult.

What plans do you have for the near future as a band?

We always say jokingly that we would be satisfied with being the first group on the first day and in the smallest stage of Hellfest to feel fulfilled as a band hehe...

Where can we listen to your band and where can we seriously our real plan now is recording our first album after two demos. buy your stuff?

Stephen: You can find us online in the usual places!! A quick internet search will throw up plenty of pages full of Where can we listen to your band and where can we songs, lyrics and videos out there that have been posted buy your stuff? by fans and friends, but the best way to keep up to date is We are in soundcloud, bandcamp, youtube and facebook, to connect with us on facebook at so if anyone want to buy some merchandising of the band just have to contact us on any of these platforms.

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Do you play live as well? How's your live activity so far?

Yes we will be playing live!!!! We have our first show in 24 years - Liverpool Lomax 28th March 2014, and Almost Fatal Fest (Barrow in Furness) July 12th 2014!!

At last we can take the show out to people thanks to being a "full band", We can't wait to slay! Rehearsals have been going really well!!

Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.

Austerymn started in 1990. At the time it was just myself (Rik) and Steve Critchley. The band was called Perpetual Infestation, then we changed our name to Godless Truth in 1991. We also changed our style at this time to playing traditional UK Doom/Death. In 1996 we put the band on hold because we couldn't find permanent members!

In 2007 Steve contacted me and said let's do the band again. Obviously we needed to change the name again due to an established Godless Truth being in existence.

Steve came up with Austere, a guy on our MySpace page came up with Hymn. And I mashed the two together Austerymn!! ( or-steer-rim) I wanted to speed things up a bit and now we play pure Death Metal! We got Stu Makin (lead guitar) and Paul Lewis (drums) on board last year and hear we are today... Ready to SLAY!!!

How would you describe your style? Which bands influenced your music?

Old School Death Metal - no frills, no bullshit!!! We have a Swedish influence obviously as we use a HM2 pedal! some won't hear past the pedal and will call us clones!

And I'm not gonna lie, of course Sweden is a primary influence! But if you listen carefully there is more to us!!!

Obvious influences include Autopsy!!! Nihilist, Entombed, Dismember, Carnage, God Macabre, Nirvana 2002. However we also take influence from Carcass, Napalm Death, Discharge, Dead Kennedy's, Morbid Angel,Bolt Thrower, early Paradise Lost, early Anathema, My Dying Bride, At The Gates, Morbid Angel,Death, Cruciamentum, Decomposed (UK) Entrails..and Simon and Garfunkel!!!

What should labels/zines/promoters know about your band? Why should they be interested in it?

I guess the answer to that is that we were there as kids in Death Metal's infancy! We believe that it should be brutal and heavy but also have hooks and melody!! We Are OLD SCHOOL!!! It's in our blood! We mean it, we live it and we give 100%.

What plans do you have for the near future as a band?

We are hopefully going to be releasing a limited 10" Vinyl EP called "Dead" by April 2014! We are in talks to get a full length album out by January 2015! And our live appearances! So it's all systems GO!!!

Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?

You can get hold of In Death...We Speak from Goatprayer Records. Thanks for the interview!!!

Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.

The band was formed in May of 2011 in the romanian city of Cluj-Napoca by the initiative of guitarist/vocalist Radu Vulpe and drummer George Alb. A few months later Radu's brother, Catalin Vulpe joined the band thus completing the formula. Before this, Radu (Necrovile, exGuerrillas, ex-Clitgore, ex-Planetarium, ex-Horrify) & George (ex-Marchosias, ex-She Wolf) also played in a thrash cover band named "Metal Up Your Ass" in the late 2008 and until 2009. This was actually the band which later on transformed into Decease. In 2012 we´ve managed to record our first album entitled "Exhort To Obliterate", signed a record deal with the romanian extreme metal underground label Hatework/ACM and in 15th Feb of 2013 we`ve released it as a profesional fulllenght album.

Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.

I Andreas started the band (just the name) in 2004, when my Black/Death band was put on hold, I wanted to start something with more Thrash influences, but I did not want any rules.

How would you describe your style? Which bands influenced your music?

In addition to Motörhead, I have to say 80 's Thrash/Punk, How would you describe your style? Which bands and 90 death metal. influenced your music?

Generally speaking, Thrash/Death Metal. We are not Why should a metalhead buy your demos/albums? actually a thrash or a death metal band, we sound more To listen to a real band who have given everything for like the rawness of the late ´80s German thrash scene almost 10 years. combined with the speed, heaviness of the early ´90s American death metal scene. The influences varies What have you released so far and how were your between bands like early Sepultura, Kreator, Demolition releases received by the public/media?

Hammer, Protector and Malevolent Creation, Deicide, People have well hated us, but who cares really? early Suffocation.

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

Rising Demons

Why should a metalhead buy your demos/albums?

Because I'm my opinion they are good! We made a conscious effort to be no bull shit, punch to the gut Death Metal! We give 100%. Some will like it, some won't! But it's all about the music! And it's real, no poser! Just dirty rotting Death Metal!! If you like it buy it and enjoy it! If not just forget it! I won't lose sleep....I'm nearly 40 years old so that stuff does not worry me any more ha ha!

Do you play live as well? How's your live activity so far?

We have always played live, it is the only reason to play harder music, if we had not played live what would we do then?

Why should a metalhead buy your demos/albums?

Well, if anyone is looking for a straight forward, no compromise, no bullshit, thrash/death metal band, we are the guys to provide that. We think that today`s scene is over-saturated with metalcore, deathcore modern bands and everyone forgot about the early 90s metal scene. If What should labels/zines/promoters know about your you are into that, then you should check us out. band? Why would they be interested in it? they need not be interested at all.

What have you released so far and how were your

What have you released so far and how were your releases received by the public/media?

As Austerymn As Silence Drowns The Screams (2007 Demo) - this was doom/death and actually not my thing anymore, Steve likes it but it's not my cup of tea!!!

In Death...We Speak (self-released promo 2013) we put this out ourselves on high quality CDr. Printed a run of 200 and they are now SOLD OUT!!

In Death...We Speak (2013 Goatprayer records cassette only) still available.

In Death...We Speak - has had great underground and Main stream reviews! One of our tracks featured on Terrorizer's Fear Candy 118 CD! And We got a killer review to in Rock Hard mag (Germany) So long as people enjoy it that's cool! I'm not too worried about reviews but it's nice when people praise your hard work!!

releases received by the public/media?

Our first release was a single/demo song entitled "Boiling Hatred" in 2012, which got really good reactions from the public. The song was later on re-mastered and included on our first album entitled "Exhort To Obliterate" released on 15th Feb via Hatework Rec. So far we´ve received over 20 reviews from various zines all over the world and almost all of them were good/really good ones. We are glad to see that there are still, people who apreciate and support this kind of metal music.

Do you play live as well? How's your live activity so far?

We are trying to play live as much as possible. Since our first show in March 2012 we´ve had 40 shows, most of them in Romania but also in Poland, Hungary, Czeck Republic, sharing the stage with such bands as Nile, What plans do you have for the near future as a band? Vader, Sinister, Hate, Nargaroth, Svart Crown, Ex-Deo, We will run a few gigs in Europe then we will see what Artillery, Azaroth, Violentor and many more. happens.

As for future shows, we`ve been confirmed to play at two festivals in Romania, 1 May Rocks(Sibiu /w Virus (IT) & Where can we listen to the band and where can we many more) & Transylvanian Death Fest VII(Cluj /w buy your stuff?

Gutted (Hun) & many more).There are also a few shows We are on Spotify, iTunes, Deezer, you can buy records ready to be confirmed and we are planing to hit the road on our website www.Bulletsize.se or facebook/bulletsize again in march/april.

What should labels/zines/promoters know about your band? Why should they be interested in it?

As we´ve said earlier, we are not the generic typical modern metal band. If your looking for some old school

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brutality, check us out! Everyone should know that we are We love to play live and do it as often as it gets. We here to stay and to carry on the old school extreme metal played with many bands, for example Agalloch, Samael or Helrunar. Should be around 50 shows since the reunion banner. in 2005. What we don't do is "pay to play", that's one of What plans do you have for the near future as a band? the reason why we don't go on extnded tours.

Besides live shows, we are planing to enter the studio in the mid of March to record our second full lenght album. What should labels/zines/promoters know about your Everything is ready and we are very excited, just need to band? Why should they be interested in it? test some studios and make the right choice for the sound Excruciation are despite their foundation in 1984 not only we are looking for. The only thing we could say, is that its a band taking credits from their „golden age“ but to gonna sound more brutal and technical than the previous develop and experiment with every new song into something deeper and better. one. More info will come soon.

Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?

You can listen to the full album on our official bandcamp, soundcloud pages and if you want to support us you can buy it directly from us at our official store (decease.bigcartel.com). Also you can frequently keep in touch with us by visiting our facebook page or for any other info/booking/interviews/reviews write us directly to decease.band@gmail.com

Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.

Well, you can split Excruciation's history in two era. The band started in 1984 as one of the first extreme metal band in Switzerland. Releasing a few records & demos and disbanding in 1991. We the got reunited in 2005 just for the music's sake and did a few new records. All members also played in other bands/projects. At the moment we're four of the original line up and one guitarist that joined in 2008. You'll find more infos about all members on our new homepage, which should be online while you read this.

What plans do you have for the near future as a band?

We just finished our new Album "[g]host" that should be available in mid-May and then doing some gigs to promote it. And we already started writing songs for our next record, a 6-track EP, tentatively callled "[c]rust", that should be out at the end of this year.

No! Forstyrre is a studio project ONLY! I am not interested in doing live performances.

What should labels/zines/promoters know about your band? Why should they be interested in it?

We have a nice theme for our band. We want to create a depressive atmosphere with this project which centers on the worst parts of human mankind also the unaccepted Where can we listen to your band and where can we truth about the destructive force of war. Both physical and emotional pain as a product of war is just insane. Hate and buy your stuff? depression are state of minds which are so much stronger On our bandcamp presence excruciation.bandcamp.com than love and happiness. Also the depressive felling is and on out homepage www.excruciation.net important here, because if you live in an enviroment where death is everywhere you will sink in an endless hole and someday you reach the point of no return and take your feelings into action and finally kill yourself.

What plans do you have for the near future as a band?

Actually we have planned alot! Next release will be a Split with Noldor and Global Misanthropy. It will be released in March on CD and on a colored 7 inch vinyl.

We are also working on a Full-Length of raging black metal with a touch of ambient in it. We have already recorded 2 songs, also a possible theme for an EP is written.

Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.

The project Forstyrre was started by me in mid March 2013. At first it was an ambient band becaues I don't play guitars or drums myself. I took things slow and only recorded two songs until autumn 2013. At this time the band changed and became an ambient and black metal mixture. I asked a very good friend of mine, namely Erragal, which is a great musician from Iraq, to help me out and make some black metal. Together we recorded three additional songs and we released a demo, called Haunted by the Shadows of War, on November 1st.

Erragal was involved in several bands and that's why he only joined Forstyrre as a session member. Right after the release of the demo I started looking for permanent members and in January 2014 Sarolf Weltenschmerz from Waldschrat joined as the guitarist. After a short time I met Naudhiz Asken in a club in Vienna and he joined on drums. With him the line-up was compleated.

Nameless(Me) - Vocals, Lyrics, Keyboard Sarolf Weltenschmerz - Guitars Naudhiz Asken - Drums

Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?

You can check all the information on our Facebook page, and you can listen to/buy the demo on our bandcamp page, forstyrre.bandcamp.com

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

Rising Demons

How would you describe your style? Which bands influenced your music?

It‟s not easy to tag Excruciation under one or two styles – we have elements of 80‟s Crust Core like Amebix, classic Black Metal such as Bathory, Venom or Mercyful Fate as well as we adore 70s Hard Rock like Black Sabbath or the early Scorpions. But most people consider our recent records as „Death Doom“ which fits pretty well but there‟s a lot of Black Metal elements and Black Sabbath in it as well.

Why should a metalhead buy your demos/albums?

I could tell you all this standard rubbish that we‟re an honest and hardworking band blablabla. Every metal band should be hard working and motivated to give their best and not just want to be successful and sell the most records. We‟re just damn good in what we‟re doing and there‟s no band that sounds like we do out there.

What have you released so far and how were your releases received by the public/media?

We released two full lengths, "Angels to Some, Demons to Others" & "[t]horns", a third one coming in may called "[g]host", a 7" "Worship" with two cover-versions (Kiss & Mercyful Fate) and a 12" picture disc called "Arise".

Also available is a re-release of "Last Judgement/First Assault", early recordings from '85 to '87 by F.O.A.D. Records and alive tape from'87 by The Ritual Productions. And of course the early releases in the eighties. We got really good responses for our new stuff well at least the majority of the reviews and of course some there are some haters.

Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.

Haiduk is a solo-project which started in 2010 with the release of the demo "Plagueswept". It consisted of very old material written a long time ago which I decided should see the light of day instead of being forgotten and never heard by anyone. A "hajduk", in Serbian which is my background, is a resistance warrior who retreats into the forests and hills to continue to wage war against enemy invasion. I believe there`s a similar word in How would you describe your style? Which bands Romania. In 2012 I released the full-length "Spellbook". influenced your music?

The genre of Forstyrre is easy to identify. It is Black How would you describe your style? Which bands Metal and Ambient, but it depends on the songs how it is influenced your music? mixed. Some are straight black metal, some are ambient Haiduk plays fast, blackened death metal with thrash black metal and other are black metal songs with ambient influences. The music is relentless and aggressive. It's a parts. statement against all the weak and slow bands I am a very big Burzum fan and it is the main influences increasingly infesting the metal scene today. Among my of my band. Other bands who influence me in creating influences are Mustaine, Nodtveidt, Burzum, Galder, music are: Striborg, Xasthur, Leviathan, Vinterriket, Satyr....

Make a Change... Kill Yourself, The True Werwolf, Ellende, Nightforest, Erragal, Waldschrat, Karg, Why should a metalhead buy your demos/albums?

Coldnight, Deep-pression, ColdWorld, Tomhet, Aeon It's fast as fuck and crushing as hell! Each song is Winds,... energetic and packs maximum punch into the shortest amount of time.

Why should a metalhead buy your demos/albums?

I started this project to create and not to earn, but if you What have you released so far and how were your like raging and raw black metal and ambient with a releases received by the public/media? depressive war theme this is the right band for you.

I released a demo ,"Plagueswept", in 2010 and the fulllength, "Spellbook" in 2012. Everyone has their own What have you released so far and how were your opinions and I've stopped caring what anyone thinks. The releases received by the public/media? real question is how many people heard the albums. I We have released one Demo, called Haunted by the Shadows of War and it is limited to 50 pieces. We sold about half of it and we got great feedback from the buyers so far.

Do you play live as well? How's your live activity so Do you play live as well? How's your live activity so far? far?

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never write to please anyone other than myself: it sounds the way it does because that's exactly the way I wanted it.

That's the reason for starting a solo-project in the first place: to completely reject any outside influence.

We have released only one demo with 3 tracks (“Pyromaniac”, “Final Destination” and “Rock Out” (Motorhead‟s cover)) so far. Speaking about reaction from press and fans, mostly it‟s good but there are always some people who complain about everything.

Do you play live as well? How's your live activity so far?

I play live as a one-man show doing guitars and vocals while the bass and drums are run through the PA. I go insane and put on a kind of show that I would want to see: lots of energy and non-stop headbanging. I remember one time feeling the ground below me shake like an earthquake and looking up to see people moshing, smashing into each other and falling on the ground. Pure metal destuction!

Do you play live as well? How's your live activity so far?

Yes, we love to play live. Right from the start the band was oriented on playing live shows and doing its own music. We shared a stage with German thrashers Necronomicon, acclaimed Russian pagan metal band Arkona, legendary Russian metal band Black Obelisk and our local friends like Entrace, Exister and Sudden Raze (all are from the same city of Yaroslavl). Now we are looking forward for some cool festivals like “Metal tracks and a hidden one. We‟re planing to release it on CD and tape.

What should labels/zines/promoters know about your Head‟s Mission” (Ukraine) and some others. band? Why should they be interested in it?

Underground labels should be worried about artists like What should labels/zines/promoters know about your Do you play live as well? How's your live activity so far? me who are fully capable of doing everything themselves band? Why should they be interested in it? and often do a better job at promotion than they do. First of all, we are not your typical young band who wants No live shows for the time being…maybe in the near There's just as many shitty labels out there as shitty bands. to look even more old school than bands from the 80‟s. future.

I am a perfectionist down to the last detail and don't let We try to push the borders of thrash metal to some new direction. We are young and hungry for metal. And yes, What should labels/zines/promoters know about your anyone else touch any aspect of Haiduk whatsoever. band? Why should they be interested in it? we‟ve got two pretty girls in the band!

Honestly i think that our material it´s strong, raw and evil What plans do you have for the near future as a band?

I don't have any pressure from anyone to do anything. I What plans do you have for the near future as a band? one like thousands of bands around there…but we tried to believe in quality over quantity. If there's another album it We are putting last touches in our newest song “Sacrifice” differenciate ourselves from the others through our sound will be something I pour a lot of time and work into. In at the moment and soon we‟ll be ready to unleash this and song structure…and also because without the order to avoid outside pressure or expectations, I plan to monster! Right after that we are going to record our first metalheads, labels and zines support, this scene could die full-length album. not update anyone about anything new.

What plans do you have for the near future as a band?

Where can we listen to your band and where can we Where can we listen to your band and where can we As i said before, we‟ll be releasing our firts EP at the end of March. We have plans to record two new songs for a buy your stuff? buy your stuff?

Don‟t hesitate to get in touch with us via Facebook, listen future 7¨ to be release through Southern Hellish www.haiduk.ca to our songs at Reverbnation Productions maybe on May or June. (www.reverbnation.com/madrax4) or watch us on Where can we listen to your band and where can we YouTube (www.youtube.com/user/MadraxOfficial) buy your stuff?

Yo can go and check it out our bandcamp site: morbosus.bandcamp.com There you will find songs from our first EP to be release, demos and rehearsals. If some Please tell us about the history of your band and its of you want to get in touch with us, write to members. morbosus@hotmail.com or visit our facebook page The band was formed in November of 2011 by the www.facebook.com/Morbosusblackdeathsudamericano guitarist Alex Shadrin in Yaroslavl, Russia. Soon after line-up was fully equipped by the following members: Maria Safonova (vocals), Roman Furaev (guitars), Alexandra Kulakova (drums) and Serge Medvedev (bass).

After a few rehearsals we did our first show in Moscow and since then we keep going and don‟t wanna stop!

Please tell us about the history of your band and its How would you describe your style? Which bands members.

Morbosus was formed in Buenos Aires , Argentina the influenced your music?

Please tell us about the history of your band and its We can describe our style as thrash metal but with some month July 2012 by guitarist Burner of the Cross and members. drummer/vocalist Infernal Commando Necromansy. other influences. We are highly influenced by such bands The project started over the 2009 as an idea of Yari, our like Metallica, Heathen, Pantera, Megadeth and Machine Burner of the Cross came from a split Death Metal guitarist and vocalist, who along with Héctor and warmachine called Requiescat and Infernal Commando Head to name a few. We have our own way of Jonathan, our keyboardist and dimmer, still members of songwriting and like to combine rough riffs with Necromansy woke from almost 17 year hiatus from the the band, created the fists songs and recruited the rest of scene, having sung anc co-composed with a Black Metal melodies. We don‟t think that all songs must be straightthe members to start making live performances and studio forward and faster than the speed of light. Even if it‟s mongers of Baxaxa, and having colaborating with recordings. Sadly, the band was inactive over a year, due thrash metal, it can be well written and diverse – you can argentinian pioneers of Black/Thrash Artes Negras to internal problems, but after that period, this three add some elements of hardcore or even blues or jazz. original guys got reunited again, bringing new members How would you describe your style? Which bands in; Daniel in the bass, Diego in the flutes and Juan José in influenced your music?

Why should a metalhead buy your demos/albums? the guitar. This whole team reconstructed the existent We play Black / Death Metal the only way to be: raw, Because we are something new! Mixing classic thrash songs and wrote new ones. Like this, MuyzKKubuN got with good melodies, catching solos and powerful female primitive and evil!. The main bands that influences us are on stage over again in the local scene, and the support of voice (not operatic but rough and tough!) we create great Blasphemy, Archgoat, old Sepultura, Sarcofago, Slayer, the fans gave the band the motivation enough to record songs and deliver the goods! Buying CDs you support the Bathory, and many more. the first CD and designing a whole new band image to be band and show your attitude. And yes, our female singer released and for making more impacting shows. The Why should a metalhead buy your demos/albums? can kick your ass with her roaring voice! album “In The Name Of Our Gods” was released in 2013 First at all they should buy our demo to keep this scene in a concert without precedents at the side of Turisas, alive and strong…and last but not least to receive a full concert after which the band has been welcomed to more blast of infernal southamerican evil and bestial Black concerts and big shows.

Death!

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

Rising Demons

What have you released so far and how were your releases received by the public/media?

At the end of March / begining of April, we‟ll release our first assault named “Black Death Commando” through our own label (Sons of Hell Prod.) This EP consist of 5

What have you released so far and how were your releases received by the public/media?

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How would you describe your style? Which bands influenced your music?

Which bands influenced your music? The band counts with a style defined by the likes of all of us. In the moment of creating sounds and writing songs, we combine an overwhelming drum sound based in the speed

of brutal death styles and so. For the guitars, we pick different classic sounds and techniques of technical speed, black, post rock, brutal death or even power for the solos and harmonizations. The flutes and keyboards are inspired in all folk elements, trying to put together accordions, harps, pianos…

Why should a metalhead buy your demos/albums?

A metalhead should buy our album, listen to our music and go to our concerts because a simple reason, we play a true diverse music, we didn‟t come only from the same metal subgenre, we bring new things, we are working hard to give an entire musical experience to those who really are waiting to shake their souls and bang their heads.

What have you released so far and how were your releases received by the public/media?

We have released a demo and then a full length. The first one called the attention, some opinions began to rise, some people were interested, other didn‟t paid so much attention but when the full length was released the people got surprised even out the South American frontiers.

Do you play live as well? How's your live activity so far?

The live performance is a process, it would be right to say that the first shows were amazing, but now the shows became better, even adding musical surprises, guitar or flute solos that are totally meant to give a surrounding experience to the public. The usage of costume, make up, and speeches make a great show that connect the audience with the band through the notes and the movement.

What should labels/zines/promoters know about your band? Why should they be interested in it?

First at all, the band pushes hard to achieve every proposed goal, it has good connection with our fans, and it‟s seeking day by day new ideas without leaving its roots. Muyzkkubun will be creating an unique style that can get new frontiers, new minds and new hearts.

Why should a metalhead buy your demos/albu ms?

I can't imagine someone that's not a fan of death metal liking us, but for death metal fans I'd say we have bits and pieces of the many different elements that have gone into creating the sound of "death metal".

Whether it's American styled brutality and speed, doom parts, and the occasional splash of dark European atmosphere & melody, we try to incorporate it all. I feel that while not reinventing the wheel, we do a good job of producing high quality death metal. That should be the goal of any band, in any genre. Do what you do, as best you can, and someone, somewhere will lock onto it.

Sorrowseed was formed in 2009. There have been some lineup changes, but Sorrowseed has had members ranging all across New England USA - New Hampshire, Connecticut, and both sides of Massachusetts, and therefore Sorrowseed truly is a band hailing from "New England".

What have you released so far and how were your releases received by the public/media?

So far we've released a demo/e.p. called "...And Death Shall Have His Dominion", that came out in the summer of 2010, and most recently our debut full length "Mesonoxian" came out in February of 2013, that was a joint release by Butchered Records and Sevared Records.

How would you describe your style? Which bands influenced your music?

Blackened apocalyptic death/doom metal with many different elements. There is a very wide array of sound within our music. Our musical tastes are vast and varied.

We have been influenced by bands such as Death, Slayer, Dimmu Borgir, Opeth, Black Sabbath, Amorphis, Children of Bodom, and many others.

Do you play live as well? How's your live activity so far?

We do play live when the opportunity presents itself, occasionally playing out of town on the east coast of the United States.

Why should a metalhead buy your demos/albums?

Our music is complex and intelligent, taking the listener on a dark journey through apocalyptic endtimes. This journey can be melodic and beautiful, or seething with violent rage - much like our paths in this life.

What should labels/zines/promoters know about your band? Why should they be interested in it?

We're seasoned musicians that have been playing extreme music in varied forms for a very long time. We may take longer to release material, but only because we want to ensure that what we release is the very best that we have to offer at that time. We do what we do well, and are constantly looking to improve our songwriting abilities. If you like any kind of death metal, check us out.

What have you released so far and how were your releases received by the public/media?

Our first, double-disc album "The Extinction Prophecies" received positive reviews from all over the world, and enjoyed airtime on local New England radio stations.

This, along with our newest release, "Nemesis Engine", is currently being played on various internet radio stations.

We are pleased to receive this attention and that so many people enjoy our music.

What plans do you have for the near future as a band?

Our next step is the continued writing of our 2nd full length, we have a few songs written so far, but we still have a long way to go before we are ready to record.

We're also open to split releases with any bands or labels that are into that sort of thing so any interested parties please don't hesitate to contact us either on Facebook or at our email address: Seplophile@gmail.com

Do you play live as well? How's your live activity so far?

Sorrowseed has completed two small US tours and has played in 9 states thus far. We thrive to increase our reach across the US and the world, with aspirations of touring in Europe. Our shows are intense and energetic, and we have made friends and fans at every show. We enjoy playing at festivals the most and are working on doing more of this in 2014.

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

Rising Demons

What plans do you have for the near future as a band?

The band next step will be to play in the Colombia‟s most important scenarios, and festivals left, such as Altavoz and Rock al Parque. Other main goal will be to compose the second album, record it in one of the best Colombian recording house and to produce it in Europa. And finally to sign a contract with an European label.

Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?

The band is constantly posting news in the official Facebook page www.facebook.com/MuyzKKubuN and www.facebook.com/valknutmusicproductions. In order to buy the Muyzkkubun‟s album “In name of our gods” you can write to this email muyzkkubun@gmail.com and valknutmusicprod@gmail.com

Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?

You can get CD's and shirts from the band directly or from Butchered Records, Sevared Records, or lots of Please tell us about the history of your band and its other underground distros around the world. Thanks to members.

Slowly We Rot zine for the interest and for all you do for Seplophile was formed during the winter of 2009-2010 in the underground. DEATH METAL PREVAILS!!

Buffalo, NY (USA) and thus far we've maintained the same lineup from our first show. Myself (Greg DiPasquale) and Matt Backlas on guitar, Allen Malkiewicz on drums, Shawn Gomez on bass, and Colin Winkelman on vocals.

How would you describe your style? Which bands influenced your music?

Death Metal. Nothing else to me could sum us up better.

The bands that have influenced us are the usual suspects from the years 1985 until today. Old school, new school, technical, primitive, dirty, clean, it doesn't really matter to us. Anything that's savage and bleeding conviction will find its way into our ears, minds and ultimately our Please tell us about the history of your band and its fingers. members.

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What should labels/zines/promoters know about your band? Why should they be interested in it?

We are a dedicated group of talented, hard-working individuals with the motivation to succeed. We are always pushing ourselves to raise the bar higher than before.

What plans do you have for the near future as a band?

We have some tentative festival plans in the works, as well as some tour dates starting in April 2014.

Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff? www.Sorrowseed.com, www.facebook.com/Sorrowseed, www.last.fm/music/Sorrowseed Our music can be purchased digitally on iTunes and Amazon. For physical copies, contact us directly, or search for us on www.CdBaby.com

We call cal it war metal but music wise it‟s sped up thrash We have played a few gigs here in London, and one gig at with some black/death influences. Influences are bands Metal Terror Fest in Porto Portugal. like early Sodom, Destructions, Deathrow, Sarcofago and Blasphemy.

What should labels/zines/promoters know about your band? Why should they be interested in it?

Not too much to know really. UK based band playing fast Why should a metalhead buy your demos/albums?

Too support a poor metal band. And it‟s better to buy then and aggressive metal. We are always up for playing a gig, no matter where it is in the world. download them… right?

Rising Demons Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.

It started in Denmark around 2003, where we made a demo and recorded and released the 10” S/T picture disc + recorded the guitar and base for Tank Attack. Later I moved to London UK where Pete put vocals on Tank Attack. Atomic Hammer is recorded with Victor on Guitar, Pete on bass/vocals and Bartek on drums.

What have you released so far and how were your releases received by the public/media?

So far we have release a 10” S/T picture disc. (Third Attackwave prod), Tank Attack 7” vinyl (Third Attackwave prod.), Atomic Hammer mCD/7” Vinyl (Old Cemetery records/Third Attackwave Prod.).

Some people like it some people don‟t, probably some get intimidated because of the name thinking it‟s a political band, witch its not.

What plans do you have for the near future as a band?

To get our new domo released, to play more gigs and make a full length album

Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?

We got a facebook page where it‟s possible to listen to a few songs www.facebook.com/SturmtigerWarMetal. You can buy from us here: honserov@yahoo.dk, www.facebook.com/thirdattackwave. Other places are: Do you play live as well? How's your live activity so Old Cemetery Records: www.oldcemetery.org, Anger of Metal: www.anger-of-metal.de/shop How would you describe your style? Which bands far? influenced your music?

Merchants of Death – Merchants of Death – Merchants of Death Samael and Rotting Christ, Genocidio – Genocidio LP (extreme death/thrash from Brazil recorded in ‟88 and bonus songs), Almighty Sathanas – Tisha B‟A? 7‟‟EP (primitive black/death metal summoning the ancient ones), Rotting Christ – Thy Mighty Contract LP (no words needed for this!!!), Absurd – Discography ‟91-‟92 LP/CD (Swedish death metal GODS from the early „90‟s with an 7‟‟ released on Seraphic Decay and bonus unreleased gig), Interment – Into The Crypts Of Blasphemy LP (Killer death metal from Sweden), Samael – Worship Him PIC-DISC LP (no words needed for this too, for the first time in picture disc format).

