Malhkebre/Revelation/I, Voidhanger Records/2014 CD Review

  Malhkebre  are  a  band  from  France  that  plays  a  very  raw  and  orthodox  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Revelation"  which  was  released  by  I,  Voidhanger  Records.

  Evil  sound  effects  start  off  the  album  bringing  in  a  few  drones  along  with  spoken  word  ritualistic  parts  before  going  into  a  very  heavy  and  dark  direction  along  with  some  hateful  black  metal  direction  which  also  leads  up  to  faster  riffing  and  brutal  blast  beats  and  you  can  hear  a  great  amount  of  talent  and  skill  in  the  musical  instruments  and  there  is  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  throughout  the  recording  along  with  a  lot  of  raw  aggressive  and  angry  energy  in  the  true  black  metal  tradition.

     After  awhile  you  can  hear  a  decent  amount  of  melody  in their  musical  sound  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  standing  out  on  their  own  and  they  also  bring  back  the  drones  of  the  intro  along  with  the  sounds  of  human  depression  before  returning  back  to  a  heavier  direction  as  well  as  making  the  vocals  sound  more  grim  and  evil  and  a  good  portion  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  You  can  hear  a  great  amount  of  the  2000's  era  French  black  metal  sound  in  the  bands  music  along  with  the  ability  to  mix  raw  and  technical  parts  together  along  with  a  good  amount  of  intros  before  the  tracks  which  add  a  more  chaotic  atmosphere  to  the  recording  and  the  way  the  band  approach  vocals  are  very  original   while  they  also  remain  true  to  black  metal  while  also  adding  in  new  elements  to  this  genre  and  as  the  album  progresses  deep  death  metal  growls  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording.


  Malhkebre  creates  some  very  raw,  heavy,  technical  and  hateful  music  with  their  approach  to  raw  black  metal  as  well  as  adding  in  a  good  amount  of  originality  showing  this  genre  can  still  progress  with  the  use  of  traditional  instruments  as  well  as  being  a  pure  form  of  black  metal,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  a  mixture  of  French  and  English  and  cover  Satanism,  Suicide,  and  Self  Mutilation  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Malhkebre  are  a  very  great  sounding  raw,  technical  and  orthodox  black  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "In  Pulverem  Reverteris"  "To  Become  Or  Die"  and  "IHSV".  8/5  out   of  10.    
  .

Cepheide Interview

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

We're four 25 years old guys from paris.
The line up is drums, bass, two guitarists including a singer.
The project began there almost a year ago now!

2.Recently you have released your first album, how would you describe your musical sound?

We self-produced this album because we wanted to build it as we imagined, from the compositions to the final sound we have on tape.

We seek to recreate what we do in our rehearsals in paris.
So we recorded in the same studio where we played for a year no, without guitar overdub and without artifice
The overall sound of this demo is very raw and blurry and that's how we see our compositions because the general atmosphere gives another sense to the different melodies.

3.The band was formed early this year but have already released their first album, do you feel that you put a lot of time and effort into the band?

We took the time to choose some songs, and to keep the others depending on the future of the project.
For this demo, we chose the first 4 songs we made as a band, but in a year of work we were able to prepare other compositions for other future projects.
We expected to be ready to release this demo, but also to have enough material not to lower the pace.

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

there is no fixed subject, or something that we are prohibited.
There is a lot of work on the texts. They are written so that even detached from the music, it is balanced and has a true sense.
They are written in rhyme, as a a poem or prose.
Although for the moment the lyrics are not in booklet or accessible, know that we are looking up for each piece to create more something like text on a music than song lyrics.

For the tracks of this demo, DELUGE is about changing role, depending on the situation between two people in the current society and A LA CROISEE DES AMES deals with the influence of society on the way we think but another track is talking about transformation of the sun.
It is each time different subjects, but each time they are topics that we believe timely

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

Since we are french and that all texts are also written in french, we wanted to find a french word that was connected to the general atmosphere of our songs and that at the same time evoked the recurring theme of astronomy

6.Has the band done any live shows or is this strictly a studio project?

We will surely make live shows before the next album, but for the moment nothing is confirmed

7.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?

From now on we had to work without label and we produced and recorded this demo alone. We are not really searching for a label but we'll think about it when the time comes.

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

The project comes out of the shadows and we are not looking to do a lot of promo, however we had a lot of very positive and encouraging feedback, a lot of support which was not expected, so we were pleasantly surprised that people to be receptive to our vision of black metal!

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

We all have parallel projects so when we formed this band the aim was to make every effort to do our best, we will see what will be the result of this!

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

We are four so there are very diverse backgrounds.
We can say that the main influential band are ASH BORER , ARS DIAVOLI , URFAUST , ELECTRIC WIZARD , DRUDKH ,GODSPEED YOU…

what are you listening to nowadays ? … hexis , the psyke projet , woods of désolation , Deathspell Omega , Solstafir , Russian Circle , Converge …

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

there is a great fascination for wine, the way that it oldens.
a great interest in cinema which sharpens our thinking in another form of art equally wide
Astronomy is also omnipresent. It has directly inspired us our cover, the title of some songs and the way to write texts



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

leave the imagination to what we listen

Oltreromba/The Death-Schrierati Con La Morte/Fistbang Records/2014 CD Review

  Oltreromba  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  a  very  raw,  old  school,  satanic  and  occult  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "The  Death-Schrierati  Con  La  Morte"  which  was  released  by  Fistbang  Records.