What are the most important features you look for in a band that is or has the chance to be signed on your label?

The most important feature is obviously the music. I like primitive black/death metal from early 80‟s and mid 90s. I mostly work with old bands and I am mostly interested in re-issues of old material which is either unreleased or is out of print. Do not get me wrong, I like some bands of nowdays scene, but I am a fanatic of late 80s-early 90s era Please present your label, when and where was it started, who is involved in its in black/death metal and I follow this path since the mid 90s. The thing with our modern activities and what genres are promoted by it. scene, is that it is static and all the worth-mentioning bands follow the recipe and sound I have started the label in 2006. It started as an underground demo-cassette label, but as of the bands of the past. Why releasing something that comes out in our days and is a times was passing things went bigger and after 2009 I focused on vinyl releases, which copy of a legendary past band, rather than releasing the original band of the past? This is is my favorite format. Since 2009 most of my releases come on vinyl format with a few my motto.

CD exceptions. I run the label alone, so I am the only person responsible for Black Vomit Records. The genre I specialize is ancient and primitive black/death metal.

How can a band get in touch with you? What should bands know before submitting their promos for your consideration?

Tell us a few words on each or the most important releases of your label, and which I like to find and sign the bands my by myself. I receive a lot of promos and proposals of them are still available for purchase. which I do not have the time to check by myself because of my busy program and Some of my most important and best selling releases which are now sold out are: Bestial schedule. If your band is worth, allow me the pleasure to find you by myself.

Summoning/Heretic – Split CD (this release took place right after Conscicide commited suicide), Almighty Sathanas/Blasphemophagher/Tyrants Blood – Split CD, Rotting What's the most important thing in the relationship between you and your bands?

Christ – Non Serviam LP and Necro Schizma – Discography LP (the CD format is still What is your label offering to its bands? available,but the LP is out of print) and Sentenced – Shadows Of The Past LP. Talking Honesty is indeed the most important issue and thankfully until now I did not face any about important releases which are still available I have to mention: Nebiros – Guerreros problem with the bands on my roster. Depending on how big a band is and if other De Lucifer LP (killer black metal from Columbia, recorded in ‟94 in the vein of early labels are involved with the "rights” of a release we can sign a contract, which is the issue with the "big” names. The deal can be paid either in money or with free copies, which is 15% of the total produced copies. It really depends on the band, not all deals are the same.

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

Is there anything you planned with your label and has not yet been completed?

Regarding to Black Vomit Records everything is going well and I will keep continue releasing primitive black/death metal music. I am considering to open a sub-label, not connected with Black Vomit at all, focusing on neofolk/neoclassical music but it is just an idea yet.

How does the future looks for your label? Any major projects you would like to share with us?

Necromantia – Vampiric Rituals LP and Necromancy (pre-Necromantia) – Visions Of Lunacy LP are at press right now and when maniacs read those lines both releases will be out. Other project which will be released in the future are the two first albums of Mystifier , "Wicca” and "Goetia” on LP format. Old Funeral (featuring Varg Vikernes of Burzum) Grim Reaping Norway will be released in LP format soon and also the legendary Necromantia/Varathron Split in LP format too.

How can anyone get in touch with you? Please list your website, webstore and/or social media links.

The website of my label is www.blackvomitrecords.com . People can place their orders and check the distributed releases on www.blackvomitrecords.com/catalog and regarding social media the facebook account is www.facebook.com/blackvomit.recs (October 2013)

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Once again, the music, philosophy and work ethic are most important. Honesty, sincerity, integrity are also very important. We offer our artists a solid release, promotion and the ability to gain recognition and opportunities within our underground network.

Is there anything you planned with your label and has not yet been completed?

World Domination and the eradication of religion!

How does the future look for your label? Any major projects you would like to share with us?

DHR will continue to release cult records/cd's. Some spotlight releases for 2014 are new albums from Holocaustum, Typhus, Mytherium, Grey Wabderer. We also have some reissues planned as well as some cult split releases in the works. Keep watching the Dark Horizon Records website for current news.

Please present your label, when and where was it started, who is involved in its activities and what genres are promoted by it.

DHR was started in 1997 by myself here in Fort Wayne, Indiana (USA). DHR was started in a spare room/closet and has grown into a full warehouse distribution. It is a means to spread the propaganda of my own activities/bands as well as other like minded individuals/bands I choose to support. Typhus, Holocaustum, Mytherium, Grey Wabderer, Fog, Morpheus Descends, Formaldehyde Sleep, Satanik, Subconscious are present and past projects that I am or have been a member of. Starting Dark Horizon Records was the best way to promote and distribute my hard work creating music for these bands. I still run the label by myself and will until the apocalypse or my death, which ever comes first. Dark Horizon Records releases numerous genres of music, Black Metal, Death Metal, Neo-folk etc... We release what I choose to support regardless of genre/style.

How can anyone get in touch with you? Please list your website, web store and/or social media links. www.darkhorizonrecords.com / darkhorizon666@hotmail.com Dark Horizon Records, 6435 W. Jefferson Blvd. #666, Fort Wayne, IN 46804 Your support of Dark Horizon Records and our artists is truly appreciated! Thanks for the interview! Check out our website and support the true underground!

(November 2013)

Please present your label: when and where was it started, who is involved in its activities and what genres are promoted by it.

Hi Adrian and, first of, thank you very much for the support and the interest in our activities. Always a great pleasure to have a chat with supportive people that are as involved as you are in this scene!

Well, even if I‟ve been playing in various (shitty local) bands, running distros, zines, webzines, a label, etc. since the late 80‟s, Kaotoxin is quite young in itself as it somehow started back in August 2010, even if the first real release of our own was only on January 2012 (Gronibard‟s «Satanic Tuninb Club Turbo!» comp. 12‟‟ LP). I was the webmaster for Bones Brigade Records and various other companies back then under the Kaotoxin name and when we heard Last Days Of Humanity were reforming, on August 2010, I decided to put a little fest together on December 2010 with them as headliners.

LDOH cancelled their appearance upon line-up changes then, but we extended our partnership with Bones Brigade as a partner label, releasing the latest Total Fucking Destruction full-length, «Hater», Magruderngrind‟s «Crusher», Lycanthrophy‟s debut full-length and Brutal Truth‟s «Evolution in one Take» LP with Nico (of Bones Brigade) during 2011. We then started to release our very own stuff in 2012 (Unsu, Insain, VxPxOxAxAxWxAxMxC, Dehuman, Eye Of Solitude, Savage Annihilation, Ad Patres & Antropofago) and 2013 (Nolentia, Years Of Tyrants, Sidious, Darkall Slaves, Miserable Failure, F Stands For Fuck You, The Lumberjack Feedback, Nephren-Ka) and… here we are!

At the contrary of what people were thinking at first, because of our collaboration with Bones Brigade, or because of the firsts artists we signed, we‟re not focused on Grindcore or Death Metal only, but rather have a taste for all that‟s dark in some way.

Our roster is pretty varied, with Grindcore (Unsu, Infected Society, Nolentia…), Goregrind (VxPxOxAxAxWxAxMxC), Death Metal (Dehuman, Savage Annihilation, Ad Patres, Nephren-Ka), Technical Death Metal (Antropofago, Years Of Tyrants), Blackened Death Metal (Sidious), Doom (The Lumberjack Feedback), Funeral Doom (Eye Of Solitude) and we‟re still developping the range of styles we cover with the addition of two more bands, not officially announced yet: a Progressive Extreme Metal band (think Frank Sinatra meets Sweden‟s Shining!) and a Stoner / Doom one.

We do have a special line of digital-exclusive releases, a kind of «free crowdfunding» series, that‟s called the Kaotoxin SideBlasts Series besides our regular releases, to which are signed a Dark Ambiant Black Metal band (Colosus) and a Grindcore one (C.O.A.G.). This is a project we‟re trying to push as, in my humble opinion, this really could be the future of how labels could survive, evolve and develop. Hopefully, it‟s gonna get some exposure and grow in the coming months.

And, besides all of that, we‟re working on a forthcoming free printed magazine that‟s called Toxic Kaos magazine. It‟s French written and it‟s gonna be free for everyone, distributed at gigs in all French speaking countries that want their copies.

The team is varying in shape with people helping from time to time, but basically, besides your humble guest, I can name Kila, who‟s in charge of Toxic Kaos, Marie, Bertrand and Elsa, who help with stock, orders, etc. and Juliette and Guillaume, who are our «road team», helping us with selling stands at gigs, etc. and, of course, my significant other, Karine, who‟s always around one way or the other.

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

Tell us a few words on each or the most important releases of your label, and which of them are still available for purchase.

DHR released the first official recordings for the cult bands: Fog, Typhus, Holocaustum, Black Witchery, Conqueror, Revenge, Lucifugum, Engorge to name only a few, when other labels turned their backs and did not see their true spirit/potential, DHR supported these great artists with no intention of profit! Others on our alumni roster are, Abigor, Astriaal, Wallachia, Horna, Crowned In Semen, Sauron, Allfather, The Lurking Corpses, Nechochwen, October Falls... Since then quite a few of our artists have stepped up to bigger labels and have gained even stronger recognition due to the hard work of their band and the undying support of DHR. We are honored and proud to be the first label for some these great bands! To see our full release roster and what is still available go to: www.darkhorizonrecords.com What are the most important features you look for in a band that is or has the chance to be signed on your label?

The bands music, philosophy and work ethic must appeal to my liking. That is it.

How can a band get in touch with you? What should bands know before submitting their promos for your consideration?

All the pertinent information can be found at the official DHR website... www.darkhorizonrecords.com Physical address: Dark Horizon Records, 6435 W. Jefferson Blvd. #666, Fort Wayne, IN 46804. Email: darkhorizon666@hotmail.com

Tell us a few words on each or the most important releases of your label, and which of them are still available for purchase.

Well, it‟s a hard one as for me, of course, each and every release is the most important What's the most important thing in the relationship between you and your bands? one. If it wasn‟t the case, why would Kaotoxin release it? But, as far as sales go, our champions are France‟s Ad Patres, which is a Death Metal band formed by Seth‟s What is your label offering to its bands? drummer, Alsvid, and who‟s debut, «Scorn Aesthetics», has been and still is, our main

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«hit». The production‟s awesome (by Mathieu of Gorod), the artwork kills (by Xenoyr of Ne Obliviscaris) and, more important, the band slays! Fast, brutal, catchy, impressive in all aspects.

Still sales-wise, we also have Sidious, which is a Blackened Death Metal band featuring two Eye Of Solitude members and whose debut EP, «Ascension to the Throne Ov Self» has been produced by Russ Russell (Dimmu Borgir). To put it short, it‟s a both a dark and brutal mix between Dimmu Borgir‟s orchestrations and Behemoth‟s intensity, no less, I swear. You definitely must check it for yourselves!

We also have, obviously, our purveyors of fucking heavy and dark orchestral Funeral Doom, Eye Of Solitude, who are definitely much more than simply that as their new, and third, full-length, «Canto III», which is being released these days, goes way beyond the genre‟s limitations, adding to the basic deal touches of Depressive Black Metal, blasts of rage and much more. Still a band you must have a listen to to really get the idea. That new one is really captivating. But, well, I could go on with all of our releases: I love them all, one way or another!»

What are the most important features you look for in a band that is or has the chance to be signed on your label?

Right now, Kaotoxin‟s not signing anymore bands. We prefer focusing on helping our artists meeting their audience, developping and getting the recognition they deserve rather than having dozens of them signed to the label and just doing nothing for them in terms of support, advice or promotion.

But, to answer your question straight, I‟d say that, at first, I used to sign bands that impressed me by their talent and originality. Think about VxPxOxAxAxWxAxMxC: these dudes are all over the place, playing each and every fucking country they can, all year long and, for sure, their childish, retarded, silly Goregrind wouldn‟t be considered as being «talent» for most, but whatever most people outside the Goregrind scene can think, they are fucking impressive at what they do and they have their very own style, with unique «vocals» and blending Slamming Death Metal with groovy Goregrind.

These are the kind of things I was looking for, at first (but don‟t get me wrong, that was just an example as VxPxOxAxAxWxAxMxC are totally fitting into what I‟ll develop below!).

But, you know, with the label developping, it‟s no more a question of putting a few hundred of euros in the pressing costs for 500 CD copies that we‟d simply trade everywhere. Nowadays, a release costs us a very minimum of six to ten times what it used to cost us a year ago because they‟re being available in retail shops in many countries and we have to support our distributors in their territories, advertising everywhere we can, using PR companies, etc. So we can‟t act as most underground labels anymore, giving the bands a mere amount of copies as royalties and forgetting about everything else. We try to be as pro as we can, even thought we‟re not making any money at all (I‟m still paying all of the label‟s costs on my own money…), because we definitely think our artists are worth it – promotion, royalties, merch, etc… - and we want to build something with and for them, on the long term, so it drives us to become more and more picky with who we can actually sign.

Once we love some bands‟ music, which is the basic point, and if it‟s not in the very same style than one of our artists - why signing two bands playing the smae thing?

I can‟t undertand labels that have dozens of, say, Brutal Death bands and keep releasing the same full-length over and over all year long, that‟s pointless both for the artists who are drown in a sea of clones and for the label which is just getting know within one subgenre, unable to get any artistic recognition in any other scene, whatever their experience, skills and talents - then we have to consider many different points: is the band able to understand a professional deal and all it involves and act accordingly, on its own, professionnaly, on the long term, without harnessing the label all-day long because what they signed wasn‟t what they had in mind and they‟re acting like amateurs? Is the band able to tour and play a lot and willing to do it? Is the band able to communicate, build a solid fan base, maintain good relations with its audience and the scene? Is the band trustworthy (we had our share of non-loyal artists…)? Many non-musical different aspects we must consider, now.

Put that way, that could seem to be somekind of pretentious shit, but we have our feet on the ground and really want to try our best to achieve the more possible things for our artists and thus need a win-win situation where the artists do everything they‟re supposed to as a professional up-and-coming band if that‟s what they want. If they want some other kind of deal, there are some other kind of labels. It‟s basically all about sharing a vision, a will and giving each other the means to achieve that together on the long term.

and you have it, and email is always the best place to get noticed rather than a social network which is all but professional and on which we‟re spending the least possible time.

Is the band sending a streaming link? Well, did they think we should need to listen to their stuff even without Internet access? Are they sending mp3‟s? Did they think our mailbox is most surely full and mp3‟s not the best sounding file format around for their art?

Are they sending all the details about their zillions members coming and leaving or relevant infos? Did they think talking about what their plans and goals are? Did they think about what makes them different from all other bands and listen-worthy? Do they know the label, its artists, did they have a listen to them and know what we‟re doing or trying to achieve or are we just label X or Y in a hundred they‟re sending their stuff to?

Each little detail make sense even before listening to their stuff and tells us who they are, how they‟ll be easy to work with or not at all, how they‟ll communicate with their audience, with the medias, etc.

So, basically : a lossless download link, a well-written and short bio, what they want and try to achieve, why we should consider them and why they‟re choosing to get in touch with us in particular are the basics.

Many bands are sending you an overload of stuff with no relevant info that would differenciate them from the ten thousands other bands around, don‟t know your label and its artists and think we should consider them as the next big thing when they‟re even not treating theirselves that way. It‟s not a question of being pretentious, it‟s a question of being down to Earth and showing your future partners (should it be the label, a publisher, a manager, a booker) that you‟re stand out.

Some even send you 20 mails / PMs in order to have an answer when they sent their stuff one daya go. Good things need time to be done well and we‟re always answering, should it be with a « no, thanks » mail, just leave us the time to answer, treat people like you‟d like to be treated.

What's the most important thing in the relationship between you and your bands?

What is your label offering to its bands?

A label-band relation is like getting married so, like any other marriage, it needs good sex (of course !), mutual trust, mutual confidence and sharing the same goals and vision. Imagine raising a child with totally different views towards how to raise him/her, how to educate him/her?

This would be impossible. Imagine buying a house for the family altogether when you think the one you just got married with don‟t know why they got married at first and what they expect from that and, worse, figure out after a while they‟d prefer getting married with someone else because they don‟t like your ways? You get the idea…

The label‟s offering them what we believe is good sex: their releases promoted by professional PR agencies, available in records stores and online shops all over the planet, royalties, copies, full support and advice, a professional « image » and « value for money » with quality products for their fans, which is also valuable for a band‟s image.

We‟re not considering a given release as being only a release. We‟re considering all of them as steps in a band‟s carreer and try to work on the long-term with them, being constantly available for advice, promotional support, whatever they need or want and we can afford, given they understand our needs and possibility such as we try to understand theirs too. We‟re trying to act like a label, a team, not like a simple way of releasing a CD, trading copies and not caring about the artist itself if you know what I mean.

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

How can a band get in touch with you? What should bands know before submitting their promos for your consideration?

Many bands are forgetting the most simple of things : the first contact, the way they‟re writing and what they‟re writing, the mean they use to get in touch, all of this is giving informations about who they are, what they do and what we can expect from them, even before we even get a listen to their stuff and that‟s the most important (given we like what we hear, of course!).

Is the band getting in touch on Facebook, Twitter or whatever? Be sure they‟re in a rush and not considering your label but any label they can as our email address is everywhere for who wants it, it just needs a little search or look at the infos on our Facebook page

Is there anything you planned with your label and has not yet been completed?

So many things, actually! Every day is all about catching up and getting things that are late being done and planning things that will be late too, ahah! But, seriously, we‟re trying to develop our retail distribution network as we speak, getting a publishing deal for our artists and releasing all of the back catalogue on vinyl, but it all costs a lot of money and needs serious advertisement which we can only pay through sales but we need to advertise seriously to have the sales… So, you know, the monetary vicious circle. Hopefully, we‟ll have a band that‟s gonna have a good sales breakthrough one day and we can use the money to better ourselves for the benefit of the whole roster, fingers crossed. But, that said, we really value every kind of exposure : we‟re not like «Wow, one of our artist is on the cover of Rolling Stones mag‟!» (which never happened, BTW, ahah!), we‟re more happy to see them on every fanzine around. We know our scene and we value the ones that are driven by the same passion than us, whatever their size: we‟re small and cherish our peers.

How does the future look for your label? Any major projects you would like to share with us?

Times are really hard for labels, which is very sad as they‟re the only real tool for bands to get the recognition they deserve whatever you can read all over the Interwebz. Even big names that went the self-releasing path like Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead, Gojira etc. all finally signed or re-signed to a label. This is the real indication the Internet-dream of a band doing everything on his own is only a chimera. You need people to work for you, each one in hts very own field, manager, booker, publisher, label… like you need a drummer for the drums and a guitarist for the guitars. Doing everything yourself is

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possible, but it‟s never gonna be as good as with people that know and can handle their share of work. Instead, I‟d say a label has never been so important, nowadays.

So, well, to survive, we have to try to be forward-thinking and most of our nights are spent trying to figure out what the post-CD future will mean for us, even if for sure, the physical release will stay around for a while. We‟d like to open a records store in our area, so people not only get their records, but can meet and we could center it around events, like albums release parties, listening parties, special meet and greet with bands in town, etc. We‟re also working on our paper magazine, Toxic Kaos magazine, too.

After what I said about the «digital era» and the death of the physical format, this could sound silly to have such «old-fashioned stuff» as a record store or a paper magazine, but I really do believe it‟s better selling 200 CDs and giving away, for free, a physical magazine to fewer people than having digital hits and being forgotten. There‟s gonna be «die hard physical-stuff fans» around forever, or say for very long, and we‟d rather build a real-life community than a Facebook-only following. Nevertheless, we try to achieve both, better for everybody, our artists included.

How can anyone get in touch with you? Please list your website, webstore and/or social media links.

Free advertising, uh? Really kind from you! Well, we‟re working on our forthcoming website‟s which is gonna be located at kaotoxin.com and, meanwhile, we have two main webstores: shop.kaotoxin.com for the physical goods (CDs, LPs, merch.) and listen.kaotoxin.com for the digital ones. We‟re also on Facebook, Twitter, SoundCloud, YouTube, Google+ and whatever else.

Despite the fact you didn‟t ask the ritual question «the last words are yours», I‟d really like to thank you one more time for the cool intie and all the support, Adrian, it‟s much appreciated. I hope you‟ll keep supporting the label and its artists and you‟ll be really into what we have in store for you in the near future!

(December 2013)

any more to beginners on a metal-stage with promotion of their music and simultaneously it turns out, that bands help with promotion of my labels. I cooperate with various web-portals, zines and radio by way of reviewing my releases.

Is there anything you planned with your label and has not yet been completed?

I try to realize the plans. Happens, that groups for the various reasons break my plans, but always are wishing to take their place in release-plan.

How does the future looks for your label? Any major projects you would like to share with us?

I shall continue to publish new releases. I shall emphasize cooperation with bands which earlier already published.

How can anyone get in touch with you? Please list your website, webstore and/or social media links.

My e-mail: stn-r@narod.ru Official sites: stn-r.ru and silent-time-noise.ru Still I have been registered on myspace.com, but I have left this social network since it became completely not convenient and very bad (full dung – excuse :-)) And time does not suffice to watch and on a regular basis to update pages in social media links. All info on official web-sites!

Thanks for interview! I wish your zine and readers prosperity and a lot of good music!

(December 2013)

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

Please present your label, when and where was it started, who is involved in its activities and what genres are promoted by it.

My name is Denis. I am the representative of 2 Russian labels: Satanarsa Records and Silent Time Noise Records. Satanarsa Records has been based by me in 2004 and by the basic musical directions have been chosen doom, black and ambient. In 2010 has been based sub-label Silent Time Noise Records on which I let out music in style funeral doom in CD format.

Tell us a few words on each or the most important releases of your label, and which of them are still available for purchase.

I have published more than 100 releases and to allocate from them the most important difficultly. Each release is important for a label at this or that stage of development.

Almost all releases at present are accessible to purchase!

What are the most important features you look for in a band that is or has the chance to be signed on your label?

The main thing, musical material should me like! Well and, certainly, quality of record should be comprehensible. As to Silent Time Noise here of a material are made great demands more. Also I prefer full length albums (compilations), I do not publish singles and EP's for some minutes of playing.

How can a band get in touch with you? What should bands know before submitting their promos for your consideration?

To contact a label not difficultly - it is enough to write the letter on the e-mail address! The only thing - I do not like, when a promo-material send in attaches to mail, better simply to send the link for uploading, the information about the band and it is desirable the reference to a web-page or a site.

What's the most important thing in the relationship between you and your bands? What is your label offering to its bands?

The basic purpose of my label - support of a underground! The label does not aspire to earn many money by means of the edition of groups and cooperates with the bands close on sights. I help as a beginner and

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REVIEWS – REVIEWS – REVIEWS 2BLACK (Switzerland) - Mind Infect WormHoleDeath - 2013 - Thrash Metal Debut album from this band, "Mind Infect" is made of 11 tracks lasting for almost 45 minutes of old-school Thrash Metal with Speed Metal as the main and probably the only influence. Fans of '80's (mostly German) Thrash Metal might enjoy this as it's pure, honest and organic sounding, but I don't know about the new wave or even the 2000's wave of metalheads. Even though they look way past their teenage years 2Black are offering an energetic album, quite catchy most of the time, but with very simple structures and simpler guitar riffs; everything is layed out according to old-school patterns, there's also an instrumental ballad among all these fast paced tracks, so after all I'd say it's a good debut recommended to '80's nostalgics. 7.5

A WINTER LOST (Canada) - Die längste Nacht Sun & Moon - 2013 - Black Metal Second full-length album from A Winter Lost, the Canadian band singing in German language exclusively, and their second album on Sun & Moon Records. Once again the band's highlights are the rough, explosive vocals of lady K. Dylla, extremely aggressive and offensive; she sounds so menacing you constantly feel in danger. The instrumental part is ok when the band goes full speed, but the mid-tempo tracks are quite boring and drag down the album; they tend to become too repetitive at times and the whole gets very dull. As a conclusion, I've heard better, I've heard worse, but the vocals are top-notch, the band deserves your attention even if only for K. Dylla's screams. 7

The third stab from this apocalyptic Russian band, "Theomorphic Defectiveness" is an hour long journey through torments and laments, despair and loss of any hope. It's amazing what these 4 Russians managed to deliver on the new album, I guarantee you'll feel the weight of the World on your shoulders after a simple audition; yes, it that heavy! The vocals are actually cryptic, inhuman, low growls used like an instrument of torture here, most of the guitar riffs are slow and repetitive but also not boring, alternating with killer midtempo to fast Death Metal riffs, and the drums are even slower but oh so heavy. The keyboards build the whole mystic atmosphere around Abstract Spirit's music, and the guitar leads are making this atmosphere even heavier.

One of the most tormenting and inspired Funeral Doom Metal albums I've heard in a while; beware, gat it only if you're used to this type of music, otherwise stay away, it will ruin your spirit for a whole week! 9

Metalcore, Modern Death Metal fans, it's mature enough to be expressive and convince the listener they are worth a bookmark. Fresh, enjoyable, professional, a great release.

9

AGHARTI (Croatia) - Change WormHoleDeath - 2013 - Gothic Metal Young band coming from Croatia, Agharti was founded in 2009 and this is its debut album, a professional release featuring 13 tracks in almost 45 minutes of playing.

Agharti seems to be still in experimental stage even though this debut album sounds good and I'm sure will get a lot of good responses. The music is a combination of Gothic Metal, Power Metal, Melodeath, and even Alternative Metal, the production is superb, very powerful and clean sounding, and it gives the impression of a wellthought and carefully crafted album, an impression that will win on listeners' credibility. There are 2 girls in the band, one on keys building up the whole mysterious background atmospheres, and one on vocals who's doing an excellent job as well, so all in all Agharti seems to be a very promising Gothic Metal band with complete potential to reach the top of the European part of this scene. 9

ABYSMAL DEPTHS (Mexico) - The Pain Shows in Dead Woods Metallic Media - 2013 - Depressive Black Metal I've already met this band when they were named Du Temps Perdu and were featured on a split CD with 3 other bands, and at that time their music sounded quite interesting but the recordings quality was awful. In the meantime they've changed band name and managed to release their debut album on the same label, Metallic Media. 9 tracks plus intro and outro, more than 50 minutes of music, much better recording quality (still raw and underground-like), a much improved meeting with this band. They play some sort of Ambient Depressive Black Metal with simple compositions, old-school '90's type of keyboard backgrounds, rusty atmospheres and repetitive structures. Fans of this genre might like this a lot but I consider it still lacks an own identity, there are so many similar bands around nowadays... The only point that could make them stand out is the fact they are a real AJAL (Malaysia) - Ajal Tiba Bila Seruan Menjelma full line-up band, not a one-man project, but apart from Selfreleased - 2010 - Black'n'Roll that the music is not special. 7.5 I've just reviewed Ajal's debut album a couple of days ago, and here i have their debut demo from 2010. Huge difference between the two, as I suspected. The demo is made of 4 tracks (3 of their own and a cover) and sounds like a combination of Heavy Metal, Hard'n'Heavy, Punk Thrash and Black Metal, can you imagine something like that? Well, although it sounds interesting, it isn't. This is actually an attempt to sound Black Metal, but at the same time is an epic fail; the first track sounds like Black'n'Roll, the second is more Hard'n'Heavy, and the AGE OF AGONY (Hungary) - Machinery of Hatred third is Punk Thrash influenced, all with childish Black Terranis - 2011 - Death Metal As far as I know Age of Agony is one of the oldest (and Metal wannabe vocals and awful guitar solos. A worthless still active) and respected Death Metal bands in Hungary demo in my opinion, but in the end this gives me the and I can see why. They are way passed their teenage opportunity to see how much this band has progressed in years and they still keep it as brutal and ugly as possible, less than 3 years, now Ajal is a real band with good their latest album, "Machinery and Hatred" is a fine potential. 4 example; 11 tracks, more than 40 minutes of fast and brutal Swedish type of Death Metal with raw sound, AJAL (Malaysia) - Jahannarakah crunchy guitar riffs, sledgehammer-like bass lines, frantic MTD - 2012 - Black Metal drums and a raspy, almost comprehensive type of vocals. Ajal means death in Malay so I guess this is a pretty neat I only missed some guitar solos and a few more catchy band name. They were featured in Pest Webzine's Blitz choirs, but except that Age of Agony released a pretty Quitz section in 2010 and it seems they didn't forget about decent and entertaining traditional Death Metal album that and listed Pest in the thanks list; thank you guys, here, nothing innovative, nor exceptionally complex, but much appreciated.

This is the band's debut album released in 2012 by MTD, all straight from the heart. 7.5 limited to 666 numbered copies. Unfortunately the recordings quality is below demo level, I'd say close to a good quality rehearsal recording, so I have my doubts on calling this a proper full-length album, but the music on it is great and after all that's what counts. Ajal proves to be a powerful Black Metal demon unleashing its wrath in form AGE OF TORMENT (Belgium) - I, Against of 7 catchy tracks totaling almost 25 minutes. Quite WormHoleDeath - 2013 - Thrash Death Metalcore Belgium based band founded in 2006 under the Hellgium technical guitar riffs supported by a hard-working rhythm moniker and playing Black Death Metal, this quintet is section, occasional solos, and a demented vocalist that now named Age Of Torment and it seems to follow the screams from the start till the end. With a proper studio trends, now playing a modern combination of Thrash and recording this material would have been much more Metalcore, with a few Death Metal influences (modern as powerful and destructive but I'd recommend this CD for well), but all used with precision and good taste, without the ones of you interested in discovering good South ever overusing something; it seems they are chasing Asian bands, Ajal will soon have a strong say in that success with all costs. This is their second full-length scene. 7 album and it's damn well-played and composed, it has everything you need from a band that keeps up with the trends: groove, force, dirt, melody, energy, and above all it's catchy as hell. Age Of Torment seems to be a band that will satisfy big chunk of Thrash, Hardcore,

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

ABSENTH (Russia) - Love Is Dead Satanarsa - 2008 (re-release) - Industrial Gothic Metal Released by the band in 2005 and re-released by Satanarsa Records in 2008, Love is Dead is Absenth's debut album and seems to be still available from the label in physical format and from the band's website as free download. In the meantime they have released 2 more full-length albums and seem to be more and more involved in the Electro Industrial scene. They started out in 2001 as a Doom Death outfit and by this time this debut album was released they switched to some sort of an Industrial Gothic with only a few growling vocals remaining from the previous period. The album starts horribly with 2 tracks that made me wonder if I'm about to lose half an hour of my time torturing my ears with poorly synchronized instruments and awful Electro attempts, but for my luck the following tracks are a bit more technical, better performed and better composed, offering a few hints of Melodic Doom Metal on a couple of tracks and even (awful) Death Metal too on a track.

Still, the riffs are too generic, the drum-machine becomes annoying after a while and the sound is no better than what we got in the '90's, the only things saving the whole being the great guitar leads and solos, and some catchy choruses here and there. Don't know how the band sounds Today, but honestly I'm not interested. 5

ABSTRACT SPIRIT (Russia) Defectiveness Solitude - 2013 - Funeral Doom Metal

Theomorphic

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ALASTOR (Portugal) - Demon Attack War Prod. - 2011 - Thrash Black Metal This one seems to be a cult band for the Portuguese underground movement as they were formed in 1988, even before Desecrator, the founding member, started one of the most (if not the most) important name in the Portuguese Black Metal scene. So yes, Alastor seems to be mainly his own project, backed up by a bunch of friends now and then. This release features beside the 11 new tracks, also a complete album, Gates of Darkness, previously released in 1996, so you get double the value for your money. The music is quite simple structured Thrash Black Metal with angry vocals, raw sound, and surprisingly enough, melodic guitar leads and solos. The compositions are too dull for my taste but thos guitar solos and the occasional supporting background growls, are giving Alastor's music more value, so if you want oldschool, old-school is all you get here. If the drum sound would have been more organic I think this album would have been a blast in this revivalist scene nowadays. 7

ALIENATION COLD (Russia) - Nothing, Nobody, Never...

Stavropol Nekrodivizion - 2012 - Atmospheric Black Metal This digipack CD looks awesome and from its artwork you can easily imagine what music you will discover on it. Alienation Cold was founded as a trio in 2004 and released its debut album in 2006, but since then 6 years had passed and one of the three members left the band.

Now, in 2012, the band is back as a duo with a new album composed of only 3 tracks, but 3 long ones so that the total playing of this CD is almost 35 minutes. About the music: depressive, mostly slow paced, dark and enigmatic Black Metal with lots and lots of melodies that manage to enrich the general decaying atmosphere. Although multiple parts are too repetitive at times all in all we get an interesting release that keeps your attention high from start to finish, but it fails on creating a curdled, unified image of what they want to display and here I mean that during the audition you can find yourself dreaming on some parts but also listening carefully and dissecting every instrument and my opinion is that this music should flow seamlessly without leaving the listener to think about how the drums are recorded or for how long the same riff will continue. Anyway, as a conclusion this is not bad at all, the keyboards and vocals seem to be its highlights, but on the guitar part I'd say it could have been better. 7.5

the Nervecell" reviewed by me a year ago, and on the second there's the 2005 EP "From Underground / F枚ld al贸l" I have the pleasure of listening for the first time. If you read my 2011 review you'll get my opinion on Ashen Epitaph's debut album, so I'll talk a bit about the 2005 EP here. There are no less than 13 studio recorded tracks here plus 6 live recordings, so a total of 19 tracks, much more even than a full-length. "From the Underground" is an explosive discharge of American '90's type of Death Metal with a good pinch of European style Death Metal, all served with a crystal clear sound, raw and organic but clear and perfect for a nostalgic incursion in what Death Metal used to be 2 decades ago. Although they bring nothing new to the scene, I like this band a lot, and I think their efforts should be welcomed by old-school Death ARMED DEATH (Greece) - Reborn Metallers especially regarding this double CD offensive Satanarsa - 2009 - Thrash Death Metal This is probably the worst CD I had the "chance" to listen where yes, you can hear a lot of standard riffs, but the this year, it is absolutely brutal awful... This duo was overall result is entertaining and not boring at all. I would founded back in '89 (!!!) but only released occasional love to see this released on tape sometime... demos, splits and compilations of demos so far, no albums, no splits, and after listening to their music I can see why. They have absolutely no synchronization, all tracks seem to be composed and recorded on the spot with no rehearsals, no nothing, it's an absolute disaster. I was brave enough to listen to the whole CD and that's only because on few tracks there were some riffs and atmospheres that reminded me of the old Necromantia and I thought they are trying to revive the old Hellenic ASTARIUM (Russia) - Wyrm of Melancholy Black Death sound, but I was wrong. Avoid at all costs! I Selfreleased - 2012 - Symphonic Black Metal guess the guys a Satanarsa never listened to these tracks Astarium is back with a new, self-released album before releasing them... 1.5 containing 8 tracks and a bonus cover of Krah's New demo from these Spanish Death Metallers, Bloody Carnival is made of only 2 new tracks and an intro. The sound is much more powerful than on their debut so the listeners will relate better to what the band offers: midtempo to fast paced traditional Death Metal with almost comprehensive growling vocals, semi-technical guitar riffs, and a good rhythms section. The band seems to emphasize on creating catchy choruses and I think that's the good way to go. They have still some way to go in order to create an own style, but the potential is there. 7

ARS GOETIA (Italy) - Servants of Void Baphomet in Steel - 2013 - Black Metal Second full-length release from this Italian combo, "Servants of Void" is made of 10 tracks into fast and uncompromising Black Metal, quite standard stuff I may add, with nothing in particular to stand out or impress, but with a nice flow and evil atmosphere. The drummer sounds sloppy at times are very skilled at other, don't know how to judge his playing; the vocalist is pretty good but not versatile enough to keep your attention high; the guitar riffs, with some delicious exceptions, are all following overused patterns; the bass lines are very pronounced, a good addition to the overall heavy atmospheres. Still, although well executed this won't blow your mind away, that's for sure. 7

"permafrost" (honestly I have no idea who Krah is...).

This is released as a promo I guess with the purpose to find a suitable label for a mass production, but it looks good and that makes me think SiN, the man behind Astarium, is serious about his work and is aiming high.

Maybe labeling it as Black Metal is a bit outdated (Astarium used to be Black Metal some time ago), but the atmosphere is there and the vocals too. I would better say Astarium is now a mix of Depressive Doom with Symphonic Gothic Black, the tempo is mostly slow and oppressive, and the overall atmospheres are very depressive, melancholic and sorrowful. Although the production is not shiny and polished to the bone, Astarium manages to reek of extreme grief and desolation and at the same time to create its own fantasy world. I like the fact SiN gave up his awful synthetic computer generated guitar sounds and picked up a real guitar this time. There's a lot to improve, but I think fans of Depressive Metal will like this album a lot, it feels much more honest and from the heart than Astarium's previous works. 8

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

APONTOKATION (Spain) - Awakening the Beast Selfreleased - 2011 - Death Metal Debut demo from this Spanish quartet Awakening the Beast features 7 tracks + intro. Unfortunately because of the weak sound it fails to impress, but at least it introduces a band that likes to offer catchy and quite complex compositions with occasional influences from lots of other genres. The tracks are good, not boring at all, but if I was in their place I'd re-record them in a better studio, the sound on this release is so thin it's a real shame. Also I have no idea why track 3 gets cut off way before it was supposed to finish. Anyway, as a conclusion these guys seem to handle their instruments pretty well so I wouldn't be surprised to see them building a name for themselves soon. Traditional Death Metal fans should keep an eye on them. 6 APONTOKATION (Spain) - Bloody Carnival Selfreleased - 2013 - Death Metal

ARUNA AZURA (Russia) - A Story of a World's Betrayal Metal Scrap - 2013 - Technical Death Metal Don't know why but I thought these guys were Swedes, well, they certainly look like Swedes (except for the drummer). Anyway, Aruna Azura is a combo from Russia founded in 2009 and this is their debut album, a powerful display of technical skills. The major part of this record is a sort of Groove Death Metal, quite traditional and straight-forward, but there are also some absolutely delicious parts influenced by Progressive Metal but also lots of Faith No More-like grooves and vocals where the band proves to be full of potential. Their compositions are not as mature and tight as they should be, but I'm sure they will improve a lot and the next release will be a complete blast, all of them are very skilled musicians, with a special mention for the bassist who's all over the place on this record. If you think a combination of Death Metal with Faith No More and Pyogenesis sounds interesting then don't miss this album, it has all that and much more. Thumbs up! 9 ASHEN EPITAPH (Serbia) - Sunshine Above the Grave Miner Recordings - 2012 - Death Metal Miner Recordings seems to be a new label from Switzerland ran by a Serbian metalhead, and it's very nice he is promoting Serbian metal through this label, that means he's good in his new adoptive country and he is still supportive of his homeland's bands. Respect for that!

Ashen Epitaph present us here a new release, a Double CD release that's actually made of old material, on the first CD there's the 2008 full-length "Somewhere Behind

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ATER ERA (Slovenia) - Beneath Inanimate Grime Pestilence - 2013 - Black Metal It's not often bands from Slovenia get on my review list so I was quite curious about what this trio has to offer. The band was founded in 2006 and this is their second fulllength, released 2 years after their quite well received debut "In Autumn's Solitary Decline". The CD is features 7 tracks but it lasts for almost an hour of mid-tempo to fast paced Black Metal with multiple variations and a lot of interesting ideas creating an overall mystic, psychedelic and quite mesmerizing atmosphere. What's great about this is they only use traditional instruments (bass, guitar and drums) to create their music and they perfectly succeed in delivering a dark, horrifying music without the use of keyboards or other special effects.

Black Metal fans should get ahold of this album, it won't disappoint. 8.5 AUFSCHWUNG (Russia) - Price of Life 7.62 Prod. - 2013 - Black Metal This is an NS band from Russia, but since we do not support or condemn any political, religious or sexual orientation, this fact doesn't really matter, we speak about the music exclusively. I just felt to clear that in order to avoid unnecessary future comments.

Aufschwung is a one man band founded in 2010 and this is its debut full-length after a couple of EPs, a split, a demo and even a single. 11 tracks totaling 45 minutes of mid-tempo to fast Black Metal highlighted by a raw and very versatile vocal part and a melodic lead guitar part that reminded me of the Finnish scene. Even if the

computer generated drums sound a bit too synthetic and annoying at times, overall this material left a very good impression on me, I found it really emotional and honest, catchy and at the same time dirty and underground. Music wise this guy and his project deserve some more attention.

8

groundbreaking on this record, but I think Grindcore fans, and drums, infiltrated by lots and lots of movie & news especially the old-school fans, will enjoy these 15 minutes reports excerpts most of them related to World War II, excepts that could and for sure will be considered as of intense aggression. 7 offensive by many (not the band member, haha). After giving this album three full spins I have my conclusion: BALMOG (Spain) - Testimony of the Abominable they sound honest and really dedicated to this band, the BlackSeed - 2012 - Black Metal Balmog finally managed to release their debut full-length addition of The Many proves to be a good decision as his after almost 10 years of existence so I guess this album vocals are very versatile and expressive, and overall the was quite welcomed by the Spanish Black Metal scene as CD is enjoyable although it isn't as diverse or complex as the band has a powerful name in the underground from the scene requires nowadays. 8 the demos, EPs and splits they have released so far. Their type of Black Metal is very brutal and putrid as an old corpse, it's not just fast-forward riffing, but they can also manage to create a cold, grotesque atmosphere and that's thanks to the great vocal performance. The instrumental part is very good as well, well-built and executed so that you won't find any boring parts. If you're into this type of old-school, uncompromising, expressive Black Metal you shouldn’t miss the debut album signed by Balmog, it's a BLACK BLEEDING (Belgium) - The Awakening real treat. Sick music for sick people. 9 Satanarsa - 2006 - Black Death Grind

AUSTERYMN (UK) - In Death...We Speak Selfreleased - 2013 - Death Metal Probably one of the biggest surprises of 2013, Austerymn released this 2 tracks promo CD by themselves and already got a contract to re-release it in tape format, too, and as far as I know they are also swamped with deal offers for a debut album too. But what makes this band so interesting? First its perfect Swedish Death Metal guitar tone, reminding me mostly of Dismember, then the hoarse but at the same time comprehensive vocals, and lastly the catchy compositions. The 2 tracks here are awesome reminders of the best years of the Swedish scene we all miss and everyone's trying so much to copy nowadays.

Austerymn succeeded, so grab yourselves a copy of this demo to see if I'm right. Curious how the debut album BEAST CONJURATOR (Brazil) - Strange Aeons will sound like, if anything like these 2 tracks we'll have a Old Goat Corpse - 2013 - Death Metal Brazilian quartet founded in 2009, Beast Conjurator 2014 Death Metal winner right here. 9 agreed to re-release their previous works (a demo and an EP) on tape limited to 150 hand-numbered copies, so what we get here are 10 tracks totaling half an hour or old-school Death Metal. Their music sounds like the final steps of transition from Thrash to Death Metal, a thrashy Death Metal I'd say, built on fast paced rhythms, nice flowing guitar riffs, solid bass lines and growling vocals.

The band doesn't have an own identity yet, but this cassette is pretty entertaining for old-school (end '80's) AWAITING FEAR (Serbia) - After Execution Death Metal fans. 6.5 Miner Rec. - 2012 - Death Metal

Holy crap, this is almost 10 years old and Satanarsa still sent it for a review... Why??? It's sad to see a CD from 2006 still available, isn't it?

Oh well, talking about the actual music on this demo, I can say it's a weird and effective combination of Grindcore (mostly), Death and Black Metal highlighted by high speed with mid-tempo and even slow passages that emphasize the dark atmosphere. The drummer is insane, a blastbeats maniac, I'm curious how this guy looks after a gig. For a trio, Black Bleeding definitely sound menacing and brutal, even though there are some parts when you can feel the need for an extra instrument.

Anyway, a sick release from a sick band, I assume it's ‘till available for purchase, so give Satanarsa a shout. 7 BLACK SOUND EMPIRE (Italy) - Sisma Noisehead - 2013 - Post Metal Black Sound Empire are from Italy and on their Facebook page they warn us they play Post metal and we, the fuckers, should deal with it... mmmkay, but guys, do you really think that's so important it needs to be stressed?

Anyway, as far as I know this is their debut album, a 9 tracks effort that presents us a band that has no problems throwing in any and all genres they could think of and that makes their music quite interesting. The guys are good instrumentists and intelligent I might add, intelligent enough to create such a complex blend and still keep their music easy flowing. Cool stuff. They remind me of a combination of Deftones with another Italian band I remember reviewing back in the early 2000's and liking it a lot (even if it was NuMetal) and a good dose of Modern and Melodic Hardcore, quite an interesting result. I have deeply enjoyed the "Cheval" track with its sax addition and I hope these guys will consider adding the sax as a permanent instrument sometimes soon. Interesting and worthwhile album, but I would only recommend it to you if you're in constant search for new stuff and you're highly open-minded. 8.5

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

I remember reviewing this band's debut album back when they were still fronted by a female vocalist, but since then almost all members of the band are different and there's no more chick in the band. The bassist, who used to do screaming vocals back then, takes care of growls now, and as much as I disliked his screams, as much I love his growls, much more suitable to his abilities, and although he still has a few parts with screams, they are tuned down somewhere in the back so they are not annoying anymore.

The music overall is pretty decent, old-school typed of Thrash inspired Death Metal with fast paced rhythms, good execution and quite a few genre patterns in order to consider it part of the traditional type of Death Metal.

Unfortunately the band doesn't stand out from the crowd with anything anymore, they need to find something of their own in order to rebuild an own identity because as much as I hate that, having a girl in the band, especially on vocals, makes you stand out as a band, so loosing this advantage only condemns you to work harder. 8

BEYOND MORTALITY (Sweden) - Infected Life WormHoleDeath / Grom - 2013 - Thrash Death Metal Although they are located in a small city that's closer to Gothemburg than Stockholm, Beyond Mortality's music is far from what was once called Gothemburg Death Metal and actually closer to the Stockholm pack of legendary bands, so we're dealing here with a fast, explosive and entertaining piece of Death Metal spiced up with loads of Thrash Metal elements. The tracks are hard-hitting from start to finish, but not catchy enough to make Infected Life an influential material, and since the band was actually founded in 1999 I don't think there's much room for improvement anymore, so I guess what we get here is what Beyond Mortality is all about. If all tracks would have been as catchy as Broken Souls or Suffocation by Fear, or if the vocalist would have used his voice at full potential (being as versatile as on the Man Made God BACTEREMIA (Colombia) - Cerebral Wrong Settings track for example), or if the guitar riffs would have been Permeated - 2013 - Brutal Death Metal less generic... Anyway, to sum it up this is an entertaining After a 2 tracks promo in 2012 Bacteremia already release that won't raise any eyebrows but won't certainly secured a deal with Permeated Records and here they are disappoint their fans either; Traditional Death Metal as it sharing with us their debut full-length album, a 9 tracks was played back in the '90's. 7 effort totaling a bit more than 25 minutes (so would be more appropriate to call it an EP...) of sheer torment and brutality. Brutal Death Metal on constant fast paced rhythms, with guttural vocals, technical guitar all over and blastbeasts from start till the finish, delivered with a raw but quite ok recording quality. Brutal Death Metallers will enjoy this release, I can't see any elements/parts that could bore your asses, so if you're into unrelenting and uncompromising Brutal Death you might find this sweet BITTER PEACE (USA) - Opus II enough to cheer up your holidays. 8.5 Moribund Rec. - 2013 - Black Metal As the title suggests, this is the second album from Bitter BAHAJANG (Malaysia) - Extirpation of Rapscallion Peace and I feel this band is more like a project of Lance Selfreleased - 2013 - Grindcore Not bad, not bad at all. This is Bahajang's debut EP, made Gifford (also involved in Godless Rising, a name you of 10 tracks totaling a bit more than 15 minutes of might know better) as he explains on page 2 of the devastating Grindcore. Although the recording is not booklet how he is following the same path opened with professional, it's quite good for understanding and Bitter Peace's debut album, this time helped by a new guy enjoying what's being served: groovy drums with multiple named The Many who takes care of the vocals and bass blast beats attempts, low tuned guitar riffs that get chaotic while Lance remains in charge of guitars and drums. The at times, dual vocal type (growls and screams) and above music is traditional, raw and devastating Black Metal with all an addictive energy. There's nothing new or occasional Death Metal influences especially on guitars

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BLAZE OF SORROW (Italy) - Echi Sun & Moon - 2012 - Atmospheric Black Metal Enchanting, here's a word that could describe the new Blaze of Sorrow album; I've started reviewing it a handful of times and always ended up playing it over and over again and forgetting about the review. Well, in my books that's a well done album, and to be honest I'm also very proud it was released by a Romanian label. Echi basically continues the work started with Eterno Tramonto, so if you liked the 2011 album you'll definitely love this new one, there's much more melody, more acoustic passages, and the Black Metal parts this time seem to have even more feelings. For the ones of you who don't know this band yet I'd say it's a classy combination of fast yet melodic Black Metal with acoustic passages and plenty of rich atmospheres but at the same time keeping it somehow simple and dry, without using synthetic effects.

A must have album! 10

BLEEDING UTOPIA (Sweden) - Demons to some.

Gods to others.

WormHoleDeath - 2012 - Melodic Thrash Death Metal A new Melodic Extreme Metal band emerging from Sweden is always something to look for, and although it's such a clichee to say most of the Swedish bands are really good, it really is like that. Maybe because they have such good studios, maybe they start their bands on excellent quality instruments or maybe because they rehearse so much and work on finding good composition ideas all the time. Bleeding Utopia is one of those bands continuing the Gothenburg tradition although they come from the opposite side of Sweden, from Stockholm. "Demons to some. Gods to others." comes with some really good technical skills, catchy themes, good balance between aggressive rhythms and melodic insertions, and all in all it's an easy flowing album recommended to all of you into Melodic Deathrash. Bleeding Utopia is not an innovator of the scene (at least not yet), but their debut album is definitely worth checking out. The vocalist has a versatile timbre, he could easily experiment a bit more on the next release, that will give them an own identity. 8.5 BLODORN (France) - Demo Selfreleased - 2013 - Black Death Metal Born from the ashes of a former Deathcore act named Outcome, Blodorn released its debut demo this year. It's my first encounter with them and what a shocking encounter was that. Blodorn is following the Black Death Metal (well, probably more Death than Black though) path but they do it so brutally intense it's impossible to ignore them: ferocious vocals (both growls and screams), technical guitar work, walls of blastbeats and rhythms that are actually whipping your ears with brutality. I love it! It sounds so brutal, so modern and at the same time so honest and traditional that I find it sick. Curious where these guys will head next, there still room for improvement and they seem to be on the right lane. 8

The split opens with Botulistum and their inhuman, disgusting, sickening combination of Noise and Extreme Metal. No lyrics, no words, only screams, growls, moans, vomits, belches, supported by mainly ultra-fast drumming and dissonant guitar riffs. Awful, terrifying, mesmerizing, incredible! If Hell exists Botulistum would make its perfect soundtrack! I think that in time this could have such an impact as Beherit had.

If Botulistum sounds like Hell, Goll sounds like all souls imprisoned in Hell, it's the soundtrack of their horror, of their suffering and desperation. It's absolutely terrifying how well these 2 bands mix one with the other. As a difference between them, Goll has more comprehensive guitar riffs, more pronounced bass lines, more acute vocals, mostly screams, and a dark, atmospheric keyboard as background, so in a way it sounds more elaborate, but the final result is the same: HORROR! Highly recommended but not for the faint of hearts! 10 / 9.5 BRENVOLIZNEPR (Italy) / WITCHBREW (Italy) Animal Sacrifice / Pouring Ancient Evil Baphomet in Steel - 2011 - Punk Black Metal / Black Thrash Metal Opening this split is an Italian duo I can't even write its name without double-checking it afterwards, but how about pronouncing it? Oh well, nevermind. Musicwise, if you can poss over the horrible, lo-fi rehearsal type of sound, they are mixing Punk with Black Metal or better said heavy influences from Venom, Motorhead and underground Punk, so we get simple and repetitive riffs, guitar solos loosing pace and simple drums and screams all over. After a while it becomes addictive but only because of those simple riffs that eventually get stuck to your head, and the fast rhythms. I have no idea if this is a mockery or if they are actually serious about it...

Witchbrew are a duo and this is their first official release; one of the guys is also involved in Brenvoliznepr, Zorndyke and Ars Goetia and I think he owns the label Baphomet in Steel too. Their part is better: the sound is still rehearsal-like but fatter, the compositions are simple again but they are more brutal, and the demented vocals work better in this case, so yes, if I was about to pick from the two bands I'd go for Witchbrew anytime, even the band's name is much better, haha. Get ahold of this only if you're into deep, lo-fi sound underground, otherwise it’s not your cup of tea. 4 / 6

blasphemic attitude. This new EP was released on tape by 3 different labels and on CD by Blasphemy Production, so the interest from labels is high, don't know about the fans' interest but honestly I don't think it lacks. Regarding this EP, it is made of 6 tracks plus one bonus; raw Black Metal with occasional Death and even Thrash Metal influences, with pretty generic compositions and not much to stand out of the crowd, but with fierce attitude and even if the recordings quality isn't the best around I'd say the final result is pretty expressive and fans of this genre won't be disappointed. I only think there is still room for improvement in this genre, too, and these guys seem to have the necessary skills to do it. 6.5

CORPSEFLESH (Australia) - Tattooed by a Blowtorch Ungodly Ruins - 2013 - Brutal Death Metal When you hear Brutal Death Metal nowadays you immediately think of ultra-fast, as intricate as possible, hard-to-follow rhythms, but for my delight Corpsefles, although following the typical patterns of this genre, are a combination of old-school Brutal Death with the new form of this genre, and what a successful combination it is... Besides the ultra-fast blast beats, Corpseflesh are adding catchy guitar riffs with a bit of groove here and there, a great growling vocal, and even some slow, heavy as shit rhythms. Honestly I don't like the drums' sound, especially the snare drum, but that won't make me say this is a weak album. On the contrary, I have enjoyed every bit of it and I can say Corpseflesh is one of the Brutal Death bands I like the most this year, just imagine a combination of Gorgasm, Dying Fetus and even Deicide, sick, sick, sick. 9 CULT OF ERINYES (Belgium) / ZIFIR (Turkey) Split Tanquam Aegri Somnia - 2012 - Black Metal / Black Metal Opening this split is a revelation of the new European wave of Black Metal, Cult of Erinyes. The band was founded in 2009 from the ashes of a Metalcore band turned Black Death later on and expired in 2009, Psalm. I guess they decided to change the band name also while turning onto a more mystical, demonic side of Metal, Black Metal. The band released its debut album on Les Acteurs de L'Ombre in 2011 and then this split CD on Tanquam Aegri Somnia, but short after that they signed with Code666 and released the second full-length, so I guess they'll soon become a World-known name.

Musicwise, on this split, Cult of Erinyes delivers 3 tracks of dark, intensive, horrifying Black Metal, well-curdled, expressive and quite technical to a point there's not much you can argue about. Besides sounding like a devastating hurricane on their fast parts, Cult Of Erinyes are also menacing and terrifying, a full treat.

Zifir are from Turkey and their side is as dark and misanthropic as possible, their music ranges from slow, heavy rhythms to faster ones but the atmosphere is very thick, like a suffocating fog, don't know how to explain it better but I'm impressed by what they managed to create with traditional instruments only (bass, guitar, drums).

This is a band you'll either hate or love, and I'm sure they'll find a suitable label to release their upcoming materials, just like CoE did.

A split recommended to the ones of you in search for putrid, doomy, dark Black Metal. 8.5 / 8

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

BLOOD POLLUTION (Russia) - Monster Truck Man Atomic Carnage / Wings of Destruction - 2012 Thrash'n'Roll I'd expect such a band to pop out of Germany or USA, certainly not from Russia, I somehow don't see Russians being into Thrash'n'Roll, but that doesn't mean I'm also right. The new EP from Blood Pollution is a decent combination of Punk, Thrash Metal and Rock'n'Roll highlighted by a screaming vocalist, good disposition and unfortunately a lack of diversity that can reach boredom levels. Fortunately the EP is only 17 minutes long so after all it's an enjoyable and entertaining release, good enough for starting a beer party. 6.5

BLOODSHED WALHALLA (Italy) - The Battle Will Never End Fog Foundation - 2012 - Viking Metal Second full-length from this Italian one man band heavily influenced by Bathory, "The Battle Will Never End" is almost al hour long although it's made of only 7 tracks.

The intro and part of the second track bored me to death; although based on a good and catchy idea the intro is way to stretched (7 minutes!) and it is continued almost on the same rhythm on 3 more minutes from the second track, without vocals, only an instrumental composition that would be good for half a minute, a minute tops, in order to build up the tension and prepare the way for the "real" music. So after 10 boring minutes Bloodshed Walhalla starts to deliver 100% Bathory ("Hammerheart") influenced music, majestic and expressive, catchy and well executed. I have no problem at all if the band is a copycat, what matters is what they manage to express through their music and Bloodshed Walhalla is doing a good job although the vocals could have been better (read "more powerful and on track"). To judge it as a whole I'd say "The Battle Will Never End" is well executed and catchy, so if you're not looking for original, innovative stuff you might try it. 8 BOTULISTUM (Holland) / GOLL (Holland) - Split Dying Sun - 2013 - Noise Black Metal / Black Metal Most probably one of the ugliest, most disgusting splits released in 2013! This is my first encounter with these 2 Dutch bands and I'm glad it happened.

CADAVERIA (Italy) - The Shadows' Madame Black Tears - 2013 - Gothic Black Metal This is a re-release of Cadaveria's debut album from 2002, remastered and with a different cover artwork, I guess fans will appreciate it as well. Cadaveria was, as it is a Melodic Gothic Black Metal band based on Cadaveria's wicked female vocals, melodic guitar leads, sharp guitar riffs and a somehow obscure atmosphere, similar to what Samael used to create but a little less aggressive, a band that any fan of the abovementioned genres should at least listen to once. A nice release recommended for fans but also for the ones of you into mid-tempo Melodic Black Metal.

CALTH (Bulgaria) - Fight for a New Become Satanarsa - 2009 - Black Metal An old release that is probably still available through Satanarsa, this is Calth's debut album. I like the Bulgarian scene and a lot of its bands so I was quite curious to check what we have here. Unfortunately Calth's debut album is a major disappointment, I had a hard time going through all these 9 tracks and in the end I can't say the 40 minutes were well spent, not at all. The recording is low quality, and both the drum programmings and the guitar riffs are annoying as hell. The only thing that could have saved a bit from total desaster could have been the vocals.

Erilyne, the only man behind this moniker (also involved in many other one-man-projects or full line-up bands) manages to transmit his feelings through the vocal part but unfortunately the awful sound corrupts that too. Calth recently released its second album and hopefully it is much better, I wouldn't recommend this one at all. 3 CATACUMBA (Brazil) - Animus Mortis Blasphemy Prod. - 2013 - Black Metal Catacomba is a Brazilian band formed 10 years ago, a band that follows the path of bands like Impiety, Blasphemy or Nunslaughter, meaning all spikes, leather and chains image and raw, old-school Black Metal with

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CURSE OF THE FORGOTTEN (Holland) - Building the Palace WormHoleDeath - 2013 - Melodic Modern Thrash Death Metal Geez, I have to be honest and admit I never expected such an impact on me from this album, maybe because they look very young (and probably they aren't), maybe because they have been around since 2006 and this is only their debut album, or maybe simply because of my stupid preconception that bands with multiple words names suck. Well, Curse Of The Forgotten seriously kicked my

ass with their impressive blend of Swedish Melodic Thrash Death Metal and Modern Groove Metal / Metalcore, they sound so fresh and at the same time so honest that I have to admit this is one of the best of such releases I've heard this year. The melodic guitar leads and solos are delicious, the guitar riffs and breaks are absolutely awesome, the rhythm section is top notch and the vocals, especially the growls, are perfect, with a minor disappointment in the screamed vocals when the guy is not yet ready and seems insecure. Anyway, to sum it up, this debut album is an impressive continuation of a style I thought to be dead at the moment, Melodic Thrash Death Metal based on guitar work, so don't lose any more time and go grab yourself a copy, these guys will be big soon.

9 DAKSINROY (Germany) - Tournament of Destruction Blacksnake - 2013 - Thrash Death Metal Wow, this band is almost 20 years old being formed in 1994, but I have never heard of them until now, and a weird name like this you will at least remember...it means I never came across their name before. But unfortunately beside the unusual and hard to remember band name, their music is not one that will stick to your mind either.

Basically they are using '80's and '90's Thrash Metal patterns mixed with a few Death Metal parts here and there, but the riffs are overused, even abused I could say, the vocals are not versatile at all and become boring after a short while, and except for a few faster parts where some Death Metal riffing kicks in I was quite bored by this release. The sound is crystal clear but that doesn't give this material the power and aggression it would have needed. These Germans are skilled musicians (especially the guitarists), they seem to be getting along very well among themselves (as instrumentists), but still they tend to mix good, headbanging parts with some lame-riffs midtempo parts that ruin it all. 7

This is their debut album and I would say it's a combination of Swedish Melodic Death Metal with Technical Death Metal a la Death, structured and delivered with a lot of good taste making it catchy and highly enjoyable for fans of both above-mentioned types of Death Metal. The band is fronted by a lady who takes care of vocals and she does a tremendous job on screams, growls and clean vocals at the same time. The other band members are highly skilled and they prove that on Architect, so what else can I say, I have enjoyed it a lot and hope you will, too. 9.5

they can do better. If you're into Deicide you might like this album too, or at least parts of it. 6.5

DIABOLIKAL HOLOKAUST (Mexico) - Diabolikal Holokaust Infinito Envenenado - 2013 - Black Thrash Metal Nice CD cover from what seems like recycled paper, that type of paper that seems 100 years old, horns up for this idea. Now getting to the music, the Mexico based Diabolikal Holokaust featured 9 tracks on this debut album totaling 35 minutes of fast, raw, and devastating Thrash Black Metal. Ultra-fast drumming, insane guitar riffs, and a horrifying combination of Thrashy screams with low tuned Death Metal growls, a true nightmare DEATHQUINTET (Sweden) - Godwork indeed, a nightmare I'm sure fans of raw Thrash Black Selfreleased - 2013 - Modern Death Metal will appreciate. The composition and execution are not Deathquintet seems to be the same as Sargatanas Reign, a the best possible but the band impresses through their band that was active from 1997 released 2 albums (one on hateful attitude and ferocity; get this album only if you regain and one on I Hate Records) before deciding to quit like your Metal raw, satanic and bloody. 7.5 in 2008. In 2012 four of the former Sargatanas Reign members decided to reunite and with the help of a new vocalist formed what now we call Deathquintet, a Modern Death Metal band. This debut album unfortunately fails to impress through its music or sound; the music, although well executed and reaching all templates of this genre, has nothing to stand out, and the sound is way too dry for this genre, you'll have the constant feeling something's missing. The vocalist seems to be unsure if he wants to go "core" or traditional and so on a few tracks he screams his DIABOLUS SANCTUS (Georgia) - Voice of Satan Satanarsa - 2011 - Black Metal lungs out (even some inhaled vox are tried), and on some other he goes for the traditional comprehensive growls I think this is the first Georgian band I get the chance to and screams type of vocals. in my opinion this indecision review, and I had no idea what to expect. This is the first makes the album even less effective. Since the guys have Diabolus Sanctus demo, a release made of 7 tracks into so many years of activity underbelt hopefully the next more than half an hour of Satanic Black Metal. release will hit harder, the potential must be there for Traditional sounding, fast paced, hateful, quite complex and catchy, Diabolus Sanctus' music is a nice surprise I sure... 6 honestly wasn't expecting. My only bad points would be for the synthetic (but not annoying) drums and the lack of versatility of the vocalist, he has a good tone for this genre, but he doesn't experiment, doesn't try anything else. The guitar work and especially the bass lines are topnotch, congrats. In the meantime it seems the band recorded their debut album in 2013, but I have no idea if it was ever released. 7.5

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

DARGONOMEL (Russia) - Varkulama More Hate - 2013 - Black Death Metal I know this band from when they were names Subterra Demort in 2010, but in 2011 they changed moniker and soon after signed with More Hate for the release of this debut album as Dargonomel and second in band's history.

They haven't changed their musical style though, they are still playing an atmospheric type of Black Death Metal, a combination of dark and mysterious Black Metal with technical and carefully structured Death Metal, mostly fast paced but with occasional melodic additions (like the acoustic 6th track or the keyboard insertions) that only enhance the demonic and heavy atmosphere surrounding this release. Fans of Polish Extreme Metal (especially Vader and Behemoth) might enjoy this release a lot, but the nice thing is "Varkulama" has also a special place for Tech Death Metal fanatics too. I'd label this as impressive and full of potential. 8.5

DEAD MEAT (Portugal) - Stench of Rotten Years Murder / Vomit Your Shirt / Sevared / Necrotic / Space Diving - 2009 - Brutal Death Metal Here's a compilation of all Dead Meat's work so far. The band never released an album although they are around since 1993, so this is the closest thing to an album they are offering, a 23 tracks effort totaling almost 70 minutes of Brutal Death, nothing more, nothing less. I don't like this kind of happy growling vocals that sound like a Little Red Riding Hood gone bad, but I do enjoy the guitar riffs pretty much. So if you're into the nowadays Brutal Death, especially the fun one like the one presented at Obscene Extreme Fest, you should get this CD, it's all you could expect: fast paced rhythms, plenty of blastbeats, incomprehensive low-tuned growls (effects, of course), headbanging-friendly guitar riffs, unpolished sound. The band was actually darker and more menacing in their early days, so if I were to choose I'd say the earlier Dead Meat is for me.

DECONSTRUCTING SEQUENCE (UK) - Year One Selfreleased - 2013 - Progressive Black Death Metal Debut EP from this UK based band that likes to call its genre Extreme Progressive Art and I can see why, they are desperately trying to sound as complex and intricate as possible, and to avoid paths already discovered. That's brave for them, but it's also risky; and risky was the cover artwork as well, I really thought I was going to have a Pop Rock audition judging by the CD's cover, and like me there could be many, many more that will avoid it not knowing what music it offers. Although it features only 3 tracks this EP lasts for almost 25 minutes so you'll get plenty of stuff to enjoy or dislike, depending to your taste.

The potential is there, they only need to polish things up and build more catchy structures next time in order to become a leading name in this field (yes, they seem to have the potential to do just that), but as a taste of things to come this EP didn't disapoint; a progressive blend of Black and Death Metal to listen to at home and get to know more and more hidden secrets with every new audition. 7.5

DEMOGORGON (Poland) - Where Is He...?

G.U.C. - 2013 - Death Metal There were and still are countless Demogorgon bands around the world, don't know how they can all exist and release stuff at the same time, I'd be extremely frustrated to be in such a position. Anyway, this is the Polish Death Metal band Demogorgon, founded in 1995, at the moment a trio. This is their second full-length album, a Polish response to Deicide, meaning a Death Metal based on quite simple riffs, mid-tempo to fast rhythms, catchy compositions, dual vocal type (screams/growls) and DEATHEMBER FLOWER (Ukraine) - Architect blasphemic attitude. Unfortunately on some tracks the Metal Scrap - 2013 - Technical Melodic Death Metal riffs are too simplistic leaving space to boredom; the Metal Scrap released some very interesting titles lately sound is raw and organic, but in this case it emphasizes and Deathember Flower qualifies for this label, too. The those dry, uninspired parts. Except for that, the fast parts band was founded in 2007 from the ashes of a Gothic are really brutal and enjoyable, the vocals are very good, Metal band and maybe that's why they decided to keep and their technical skills as instrumentists demonstrate their music still melodic and as approachable as possible.

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DIAMOND DRIVE (Denmark) - Temporality Noisehead - 2013 - Progressive Modern Metal Now this can be the next big thing in Europe in short time! Diamond Drive released such a complex, interesting and well thought debut album that it can't, it won't be unnoticed, that's for sure. Labeling their music as Metalcore would be way wrong, as I've seen in other reviews, and I wouldn't even consider Metalcore as the main genre these guys started to create their own thing, but I agree it's an influence. Their music is so complex and is such a heavy gatherer of multiple, and lots of other genres that after all it's impossible to label their music, so I though Progressive Melodic Metal would at least suggest what's happening here. Except for deeply enjoying it and be stunned by their creativity and thirst for diversity I think I won't be able to describe or comment much on "Temporality", you should try it if you're into new stuff or even if you're into old-school but enjoy your occasional taste of modern music from time to time. 9.5

DIE ENTWEIHUNG (Israel) - Desecration Satanarsa - 2008 - Black Metal Another old release from Satanarsa Records in my mailbox, this time by a one-man-project from Israel under a German moniker, singing, from what I can guess, in Russian... multiculturalism has reached the Black Metal scene too. This is the band's debut album (in the meantime there are already 5 more out) made of 6 tracks and totaling almost 45 minutes of mid-tempo to fast paced Black Metal with repetitive and at times boring rhythms, simple drum-programming and awful guitar solos. Except for the good Black Metal vocal tones I see noyhing worth mentioning here, at least this debut album is much below average, try new shit from Die Entweihung (maybe he improved in the meantime), don't waste your time with this. 4

DISBELIEVER (Italy) - The Dark Days Dreamcell11 / WormHoleDeath - 2013 - Gothic Doom Metal Another debut album from Italy, but this time the members of this band seem to be more experienced, or at

least they all seem past their twenties. The Dark Days is made of 10 tracks into 42 minutes of Gothic Doom Metal heavily inspired by the second period of bands like Anathema, Lake of Tears or even Sentenced. Dark and sombre atmospheres at times, or melancholic and dreamy at other, Disbeliever delivers good and quite catchy tunes and even if not original or groundbreaking at all this would be nice discovery for fans of bands mentioned before. The vocalist has a very good, warm tone and for a band like this, beside the catchy combination of repetitive, mesmerizing guitar leads and enchanting keyboards background, such a vocalist can do the difference.

Recommended! 8.5 DRASTISCH (Italy) - Let Your Life Pass You By Selfreleased - 2012 - Instrumental Metal Well, Instrumental Metal isn't really a genre of its own, but neither Drastisch's music is on a path of its own.

Drastisch is a one man band started in '95 and this seems to be its third full-length album. Basically this feels like a compilation of tracks or track ideas each of them exploring different horizons, different styles. The drummachine is too synthetic and annoying for my taste, but the guitar work is quite enjoyable, melodic and technical enough to succeed in painting a different dimension, a melancholic but still very synthetic different dimension.

To me this music lacks a vocal, lacks a real drummer and a bit more human spirit to be able to generate and inspire emotions, but as a one man studio project, if presented as Chris Buchman's demo for his instrumental abilities, I'd say it's acceptable. I wouldn't pay for it, honestly. 6.5

DUMNO (France) - Cen Atebertas Atavism - 2013 - Black Metal Mysterious project from France founded in 2011, Dumno recently released their debut demo tape on Atavism Records, tape limited to 150 hand-numbered copies. We get here 5 tracks of (mostly) mid-tempo Black Metal with low tuned guitars creating an apocalyptic ambiance, but with vocals that are very much hidden in the back somewhere failing to impress. Some hints of melody here and there, a cover of Hate Forest's "L'ancienne Race", and a declared Pagan approach, those are the elements that stand out on this demo, but all in all I'm not convinced to play it again, sorry. Give it a try yourselves maybe it sticks to you better. 6

decades ago, and listening to this demo as a tape adds well with each other, and especially the lead guitarist is killer, he give a lot of potential to the band. Also the drum more of that "nostalgic" feeling. 7 parts are complex and if the drummer performs like this live too, he's to be admired. All in all, although I have no info on this band, I have no idea if this is a debut or if it's the band's 10th release; I'd say it's worth half an hour of your time especially since it's limited to only 50 handnumbered copies. I'd like to listen more upcoming stuff from this band. 7 ELOA VADAATH (Italy) - Dead End Proclama Noisehead - 2013 - Avantgarde Death Metal Man, this was an absolute delight! I think I've spinned this album more than 10 times in the last couple of days, and that's not something I usually do or can do given the amount of promos I have to go through. This band really captured my interest and kept it high through their Avantgarde / Progressive type of Death Metal including Folkish elements and also some Theatrical, awesome, acoustic parts that emphasize the overall deep, conceptual atmospheres. The addition of violins (the violin player is a true virtuoso), acoustic guitars and percussions, plus the occasional, very expressive, clean vocals, on top of the clever compositions and atmosphere-building song structures, the complex technical execution and the excellent sound quality, everything makes this album a must have. I'm almost blown away, and I say almost only because I want more of this, the 56 minutes of "Dead End Proclama" are not enough to quench my thirst for this delicious Metal World created by Eloa Vadaath, I want more. Don't miss this! 9.5

ESOTERICA (USA) - Aseity Forever Plagued - 2013 - Black Metal Debut album from this band or project featuring members with a certain experience already from previous or current bands like: Vital Remains, Benighted In Sodom, Chaos Moon, Krieg, In Ruins, and many other. This is their debut album, a 6 tracks (almost 45 minutes) effort that failed to impress me. Listening to the same drum patterns on each track gets annoying after short time, and the guitars or vocals are not helping much either. Yes, it's brutal as hell, fast and raw sounding, but except for a few Ambient passages there's simply not enough variation on this album, it's dull and boring. Sorry, there are plenty of better releases out there to waste your money on this one - even if the guys are experienced musicians. 5

EMPIRE OF THE SCOURGED (Holland) Transcend into Oblivion Selfreleased - 2013 - Industrial Death Metal To be honest, by the looks of it I was expecting this EP to sound more professional. I understand these guys' aim was to create an apocalyptic sound, but I'd say that doesn't imply a chaotic sound, you can get a glimpse of the apocalypse with "clean" sound, too. I'm sure many listeners will enjoy this sound because after all Empire Of The Scourged are one of the sickest bands coming out of Europe these days, but the biggest contribution for this "label" would be the crazy fast rhythms, the insane drumprogramming and above all the great synths work creating a unique claustrophobic and schizophrenic atmosphere impossible to leave you numb. EOTS is a sick and twisted combination of traditional Death Metal with Industrial Metal, although everything seems to be out of place here, you'll eventually discover their world and that every element has its role. From the potential point of view Empire Of The Scourged are definitely a band to keep an eye on. This debut EP impressed me as much as The Berzerkers' debut album impressed me back in 2000. I'm curious of these guys' fu9ure. 9

EVER-FROST (Italy) - Departing of Time Beyond... Prod. - 2013 - Progressive Death Metal Debut album released 10 years after the band was formed, that's a pretty tough struggle. Departing of Time is made of 9 tracks totaling a bit more than 50 minutes of Technical and Progressive Death Metal with great instrumental work and a good but not versatile enough vocalist who unfortunately I don't think can do better than screaming (just check his clean vocals or growls attempts and you'll get why). The two guitarists do a very good job together making the album really interesting and fresh sounding, and the rhythm section is again a breath of fresh air in a genre that's overused at the moment (well, it's overused since Death's demise...). I don't really like the sound production; although very professional and crystal-clear sounding, there are some parts when the whole sounds dry and gives you the feeling of "something's missing". A release that won't bore you but won't leave you mouth-open either. 7.5

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

DUOBETIC HOMUNKULUS (Czech Rep.) - Ani já ani ty robit nebudzeme, šedneme do koca, vozit še budzeme Zero Budget - 2013 - Progressive Death Metal The fuck was this??? Besides the fact it's completely mind-blowing, it's also very short in length. I wouldn't call this a full-length album simply because it lasts for only 24 minutes, and Duobetic Homunkulus isn't a Grindcore band either, so let's say it's the band's debut EP, professionally produced and released in nice digipack format. The music, since one of the 2 guys was previously a member of Czech sickos !T.O.O.H.! (another mindnumbing, crazy-ass outfit unfortunately now defunct), is an insane collage of sounds, sounds that at first audition wouldn't fit at all one with another, but that surprisingly enough are building a solid monolith in the end. The material, as insane and challenging as it is, sounds solid enough to keep you glued to it from start to finish. The guys added lots and lots of effects and instruments/sounds to their core music, imagine a Goran Bregovic gone Death Metal, locked in a Mental Institute but still creating music. You can't? Well, just give these Czechs a listen.

The only disapointment is the "album" is only 24 minutes in length. 9

DWELL (Denmark) - Ash Tombs Deadbangers - 2013 - Doom Death Metal Young band/project of 2 members of Church Bizarre, Dwell recently released its debut demo, a 3 tracks effort totaling 20 minutes of guitar driven Doom Death Metal, melodic, gloomy and also aggressive as it should be. The second track is a droning Ambient instrumental piece, not very connected with the rest of this demo, I'm not sure what was the point of it beside adding a few more minutes to the whole package. On the other 2 tracks though the band tends to exploit the Death Metal side more than the Doom one, but all in all this debut demo is enjoyable, entertaining and provides a nice escape into underground old-school Death Doom Metal the way it was done 2

ENMACHINED (Bangladesh) - Thrash Assault Salute - 2013 - Thrash Metal Wow, I certainly didn't expect such a kick-ass music from this band especially because this is their debut demo.

Salute Records picked a real winner this time!

Unfortunately the sound is not the best possible (you feel like listening to a radio show recorded with your tape recorder...weird), but the band can deliver awesome music, an old-school type of Heavy Thrash Metal complete with long, intricate guitar solos, catchy guitar riffs and a very good vocal part, combination of Udo and Araya, sick! Too bad there are only 3 tracks listed on this demo, but at least they made a very good first impression, now it's time for a full-length, ASAP guys! If you're into old-school Thrash Metal make sure you don't overlook this Bangladesh band! 9 EPISOD (Malaysia) - Menanti Kebangkitan Bloody Bat / Empaya - 2013 - Melodic Death Metal Not sure if this is considered a full-length album or an EP, but it's made of 6 tracks totaling a bit more than 25 minutes and the sound quality, although crystal clear, is too dry, too unpolished to be considered a real full-length album (even though I've seen/heard much worse). So as I said the clear recordings allow you to fully discover a band that builds its music on very good melodic guitar leads and solos and generic guitar riffs. The vocals could have been better as the guy seems a bit afraid to give his best, his screams are actually half-screams if you know what I mean, he seems afraid to wake up his neighbors (a common practice nowadays...). The guitars are working

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EVERLASTING (Russia) - March of Time Solitude - 2013 - Funeral Doom Metal Probably Funeral Doom Metal is one of the most hermetic styles out there, it'doesn't allow much space for coming up with your own thing and you have to be really slick to break some boundaries. Everlasting created a nice little debut album here but their lack of experience is quite obvious: the album has some sublime moments and touches of genius, but it is also sprinkled with dull, overused typical passages that should be eliminated in the future. I have probably enjoyed the vocal part the most, but there's definite potential in every instrument so as a debut album I'd say March of Time reached its goal and presented us a band to raise some eyebrows and spark some interest for upcoming releases. 7.5

EVIL (Slovakia) - Legenda neskrotných živlov Hexencave - 2013 - Black Metal Founded in 2001, Slovakian Evil managed to release its debut album only in 2013, even though in the meantime it released numerous demos, splits and compilations. There are only 6 tracks featured on this album but the total playing time is more than 40 minutes. Music-wise the band reminds me of the '90's Swedish Black Metal scene: fast paced rhythms with occasional melodic touches, and the vocals in Czech/Slovak tradition, Black Metal screams

with loads of effects to create a darker atmosphere.

Nothing impressive here, but the compositions are straight-forward, uncompromising, nice-flowing and not boring at all. The sound is good, the packing looks nice (booklet features the lyrics in both Slovak and English), and the release is limited to 500 copies, so there's nothing wrong in giving this a try, you might like it a lot even if it’s not outstanding. 7

EVOKE THY LORDS (Russia) - Drunken Tales Solitude - 2013 - Stoner Doom Death Metal Second album from these Russians and my first encounter with their music. At first, during the debut track the band seems to follow quite ordinary Doom Death patterns: heavy sound, low tuned bass lines, lazy, dusty drumming, and repetitive, groovy guitars all supported by an incomprehensive raspy vocal, but then the flute gets in the way and it all becomes quite spacey and stoner, I can't count how many times I felt into a meditative, lethargic state during the audition, probably that's their intention, too, but except for the flute lines it lacks of originality and it failed in keeping my attention high along the way.

Maybe fans of Stoner Doom will appreciated this much better than I did, after all there's nothing wrong with the sound, with the execution or with the compositions, it just went by me somehow. 7 EWIGEIS (Germany) - Abgrund Nebular Winter - 2011 - Black Metal I think this is a one man band from Germany started, as per Metal Archives, in 2008. This is their second demo to date, a demo featuring 3 tracks and lasting for 15 minutes.

Traditional fast paced Black Metal with nothing impressive or out of the templates of the genre, but well played and quite enjoying if you're not looking for anything original. The atmosphere Ewigeis create is cold and raw, quite fit for this music, and the sharp shrieks are actually very good, but the overall impression at the end of the audition is of a dry, blunt Black Metal with no ambition to do better... 5.5

and the guitarist manages to come up with some catchy riffs and interesting leads, so overall the band proves to have potential but in the end I'd suggest to re-record this material or at least find a better studio for the next one, it's a shame to waste their talent on raw recordings. 8

FETO IN FETUS (Poland) - Condemned to the Torture Black Team Media / Green Lungs - 2013 - Death Grind First of all I must say the cover artwork and the overall presentation of this new Feto In Fetus album is absolutely delicious (luxurious digipack including 12 pages booklet filled with sick artworks). Michal, the band's guitarist seems to have done it all, so respect! A professional artwork always gives an album a unique heaviness and luckily enough in this case the music backs up this heaviness. Feto In Fetus plays an energetic combination of solid Death Metal and intense Grindcore, a perfect blend of old-school brutality with modern sound and technology. I can see this album being enjoyed equally by fans of Death and Grind, it's professional to the bone, carefully crafted, aggressive, groovy and catchy, and album that will visit my CD player again, for sure.

Recommended! 9

FAUSTTOPHEL (Ukraine) - Thirst of Oblivion Another Side - 2013 - Melodic Black Metal How can you be almost nowhere on the net nowadays and still be signed by a label? Well, Fausttophel definitely have the answer to that question but I find it at least curious. Anyway, this is the band's debut album, a 6 tracks effort totaling almost 40 minutes of Melodic Black Metal, mostly fast paced, and with a serious conceptual base. I like the fact that the album actually tells a story but unfortunately I don't know their language to understand what it is about; the compositions, in order to display the story and still be credible, required a high level of inspiration and technical skills and I can say the two guys in Fausttophel have them both. An interesting release recommended to fans of atmospheric, ambient and melodic types of Black Metal. 7.5 FLASH OF AGGRESSION (Russia) - Seed of Hate CD-Maximum - 2013 - Thrash Metal Polina Berezko, the young Russian lady who impressed me a few months ago with her Death Metal band, Grace Disgraced, is back this time with a Thrash Metal band and its debut album. Flash Of Aggression is far from Grace Disgraced in terms of style, they are into old-school Technical and viciously aggressive Thrash Metal but Polina's vocals are on the same timbre and surprisingly FECUND BETRAYAL (USA) - Depths That Buried enough it works well, maybe not as good as in the Death metal band, but at least it gives the band a touch of the Sea originality. The guitarists are mighty good too, and the Metallic Media - 2012 - Funeral Doom Metal Sad to say it, but this is probably the most boring release leads and solos are simply brilliant, and the drummer does I've had the "luck" on listening to this year. Except for the his best, too. As a debut album Seed of Hate is a solid deep, cryptic vocals that could be better harnessed in work recommending this young band as a promising different circumstances, and for some acoustic guitars that name we all should keep an eye on. Recommended to could have actually been a good addition to a good album, followers of both old-school and modern Thrash Metal, the rest is a mess, it almost feels like the whole both underground and mainstream, you'll discover a instrumental part is just a jam session to bulid a nicely balanced band in Flash of Aggression. 8 background for the vocals: the riffs and keyboards are repetitive beyond boredom, the drums are almost nonexistent, and the bass... wait is there a bass? Once again I'm asking myself why Metallic Media is putting so much effort in releasing worthless materials like this one when they could spend their money on better, more promising bands... Sorry to be so harsh, but this is the truth, avoid this album. 2 FLEGETHON (Russia) - The Absolute Laws of Darkness Satanarsa - 2004 (re-release) - Black Metal I really don't understand why these 10 years old releases are not sold-out by now, or why is the label still promoting them, it's 10 years for fuck's sake; an explanation would be if the label would keep pressing these CDs every now and then. This is Flegethon's 5th album self-released in 2003 and picked up by Satanarsa a FESTERGUTS (Russia) - Heritage of Putrescent year later. 6 tracks in almost half an hour of fast-paced Goremageddon / More Hate - 2013 - Death Metal I can't believe this is Festerguts' debut album, I know the Black Metal with simple compositions, low-quality drumband from the tons of "Bloodsoaked" EP flyers I used to programming (also very monotonous), and occasional receive in the '90's, I thought by now they should have Funeral Doom-like passages. The only things I like on had at least a couple of albums under belt. Nonetheless this release are the very cruel and raw vocals and the cold, I'm sure this is a well-respected band in the Russian desolate atmosphere, the rest is too simple and underground and having 2 labels releasing this debut uninteresting for nowadays, there are plenty of other album is no surprise. The band celebrates 2 decades of better bands out there. 6 activity with this album, a fine way to crown so many years in Metal, too bad the album is only a bit more than FORCEOUT (Ukraine) - Delusion 30 minutes in length. Anyway, Festerguts deliver an Total Metal - 2013 - Melodic Death Metal interesting approach on Death Metal, old-school, brutal, Nice surprise from Ukraine although you'll feel like dark and fast but with loads of keyboards added, not listening to a Melodic Death Metal band a la Sweden. melodic, cheesy keyboards, but rather dark and cryptic, to ForceOut's debut album will delight your ears with some enhance the overall atmosphere. The vocals are excellent, top-notch guitar leads and solos, melodic and intricate to guttural, powerful and scary, the riffs are pretty the bone, a perfect vocal type for this type of music, fast traditional, technical, supported by short, phycho US style and aggressive rhythm section (although the drums sound solos, the drums and bass lines are top-notch and the too synthetic at times), and above all a set of curdled and overall atmosphere, is enriched by the creepy keyboards mature compositions that will capture your attention and and occasional female vocals. Don't worry, this is not a keep it tight until the end of the release. It's nice to see a mellow type Death Metal even if it has keys and female new East European band with such potential, I have no vox, it's straight to your face '90's type Brutal Death the doubt these youngsters will do well. And back to this release you'll get basically all you could expect from this US type. Great band. 9 genre: from the very good technical displays of the guitarists, to the melodic and even melancholic slower parts, top the energetic, headbanging-friendly and catchy fast parts. Good, recommended stuff! 8.5

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

EYE OF SOLITUDE (UK) - Canto III Kaotoxin - 2013 - Doom Death Metal I'm feeling quite proud Daniel, vocal and founding member of EoS, is a Romanian, I'm sick and tired of feeling ashamed of constantly hearing about other locals' criminal acts abroad.

Canto III is EoS' third album to date and is by far their best release, one that can easily rival '90's UK Doom Death anthological releases that actually built the whole scene. The music is emotional to an epic point but at the same time is as brutal as it gets, Daniel's ultra-low growls are a trademark for the band. Everything feels at the right place and time, this is an almost perfect album, all the guys are giving their best and their chemistry this time seems to be perfect! The only thing I don't like are the Italian sung lyrics on the first track, Daniel has a far from perfect Italian pronunciation and for those of you who know the language it will feel very abrasive, just like watching Hollywood movies where the leading actor tries to speak in a language he doesn't know, of course he fails miserably. :) But apart from that we're dealing here with one of the best Extreme Metal releases of 2013, no doubt!

Buy it! 9.5

FALLEN TYRANT (Germany) - No World to Win, a Life to Lose Fat & Holy - 2013 - Black Metal After 2 demos and an EP, this is Fallen Tyrant's debut full-length, an album made of 8 tracks totaling almost 40 minutes of fast and aggressive Black Metal a la Marduk highlighted by a vocalist with an excellent Black Metal tone, but also by a horrible recording sound, a sound that in the end stops this material to be appreciated at its actual value. The vocalist, as I said before, has that raspy, evil vocal tone that's perfect for Black Metal, the drummer really gives his best and has some outstanding qualities,

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definitely not boring, it offers lots of emotions and soundscapes to entertain you for the whole 49 minutes, the sound quality is top-notch, and the nice fact about Frigoris is that they sound like a curdled band, they sound mature and able to do even better. A recommended album for fans of Melodic Black Metal. 8.5

FORDARV (Sweden) - The Echo of Emptiness Nigredo - 2013 - Black Metal First release for both the label and the band, "The Echo of Emptiness" is made of 5 tracks clocking 27 minutes of Black Metal. I find the riffs a bit too repetitive and the drums construction too simple, but the acoustic inserts and the overall atmosphere of this EP is promising, these 2 Swedes managed to create a freezing-cold atmosphere a la old Bruzum but without the use of keyboards, so it feels pretty genuine and honest. Although these tracks won't be the next big thing on the scene, Fordarv have all the time to improve and bring in something of their own. If you plan to get this CD you should know it has a raw, but well defined and not disturbing at all sound, and the booklet includes the lyrics to 2 tracks, the only 2 tracks with lyrics as the other 3 are instrumental. 7.5 FORLORN CHAMBERS (Finland) Unborn and Hollow Selfreleased - 2013 - Death Metal Debut demo from a new (formed in 2012) Finnish band that prefers to keep its line-up hidden for some reason (probably it's a one-man-band). 3 tracks totaling 14 minutes of melodic yet heavy and brutal Death Metal with slight Doom and Black Metal touches. The guitar work is great and I'm sure it will be the band's highlight as time goes by. The vocals are somehow distorted to a point where they almost become boring, lacking of any organic feeling (close to Deathcore gurgling), but there are also some clean vocals here and there, an element that I think the band should exploit much more. The rhythm section is made of a probably programmed drum machine that sounds very good nonetheless, and an intense bass line, but unfortunately the sound quality is too raw to let you fully enjoy every minute of it. The compositions are complex and quite catchy, so all in all I'd rate this as a successful debut demo, can't wait for more stuff from this band. 7.5

FUMIGATION (Canada) Integrated Pest Management CDN - 2013 - Death Metal Finally Fumigation released their debut album on CDN Records, and what a fine debut this is. Fumigation's Death Metal sounds dusty but at the same time fresh, they are building structures on old-school patterns by pilling up quite a heavy dose of modern guitar leads and groovy rhythm section. I'd say their music is a combination of various Death Metal sub-genres: melodic, brutal, modern and even progressive at times, sounds quite interesting isn't it? It's not an original sound, that's true, but it's well curdled and structured so that your 36 minutes spent on it will flow seamlessly. The sound is quite raw but professional and crystal clear, so after all I think Fumigation did a really good job on this debut album, you should give them a chance. 8

GALAKTIK CANCER SQUAD (Germany) - Ghost Light Hypnotic Dirge - 2013 - Progressive Black Metal Although this project's name is funny in this context (the "squad" is actually a one-man-band), its music is not funny or happy at all and I have to admit I have deeply enjoyed a few spins of this album, GCS's fourth fulllength to date. Featuring only 5 tracks, the album stretched over a period of 50 minutes and the music offered is a well-structured avantgarde, progressive Black Metal at times melodic and melancholic, at times brutal and cruel. It's really hard to imagine this music being composed and recorded by a single person but that makes GCS even more valuable for the scene. There's not a dull moment during these 50 minutes, everything is thoroughly crafted and delivered, and even if Argwohn (the man behind GCS) seems to have no boundaries, he managed to keep his music dark and cold as any Black Metal should be. The only improvement could have been on sound production, but don't worry, the sound won't certainly spoil a good audition, it's still a professional release. 8.5

Some acts fail terribly while trying to act as the meanest and most evil of them all, and that's the case of this Russian one-man-project too; I quote from the booklet: "Godcider is always about the hate and misanthropy.

We're proud to be true. If you want to support us, kill yourself and somebody else!" Really??? Besides the stupid message, who's "us" if Godcider is actually made by only 1 person? :)) And is this "true" trend still in fashion nowadays??? Sicarius, think twice before listing something on the booklet, otherwise you'll only mock your music...

About the music on this 6 tracks EP limited to only 66 hand-numbered copies I'd say it's pretty good, actually much better than I expected after reading the booklet message. Godcider actually sounds quite convincing and catchy even though it chose the traditional Black Metal path without compromises and without any attempt of innovating anything. Triumph V sounds curdled, catchy and above all dark and menacing as any such release should sound. Sicarius has some neat skills on guitar and he manages to come up with interesting structures sounding like limitless walls of death and horror, and even though he uses a drum-machine I have to admit it all sounds good and in the end I'm actually glad to have had the chance to meet with this project's music. I'll certainly keep an eye on Godcider and I suggest you do the same.

8.5

GORTAL (Poland) - Deamonolith Pagan - 2012 - Death Metal This band is active since 1996 but for my shame it's the first time I hear about them, they aren't the most prolific band around (this is only their second full-length album), but still... Daemonolith is made of 9 tracks of old-school Death Metal, ugly, cruel, manly, solid and tight as fuck as usually delivered by Polish bands. Death Metal, pure and simple how Morbid Angel used to do a couple of decades ago, Gortal impress through their attention to details, their spot-on execution and the catchy tunes they managed to deliver on this album, so if you're into Traditional Death Metal and you haven't heard this album yet I suggest you give it a try, it might be a great surprise. 9

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

FORTRESS OF THANATOS (Philippines) / WINTERCOLD (Sweden) - When the Moon Is There Salute - 2013 - Doom Death Black Metal / Gothic Doom Metal New split from Salute Records, this time involving a project of the owner, Wintercold.

Opening the hostilities are Philippines based Fortress of Thanatos, a quartet founded back in 1999. Unfortunately their music remained in those years, their mix of as many genres as possible is reminiscent of those years. There are some good ideas I would have liked to listen with a better recording, but on this split one can barely hear the guitar riffs, and on the other hand be disgusted by the high drums volume and awful, awful vocalist. The guitarist and bassist are good, with a bit of Heavy Metal in their veins they manage to save something in the end. But the whole is still awful... I'd buy this only to get the taste of those nice guitar solos.

Wintercold's side has the same problem, the awful sound.

The drum-machine is awful and the vocals are at least odd sounding, you won't be able to understand 1 word even if they are mostly clean vocals... The guitar playing is decent, but Tony has some good ideas, it's a pity he waistes them on low quality recordings, he should at least try a professional studio, the result could be surprising. I liked the slow, almost melancholic parts, though. 4 / 5

GOATFUKK (Portugal) Procession of Forked Tongues War Arts / Luci Dist - 2012 - Punk Black Metal Now that the Thrash Black Metal and the whole retro Metal movement is so big in the underground it was only a matter of time before a Punk Black Metal combination would make its way, and Goatfukk is exactly that, but for my surprise, although I admit I was skeptical about it, it really sounds excellent. The vocals are spot on hoarse (but comprehensive) and menacing Black Metal type, the instrumental part is a great blending of fast Punk and apocalyptic Black Metal, the lyrics are blasphemic as hell, and on top of everything the compositions and execution are high level too. I wouldn't say that but I'm actually ecstatic about this band's future, this debut EP is the perfect demonstration of their potential so you can go right ahead and get your copy asap. My only wish for their upcoming releases would be for the band to add more of those guitar solos like on the fifth track, Nocturnal Guidance. 9

FRIGORIS (Germany) - Wind Misanthropic Art / Hypnotic Dirge - 2013 - Pagan Black Metal After a selfreleased debut album in 2010 Frigoris are back, this time with an album released by 2 labels, nice progress. The band plays quite a solid modern Black Metal with loads of melodic and ambient touches but also aggressive and fierceful as it should be. I'm not sure where the Pagan part is as it's not in their music for sure, so probably the lyrics are about the glorious past, I GODCIDER (Russia) - Triumph V wouldn't know since I don't know German. The album is MTD - 2013 - Black Metal

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GRACE DISGRACED (Russia) Enthrallment Traced More Hate - 2012 - Technical Death Metal First time I hear about this Russian Death Metal band although they were formed back in 2004, so they'll soon celebrate their first decade of activity. This is their debut album, a 7 tracks opus I have enjoyed so much that its 44 minutes seemed more like 15... If you're into the good old Death sound you might enjoy Grace Disgraced too. I'm not saying they are a complete copycat, but it's impossible not to think about the legendary Death while listening to this full-length. The guitar work is very complex and from my point of view has no weak points, I could follow its lines over and over again; the rhythm section is tight as hell although to tell you the truth my attention was attracted more by the guitar lines than the bass or drums and that's a good thing after all, it means there's nothing wrong with this section either. The vocals are perfect, and you should know the band is lead by a chick (and bioy she's a beauty, too), but her way of spewing grunts and growls, disgusted and proud, aggressive and well-thought, gave me the shivers. What can I say more, Grace Disgraced was a very nice surprise, I hope to hear more from them soon. 9

GRIEVING AGE (Saudi Arabia) - Merely the Fleshless We and the Awed Obsequy

Solitude - 2013 - Doom Death Metal Probably the first Saudi Arabia based band I ever review.

This is their second full-length album and the first one on a label, and who could have picked a Doom Death Metal band other than Solitude Productions? The album is divided in 2 parts, 2 CDs, even though there are only 5 tracks featured! Apart from the excellent cover artwork and the good sound quality the album was kinda boring; the guys have some good ideas and parts of this album are really interesting, but they are stretched and repeated way too much to stay interesting. The band's music actually reminded me of Crowbar and not only because of the similar type of vocals, but also because of the guitars. If you add to that a Doomy atmosphere and some pretty heavy Death Metal passages you'll get an approximate image of Grieving Age. Recommended only to the most fanatic Doom Death Metal followers, more than 100 minutes of this music may fuck up your whole week. 6.5

GRIMFAITH (Ukraine) - Preacher Creature BadMoodMan - 2013 - Gothic Metal BMM Music seems to try commercial territories by signing this Gothic Metal band from Ukraine, in my opinion a mix of The 69 Eyes with a heavier (including plenty of screams or growls) Gothic Metal, and this might proove to be a great move from the label or to be a total flop. Well, Grimfaith seems to be an interesting band, they managed to deliver a nice flowing, catchy music on this second album, a music that will not only attract interest from girls and goth kids but may also raise some interest from the rest of the Melodic Metal followers.

Highlight of this band are the vocals, very versatile, warm and expressive, but at times way too theatrical and unnatural, I guess the guy needs more work and more faith in his own vocal timbre. I gave this a few spins and I must say I'm still not bored even if I'm not the biggest fan of this genre, so I guess this album will do well for both the band and label. 8.5

the production is not what they would have needed for this release, it's neither powerful nor professional enough for this music, but at least the potential is there and the next album might storm the scene. 8

either. I'm not sure if they are already committed to a genre or another but my best guess is they would like to play in vein of Venom, Celtic Frost and the likes, I think they will try to be more primitive and as dirty as possible on upcoming releases, but we'll see. In the meantime this demo was released in only 50 hand-numbered copies, I doubt you'll be able to find any more available, but if you stumble upon these guys on the net give them a listen if you're into '80's type of Extreme Metal. 6.5

GUERRA TOTAL (Colombia) - El Armaged贸n Contin煤a I Hate - 2013 - Speed Black Metal Well, if Thrash Black Metal seems to be a fashion in the nowadays underground scene, this Colombian band offers us something different that might just be the next fashion: Speed Black Metal, meaning a relentless form of Thrash Metal with Black Metal type of vocals and satanic lyrics and attitude, a Thrash Black Metal on unrelenting speed.

Unfortunately the compositions have little of no variety, but you can enjoy the catchy choruses and great guitar solos now and then. The sound is raw and unpolished but that's exactly the right sound for such a release.

Recommended to fans of old-school Blackened Thrash Metal. 7

HIMONAS (Greece) - To the Battlements Nebular Winter - 2013 - Black Metal Second release from this new and ambitious Greek label.

Himonas' "To the Battlements" is their debut album released on tape limited to 500 hand-numbered copies. An effort featuring 10 tracks and totaling almost 45 minutes of traditional uncompromising, fast paced, cold as ice Black Metal. There's nothing new, nothing innovative, nothing original here, but the music is great, it's honest (at least it feels honest), quite atmospheric even without using keyboards or such, raw and at the same time crystal clear sounding, angry and somber, a real treat for fans of HALO OF FLYS (USA) - Bloodier Shade of Red unaltered traditional Black Metal. To be honest I'm quite Metallic Media - 2012 - Gothic Metal US based bands have the most recognizable cover surprised how good it sounds and how catchy it is. artworks in the World: big ass fonts (the bigger the better) Recommended! 8.5 and the most non-metal looking pictures. By looking at this band's cover/booklet I would have never (never!) guessed they were a Gothic Metal band if I wouldn't have known the band before. This is Halo of Flys' second effort, a 9 tracks release clocking a bit more than 40 minutes of Gothic Metal heavily influenced by Gothic Rock and Horror Rock that may capture the attention of Grindhouse Horror movies fanatics but not more. The structures are too simple to present real value for the HOKEDUN (UK) - Vanished Away in Tranqulity scene nowadays, the vocals are sounding like recorded Selfreleased - 2013 - Black Metal from the kitchen and the drums are really monotonous. Very nice DIY release with cut&paste and glue involved, Except for the surreal kind of hopeless atmosphere it I love it! Most probably it was released in a very limited creates there's not much more to exult here or at least not edition so if you check their music online I think you for me. 5 should hurry up to get a piece of this debut demo. There

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

GROA WILLING (Canada) - Sire / Vedrfolnir demos 2009 - 2012 Recordings Salute - 2013 - Neo-Folk Black Metal Never heard of this one man project before receiving this CD from Salute Records. This is actually a re-release of Groa Willing's 2 demos Sire and Vedrfolnir recorded between 2009 and 2012. Unfortunately the sound quality is awful even though the guy uses only acoustic guitar and vocals to create his music so normally there should be no problem at all getting a decent sound from a mediocre recording. That is the only problem I see in this release because the music is good, quite relaxing and expressive enough to make you part of the atmospheres Groa Willing tries to create. The Black Metal influences are only in the occasional shrieks popping out here and there to give a darker touch to the overall atmosphere. I gave it a couple of spins and pretty much enjoyed it, so I don't see why won't you give it a try, especially if you're into this acoustic neo-folk type of music and you don't mind a shitty quality home-recording once in a while. 6

GROTESKH (Austria) - Unconsciousness Noisehead - 2013 - Black Metal And I thought Noisehead turned Metalcore completely...

It's such a release seeing they are still into more "traditional" styles of Extreme Metal, and Groteskh is the proof, an Austrian band founded 3 years ago presenting now their debut album professionally presented and delivered; they seem to be dead serious about the way they look and also sing and that's the first step to reaching the tops of this scene, the looks of the band, the CD cover and booklet artwork, the imagery surrounding the band and their music are all blending nicely into a classy and modern but at the same time demonic and disgusting follower of a great scene that once was the Swedish Black Metal scene. Yes, Groteskh can be better linked with the melodic, fast and aggressive Swedish Black Metal scene, and they are doing a great job creating catchy atmospheres almost reaching epic levels. Unfortunately

HELLLIGHT (Brazil) - No God Above, No Devil Below Solitude - 2013 - Funeral Doom Death Metal Probably the most known Funeral Doom band from Brazil are back with their fourth studio album 3 years after the critically acclaimed ...and Then, the Light of Consciousness Became Hell..., an album I was very impressed myself, too. Judging by that I'd say No God Above, No Devil Below was a highly expected album and the expectations were high, too. The album is very long; the 8 tracks featured totaling 77 minutes of heavy, oppressive and traditional Funeral Doom Death Metal, recommended only to the most fanatics of fans. The vocal part improved and got a bit more versatile than on the previous album, the guitar leads kept the same catchiness, and the highlight of the band (beside the crushingly heavy atmosphere) remained the few guitar solos thrown in here and there. Overall I wouldn't say the band improved or worsened their music, but I think the expectations were a bit higher than the final offer; nonetheless a recommended album. 8

HEX MORBIDITY (UK) - Evangelical Selfreleased - 2013 - Black Death Metal It's nice to see bands releasing demos again and not naming them EPs, especially if the recordings are homemade, and they are in most cases. Hex Morbidity was founded in 2013 and here is their debut demo made of 3 tracks and totaling almost 9 minutes of primitive Black Death Metal without too much complexity, but not bad

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are 5 tracks on it, and the style could be labeled as Melodic Black Metal, quite inoffensive except for the abrasive vocal shrieks, and based on a good guitar work.

Unfortunately the drum program these 2 guys chose for their debut demo wasn't the best option as it gets much too synthetic and dull after a while, especially on the blastbeats parts. The whole is structured on mid-tempo rhythms and simple compositions, and again, the guitar and bass work is quite good, the duo has potential, but I'd suggest them to choose a better studio next time and maybe to start looking for a real drummer. The calm, instrumental outro was a good choice, so all in all this is a good demo that presents us a hopeful act, we'll see how serious they are in the future. 7

HOMICIDE (Bangladesh) - Annihilation Pit Infinite Regress - 2013 - Technical Death Metal Opening up with an intro made of an extract from the movie 300 plus a sequence of really simple and uninspired riffs, I thought this EP would be really awful but fortunately the Bangladesh based Homicide had some more to say along the 14 minutes of their debut. First the guitar work is good and quite catchy and I could say it's the highlight of this band, the guy actually positions himself in the middle of everything and lets the other build from there. The drum machine is really annoying after a while, and the vocals are not exploited to the maximum, you can feel how the guy is restraining of giving it all (maybe not to wake up his neighbors...), and although the compositions are good, they fail to impress on this EP. 6 HRUST KOSTILYO (Russia) - Undisputed Sovereignty Eclectic - 2013 - Brutal Death Grind Eclectic takes a pretty big chance by releasing a 13 minutes EP, and on top of that from a young, debutant band, so I believe they must be really impressed by Hrust

Kostilyo to go ahead with such a bold move. Anyway, I'm not that impressed, I mean for the genre this is pretty good, fast tempoed with occasional mid-paced groovy parts, fat sounding, quite technical and enjoyable as a whole, but the band doesn't surprise with anything new, I don't think you'll be able to label this as influential or original. For its 13 minutes of Brutal Death Grind, Undisputed Sovereignty, maybe you'll love it. 7 ILLINOIS' LOVE FOR CARNAGE (USA) - Slam Syndicate Permeated - 2013 - Brutal Death Metal What I have here is a promo of the Slam Syndicate album, album scheduled to be released in late 2013, but I have no idea if it was released yet. This promo contains 2 new tracks plus 4 featured on the band's 2010 demo and the total playing time is around 25 minutes, but since it looks like a normal CD I think it's available for buying, too. The band is made of 2 guys, an instrumentist taking care of guitars and drums, and a vocal, and they did a pretty good job on the new tracks. The demo has one of the most awful drum (read drum-machine) sound recordings I've ever heard, it literally makes me laugh, and even if the guitar work is ok, the drums' sound and the simple, lowquality guttural vocal approach makes this demo fail. The two new tracks, on the other hand, are much more natural sounding, better produced, the drums are very good this time and the vocals are more versatile; a notable improvement. Brutal and Slam Death Metallers will enjoy this piece of brutality. 8

Wow, the atmospheres on this album are amazing, there were some parts of it where I found myself dreaming and that doesn't happen often... The second full-length album from this one man band is a collage of warm atmospheres, post-Metal I would say, mixed with some Black Metal and even Funeral Doom influences. Gabriel, the guy behind Inexistence, has some pretty rad ideas that allow him to transport the listener to his own Worlds and dimensions, but there are some faults too, like the overuse of those ideas to a point they almost fall into monotony, or the poor mix of the vocal parts, an element that could have given even more depth to this release. Anyway, if I was about to sum it up, I'd say this is a very interesting release that promises an even better next album, and I hope Gabriel will do just that, meaning spend some more time on mix and master, and be careful with how much he uses certain elements, oh, and maybe use a better drum program, too. Tremendous potential though. 7.5

INFERIUS TORMENT (Russia) - Your God Liar Cold Breath of Silence - 2008 - Satanic Black Metal Inferius Torment was formed in 2003 and released 1 demo and 1 EP before getting to record and release their debut album, the album in case here. "Your God Liar" is a half an hour piece of Satanic Black Metal consisting of 10 tracks. A very good effort I would say, very hateful, dark and expressive; fast and uncompromising Black Metal made of: hoarse, aggressive vocals, ultra-fast drums (well, except on track 9), regular Black Metal guitar riffage and sinister intermezzos. Nothing extravagant or original in what concerns compositions, but a true piece of Raw, aggressive, dark and not boring, as such a band should sound. My only complaint would be the drums sound that is so raw that after a while gets to be annoying.

IMPERY (Venezuela) - I Recommended to the ones of you into raw sounding oldSatanarsa - 2012 - Black Metal Not sure if this demo was released by the band too before school Black Metal with satanic / anti-christian lyrics. being picked up by Satanarsa as I have the later version which is a good quality pro CDr. Impery is a project of 2 Sagoth members (Sagoth seems to be signed with French label Legion of Death Records now) founded in 2005 and this is their third demo featuring 8 tracks and totaling almost half an hour of fast and intense Black Metal with occasional slow tempoed passages. The drum-machine use is quite annoying but the music is not bad at all eve if not complex or original. I have especially enjoyed the INSOLITUM (Brazil) - Infestus bass lines, and the guitar part could have been on the Murder - 2013 - Death Metal same level if they would have avoided being so repetitive Debut demo from this Brazilian trio founded in 2009, at times. All in all I is a good demo that made me want to "Infestus" is made of 3 tracks + intro totaling 15 minutes hear more from this band, and I guess that's the primordial of quite simplistic, raw, mid-tempo Death Metal. Quite a few years for coming up with only 3 tracks I'd say. Their point of any demo. 7 music is so primitive that it reminded me of the mid '80's when Death Metal wasn't yet fully distanced from Thrash Metal, and in fact the riffs lack of brutality and are sounding quite vapid. The vocals are nothing I could ever enjoy, too unnatural, too forced and tasteless.

Unfortunately I found this demo quite boring and I'm sure it will never visit my player again. Anyway, check it out online, maybe you'll like it more and you'll be convinced to buy one of the 300 tapes released by Murder Records. 5 INCURSUS (USA) - Eternal Funeral Trance

INVASIVE (UK) - Murder. Death. Kill Selfreleased - 2013 - Heavy Thrash Metal Debut album from this Ipswich based band, Murder.

Death. Kill offers us 11 tracks totaling almost 45 minutes of traditional Heavy Thrash Metal with minor Punk influences. Fast rhythms, angry attitude, powerful yet unpolished sound, and Slayer influenced vocals, that's how one could characterize Invasive's music. The tracks sound pretty catchy and they actually remind me of the '80's scene enthusiasm, listeners will certainly feel the same and respect the band, but the only thing they are missing in order to become an influential name, is a better (meaner) band image. I'm sure if they'll adopt a leather'n'spikes image they'll only have to win from it. 7.5

IREM (Germany) - Obscuritas Aeterna Selfreleased - 2013 - Black Metal I have to admire these guys, they are around since 2003 and this is their fourth studio-album, all of them selfreleased! And no, this is not a weak, amateur band that no label wants, I'm sure that they already had a fair share of offers but decided to go for their own so far. Well, I couldn't say if it worked for the best for them since this is the first time I'm meeting their music, but at least their determination deserves respect. Ok, now about Obscuritas Aeterna I can say it's made of 9 tracks into fast, semitechnical, semi-melodic Black Metal: the guitar work is very good, you'll listen to some interesting approaches (fresh sounding I must add), a demented vocalist that screams his lungs out all the time and a raw but intense rhythm section (the drummer is insanely fast; the bass could have had a higher volume though). Thumbs up, a band you definitely don't want to miss if you're into Black Metal, in my records they are already bookmarked. 9

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

Forever Plagued - 2009 - Black Metal Pretty old release, not sure if Forever Plagued Records rereleased it or if they still have it on stock, but they sent it for a review so it must be still actual. Anyway, the band is made of 2 guys only, both of them know in the scene: VJS (also drummer in Crimson Moon, Hexenwald and some other, ex-member of Kult ov Azazel), and Horidus (ex member of Demoncy and Kult ov Azazel), cult musician in the USBM movement. Fast, disgusting, energetic, raw, demonic Black Metal, sounds good? Well, it does, although the sound is not the best around, these two demons managed to create a heavy, horrifying atmosphere worthy of your attention. the guitar riffs play a major role in this construction, the drums are insanely fast and the vocals sound like spitting venom (the main vocals) or like unleashed from the bowells of hell (the inhuman, supporting vocals). Recommended to fans of Brutal Black Metal, rough and underground. 8.5

INEXISTENCE (Argentina) - Inexistence Infernal Hymns - 2013 - Atmospheric Black Metal

INSTORM (Russia) - Madness Inside Total Metal - 2013 - Melodic Death Metal Founded in 2011 as Deadlake, these Russians soon changed their band name to Instorm, a name that fits them much better, and here we have their debut full-length album made of 9 tracks of Power Metal inspired Melodic Death Metal similar to the Finnish school. So their music is based on guitar leads and solos, fast rhythms, melodic keyboards and screaming vocals. The guitar work is very good, and for my surprise one of the guitarists is a lady, unlike most of the bands with female members as bass or vocals, and what a wonderful job she does, together with the other guitarist. The problems are on the vocal side (without any trace of versatility or comprehension) and on the keyboards side (low volume and low role in the overall composition). Since this is their debut album I'd say it's very promising, but they need to work more on creating something of their own, to come up with a mark of their own if they wish to pursue this road. 7.5

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KAMBING SAKTI (Malaysia) - Live: Satan Apocalypse MTD - 2013 - Black Metal Not a big fan of live recordings here, especially if the sound is awful like in this case. Kambing Sakti is a new name to my ears, a Black Metal band from Malaysia founded in 2010, but quite a mysterious band since it only released a demo and a split so far. 3 tracks on this new release are live recorded so I can barely understand what's happening there, and the 4th track is taken from their 2011 demo, a studio recording with poor quality again, but at least you can guess what they want to play: fast Melodic Black Metal with occasional electro synths.

Simple, fast paced drums, generic guitar riffs, promising guitar leads, acceptable raw vocals, and awful English lyrics. On the 4th track at one point I thought I hear a rooster (1:45 - actually it as a vocalist's scream), and at one point a guy coughing (2:05 - probably the vocalist couldn't take it anymore), hahaha, not kidding, funny as hell. A band that might do well but only in a professional studio, stop recording awful demos. 5

KING CARNAGE (USA) - Ounce of Mercy, Pound of Flesh BadGod Music - 2013 - Death Metal At first, the package made me think this is a 7"EP, but it's actually a CD in a 7"EP cardboard complete with lyrics booklet and a sticker too, definitely a release that will be among the most original-looking in your collection.

Regarding the music on it we get 8 tracks (totaling 35 minutes) of old-school, rotten, macabre Death Metal; if you take a look at the cover image, well that's exactly how King Carnage's music sounds, too: the riffs are so lowtuned and oppressing I could envision them like a dying but still very aggressive mammoth hunting, the rhythms section is rusty and heavy too and the vocals are creepy

and demented. I would recommend this release to anyone KULT OF TAURUS (Greece) - Divination Labyrinths Forever Plagued - 2013 - Black Metal into ugly old-school Death Metal, it's a gem! 9 Haven't heard of this band before, but I'm glad I had the chance to meet them now. Kult Of Taurus plays a very interesting Experimental Black Metal that keep you glued to it from start to finish constantly wondering what will happen next. Although based on traditional foundations, Kult of Taurus music brings their own twist by a topnotch performance of the vocalist, an intricate and heavy guitar work, and oppressive rhythm section. The atmospheres they manage to create on this album are KING STENCH (USA) - Ungod impressive; you can feel the hatred these guys try to Death Rot - 2011 - Black Death Metal Not sure what's with the "Planet of the Apes"-like cover inspire. Recommended to both traditionalists and picture, it could backfire at this band that on the other progressists. 8.5 hand seems to be pretty honest and dedicated to their music and not ironic or mocking at all. Well, this until you see the guys' pseudonyms: King Stench, Decrepit Bowels, Lance A Rot and ... Cess Pool. Sad, I really thought this is a serious band as its music sounds like it.

As you might guessed it, King Stench involves Foul Stench's vocal and guitarist King Stench and most probably it's his own project too, and this is its second full-length album out on a new label that's probably his own, too. A pretty dedicated guy... This album is made of 10 Traditional Death Metal tracks heavily influenced by Black Metal to a point where you can't label a few tracks as Death Metal only. The sound on this release is unpolished but crystal clear so I doubt you'll have any issues with it. The music is quite complex and features lots of rhythm changes and different compositions templates, most definitely not a boring album, and not a usual album either. 7.5

KRAMPUS (Hungary) - Mental Holocaust Terranis / Sevared - 2012 - Brutal Death Grind A new Death Grind band from Hungary, that's so cool, it seems the Death Grind scene in this country is slowly but surely making its way through the underground and starts spawning more and more interesting bands. Krampus are really lucky to release this debut album on both Tarranis Prod. (I guess for Europe) and Sevared Records (for US probably), that's a huge advantage for them so probably this will be the push they need to start taking over the World. The music is some sort of traditional mix of Death and Grind, with growling vocals only (no new type screams), mid-tempo to (mostly) fast rhythms, heavy atmosphere and quite complex compositions based on old-school patterns, almost half an hour of hateful discharge of violence, not ground-breaking but highly enjoyable, fit for headbanging too. 7.5

LIFELESS (Germany) - Godconstruct Old Goat Corpse / FDA Rekotz - 2013 - Death Metal Awesome, the new Lifeless album is a delight for all fans of old-school European Death Metal, and the band confirms being one of the leading forces of German Death Metal nowadays, in my opinion a band that should get much more attention from the fans. Godconstruct is their second album, a 12 tracks effort lasting for almost 50 minutes, a lesson in traditional Death Metal; mature compositions, the right amount of melody, crystal clear heavy as hell sound, Swedish-like catchiness, a perfect choice for fans of both fast paced Death Metal and melodic type of Death. Although old-school oriented, Lifeless' music sounds fresh and interesting, I'm sure this album will bring them legions of new fans, so don't miss it! 9.5

they tend to get too repetitive, including drums here, and the listener (or me at least) tends to lose interest after a while. The tracks are very long, from 4 to 10 minutes, but I think if they compressed things a bit no one would have been offended.

As a conclusion we get here 2 very different but at the same time similar bands, a good treat for every underground Black Metal follower, an hour of US made traditional Black Metal. 8.5 / 7.5

LIMB FOR A LIMB (Hungary) - Aberration Complete Terranis - 2013 - Death Grind Never heard of this band before and that makes their debut album more surprising. Limb For A Limb are fantastic in delivering horror-filled, fat sounding, fast and groovy Death Grind complete with excellent vocals (Sandor from Hungarian Death Grind veterans Gutted), sick and catchy guitar riffs, meaty bass lines and fleshripping drumming. 18 short tracks plus a sick cover of Marduk's Panzer Division Marduk track, for a total of 34 minutes, not a bad deal since I liked everything so much I wasn't even aware how fast time went by. The sound production is great as well, you'll be able to enjoy every bit of this record at maximum. Recommended! 9 LOCUS TITANIC FUNUS (Russia) - Castus Lacrima Another Side - 2013 - Gothic Doom Metal Metal Scrap Records opened this new division called Another Side Records which seems to cover mostly melodic stuff: Gothic, Doom, Melodic Black, and already released 3 albums under this moniker, with Locus Titanic Funus' debut being probably the first. The band plays slow, sorrowful Gothic Doom Metal with Black Metal influences (especially on the vocal part), but unfortunately at times their music gets too slow and unexpressive maybe because of their lack of experience though. The drum-machine is ok but could have been more varied, the keyboard part is the best element in LTF's music, the guitar work brings nothing out of the ordinary, the male growls and screams are combined with warm male and female clean vocals and there are some parts when the music becomes really dreamy and fragile, but the as a general impression this needs more work for future releases. If you're a fan of Gothich Doom or even Funeral Doom you might enjoy this. 7

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

KRIEG (USA) - Blue Miasma Forever Plagued - 2006 / 2013 - Black Metal Originally released by No Colours Records in 2006, Blue Miasma was remixed and remastered and finally rereleased by Forever Plagued Records, "the way it should have sounded almost a decade ago" by words of band founder Imperial. The cover artwork is also different, work of Midgaars of Lugubrum. If you're familiar with the band I think you'd know what to expect, but if you aren't, Krieg plays traditional mid-tempo to fast paced Black Metal without compromises, quite atmospheric even without using special effects or keyboards, and structured on complex compositions but without trying it too much (there are even lots of simple, repetitive passages). The sound is still raw but crystal clean, so for those of you into Traditional Black Metal I'd say give it a try. 8

LIGHTLESS MOOR (Italy) - The Poem - Crying My Grief to a Feeble Dawn WormHoleDeath - 2013 - Gothic Doom Metal At first audition I wasn't that impressed by Lightless Moor's debut album, but it grew on me and now I'm at the 4th of 5th spin and I keep discovering new parts of it I like. That's great! Once you get used to the mix of two vocals (beauty and the best type), especially with the male growling vocals (he seems to struggle a lot to create those growls, it doesn't sound natural at all), you'll enjoy these 8 tracks a lot. As instrumentists they are all very good, nothing seems casual here, and the band sounds good both when they deliver soft, atmospheric, even romantic passages, and when they are aggressive, fast and furious.

The female vocalist, Ilaria, has an awesome voice and she sounds like she's capable of delivering almost all types of tonalities. I wouldn't call this a perfect album, but for sure it's a well-crafted, well packed and well delivered Gothic Doom Metal releases that, as I said earlier, grows on you each time you listen to it. Thumbs up. 8.5

LIGHTNING SWORDS OF DEATH (USA) / VALDUR (USA) - Split CultWar / Bloody Mountain - 2009 - Black Metal / Black Metal An old split but I guess a very important one for both bands since LSoD afterwards signed with Metal Blade and Valdur continued their underground journey but later got some credit for sharing a CD with a Metal Blade artist. Honestly it's the first time I hear about LSoD, and of course the first time I get to listen to their music, so you can easily guess I'm not a diehard Metal Blade follower, and after listening to these 4 tracks I wouldn't say I was extremely impressed about their music, more about them being signed to this major label. The music is complex, indeed, with certain technical potential, a combination of old-school Thrash Black Metal with the rawest and darkest type of Black Metal, heavy and oppressive as hell, fast paced and offensive, perfect for fans of underground and raw Black Metal, not sure about the masses of MB followers though. Valdur's side is made of 4 tracks as well, but their recordings are rawer, less polished than LSoD's, fuzzier and at the same time more atmospheric. Their music ranges from mid-tempo to fast paced rhythms, with major highlights on the guitars and strange enough, on bass (the bass lines are playing a very important role in creating their desolate atmospheres), but

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LORELEI (Russia) - Ugrjumye Volny Studenogo Morja BadMoodMan - 2013 - Gothic Doom Death Metal A band that seems to care about their foreign fans (or potential fans) as much as I care about the latest Kardashians' episode, the booklet, the title, everything is in Russian and of course, Cyrillic scripted. Of course this is not an isolated case, but BMM has a large distribution network outside their country too, so that's a weird decision. Anyway, what's most important is the music, so let's see what this band brings us; this is their debut album, released 10 years after their foundation. 7 tracks + intro and outro all totaling almost 50 minutes of oppressive, slow flowing, melancholic and quite oldschool combination of Gothic, Doom and Death Metal, with "beauty and the beast" type of vocals where the male vocalist goes on the low growls path, and the lady seems to be an opera singer, but somehow her type of singing, although outstandingly beautiful, is not quite fit for this music. The instrumental part is melancholic, almost depressive, creating a dense atmosphere, and the high quality sound gives the listener the perfect delivery.

Except for the fact that there's nothing new, innovative here, Lorelei did a great job, and fans of Theatre Of Tragedy or (old) Tristania will definitely enjoy it. 8.5

LUCIFER D. LARYNX (USA) - Absolute Defilement Metallic Media - 2012 - Grindcore By the cover artwork (all colored hand drawn, with big ass fonts) and band name (it's actually Lucifer D. Larynx and the Satanic Grind Dogs of Death) this could have only been a US based band, and so it is. This debut album was a pleasant surprise, it's not the usual chaotic US type

of Grind, it's actually a well-crafted, quite complex and at the same time straight-forward piece of old-school Grindcore, catchy, groovy and brutal as it should be. the drums are quite typical for this genre, but the guitar work is better, more interesting and not bound to templates. A very good debut, I have enjoyed every bit of it. 9

LYCANTHROPY (Russia) - Dead Silence Metallic Media - 2013 - Black Metal Ok, so this EP was released at the end of March and in the meantime these guys have released 2 more full-length albums, so I guess we're dealing again with one of those "bands" that will start releasing or already are releasing countless studio materials just for the fact they are 1 or 2 at most in the band and they don't play live, so the only thing left to do is to release stuff, as much as possible. Is it obvious I don't like that much this type of bands?

Well anyway, this EP features 2 new tracks (totaling 4 minutes, hahaha!) plus intro and outro, and to be less ostentatious they have also added 2 covers (Impaled Nazarene and Ashen Light) and an electro-like remix of one of their old tracks, for a total of 19 minutes of playing. I hope the CD is cheap at least... The music on their 2 new tracks is ok, not outstanding but not bad either; fast paced traditional and somehow atmospheric Black Metal with drum-machine, catchy riffs and venomspitting vocals, entertaining and well executed. I don't know, the band is good, but I wouldn't abuse the public with such releases if I were in their shoes. 7

MARIO GRONNERT (Germany) - Waters Drown in Stone Conga - 2013 - Dark Ambient It's not every day I get to review a one-man-project that chose as moniker the guy's actual name and not a band name. That's something different and I respect it. The music on this second album from Mario Gronnert is a calm Dark Ambient perfect for meditation, but also with a hint of solitude and even depression in the emotions it transmits. Overall the album is well crafted, flows naturally and there aren't too many surprises, but maybe that's the part Mario should channel his future efforts; he should come up with something of his own, something original, and Waters Drown in Stone, although enjoyable, doesn't bring anything new on the table. I love the tracks where vocal parts (narrations though) make their way in.

Recommended for your silent nights while reading a good book and having a good glass of wine. 7

MEMORAIN (Greece) - Seven Sacrifices Total Metal - 2013 - Speed Thrash Metal Memorain is a Greek band founded in 1999 but a band that kept only 1 original member in the actual line-up, the rest are all new members starting 2013. Not sure how and if this new (fifth) album was composed and recorded by the whole members or only by the original member, guitarist Ilias Papadakis. Anyway, as an interesting fact I can also name the special guests appearing on this album: David Ellefson (Megadeth), Jed Simon (Strapping Young Lad) and Michael Gilberd (Flotsam And Jetsam), pretty sick, isn't it? The music is a combination of Technical Power Metal and Melodic Thrash Metal, powerful and heavy sounding in order to catch the listener's attention.

Strange why the vocalist is the only one with missing picture from the booklet... Anyway, Seven Sacrifices is a professional release worth your attention especially if LYCHGATE (UK) - Lychgate you're looking for headbanging rhythms, long guitar Mordgrimm - 2013 - Black Metal solos, Testament-like compositions, and a healthy dose of Founded as a one man band in 2001 under the Archaicus moniker, Lychgate changed its name and line-up in 2012 Power Metal. 8.5 when it became a quartet. I don't know if there's any link with the now defunct Archaicus except for the founding member but Archaicus only released 2 demos in '03 and '04, I doubt the nowadays Lychgate style has anything to do with the past. Anyway, this is Lychgate's debut album, an impressive, extremely solid, complex, emotional and almost mesmerizing effort that will certainly challenge you to resist being drawn in its nets. It's not brutal to leave you breathless, it's not melodic enough to be considered MODER (Germany) - Ewiger Tod soft, it's not complex to a point where you don't Murder - 2007 - Black Death Metal understand a thing, and it's not tormenting or desperate More Death than Black Metal, but better said a enough for being considered DSBM, but instead has the combination of the two, this third and actually last Moder right amount of all these. Now I don't know if this is a full-length seems to be still available on tape format from good choice for them as some of you will require more Murder Records, that's why they sent it for a review I speed and intensity all the time, some of you won't enjoy guess. Although I find the drums sound too synthetic and the slow, depressive parts, but if you're looking for after a while annoying, the music is quite solid and wellsomething in the middle, with excellent compositions and done: mid-tempo to fast paced Black Death Metal with raw but clear sound, old-school attitude, German lyrics execution Lychgate is the right choice, I'm impressed. 9 (so that the vocals sound even sharper than they actually are), occasional melodic guitar leads, a successful piece of Extreme Metal even though not innovative or original.

Too bad the band is defunct at the moment. 7.5

so if you're searching for something of the likes, go grab it, but I guess this time I had no mood for meditation... 6 MOONLIGHT SONATA (Russia) - In a Gloom of Centuries Satanarsa - 2009 - Black Metal Debut album from this one man band from Russia, In a Gloom of Centuries is made of 8 tracks totaling a bit more than half an hour. Playing mostly fast paced Black Metal based on fast drum-machine that reminds of the '90's Brutal Death Metal scene, Moonlight Sonata is almost all instrumental with only a few vocal insertions. There are some interesting guitar leads and riffs with a hint of melancholy here and there, but the general impression is quite weak, quite unimpressive. Not sure where this guy is aiming, but I won't be surprised if he takes the DSBM path soon, at least that's what I get from the sad guitar leads thrown in here and there on this album. All in all this is too synthetic for my taste, I don't think I'll play it again, sorry. 6

MORAR (?) - Chants Of Ossian Nebular Winter - 2013 - Black Metal In Romanian language morar actually means miller, so it was an unusual feeling getting this tape especially when knowing I'm going to listen to a Black Metal release.

Anyway, this 5 tracks demo proved to be an excellent release, a solid and very catchy piece of traditional Melodic Black Metal. The compositions are relying on two layers of melodic guitar riffs and leads, Black Metal (good) shrieks, occasional calm acoustic and epic passages, and well-thought rhythms ranging from slow to fast paced. The drums' sound could have been a bit more polished, but being a demo I have no problem with these either. A band with excellent potential, if you're into 90's type of Melodic Black Metal (the Swedish way) you should really give this a listen. 8.5

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

MALAPETAKA (Malaysia) - 2013 Demo Selfreleased - 2013 - Thrash Death Metal This 20 minutes debut demo from Malapetaka starts with a weak, uninteresting instrumental composition that made me think I'm about to lose an hour trying to find out something good in this band's music. Well, I was wrong as Malapetaka seems to be a really promising band even though this debut demo isn't exactly a groundbreaking release. The main fault are probably the simple and very generic guitar riffs and the failed synchronization between lyrics and music. But apart from that we're dealing here with a professional outfit who managed to release their demo in digipack format containing also a sheet with lyrics and a sticker, and musicwise offering catchy choruses, good execution speed, and quite a lot of energy.

But the main highlight of this band are the awesome guitar solos, it's always a pleasure when they kick in. To sum it up, it seems Malapetaka is a promising band worth following. 6.5

MOLOCH (Ukraine) - Abstrakter Wald Metallic Media - 2012 – Dark Ambient Tenth Moloch album to date! And not the latest...in the meantime Sergiy, the man behind Moloch, released its 11th full-length but that's no wonder after you take a look at his discography featuring almost 100 titles. This album is a complete keys/synths Ambient one, without any trace of Black Metal, and I mention this because it's tricky everytime you come across such a project, you never know what genre a certain release is, and as an example Moloch has Black Metal releases, Ambient releases and Ambient Black Metal releases... Unfortunately I was bored by this album, it has little diversity, little complexity, too much repetition and not enough parts to stand out, if any; it's a good music for meditation I guess,

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MOROR (Ukraine) - Abyss Another Side - 2013 - Groove Metal This seems to be a CD for the Russian/Ukrainian market only; I doubt anyone else will understand something from what these guys are playing about. Anyway, a debut album made of 10 tracks into melodic and groovy Metal with Metalcore and Alternative influences all over the place. Not bad but not powerful enough to impress either, this album can only reach good sales in their homeland if the lyrics are interesting and catchy enough. The guitarists are working quite well together, but they don't bring enough new or original elements to keep your attention high throughout the whole album, there are some dull moments when you always feel like you've heard it all before in other bands' music. Don't get me wrong, this is not a weak band, they only need more originality in order to impress in an over populated scene like the one we have nowadays. 6.5

MORT DOUCE (Poland) - The Valley of Blood and Death Wydawnictwo Muzyczne Psycho - 2013 - Death Metal Not sure why they decided to call this a full-length album since it clocks no more than 22 minutes... This seems to be the common misunderstanding nowadays and I wouldn't be too surprised to see an album with less than 10 minutes in playing time released soon. Anyway, the 5 tracks featured are a combination of old-school ('90's type) UK and Swedish Death Metal: fat riffs, low tuned bass lines, blasting drums (although too synthetic at times), horrifying and disgusting vocals and occasional guitar solos to spice things up. It's not bad at all as long as you treat it as an EP, so if you're into old Bolt Thrower, Benediction, Grave, Dismember sounds you might like this Polish band, too. Besides the somehow synthetic drums sound I wasn't particularly impressed by the slow paced parts, but the fast ones are kick-ass. Nothing inovative, nothing original, but ugly and sick as it should be. 7

MOURNFUL GUST (Ukraine) - For All the Sins BadMoodMan - 2013 - Doom Death Metal The long awaited third album from Mournful Gust was finally released through BadMoodMan with a best off... compilation in 2010 and a single in 2012 preceding it.

The new album is made of 10 long tracks totaling more than 70 minutes of music, so probably M.G.'s fans will get what they have expected for so long. The music on this new disc could be labelled as Doom Death Metal, traditional and UK-fashioned, but with less exciting elements that I would have expected; there are some parts where I found myself being bored and even if I know there's a very thin line between depressive, melancholic or meditative state of mind and boredom during a Doom Death audition, I'd say Mournful Gust should have released a better album. For example there are some very tasty guitar leads and melodic ('90's like Hard Rock) guitar solos and keyboard passages here and there, passages that could have been better developed. The clean vocals are also top-notch but somehow the guy is overusing them. Don't get me wrong, this is a hard worked release, professional and quite emotional, but I'd expect a bit more from a 15 years old band, that's it. Try it yourselves. 7

MORN GURUTH (Germany) - Weltekel Talheim - 2013 - Depressive Black Metal Someone on Metal Archives gave this album a raving review rating it a full 100% so for sure it must be something out of the ordinary, something to impress you.

Well, maybe you'll like it if you're into this genre, but from my point of view it is far from a 10 out of 10 rating.

First the drum-machine gets annoying after a while and gets in your way of following the compositions, then the guitar riffs and leads are too repetitive and some of them become childish after a while. The vocals, on the other hand, are the best part in Morn Guruth's music, the guy really gives his best although the lamenting moans can be laughable for someone not used to this type of music; the growls and clean vocals are ok, but the potential comes from the screams, very emotional, very expressive. I'd say this is a promising debut album, but nothing more, get it only if you're a die-hard DSBM fan, otherwise avoid it. 6

NABAATH (Russia) - Central-A-Triangle Noizr - 2011 - Black Death Metal New band to my ears and at the same time quite an old release since it was recorded and released in 2011.

Nabaath comes from Russia and from what I hear on this second album they seem to know their way pretty good: a mid-tempo to fast paced Black Metal with Death Metal influences, dark atmospheres, technical compositions and execution, and above all pretty curdled songs with a nice flow and no space for boredom. To me they remind of Marduk, but there's more to it, Nabaath is not a copycat for sure, they are building up using also lots of elements from the nowadays Black Death Metal pattern. The sound quality is very good and I'd say the production is perfect for this type of music, there was nothing annoying or out of line during the 42 minutes of Nabaath's second album.

A good band, able to create and deliver top notch execution and heavy atmospheres, who knows, maybe we'll hear more about them in the future, it's just that they are around so many other excellent Black Death Metal bands nowadays, competition is fierce... 8

NACHTLIEDER (Sweden) - Nachtlieder Unmerciful Death - 2012 - Black Metal Susanne Dagny is back, this time with her debut album after being signed by the US based Unmerciful Death Productions. As nice looking this girl is, as ugly and cruel her music is, that's for sure. The album is made of 8 tracks totaling 40 minutes of fresh but still traditional Black Metal ranging from mid-tempo dark rhythms to fast, unmerciful old-school Black Metal ones and even a few delicious acoustic insertions here and there, it successfully delivers a heavy and at the same time extremely catchy atmosphere not many are able to create nowadays, and the addition of a few violin parts makes it even more disturbing. If you're thinking of buying this record only because it's released by a lady, don't do it, but if you're looking for some fierce, raw and flesh-ripping Black Metal look no further, Nachtlieder is the right choice, I'm impressed although I knew this project's potential. 9.5

NAJAND (Iran) - Death! The Best Solution?!?

Salute - 2013 - Ambient Black Metal Here's another of those one-man-bands into Ambient Black Metal that release at least an album every year apart for splits and other shit, one of those musicians that won't ever decide to go either for Black Metal or for Ambient and are either mixing them or changing genre from a release to the next one. I'm not saying it's good or wrong, I'm only saying the scene is overcrowded with these projects and gets more and more saturated, I'm waiting for an explosion (or implosion?) anytime soon. Back to this album, Najand's 9th full-length is made of 9 tracks (+ intro and outro) into Ambient Black Metal, depressive and slow to mid-paced when it comes to rhythms. The sound is low quality where you can barely hear the vocals, let aside understanding what the guy yells or even narrates, the guitar work is quite good, expressive and interesting but repetitive as hell to a point where everything becomes boring. Nothing to mention about the rhythm section except it's not annoying, it's quite ok, and the same goes for vocals, so the only 2 problems I see here are the recordings quality and the boring repetitive guitar riffs and leads. I don't know, after 8 full-length albums I would expect a ground-breaking album from any band... 6 NAKKA (Russia) - Human Factory Selfreleased - 2013 - Death Metal Here we have a band celebrating their 10 years anniversary by releasing their debut album... well, sometimes that's how things are, not all bands get to release an album every year. The Russian quartet plays a groove infused Death Metal with impressive Female vocals I wasn't even aware of only after checking their line-up; except for some screams I was positive this is a male vocalist, so horns up for the lady. Overall the band reminded me of their fellow countrymen Grenouer, we're dealing with the same type of Death Metal with Hardcore influences but without being thrown up in the Metalcore/Deathcore category, not at all, Nakka sounds pretty old-school. The sound quality is crystal-clear but a bit dry at times when you feel something's missing.

Definitely an interesting album , heavy and entertaining, but not an album that will blow you away. 7

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

MYSTICAL (Portugal) - Demo I Hellprod. - 2012 - Black Metal Mystical is a Portuguese trio formed in 2003 (!) but who managed to release only this demo so far, I don't even know if the band is still active or not. This demo is dated 2007, but was recently re-released by Hellprod in tape format limited to only 50 copies. The band also features one ex. In Tha Umbra member, a much more known band hailing from Portugal, so to some extent that should be a quality assurance, and in fact the music on this demo is not bad at all: fast Black Metal with hysterical screams, repetitive but interesting guitar riffs, a bass line that I think has pretty interesting structures but unfortunately I can barely hear it. On teh other hand the drum-machine is awful like 90% of all drum-machines, the rare keyboard passages are really amateurish, and the mixing and mastering could have been much better, I hate the fact I cannot hear what seems to be either an exquisite bass line or a second layer of guitars pushed too much in the back.

Too bad, the guys seem to have the necessary talent to create interesting music, but on this demo they failed... If you like raw, primitive Black Metal with occasional keyboard passages maybe you'll like this demo better than I did. 6

NACOM (Italy) - Crawling Human Souls WormHoleDeath - 2013 - Progressive Death Metal After 10 years of activity and only a couple of demos under belt, it was about time for Nacom to show they are serious and aim high so we can consider this debut album as their statement in that direction. 10 tracks (48 minutes playing time) of entertaining and quite interesting melodic type of Progressive Death Metal with excellent sound quality (recorded / mixed in RealSound Studio Parma and mastered in the famous Finnvox Studios from Helsinki). I like how the 2 guitarists get along with each other and also how well are they supported by a Swiss-clock precise rhythm section and from time to time by a mysterious keyboard background, and I also like how smooth the tracks are flowing. On the other hand I feel the 2 vocal types (Black Metal type of whispers/screams - not really sure how to label them, and Death Metal growls - I guess the guy cuffs the microphone all the time) are not natural at all and was pretty much bored by them, and also the guitar solos are not there yet, they attempt some pretty rad things, but it's not enough to leave everyone mouth open, but again, I'd say they are in the right direction. If you like your Death Metal softer, with a bit more melody than usual and somehow progressive, Nacom might just be a good choice. 7.5

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NAVALM (Ukraine) - Recovery of Sync Metal Scrap - 2013 - Death Metal Not bad, not bad at all... Navalm delivers here a complex debut album that unveils a mature band with clear perspectives of what they'd like to reach, and they surely have plenty of potential. This is fast and brutal Death Grind highlighted by its constant energy and fast pace, quite high technical level and very prominent bass lines, I'd say it sounds fresh and captivating. Blending oldschool and modern patterns Navalm managed to deliver a solid debut album that will certainly make a mark on the scene or at least will present the band as a potential contender to European Death Grind supremacy. Yes, I really think they have that much potential. So if you're into Death Grind sprinkled with all sort of influences (Punk, Thrash, Groove), go ahead and order Navalm's debut album. 8.5

NAVJARMAAHR (Russia) - The Fangs of the Shining Night Hexenhammer - 2012 - Pagan Black Metal I have no idea if the band's name means anything but personally I find it impossible to pronounce. Anyway they seem to ignore other territories and focus on Russia only,

at least that's what I understand from the continuous exclusive usage of Russian lyrics on all releases. This is their second album to date, a second wave of Black Metal music probably sprinkled with Pagan topics, but other than that there's not much Pagan stuff. The sound is raw but comprehensive enough not to deprive you of a good audition. The guys as musicians are pretty skilled and seem to work well as a group. There are no real highlights but I'd like to mention the good raspy vocals, the complex rhythm section (I have especially enjoyed the bass lines) and the catchy guitar riffs and leads, all creating a nice flowing atmosphere. 8

this is only their debut EP, a record made of only 4 tracks into less than 20 minutes of playing. The first track is also their best in my opinion, it has that repeating guitar lead that reminds me of the best My Dying Bride years, it's very catchy, it stucks to your mind and stays there for long time, and in my opinion that makes a track an excellent work. The other 3 tracks are very good as well, so Nethermost proves to be an awesome discovery, yet another band with tremendous potential offered by Hypnotic Dirge. Too bad this EP is so short, but it's fully recommended for fans of Melodic Doom Death a la '90's, pure and honest. 9

NEFASTU (Portugal) - VersĂ­culo II - As Profecias do Caos Purodium - 2012 - Black Metal The second demo from this Portuguese quartet was released last year by Purodium Rekords in tape format limited to 100 copies. It's a pure Black Metal release based on rhythms ranging from mid-tempo to fast and displaying a cold, quite terrifying atmosphere. The sound quality is not that good and at times I'm really pissed on it, the guitars seem to be doing a very good job on melting riffs into a final fine flowing discharge of anger. The vocal, although not versatile enough does a good job, and the drums, although not complex at all are fitting perfectly with this music, especially on the fast parts. Fanatics of raw Black Metal will appreciate this band. 7

NOCTURNE (Austria) - Nahash Selfreleased - 2013 - Black Metal A duo from Austria founded in 2006, or at least that's what Metal Archives says, but who managed to release this debut demo only this year. Not a good premise for a band that's interested in moving further, but there are some objective reasons behind this "delay" and they are now all set to storm the Metal scene. Anyway, this demo is made of 4 long tracks totaling almost 23 minutes, and it was released in a limited edition of only 100 handnumbered copies. If their band history isn't too promising, I can't say the same for their music; Nocturne plays fast paced, semi-technical Black Metal, and does it very well, not original to melt your brains, but well structured, diverse and nice flowing. At times it also gives the impression of Pagan inclined, when the riffs become really epic, so many they are aiming for a Pagan Black Metal for the future, but since this demo is also very fast and brutal I couldn't say for sure. A good band that may reserve some nice surprises for us for the near future. 8

NEITH (Italy) - Then I Black Tears - 2013 - Death Metal Labelling this as pure Death Metal is a bit off track, but indeed it has its major influences from Death Metal.

Neith's debut album could be labeled as a mix of Death Metal, Heavy Metal, Groove Metal and a hint of oldschool Doom Metal, at least some structures are 100% Heavy Doom oriented. It's a nice flowing music, quite simple served, but interesting enough to capture my attention for a few spins. If you're looking for simple, semi-technical, semi-melodic, semi-aggressive (well, all seems to be half dosed) and old-school to the bone Neith might be a good choice. Although the sound is crystal clear and you can follow all instruments, it sounds too raw and unpolished for Today's standards, there are multiple spots when the guitar is left alone and it all sounds like something's missing - this might be because of the song structures as well, of course, but the simple sound emphasizes this feeling. Not a bad debut album but they need more work to break through. 6.5

OBSIDIAN TONGUE (USA) - A Nest of Ravens In the Throat of Time Hypnotic Dirge - 2013 - Atmospheric Black Metal Not sure why, but I thought these guys were from Europe, or at least their music made me think they are European.

Anyway, this is their second opus, a 6 tracks effort totaling a bit more than 50 minutes of melodic, atmospheric, even emotional at times Black Metal with some Doom Death influences here and there (UK tradition). The record sounds heavy, it has enough depth to involve you and capture your attention, it benefits from a decent sound with nothing negative to stand out, so all in all we're dealing with a professional, mature release.

The vocals are mostly hoarse devilish screams, supported at times by grunts and even clean vocals, the guitars are the highlights of this band blending melodic leads with nice cadenced riffs and heavy, slow and dusty but at the same time somehow modern sounding Doomy riffs from time to time, and to top this a precise rhythm section that drifts the listener from calm to energetic states of mind.

Nice work, really, listened to it all day Today. 8.5

OCEAN CHIEF (Sweden) - Sten I Hate - 2013 - Stoner Sludge Doom Metal 4th full-length album from this band that have already built a name for themselves in the Doom Metal scene, Sten is made of only 4 tracks totaling more than 70 minutes of heavy, repetitive, oppressive Sludge Doom Metal. As highlights of this band I would mention the comprehensive screamed vocals, the low tuned, oppressive bass lines and the nice guitar leads, but except for that the album is pretty simple, with multiple dull moments when you feel the urge of hitting the Next NORDOR (Greece) - Erga Omnes button. I would only recommend this album to the dieDeathrune - 2012 - Death Metal Long running Greek band started out as a one man band, hard fans of this genre, the rest stay away. 6 Nordor are back with their second full-length album, first out on Deathrune Records. We're treated with no less than 14 tracks into 40 minutes of playing a brutal form of ODRADEK ROOM (Ukraine) - Bardo. Relative Death Metal lead by a bestial growling vocal and a heavy Reality rhythm section. The guitar work on this album displays Hypnotic Dirge - 2013 - Progressive Doom Death Metal some Progressive elements but not enough to stop A new Doom Death Metal band from Ukraine, this considering it traditional Death Metal (traditional Brutal doesn't impress anyone anymore, there are so many Death Metal that is). The tracks are tight and excel in Ukrainian bands "attacking" the European scene brutality, each part having its own way of attacking and nowadays that I guess the later becomes saturated. annihilating your ears. Except for the drums that sound a Anyway, Hypnotic Dirge offers us a young quartet and bit too synthetic at times, the production is top notch, their debut full-length album made of 7 tracks and lasting emphasizing the overall Satanic message of the band, I for almost an hour of depressive, sad, oppressive music, a think they did a very good job in expressing their hate and mix between traditional Doom Death Metal and the anger; you should get a taste of it too. 8.5 nowadays Post-Rock thing. Not bad at all although not impressive either, but for a debut album I think the band reached its target to offer a nice-flowing, quite solid piece of music and spark the interest of the scene. A worthmentioning fact: the lyrics are listed in both English and Russian as the band built a conceptual album with lyrics having a crucial role in the whole atmosphere. 8 NORHOD (Italy) - The Blazing Lily WormHoleDeath - 2013 - Symphonic Metal With such a band name and album cover artwork I was expecting a Death Metal or at most a Doom Death Metal band, but once again judging a book by its cover proves OFGHOST (Finland) - Audiocorpse me wrong, Norhod are actually a Symphonic Gothic Selfreleased - 2013 - Industrial Black Death Metal Metal type of band, a type that lately seems to be more Longtime friend and only member of this band, Sami, and more exponential for Italy. This is the band's debut warned me beforehand that his new album is his sickest album released on WormHoleDeath after what seems a and more experimental to date and boy he was right. This quite successful Arianrhod EP self-released in 2012. is his second full-length release, an intense and mindNorhod builds its compositions on enchanting keyboard blowing combination of Death, Black and Industrial arrangements, an element that I find to be the highlight of Metal that most of you will probably have a hard time the band even though they are using dual vocals (beauty getting into, but for the open-minded this will be a real and the best type); Michele Tolomei, the keyboard player treat. Sami uses mostly sharp guitar riffs, melodic guitar did an awesome job, I cannot praise him enough. The two leads, low tuned, heavy bass lines, intense, fast drum vocalists seem to get along well and although they are not machine rhythms, keyboard background and industrialstanding out with anything, they perform well and the like vocals (from clean to screams) all this in order to only thing I have to argue about is their volume levels, create a crazy but at the same time well curdled material. I high above the instruments. The two guitarists are like his music from back in the File Of Ghosts days, but I following the technical and very melodic Power Metal have to admit it's getting better and better with each path, and the rhythm section, although it could have been release. If you don't know Ofghost yet do yourselves a a bit more emphasized, does its job well. If you're up to favor and head to its Bandcamp page for a quick audition, some Symphonic Metal arrangements Norhod might be you'll be surprised. 8.5 just the band your alley, they have a lot of potential. 8

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

NEOPLASMAH (Portugal) - Sidereal Passage Dark Music - 2004 - Technical Death Metal Yes, you read it well, this album was released 10 years ago and the band sent it now for a review... It would only make sense if they are preparing for releasing a new album and they are trying to get the band's name out there again since they weren't active on the discography level since then. What I find interesting and honorable is the fact that the line-up remained unchanged since 2004, it's the same 4 guys and a girl on vocals. Kudos for that. This is their debut album, an 11 tracks effort totaling almost 45 minutes of catchy Technical Death Metal with high emphasis on guitars. Brutal, technical, quite melodic, and lead by a Sofia Silva whose vocals are impressively dark and heavy, Neoplasmah deliver high quality Death Metal and I really hope they are up for taking the scene by storm again, they deserve more recognition. 8.5

ONCE I SAW A GHOST (Germany) - Architects Demise Noisehead - 2013 - Deathcore With such a name of course we're dealing here with a Core band, actually a combination of Metalcore and Deathcore. This is the band's debut album made of 9 tracks that unfortunately didn't convince me at all. Yes,

NETHERMOST (USA) - Alpha Hypnotic Dirge - 2012 - Doom Death Metal Although their name may sound familiar to you as it did to me, Nethermost are a young band formed in 2009 and

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the guys are talented and precise musicians, but maybe too precise if you ask me, the tracks sound too mathematical, too soulless for my taste, it feels like they have calculated each and every step of the album till the end but actually forgot to add a little heart in it. Sounds good and shit, but I'm sure that won't be enough to break through the nowadays overcrowded Core scene... 7

ORUGA (France) - Oruga Apathia - 2013 - Sludge Stoner Doom Metal Originally released in 2011 by the band, this Oruga debut EP got picked up by Apathia Records last year and rereleased, I guess, to announce an upcoming debut album by the band. Oruga is a 5 piece band from the Northern part of France playing a combination of Sludge, Stoner and Doom Metal: groovy rhythms, low-tuned guitars and heavy bass lines, comprehensive (mostly) screamed vocals, simple but quite catchy compositions (a bit more emphasize on choruses would bring them even more catchiness). At the moment they lack an identity, but this debut EP makes a good half an hour of chillin' Metal so all in all I'd consider it successful. 7.5 OSOKA (Russia) - Osoka Slow Burn - 2013 - Sludge Doom Metal It seems this is the second album from this Russian project, but that's about all info I have on them. The band plays a dead-slow paced combination of Sludge and Doom Metal, although Metal wouldn't be the right word for their music, more like Post-Metal I'd say. To me their music, or better said the parts where the vocals are not involved are boring to tears, just an overuse of simple guitar riffs and jam-session like drumming, really nothing to incite my interest, but weird enough, these boring instrumental parts combined with the vocals cosmeticized with some weird effects, are damn catchy and good sounding, really apocalyptic and hopeless, quite mesmerizing I'd say. I'd recommend this album only for this mixed effect on the listener (well, at least on me), it's something unique... 8

Baphomet in Steel - 2012 - Black Metal This band's name attracted my attention, and I must say that it still sounds interesting even after listening to its music... First of all this debut album is one of the most "globalized" I've seen lately: the band's name derives from an ancient Greek word, the band (a one man project) is actually from Italy, the album title is in French, and the track titles and I suppose the lyrics too are in English, now isn't that a nice mash? Then I really don't understand why taking pride on the booklet about "only using rusted strings and musty amplificators" since you're using a fucked up drum-machine, why? Actually the drummachine is the most annoying thing on this debut, it brings no value at all, on the contrary, it ruins any attempt of creating interesting stuff. The vocals are good though, with some sort of an Industrial feeling given by the effects used, the guitars are repetitive and with no real catchy part, but combined with those inhuman vocals they sound pretty cool at times. Also the electro/indus synth interludes are a good addition. There's hope for better for this project, but this album didn't make a good impression on me. If you're into raw, sharp, lo-fi Black Metal and you don't mind a sloppy drum-machine, give this album a try.

5.5 PICTURE ANN (Denmark) - Blaspheme 2009 9th Meridian - 2010 - Ambient Black Metal There's almost no info about this project on the net, but from what I was able to find this is its debut album, released in 2010 even though its title says something else.

Commonly labeled as Ambient Black Metal, I'd say Picture Ann's music is more Ambient than Black, except for a few guitar riffs and leads nothing reminds of Black Metal. The Ambient (read synth) part on the other hand is excellent, very warm and dreamy but still emanating a dark atmosphere; it could be perfect for a night audition while watching the stars. Very calm and meditative soundscapes recommended for those moments when you're looking for a bit more serenity. 8.5 PLATEAU SIGMA (Italy) - White Wings of Nightmares Beyond - 2013 - Funeral Doom Death Metal Interesting, I didn't expect these guys to play such traditional Doom Death Metal and after giving this album a spin I can only play it again since it captured my interest. If this album would have been released sometime in the '90's it would have been a definite bestseller. One major difference from almost every other release from the nowadays Funeral Doom scene is the sound, very organic, unpolished and at the same time crystal clear sounding.

It's much more complex than a regular Funeral Doom release, and it's (most of the time) slower and heavier than a regular Doom Death release, but all in all I think it would please both types of fans. I like the versatility of the vocalist, I like a lot the slower, acoustic passages, I love the faster, aggressive ones, and I love the guitar leads, so all in all I have enjoyed this album and would recommend it to you too but I guess only if you're an oldschooler. 7.5

PRECOGNITIVE HOLOCAUST ANNOTATIONS (Italy / Germany) - Annunciation of Extermination Permeated - 2013 - Brutal Death Metal New project of the European Brutal Death scene, PHA is made of members of Defeated Sanity (Konstantin, the singer), Indecent Excision, Inane, and Vomit the Soul, so of course they could have only attacked the listeners with technical, fast, brutal and uncompromising Death Metal, groovy, catchy and well-defined, a real treat. There are only 3 tracks on this demo/promo, but the future looks really bright and Permeated seems to have noticed it too.

I'm sure their debut album will rise a few eyebrows... 9

PSYCHOPATHIC TERROR (Finland) - 4:You Shall Not Destroy Selfreleased - 2013 - Industrial Death Metal The man behind Diaboli (influential Finnish Black Metal act), Petri Ilvespakka, started this project in 2002 and released 3 full-length albums so far, this one being its fourth attack. Psychopathic Terror is an old-school, raw Death Metal project with heavy influences from the Industrial scene. The guitar riffs are good, traditional Thrash and Death Metal with a fresh twist I must add, but they are too repetitive so at times parts of the tracks feel like unnaturally stretched and overused, the bass lines are excellent especially because of the high volume, they really feel like an important element in P.T.'s music, the drums are programmed and synthetic, but that gives the Industrial edge, supported by electro-industrial keyboards here and there. The vocals are left too in the back of the instrumental part, I didn't like the growls, but the clean, "industrialized" vocals seemed fitter for this music, they reminded me somehow of Morgoth's "Feel sorry for the Fanatic". Unfortunately this album left no good impression on me, by looking at the cover I was expecting something more extreme to tell you the truth... Well, at least it's not common. 6

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

OWT KRI (Finland) - The New Seed Alrealon Musique - 2013 - Ambient Not only this project's name is weird, you should hear its music... Kenneth K, the guy behind this moniker managed to record and deliver an extremely expressive and interesting piece of Ambient Music ranging from soft, meditative tracks to dark, spooky ones and even some that are really frightening in their insane structure. Well, almost everything inhere is quite insane, it's like you're travelling along way of a schizophrenic dream. Although not original, I've heard a few other projects like this one, Owt Kri displays potential through its well-crafted song structures, after the audition you feel like nothing was out of place, ironically. Definitely worth your attention if you're looking for meditative, sick music. Comes in nice digipack format. 7.5

PAEDIATRICIAN (Hungary) - Deformed Premature Terranis / Sevared - 2011 - Death Grind Paediatrician is one of the most important Hungarian Brutal Death Grind exports nowadays. As an example this debut album was released by the band in 2010 and rereleased by Hungarian Terranis Prod. and American Sevared Records a year later. Although the cover artwork is awful (a 7 years old kid would have done a better job), the music is exactly what you'd expect: brutal, heavy, sick, twisted and ultra-fast Death Grind. The drummer is one of the fastest I've ever heard; he's a blasting machine (not literally)! The whole release is impressively brutal and organic sounding; lots of bands should take notes from Paediatrician, you don't have to use effects to create insane, destructive, ultra-fast Brutal Death Grind, but you have to be good. 8.5

POEMA ARCANVS (Chile) - Transient Chronicles BadMoodMan - 2013 - Doom Death Metal Poema Arcanvs seems to be one of the first Doom Death Metal bands in Chile, or at least one of the first who's still alive and kicking, and this is their fifth studio album originally released by Australis Records and picked up a year later by BadMoodMan. This re-release contains a bonus track and seems to be completely remastered so at least the fans will get something more than just a rerelease. The band plays a nice blend of traditional and modern Doom Death Metal with plenty of melody, quite a lot of progressive elements and lots of complex structures to offer you a challenging experience from start to finish.

Poema Arcanvs' highlight seems to me the vocal part, ranging from clean, somber vocals to low tuned growls, and even some male choirs here and there. The only complaint I have would be about the constant rhythm breaks, highly professional offered but a bit overused in my opinion. Except for that Transient Chronicles is an enjoyable and interesting experience. 8

PHANTAZO (Italy) - Le Temps Dètruit Tout

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RAM-PAGE (Russia) - The Depths of Rage Metal Scrap - 2013 - Thrash Death Metal Third album from this Russian band and second out on Metal Scrap Records, The Depths of Rage is made of 12 tracks totaling a bit more than 35 minutes of fast paced Thrash Death Metal. The guitar riffs and rhythms are really catchy and you'll enjoy them for sure, but the vocals are some of the weirdest I've heard lately and I'm still not sure if I like them of find them hilarious; the guy sounds like he screams but whispering so that he doesn't disturb his neighbors, it's really hard to explain and you should give it a listen before deciding by yourselves. The instrumental part has them all: groove, energy, complexity and wrath, making this album one of the most honest Traditional Thrash Metal releases I've heard this year; although it starts with a weird feeling because of the vocal tone, Ram-Page's music grows on you and at the end you'll find yourselves really enjoying the release (well, if you can stand the vocals, of course). 8.5 RAPE (Turkey) / HATEVOMIT (Turkey) - Rapevomit Evilynx - 2012 - Black Metal / Black Death Metal Opening this split are Rape, a duo from Istambul that I have to admit didn't make a good impression on me. Their tracks sound like they have never been rehearsed, there's no sync between guitars and drums and at some point that becomes really annoying. It all sounds like a sloppy jamsession and although the vocalist tries his best, the overall impression is of an amateur band, sorry to say that. Next are Hatevomit from Istambul with their raw and fast

REVELATIONS OF RAIN (Russia) - Deceptive Virtue Solitude - 2013 - Doom Death Metal Fourth studio album from this Russian band, Deceptive Virtue seems to be dedicated entirely to Russian speaking fellows as the rest won't get anything from the booklet / lyrics (yes, you know why). Anyway, the album is made of 7 long tracks totaling 50 minutes of melodic and melancholic Doom Death Metal based mostly on guitars.

The rest of the instruments are like additives, less important elements, and probably that's why I got the constant feeling that something's missing from their music throughout the whole audition. The guitars are interesting, especially the leads building nice emotional passages here and there, but I feel like there should have been a bit more space and liberty for keyboards. All in all not a bad REALMBUILDER (USA) - Blue Flame Cavalry release, try it if you're into bands like Swallow the Sun, I Hate - 2013 - Heavy Doom Metal Here's the third Realmbuilder album, still on I Hate Saturnus or My Dying Bride. 7.5 Records, still following the same Heavy Doom Metal path, but this time featuring only 4 new tracks and still clocking almost 35 minutes of playing time. The band became more epic, there is more focus on the epic atmospheres this time, but besides that I don't see many changes in their music. There's still that '70's type of dry sound, but in this context it's quite spot on. Realmbuilder's RIGHT TO THE VOID (France) - Kingdom of Vanity music is not easy to penetrate, but once you get to WormHoleDeath - 2013 - Melodic Thrash Death Metal understand it you'll also like it, or at least that was my Right to the Void are from France and they are playing case, at first I was skeptical, but after a couple of spins I since 2007 but this is their debut album only, so we can found myself humming parts of their music, so yes, good assume that the 11 tracks featured (well, 10 + intro) are all job. Not for everyone, but definitely a classy release. 8 carefully thought and crafted so that the end result must be top-notch. And it is, "Kingdom of Vanity" is a solid album of modern, fast and at the same time melodic and quite technical Thrash Death Metal with the vocalist screaming his lungs out all the time, two guitarists that seem to get along really well for a seamless end result, and a drummer that seems to be on Duracell. The recordings quality is crystal-clear but I wouldn't expect less from any WHD release. All in all Right to the Void is REARTH (Italy) - For My Dreams I Fall yet another good offering from the Italian label, perfect Selfreleased - 2013 - Progressive Metal for those into modern and melodic Metal. 8.5 Debut album, delf-released, from this Italian Progressive Metal outfit, For My Dreams I Fall seems to be more a demonstration of their technical abilities than a monolith, a compact release. Honestly I was left with a sour taste after the audition, sour taste because these guys are really good instrumentists but certain parts of this album are quite boring and at their level this should be unacceptable.

The vocalists (the guys and the special guest girl) are trying their best but none of them are able to bring ROTTEN LIVER (France) - Purification by something outstanding to the table, and probably that's Debauchery why I didn't like the album in the end. The guitar work on Mortis Humanae - 2013 - Black Metal the other side is absolutely elegant, complex most of the From the band's name and the EP's cover artwork I times but also with a nice dose of simple, to your face thought this would be a Death Metal band, but instead elements. The rhythm section is rigorous as well, but in we're dealing here with a (mostly) Black'n'Roll act and the end the lack of unity wights more and I'm not able to their debut made of 4 tracks lasting a bit more than 20 fully enjoy this release. Try it if you're into Progressive minutes. They are pretty talented when it comes to Metal, you might like it more than I do. 6.5 composition, the tracks are catchy, interesting and not monotonous ranging from old-school sounding Black Metal to Thrashy Black Metal to the jolly Black'n'Roll and even Technical Black Metal. It's not every day you get to listen to a release that takes you through so many genres, and these guys do it well, skillfully and REPLICA (Austria) - The Bright Side of Death intelligently. The sound could have been better, but Noisehead - 2013 - Thrash Metalcore nonetheless this one is good enough to get a taste of It seems this band started as a Thrash Metal outfit in mid- things to come. Keep an eye on this band. 7.5 2000's but lately gave in to fashion meaning their latest album, The Bright Side of Death, is offering much more Metalcore than Thrash Metal; indeed, it's a blend, but Metalcore sonorities won this time, the kids will be delighted. I can't stand this type of desperate Metalcore screams, nor the addition of supporting growls that are not brutal, are just wannabe brutal, sorry, if you come from a Death Metal environment like I do you'll find those growls weak and with a long way to go to reach satisfactory levels. Anyway, the guitar work, except for the Thrash Metal riffs that again sound weak, is very SARTEGOS (Spain) - As Fontes do Negrume good, melodic, inspired, emotional at times, and very well Bloody Prod. - 2013 - Black Death Metal structured, my fave part of this band's music. The rhythm It seems this material was supposed to be released on section is good as well although I would have added a bit vinyl by Chalice of Blood Angel Prod., but ended up more volume to the bass lines. The sound is crystal clear, being released on CD by Bloody Prod., have no idea why. organic I can say, and made a good impression on me. 5 tracks (+ intro and outro) of bestial, blasphemic, midStill, Metalcore nowadays is a dangerous territory and it's tempo, dark Black Death Metal with quite raw sound, impossible to keep your head up if you're not the best... 6 oppressing atmospheres, and although the band is made of only 2 guys, the technical execution is fairly professional and interesting avoiding moments of boredom (I would have liked more of those guitar solos). Anyway, this is some dirty, to the bone old-school Black Death Metal for underground maniacs only. Not original but at the same time not boring either, I won't be surprised if Sartegos will end up becoming an important name for this oldschool revival, at least in Spain. paced Black Death Metal. Their music sounds more curdled, although still using simple structures, and if it wasn't for the horrible sound it would have been a quite menacing music. As a debut Hatevomit are quite promising, they tend to grant more attention to atmospheres, and I'm sure if they'll use a good studio for their upcoming releases they might become a nice surprise, they seem to be getting along quite well between themselves. If you're into the old '90's type of raw, blasphemic Black Death Metal, Hatevomit should be a band to keep an eye on. 4 / 7

SCENT OF DEATH (Spain) - Of Martyrs's Agony and Hate Pathologically Explicit - 2012 - Technical Death Metal Formed in 1998, Scent Of Death are not the most productive band in Spain, that's for sure, but it seems they are carefully promoting their current releases and thoroughly plan the next ones, they like having their name everywhere and that's awesome for an underground band, their new label can be proud of making a good decision when signing them. This is their second full-length album made of 9 tracks and totaling 40 minutes of Technical and Brutal Death Metal to the bone, ugly, complex, fast, dark sounding and mature. All members really gave their best and that's obvious from the amount of tempo and rhythm changes on all tracks; the drummer is on a relentless frenzy of blastbeats, the guitarists act like two crazy maniacs on different paths but in the end they prefercly complete each other, the vocals are mostly deep growls but adding occasional yelling on the backgrounds made them a bit more vorsatile, but I had a hard time distinguishing the bass lines. Overall this album is a lesson in violence and well-thought composition, great job. 9

SECTIONED (International) - Purulent Reality Paragon - 2010 - Death Metal Probably this band is still alive since I have received this 2010 album for a review, maybe they are preparing for some come-back soon, or maybe I have received it from the label and they only wanted to promote what they still have on stock, I don't remember. Anyway, the band's crispy but heavy enough guitar riffs reminded me of Bolt Thrower and I think that's their major influence. Then there's a sticky blend with the old-school US Death Metal especially on the guitar leads and solos part (think of Morbid Angel, Massacre and even Death - some vocal parts too), plus a groovy yet technical drumming part that feels well-thought and well fit in this context. The sound quality is not the best around but Traditional Death Metal fans will enjoy this unpolished atmosphere and after all you can easily follow any and all instruments without problems. Not a boring album, recommended for '90's Death Metal fanatics.

I have also received their 2007 Promo CD featuring 3 tracks from this album and an intro. The style is of course similar, the sound is a bit rawer (don't like the drums' sound), but this would have been a good choice if released on tape. Anyway, the band has improved from 2007 to 2010 so it should be the case for a new release soon... 8

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

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SHADOWS GROUND (Ukraine) - Suicide Propaganda Satanarsa - 2007 - Black Metal I'm already used to Satanarsa sending old-ass releases so it was no shock seeing this demo was released in 2007. In the meantime Shadows Ground got from one-man-band to a two men project and already released 4 full-length albums on various labels. This demo I have here is made of 4 tracks + 3 bonus ones, so a total of 7 tracks into fast Black Metal with raw but comprehensive sound, raspy, evil vocals, simple but surprisingly not annoying drummachine, and good guitar riffs that can capture your interest at once. No, it's not a groundbreaking release but it projects a honest and hard-working band image for Shadows Ground, so I think you should check out this band if you're into fast, traditional, aggressive Black Metal and you don't mind a low quality recording once in a while. 7

(yeah, really!) and tries to play a brutal type of Death Metal, fast paced, with limited old-school but also slam influences, growling vocals and low tuned bass lines. The problem is, or better said are the extremely synthetic drum machine sound and the very thin overall sound production, instead of being shocked by the brutality such a band should unleash on you, this demo sounds like it's a computer game. On the other hand the good thing is these SHALL BE THE CONQUEROR (USA) - The Healing guys are good instrumentists, there are some pretty rad guitar riffs and bass lines on this demo, and the vocalist is Selfreleased - 2013 - Progressive Death Metal Once again my first judgment (after reading the band's the only menacing element on it, but as a demo I think it's name) was shattered away by the band's music; I really a good start, promising, we might meet this name again thought I was about to listen to a Metalcore/Deathcore (well, if they don't forget mentioning it...). 6 band but instead here we have a Progressive, Experimental Brutal Death Metal band, and an impressive one I must add. Shall Be The Conquerror seem to have worked on this debut album for more than 5 years (the band was founded in 2008) so there's no wonder why they sound so tight and solid. The guys are excellent instrumentists and their level of imagination in what concerns compositions is top-notch too, I wouldn't be surprised to see them in the top of this genre in short time. SORDID CLOT (Russia) - Subspecies The Healing is a complex work, carefully built, with a bit Eclectic / Imbecil - 2013 - Death Gore Grind of something for fans of every form of this genre, I'm Third full-length album from these crazy Russians, Subspecies is made of 18 tracks but it doesn't last for impressed and delighted by this audition. 9 more than 25 minutes, quite a usual situation for the grind scene. What I like about this album is the fact that the tracks are diverse, you can't get bored, and the sound is SHALLOW RIVERS (Russia) - Nihil Euphoria raw but at the same time very clear. Sordid Clot are BadMoodMan - 2013 - Atmospheric Doom Death Metal mixing Gore Grind with Death Metal and a healthy dose Formed by other Solitude Prod. / BadMoodMan Music of fun sprinkled all over, their music sounds old-school project’s members, Shallow Rivers recently released their and fresh at the same time. A very entertaining release I debut full-length, an 8 tracks effort totaling an hour of would recommend to all fans of Gore Grind; probably one impressive Atmospheric Doom Death based on ever- of the best in its genre I've heard lately. 8.5 present guitar leads, deep guttural vocals and quite a heavy rhythm section, not to mention the solid riffs.

Simple but very effective music reminding of the days when this genre was in fashion, Nihil Euphoria, although not being a groundbreaking release, will certainly push this band's name forward. As I said, this album is quite traditional in structure, but there are some (only a few though) modern touches that make me curious of how their music will develop in the future, I hope they'll keep the traditional line and only sprinkle it with modern STATION DYSTHYMIA (Russia) - Overhead, Without Any Fuss, the Stars Were Going Out touches, maybe a bit more than on Nihil. Good stuff. 8 Solitude - 2013 - Funeral Doom Metal Weird music, depressive, impersonal, distant, static, basically all you can imagine when you think the end of the World, a desolate atmosphere you can barely take.

Station Dysthymia presents here their second album, a 4 tracks effort totaling more than 70 minutes of postapocalyptic, desperate, selenic-like atmospheres or in musical terms Funeral Doom Metal. The first track has no less than 34 minutes and it's a real incursion in this afterSICK (USA) - Cannibalistic Torment World image. Much more complex compositions than I Permeated - 2012 - Brutal Death Metal would have expected, very emotional and involving, this Wow, there are only a handful of bands named Sick in the second album from Station Dysthymia is a great release World nowadays so finding details on the Los Angeles for this genre, if you're into Funeral Doom this is a must, based Sick wasn't as difficult as I first thought. The band and if you're not, this is a good chance to get to know it. 9 was formed in 2005 and after 2 demos (from 2007 and 2011) it was about time for an official release, and even though this one is only an EP, it lasts for more than 35 minutes, so more than the majority of Brutal Death fulllengths nowadays. There are 5 new tracks featured and 4 demo tracks, so we get a real treat, and even if the demo recordings have a low-quality sound, you'll enjoy them nonetheless, especially after the first 5 tracks that are absolutely demented: guttural, gurgling vocals, razorsharp guitar riffs, and a rhythm section that mixes STRANGE FACTS IN THE SCALPEL CASE (Belgium) - Dead, But Not Beyond Reach perfectly the groovy, slam parts with the old-school, brutal and fast ones supported by a heavier than a Deadbangers / Cryptic Caverns - 2013 - Death Metal bulldozer sound. Fans of Devourment will go nuts about This band name makes me think of a "core" band, but this band, most probably. I love it, definitely a band to having in mind Deadbanger as production label this would have been impossible. Strange Facts In The Scalpel keep under the radar! 9 Case is a Belgium based band that follows old paths of Death Metal and this is a compilation of what they released so far: an EP, a single and 2 live tracks as bonus.

The sound is good enough for a demo, and the music fit for fans of fast Death Metal with chaotic rhythms and screamed vocals. Raw, energetic, and retro Death Metal with Thrash influences; nothing impressive, but well executed and not boring at all. 7

coming out of the States, its sheer brutality and rawness is impressive to say the least. The whole EP is a devastating statement of hate and disgust, you can actually feel the frightening emotions it spews, and that's such a rare thing nowadays; you'll literally find yourself angrier after the audition. As an underground release (raw sound, uncompromising attitude, unpolished execution), I'd say Sxuperion produced a cult release with Inverted Goat Orifice, way more brutal than most of the nowadays spikes & leather fashion bands. 9.5

SXUPERION (USA) - Satanic Idol Whoreship Bloody Mountain - 2011 - Black Death Metal Great looking (all black) DIY digipack CD including a tracks list sheet and that's pretty much all, Sxuperion's debut EP looks exactly how its music sounds like: primitive, impure and black as coal. This is a one man band from USA that was seemingly started back in 1998, but Satanic Idol Whoreship is its debut EP released 7 years after its one and only demo. Music-wise the EP is incessant assalut of brutal rhythms, low tuned, with barely audible guitar riffs and occasional dissonant-like guitar leads and solos, inhuman, frightening vocals; one of the most brutal, most terrifying atmospheres I've heard this year. Although at first glimpse it may sound unprofessional and awful sounding, this EP is actually very well thought and presented, it reminded me of the first Beherit recordings and maybe of some SouthAmerican demons like Goat Semen, I'm really surprised of enjoying this so much. 8 SXUPERION (USA) - Whoreshipping The Depths Bloody Mountain - 2013 - Black Metal There are all sorts of materials and activities nowadays supporting one man bands (mostly) from USA so I'd say Sxuperion and all his projects is definitely a guy that should be featured and promoted more. His music is absolutely devastating, and I'm not using clichĂŠs for the sake of a review, he really manages to deliver a satanic, brutal, ugly as hell music to the listener. Raw but still crystal-clear recordings, repetitive but damn aggressive and effective compositions, demonic acoustic interludes, sick vocals, US Death Metal type chaotic-like guitar solos, and overall an apocalyptic atmosphere. This is a project I'd recommend to fans of both Black and Death Metal, but only the ugliest type. 8

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

SODOMOPHILIA (Iraq) - Demo 2013 Salute - 2013 - Death Metal Funny fact: it was almost impossible for me to read the band's name, their logo isn't the friendliest around and there's no mention of it or any contact on the cover/booklet but finally I saw the first track title resembles with the logo and lucky me, that is it, Sodomophilia. How can anyone release a CD (especially a debut demo CD) without mentioning any contact details? That's stupid. Anyway, the band comes from Iraq

SXUPERION (USA) - Inverted Goat Orifice Bloody Mountain - 2013 - Black Death Metal New Sxuperion EP, this time one that was crafted during 4 years, from 2010 when Sxuperion, the man behind this moniker, started recording drums, to 2013 when he mastered the 5 tracks. If after listening to the Satanic Idol Whoreship EP I was surprised how much I liked it, this time the music took a step ahead in everything. This is probably one of the cruelest releases I've heard lately

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SYMBIOSIS (Italy) / WINTERBLOOD (Italy) Contemplando la rotazione degli astri attorno ad un punto immobile Black Death Prod. - 2012 - Dark Ambient A 70 minutes split between two one man projects from Italy. Symbiosis is a new name inhere and its 3 tracks are a portrait of dark, heavy nights on the highest mountains, so we're dealing of course with Dark Ambient. Repetitive structures and meditative atmospheres, Symbiosis' music feels like the time stands still and you're to face your gloomiest thoughts. I have reviewed Winterblood's music before so in a way I knew what to expect: sombre, cold Dark Ambient music with elements reminding of Burzum.

Even though both projects are Dark Ambient I wouldn't say they sound the same, their music is totally different but the moods they create could be compared. Excellent music for meditation and thoughts purification. 8 / 8.5 TENEBRAE (Italy) - Il Fuoco Segreto Selfreleased - 2012 - Art Rock Such a dull and uninspired name for a band that puts so much effort and shares so many emotions through their music; there are at least a dozen other bands with this name around the World nowadays... Anyway, this is the band's second album after a debut released back in 2009.

In the meantime the band changed all members except the guitarist, Marco Arizzi, who clearly is the leader and treats Tenebrae as his personal project and there's nothing wrong in that. They named their style as Art Rock and I can see why: it's almost impossible to label the music in a particular genre, and labeling it as Melodic Rock Metal won't do them any justice. Impressive compositions, fantastic booklet artwork and great lyrics section presenting what seems to be a concept album. I would have only liked a bit more emphasize on choirs or an additional backing vocal here and there, preferably a female vocal, that would have given this album a whole new perspective, but all in all we're dealing here with a highly professional work. Recommended! 9

TENSION PROPHECY (Iran) - World of Phobia Infinite Regress - 2013 - Technical Brutal Death Metal World of Phobia is this band's second full-length album and is made of 8 different phobias (+an intro): Antropophobia, Tyrannophobia, Homophobia, Eremophobia, Panophobia, Hypnophobia, Phonophobia and Algophobia. Just thoughts I should mentions the track titles since to me it seemed the Iranian band came up with a good idea. The intro made me think I would get to listen to a Folk-influenced Death Metal band, it's an intro full of ethnic elements, Arabic sounds, very nice stuff, but unfortunately the band is "only" dealing with the regular side of Technical and Brutal Death Metal. They are very talented musicians, creating some of the most psyched out musical elements I've heard this year, but after the audition I felt that the mastering wasn't exactly what such a material needed, and also the compositions could have avoided some of the dissonant, very dry parts. Even though I said what I said about this material I can also assure you this is not your typical band, they have a lot to say and their potential is absolutely obvious, so if you like your Brutal Death Metal with colors of Progressive and Technical Death the Iranian Tension Prophecy should be a band to at least check out, they can become one of the leading names in this field in the near future. 8

THE NEGATION (France) - Paths of Obedience Mortis Humanae - 2013 - Black Metal New band and album on Mortis Humanae and the label is getting stronger and stronger as time goes by. The Negation is a quintet from Paris founded in 2011 and this is their debut album, an 8 tracks (+ intro and outro) effort into fast, demonic Black Metal. The compositions are solid and the execution is top-notch, supported by an excellent sound, but I'm still not sure what we have here are drum programmings or a real drummer, at times the drums part sounds a bit too synthetic. Anyway, the atmospheres on this album are impressive and even if the guitar leads add some melody, the whole sounds damn oppressive and offensive. A serious debut, a band to keep an eye on. 8

quality is ok, although the production could have been more powerful, so overall this is a promising EP presenting a band that seems to be curdled enough to attack higher steps of the scene. 8 THUGNOR (Portugal) - Scrolls of Grimace Aphelion - 2011 - Atmospheric Doom Black Metal This is the solo-project of Jose Alfonso from Decayed and Scrolls of Grimace is its debut full-length album, an album that didn't impress me at all to be honest. J.A. is a legend of the scene, but the very simple riffs, the raw and amateurish sound and the synthetic feeling transmitted by the drum-machine succeeded to bore me rather than get me interested. the only notable element in Thugnor's music would be the guitar solos, but except for that it's like listening to a raw demo of a beginner band from the '90's. Sorry, no go. 4 TIRAN (Russia) - Necrophiliac Dreams Dead Center - 2012 - Thrash Metal After 2 full-length albums Tiran are back with a new EP to keep things hot and up to date, and that's not bad at all, especially since this EP was released in both vinyl and tape format and I guess it's only a matter of time until they will release it on CD as well. Old-school Thrash Metal with serious Death Metal influences, raw and straight forward like in the end '80's, with organic sound, midtempo to fast rhythms, lots of grooves but still very aggressive and obscure. Good work on guitars, enjoyable mix of screams and growls, impressive bass lines and powerful drumming, that's what we're treated with on this new EP. Even if at times it may sound too dry, if you're into old-school you'll certainly get it. Nothing groundbreaking here, but about 10 minutes of well structured, honest Thrash Metal for nostalgics. 8 TODESTRIEBE (Russia) - ...Scream, Prey, Beg...

Selfreleased - 2012 - Black Metal Debut album from this Russian band founded in 2007, ...Scream, Prey, Beg... kicks off with a cold guitar intro that reminded me of the '90's, so perfect for this type of music. What follows is a continuous release of mostly fast paced, cold and intense Black Metal lead by a razor-sharp vocal. I like the guitars as well, well-structured and balanced between straight-forward riffs, catchy leads and occasional acoustic insertions (delicious!), the drums are ok too, nothing to object, and the bass lines are powerful and very important in the overall atmosphere. For a debut album ...Scream, Prey, Beg... is a very honorable release that will certainly bring Todestriebe a handful of followers. Released as professional digipack including booklet with lyrics. 8

type of Modern Death Metal with plenty of groove on guitars, technical compositions, growling, incomprehensive vocals, powerful bass lines and plenty of blastbeats, but unfortunately with heavy overuse of rhythm breaks that make the album a bit hard to get at first. If you like these constant rhythm changes Apocalypse Tomorrow might be an interesting pick, but if you're looking for steady flowing stuff look away. Midtempo to fast paced rhythms, heavy atmospheres, unpolished but clear sound, this 8 tracks album will make a good half an hour audition for those into Technical but Brutal '90's type of US Death Metal. 7.5

TRITTON (Mexico) - Face of Madness Selfreleased - 2012 - Heavy Power Metal debut album from these 5 Mexican metallers, 4 guys and a girl, the vocalist. Face of Madness is made of 8 tracks into traditional Heavy Power Metal with nice, long and melodic guitar leads, sharp guitar riffs, good rhythm section and a weird way of singing from the female vocalist, I don't know yet if I like or hate it and I've spinned this disc for more than 4-5 times. Anyway, the instrumental part is good and has some catchy parts, too, but still it needs much more originality to break through the nowadays scene. It's an enjoyable release for fans of semi-technical and melodic Heavy Metal. 7

TRUEP (Russia) - 1986 Wings of Destruction - 2012 - Thrash Death Metal A true EP from Truep, nice one, isn't it? The band comes from Russia and I believe it involves the head of WoD Productions, too. Old-school Thrash Death Metal is the name of the game here, without any intent of discovering something new or sounding modern, not at all. Even the cover artwork is low-quality I believe to suggest some sort of old-school feeling. Well, the cover artwork failed lamentably, but the music is quite ok if you're looking for fast paced Thrash Death Metal without compromises, but otherwise it's pretty boring and uninteresting. The sound is raw but it goes hand in hand with the music so in the end it's actually good for this release. 6.5

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

TYRANT'S KALL (Belgium) - Dagon Selfreleased - 2012 - Heavy Doom Death Metal I'm getting more and more Belgian material for reviews lately, maybe that means the scene over there is starting to thrive and that can only be good. Tyrant's Kall is an awesome representative of this scene, a band that has been around since 2008 but only released a demo prior to this debut album, and in fact 2 of the 3 tracks from that demo are now re-recorded and listed among the 7 existent here. Basically the band plays a Traditional Doom Metal but the influences from Death Metal, Heavy Metal and even Thrash Black Metal are obvious, the atmosphere created is both groovy and dirty, and since the band is female fronted and the girl does a wonderful job on both growls (comprehensive) and clean (she has a nice melodic yet angry tone) vocals, you will be easily drown into their Lovecraftian soundscapes. The guitar riffs are not boring or over-repetitive at all, the compositions are well crafted with good taste so all in all I have deeply enjoyed this debut album and would recommend it to both Traditional Doom Metallers and followers of dirty Thrash Black Death Metal. Listen loud and drunk! 8.5

THROAAT (USA) - Puke on Your Grave Deadbangers - 2013 - Speed Thrash Black Metal Never thought a yellow tape with black print could look so metal and old-school, but Throaat's debut demo really looks awesome. The band originally released this as tape limited to 50 copies and then Deadbangers released 150 (hand-numbered) more. Puke on Your Grave is made of 5 tracks totaling 18 minutes of old-school, raw Extreme Metal, a combination of Heavy, Thrash, Death and Black Metal with different composition patterns on each track, an apparent lack of direction and a rehearsal-like sound and execution (I guess it was recorded in one take only).

For the new wave of old-school fanatics this might be a good choice, I would have liked a better sound quality though, at least a couple of tracks on this demo deserved a better sound. 6.5

TOOLBOX TERROR (Italy) - Bind Torture Kill Selfreleased - 2013 - Death Metal As a debut self-released album "Bind Torture Kill" certainly does its job to impress on how professional it looks and sounds like. By their look I was expecting Toolbox Terror to be a Brutal Death Metal band but instead they are a Modern, core-influenced Death Metal band with fat-ass guitar riffs, solid rhythm section and good technical quality, but unfortunately the vocal part is not something I like, both the screams and the growls are too synthetic, the guy (or guys?) sounds he's trying too much and the result is nothing natural. But that's probably me, I might be too old to still get this type of vocals.

Apart for that I think Toolbox Terror have all the THRONE OF HERESY (Sweden) - Realms of necessary elements to break through the underground and become a respected name in the scene pretty soon, at least Desecration UNGRACE (Ukraine) - Feed the Demons this debut album is a good example of their potential. 7.5 Selfreleased - 2013 - Death Metal Metal Scrap - 2013 - Industrial Death Metal After a debut full-length album released last year, this An interesting approach on Death Metal coming from Swedish quintet is back with a new material, this time a 3 Ukraine; Ungrace are mixing energetic Death Metal tracks EP beautifully packed in a cardboard digipack rhythms with lots of Hardcore a la Madball, Industrial including all lyrics and, as their debut was, released by Metal and a sprinkle of modern Deathcore. The result is themselves. I won't be too surprised to see a label backing quite fresh and entertaining so this might be something to up their work on the next release, and the music proves chew if you're not that much into traditional stuff. After a me right, Throne of Heresy plays a nice combination of debut album out in 2010, this is Ungrace's second effort Melodic Death Metal (a la Amon Amarth) with the new and it proves the band is a tight monolith, with absolute wave of Brutal Death distinguishable in their guitar riffs TRIGGER (Russia) - Apocalypse Tomorrow potential both in technical skills and compositional talent, and in the rhythm section. The band is tight as a group, Selfreleased - 2012 - Death Metal and although I'm not the biggest fan of nowadays metal I except for some parts lead by melodic guitar leads you'll I thought this is a young band by the guys' look, but it can say I was delighted by what the guys managed to find yourselves listening to the whole, not only to a seems they were formed back in 2004, even though they create on this album, one that should get the band's name certain instrument. The vocals are good, almost managed to release their debut EP and full-length 10 comprehensive growls with occasional screams, the sound years later, in 2013. Trigger is a Russian band playing US

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really out there, so don't miss it even if by only giving it a good Ambient Black Metal project with quite a lot of variety in their compositions. The mood inducted by the listen on the net. 9 new material is similar to what I used to feel in the '90's while listening to the Doom Death made in UK, namely melancholy and sadness. I think this is a promo used to find a suitable label for Velm's debut album, and in the meantime they found it in Neverheard Distro, and the album is already out. Even if the drums are programmed and that usually annoys me, I have enjoyed this album a lot, it's very emotional, deep, and nice flowing, you can use it as soundtrack to a night spent on the balcony while UNHOLYATH (Ukraine) - End of Humanity reading a good book, or at least that's what I did and it Satanarsa / The Kether Crown - 2009 - Black Metal It's Satanarsa, it's an old release, as usual. This is worked out perfectly. Although it's repetitive and a bit Unholyath's debut album made of 5 tracks + 3 bonus stale here and there the overall atmosphere is rich of tracks (have no idea why these are bonus) and also a low emotions. 8 budget live video of one of their tracks from back when they were called Blizzard. Apparently this was/is limited to only 200 copies. The music is not bad, the sound is ok too, and the compositions and execution are nothing to be ashamed of, so all in all I think I might recommend this album to fans of traditional Black Metal lead by semitechnical guitar riffs and leads. The bonus tracks are faster paced than the first 5, but they are not bad either, although I prefer the first part of the album. In the meantime the band released a new album (last year) so give them a chance and check out what they have to offer, you might like their music. 7 VAE SOLIS (Ukraine) - My Fire is Eternal Satanarsa - 1999 / 2010 - Black Metal This is Vae Solis' debut, a demo recorded in their rehearsal room in 1998, released by the band one year later and re-released in 2010 by Satanarsa, so I think Vae Solis had a notable impact on the Ukrainian and maybe Russian scenes back then as the band is split-up now without ever releasing a full-length. The music seems to be interesting and in fashion for that period, a mid-tempo to fast paced Black Metal with atmospheric keyboard backgrounds and very good melodic guitar solos here and there. The last track was recorded in 1999 and has a much better sound, although not good enough, but it allows the listener to get a better idea of the band's potential, and I think they (the band) had plenty. After a couple of spins I almost feel sorry this band is no longer around or at least that these tracks weren't better recorded at the time.

Anyway, if you're looking for melodic, semi-technical Black Metal with a melancholic edge and you can pass over a raw sounding recording, this CD could make an interesting pick.

VERGINE STUPRATA (Italy) - Jungfernkuss Selfreleased - 2013 - Black Metal With such a bestial name (raped virgin in English) this Italian trio could have only produced bestial music.

Vergine Stuprata plays a raw, primitive form of fast paced Black Metal supported by disgusting, blasphemous vocals and a pretty good sound production. With no trace of melody, and no relenting parts, Vergine Stuprata's music is a full-on attack of brutality and blasphemy taking no prisoners, their second demo will certainly hit the spot for fans of Thrash Black Metal. I also like the DIY digipack presentation of this demo, well worth a few bucks, don't hesitate. 7.5 VIN DE MIA TRIX (Ukraine) - Once Hidden from Sight Hypnotic Dirge / Solitude - 2013 - Doom Death Metal Another Doom Death Metal act coming out of Ukraine, a band that's offered this time by two of the most "in fashion" labels at the moment, Solitude and Hypnotic Dirge, so it must be an absolute killer. Unfortunately both labels were wrong this time, Vin De Mia Trix, apart for the interesting band name and the good bass player, isn't impressive at all. A mix of My Dying Bride and Saturnus with lots and lots of dull moments when they lose the listener, and also lots of unnecessary fillings all over. It sounds like the band were so eager to release this debut album (it was about time after 6 years) that they stretched the 8 featured tracks as much as possible without thinking about the listener, actually I'm sure not even they are able to listen to their album a few times without losing interest.

Well, maybe it's not that bad as you might think after reading this, but for sure it's not rising to my level of expectations after seeing it being backed up by these 2 labels. 6

ugly and at the same time beautiful, it's raw and at the same time polished, it's melodic and at the same time brutally ravishing; because if you're not open-minded you'll hate the guts out of it; because it kept me glued to it for almost 40 minutes and I'm sure it will take a huge part of my time for the upcoming days; because even if I hate the band's name and I had serious doubts before playing it, now, even if I still don't like the name, I couldn't care less about it; because it's elegant and classy; because I'm sure this was all composed and finalized in short time, without overthinking it too much. Nothing more to add, I love this album! Kaotoxin Records should get a medal for discovering such gems! If you'll hate it, well, we're not on the same page, but if you'll like what you'll hear on the net, get the album, probably the next one won't be as good as this... :) 10

WEAPONIZER (USA) - Weapรถnizer Selfreleased - 2012 - Thrash Black Metal A nice looking DIY production just perfect for their style of music, Weaponizer's self-titled debut album is made of 9 tracks (8 of their own and a Sodom cover) into Thrash Black Metal, a genre that seems to be extremely hot nowadays. My first encounter with this trio seems to be successful, the band plays an old-school fast and furious Black Metal with major Thrash Metal influences, reminiscent of the days when Thrash Metal started to be heavily infested by faster rhythms, a more evil, shrieking vocal style, basically when the Metal scene spewed a new born child, Black Metal. Nothing fancy inhere, nothing to leave you breathless, but instead a honest, aggressive, catchy at times music perfectly fit for primitive Black Metal maniacs. Fast rhythms, hoarse vocals, good, comprehensive but at the same time also raw and dirty sound production, a non-stop cruel Metal attack. 7 WEVERIN (USA) - Serpent Light Selfreleased - 2008 - Black Death Metal I always wonder why do people (read bands/labels) send old material for review, shouldn't they be proud of their current/newer material better than their old stuff? In this case the story is the same, I don't know if the band or their label sent this over, but it's more than 5 years old now, and in the meantime the band has a new full-length out (that's still old, but only 2 years old though), too.

Anyway, let's talk about this one since I have it here.

"Serpent Light" is made of 9 tracks of fast, semi-technical and raw-sounding Black Death Metal with awful mixing/mastering but interesting compositions and quite skilled technical execution (on guitars, as the drums are programmed most probably and the bass line is almost inexistent if there's any). The vocals are too in the back and covered by effects so that the result is unprofessional and although at times they manage to sound terrifying (the guy has a good voice, though), most of the time you're struggling to get something out of it. So we're left with an interesting guitar work that combines both Black and Death Metal with some Heavy/Thrash twists, I liked it a lot. If you're used to '90's Thrash Death demo tapes and their sound you might try this album, too, it has a similar sound and feeling. 7

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

VALDUR (USA) - Berserrker Selfreleased - 2009 - Black Metal Here's an old single from Valdur released in CDR format by the band. It features only this one track, Berserrker, a good, fast paced track with dark atmospheres and a somehow epic feeling surrounding it. The drums are really worth listening as the guy gives his best and with his help the band manages to create a calculated chaos, a storm of hateful emotions. Nice one. 8.5 VALDUR (USA) - Blast Beast Bloody Mountain - 2013 - Black Metal This band really likes to keep things fresh since they keep releasing 2 tracks EPs and Singles, and that's a good thing, it makes their fans and supporters aware of what's going on in the band's camp. This new EP features 2 new tracks and an outro, and as a bonus, their 2 tracks EP The Hammer Pit released in 2012. Fast, ugly and intense Black Metal, the American way I'd say, the only way Black Metal successfully competes in levels of brutality with Death and Grind; well executed, including some tasteful riffs, inhuman raspy vocals and very good live drums reaching speeds you can't imagine. The only problem, although for their fans it won't be a real problem, is the raw and unpolished sound, but if they'll keep releasing such unpolished material they'll remain underground forever, and honestly I think that's what they are aiming to. 7.5

VINTAGE FLESH (USA) - Hour of the Night Gaunts Selfreleased - 2010 - Horror Black Metal Second album of this horror trio from New England, "Hour of the Night Gaunts" is a 13 tracks effort lasting for more than an hour, an hour of theatrical, honest and expressive Metal. I love this CD, it's one of the most enjoyable piece of ugly metal I've listened to this year.

Although it lacks of a bass player and having an underground, unpolished sound, the band manages to create a very horrifying, creepy music: versatile vocals ranging from clean vox, to Black Metal shrieks, to operatic male parts, and even some background growls, melodic semi-acoustic guitar lines, cold and sharp guitar riffs and slow to mid-tempo drums (adding some fast rhythms here and there, too). The atmosphere these guys manage to create reminded me of the Dannish Exekrator, or the Japanese Sigh. Killer band with a lot of potential, they should be signed right away. The band is now known as Inverticrux. 9

WHEN NOTHING REMAINS (Sweden) - Thy Dark Serenity Solitude - 2013 - Doom Death Metal Second album from this Swedish Doom Death Metal band, a proud Draconian follower now even having a Draconian member, Johan Ericson, taking care of part of the vocals work and also the mixing and mastering for this release. I like the fact the band chose to continue with the same artwork concept for their cover as on their debut album, in my opinion a very successful work. The music is again that melancholic, heavy as hell, oppressing and mood-drenching Melodic Doom Death Metal built by growling and clean male vocals, energetic rhythm section, quite generic but catchy guitar riffs, excellent keyboard work, and slow, heavy and sad atmospheres. Nothing new for the scene, nothing innovative, but a very well done album that's nothing below the top of the scene, wellWE ALL DIE (LAUGHING) (France / Bulgaria) - structured and well performed. 8.5 VELM (Hungary) - Promo 2013 Selfreleased - 2013 - Pagan Black Metal Thoughtscanning I know this band for a couple of years now and while first Kaotoxin - 2014 - Avantgarde Metal listening to this new CD I thought they changed their style Fuckin' 10 out of 10!!! Why? Because this is the best to a Gothic Doom inspired music, but no, Velm is still a audio journey I took in the last months; because if it's

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Death Metal maniacs who know what to expect, but will also gain their respect and appreciation as there's no room for compromise here. Recommended to old-school fanatics! 8

WRATHFUL PLAGUE (USA) - Thee Within the Shadows Metallic Media - 2013 - Black Metal The guy behind Wrathful Plague, Nostaun, is also involved in another Metallic Media artist, Fecund Betrayal, but this one seems to be his main project being founded back in 2005 and releasing 2 full-length album prior to "Thee Within the Shadows". Here we have 9 tracks in a bit more than 40 minutes of dark and cold Black Metal with many Ambient and acoustic parts to enhance the atmospheres. Unfortunately I hate the sound; the album was recorded at home so you can imagine it's not the best release ever, but the major problem in my opinion are the synthetic and impersonal drum programmings, I hate them. With a better recording I think Wraithful Plague could benefit from its good and interesting ideas (especially the acoustic inserts), but I'm afraid this album won't pass the test of time... 5

WINE FROM TEARS (Russia) - Glad to be Dead BadMoodMan - 2013 - Gothic Doom Death Metal Solitude Prod. / BadMoodMan Music seem to have a real talent in signing young bands that will eventually grow and develop into mature, influential exponents of the Gothic/Doom/Death scene, and an example are the Russians from Wine From Tears with their second fulllength release. The band this time managed to offer a nice flowing, emotional, depressive (with a fair share of light though) and complex mix of Gothic, Doom and Death Metal, a combination of old Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride, with low tuned growls supported by clean vox here and there, heavy use of melodic guitar leads, excellent atmospheric keyboards and tormenting, slow paced rhythm section. It's really a high-quality release that will fulfill your search for good '90's type of Doom Death Metal when the style was at its peak; I have a great time listening to this album, try it yourselves. 9 YATTAI (France) - 50 Love Hymns for Grindheads Discography CD Obskure Sombre / Inhuman Homicide / Teriak - 2013 Grindcore Powerviolence Sick release! This is a compilation of all Yattai's split, demo, compilation tracks plus 8 previously unreleased WITCHER (Hungary) - Boszorkรกnytรกnc tracks, this must be a real treat for their fans. As you can Old Skull - 2011 - Black Metal imagine this is ultra-fast, extremely violent, raging music Witcher's second demo is released in tape format limited that will rip you head off. I like the fact that they have to 66 hand numbered copies by Old Skull Productions, a added plenty of grooves here and there, and I also love the label I come across the first time, don't know if it's theirs old-school Grindcore guitar riffs, don't know why but I've or if it's owned by someone else. The sound on this one is always liked that guitar sound, it always makes me think a bit rawer than the previous effort, but the music of zombie movies. Well, what else can I say, for the ones remained unchanged, keyboard driven mid-tempo Black of you already into Yattai, don't miss this discography Metal a la '90's underground BM scene. This time the CD, and for the ones of you who haven't discovered this keyboard work is more prominent and takes up most of band but are into fast, punishing Grindcore, you might the space on this 53 minutes long demo. The melancholic like them a lot! 8 atmospheres created by this band are its highlight, so if you like your Black Metal covered by a dreamy, surreal atmosphere Witcher might be a good choice. I'm curious how this Hungarian act will evolve, it's quite clear they are in for their passion and that might be a promise they won't broke up after a few releases. 7.5

memorable but they didn't catch my attention with these 2 tracks. Deathmoor presents a new track, but also one from 2008 (none of them out on S.N.D.). The older track has a horrible sound but you can still hear the music fortunately. Slow guitar riffs layered on slow rhythmed drums with fast snares though, an interesting combination, but the desperate vocals in the background didn't reach their goal. Again I find this a bit too repetitive and 10 minutes for such a track is too much. On the second, most recent track, Deathmoor has a more complex music, more complex vocal part, and more work on drums and guitars. The sound is pure filth again, but at least the music seems to be getting better, they are exploring new territories and that's promising. Alienation Cold is a keyboard driven Atmospheric Black Metal. The keyboard part is the highlight of this band and it makes their music really interesting, too bad we have the same problem here too, the bad sound. Nothing outstanding but their music reminded me of the beginning of the 2000's' Atmospheric Black Metal scene (back then it was so effervescent like the Depressive / Suicidal Black Metal scene of Today), as a conclusion good atmospheres.

Misanthropic Art is present here with a track from 2008 and one from 2012, none featured on S.N.D. releases, again. Very long tracks, very bad sound, recommended only to fans of obscure, unpolished fast Black Metal with a bit of Scandinavian atmospheres given by the guitar leads (good ones I have to say). Except for the good guitar leads I wasn't impressed or intrigued by anything else in M.A.'s music. The last band is Christinvertion and their 2 tracks are both from 2012 from 2 different albums, both out on S.N.D., so at least here's a change in template. The music is extremely brutal, a Gore Grind Black Metal that sounds like a pack of beasts devouring everything, nothing more, nothing less, just a bloody feast of beasts.

Unfortunately (again) the sound is horrendous and the guitars tone is an absolute joke, it sounds like a motorbike engine gone wrong. One thumb up for the extreme brutality but two thumbs down for the childish sound.

Various Artists - Where the Past Is Alive Forever Plagued - 2013 - Black Metal Nice collection of 14 tracks from Forever Plagued Records that will allow the listeners to get to know both the band and the label's path. The label's path: Black Metal, of course. And here are a few words on each track: Sombrous - more an intro than a regular tracks as it's instrumental Dark Ambient from start to finish; good nonetheless Incursus - offering 3 tracks on this compilation, Incursus is a one man band playing fast and raw Black Metal, the ugly, devastating US type; on the second track though the guitars sound like on a demagnetized tape, funny; the third track is full-on raw fast paced Black Metal with demented vocals Darkest Grove - one man band again, two tracks featured as well: the first is a sequence of acoustic, calm, almost Folk-ish quiters and mid-tempo to fast paced Black Metal, the second tracks is totally different, like Slayer going Black Metal, pretty interesting though Serpentinam - rehearsal sounding slow to mid-tempo Black Metal, quite depressing; quite shitty apart from the nice guitar leads Graveland - tracks from Graveland's 1993 demo rereleased by Forever Plagued; I guess it will be a bestseller only because of the band's name...

Lord Foul - another one man band that seems to be on ice at the moment; primitive, brutal and satanic Black Metal, no real value except for history, this is taken from a '93 demo Tenebrous - mid-tempo to fast paced traditional Black Metal with oppressing atmospheres and excellent guitar leads and riffs Nightbringer - oppressive, occult Black Metal with horrific atmosphere, very good stuff (I guess that's why they are signed with Season of Mist now); track from their debut album Do Skonu - one man band from Ukraine; fast Black Metal with repetitive riffs and rhythms; the guy is actually a good instrumentist, I know some of his other projects NAV - this is more like a Thrash Metal band with Black Metal type of vocals; awful guitar solo in the middle, funny sounding track overall Demoncy - legendary American one main project started in 1991; although I don't like the vocals and the somehow synthetic sounding guitar riffs that much, the overall atmosphere is great, and the composition as well.

All in all Forever Plagues Records seems to be a solid, serious label, a perfect fit especially for one-man-bands.

Horns up!

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

WOMB (Portugal) - The Rope in Our Hands Stretches for Miles Purodium - 2012 - Black Metal A mysterious project with unknown line-up, Womb plays a raw, fast and quite primitive form of Black Metal with hints of Thrash Black Metal. Short tracks, catchy rhythms perfect for unleashing hell during a live gig, but unfortunately not backed up by a good sound quality they are getting annoying after a few plays. I have played this tape for 3 or 4 times now and I can say the vocals are starting to get on my nerves, but maybe I'm not used to their style of playing and to such rehearsal / live recordings. The whole demo doesn't last for much more than 20 minutes even though it features 11 tracks, so I guess giving it a chance wouldn't hurt especially if you're into fast, uncompromising, raw Black Metal. 7.5

WORSTENEMY (Italy) - Revelation WormHoleDeath - 2013 - Death Metal I know this band since their 2005 split with Mind Snare, but they were formed back in 1997 and this is actually their debut full-length album, so it seems we're dealing with a not so lucky Italian band after all. The music on this debut album is mostly mid-paced Death Metal the American way, with fat-ass sound, deep growls, '90's type of guitar solos, grinding rhythm section and an overall dusty, cryptic atmosphere reminding me of Six Feet Under in their best period. It really sounds like a '90's US Death Metal band and I only wished those delicious guitar solos would have been more, but for the rest I have no complaints, an album that will only get the attention of

ZORNDYKE (Italy) - On Mayor Altar's Edge Baphomet In Steel - 2012 - Death Metal Hard to believe this second full-length of Zorndyke was mastered at all, it actually sounds like a rehearsal recording, a good one indeed, but still a rehearsal recording, so I wouldn't name it an official album after all.

Anyway, I'm almost positive they wanted it to sound like that because the band plays an old-school type of Death Metal, with underground attitude, so I think they wanted to offer everything as organic as possible. I like the powerful, deep growls of the singer (not the raspy vocals though), but the rest is pretty typical to the beginning of the '90's: fast rhythms, repetitive guitar riffs, a couple of solos here and there and a few bass-only parts to enhance the horror atmosphere, and occasional Thrash Metal influences, plus a few groove insertions here and there.

Well, you got them all from such a band, too bad the material wasn't recorded, mixed and mastered in better conditions. The band has potential but still has to come up with something of their own. 6.5 Various Artists - Stavropol Nekrodivizion Promo Compilation Stavropol Nekrodivizion - 2012 - Black Metal This is a promo sampler from Stavropol Nekrodivizion (S.N.D.) presenting us this label's bands and past and current releases. First is SS-18 with an ultra-fast, unrelenting nuclear Black Metal sounding like the biggest war you can ever imagine. Even though the sound is not the best possible, you'll have no problem understanding what these guys are all about. This is some twisted, hateful shit I tell you, and this is a band definitely worth keeping an eye on, they have great potential. Next is Lashblood with 2 tracks from their 2012 album released on Daemon Worship Productions (strange featuring, but I think S.N.D. signed them after this release). Their Black Metal is mid-tempo to fast rhythmed, somehow atmospheric and definitely desperate (because of the vocals, of course), but I found it a bit too repetitive and forced. They definitely have the skills to create something

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Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)

Slowly We Rot (swrzine@yahoo.com)