  An  intro  with  distorted  noises  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  background  noises  and  after  the  intro  tribal  beats  make  their  way  on  the  album  with  some  heavy  guitars  and  deep  demonic  vocals  and  the  music  starts  to  go  for  more  of  a  raw  and  old  school  black  metal  direction  along  with  some  grim  vocals.

  Melodies  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  you  can  hear  influences  from  both  the  first  and  second  wave  styles  of  black  metal  in  their  sound  along  with  a  great  amount  of  thrash  elements  and  punk  rock   style  energy  and  after  awhile  more  fast  parts  and  blast  beats  find  their  way  onto  the  recording  along  with  some  old  school  guitar  leads  that  bring  an  80's  extreme  metal  feeling  to  the  album  while  also  having  their  melodic  moments  at  times.

  There  is  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  throughout  the  recording  with  the  faster  sections  displaying  a  more  raw  side  of  black  metal  and  some  of  the  later  tracks  shows  the  band  bringing  in  bass  guitar  leads  along  with  a  small  amount  of  clean  playing  on  one  of  the  later  songs  and  at  times  growls  can  be  heard  in  the  music  and  they  give  the  album  more  of  an  early  death/thrash  metal  feeling.  

  Olteromba  takes  the  first  and  second  waves  of  black  metal  and  combines  them  to  create  an  album  that is  very  catchy,  old  school  and  evil  sounding,  the  production  has  a  very  raw,  old  school  and  heavy  sound,  while  the  lyrics  cover  Satanism,  Occultism,  Blasphemies,  and   Intolerance.

  In  my  opinion  Oltreromba  are  a  very  great  sounding  raw,  old  school  and  satanic  black  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Altar  Of  Succubus"  "Silence..People  Are  Dying"  "To  Turn  A  Storm  Against  God"  and  "They  Are  Coming".  8/5  out  of  10.   

Weltschmerz/Odium Humani Generis/Immortal Frost Productions/2014 CD Review

  Weltschmerz  are  a  band  from  the  Netherlands  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  very  fast,  raw  and  aggressive  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Odium  Humani  Generis"  which  was  released  by  Immortal  Frost  Productions.

  A  great  amount  of  distortion  and  reverb  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  very  fast  and  raw  black  metal  direction  along  with  blast  beats,  high  pitched  screams  and  a  decent  amount  of  melody  and  they  also  bring  in  a  decent  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  the  vocals  getting  more  deep  and  grim  at  times.

  While  the  music  is  mostly  focused  on  an  early  90's  style  of  raw  black  metal  you  can  hear  some  modern  elements  being  added  into  the  music  only  on  the  earlier  tracks  and  when  solos  and  leads  are  added  into  the  music  they  add  a  lot  more  melody  into  the  bands  musical  sound  and  on  the  3rd  track  rain  sounds  and  acoustic  guitars  find  their  way  onto  the  recording  along  with  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts  before  returning  back  to  a  heavier  direction.

  On  the  later  tracks  the  music  gets  more  darker  lyrically  while  still  having  a  90's  style  of  European  black  metal  being  utilized  along  with  a  great  amount  of  chaos  and  war  being  invoked  with  their  musical  approach  and  they  take  influences  from  the  earlier  Norwegian,  Swedish  and  French  bands  and  a  good  amount  of  the  music  sounds  like it  could  of  been  released  in  1993  and  some  of  the  later  songs  also  show  the  bass  guitars  bringing  a  more  powerful  sounding  presence  to  the  recording  as  well  as  acoustic  guitars  and  spoken  word  parts making  their  return  briefly.

  Weltschmerz  remain  true  to  their  raw  old  school  black  metal  sound  on  this  album  and  they  create  a  very  grim  sounding  recording  that  shows  how  black  metal  is  meant  to  be  done,  the  production  sounds  very  raw  and  old  school  while  the  lyrics  cover  suicide,  anti  christian,  occult  and  left  hand  path  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Weltschmerz  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  raw  and  of  school  black  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Ending  Your  Life"  "Asmodeus"  and  "The  Night  Is  My  Domain".  8  out  of  10.

Capgrass/Reflections/2014 EP Review

  Capgrass  are  a  band  from  Argentina  that  plays  a  raw from  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2014  ep  "Reflections".

  A  very  dark  drone  sound  starts  off  the  ep  and  after  the  brief  intro  heavy  and  melodic  guitar  riffs  kick  in  along  with  some  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  and  the  music  sticks  to  mostly  a  mid  paced  direction  while  also  speeding  up  after  awhile  and  adding  in  a  more  raw  sound  along  with  some  blast  beats  and  powerful  bass  lines.

  After  awhile  the  guitars  add  in  a  more  atmospheric  edge  to  the  music  while  also  remaining  very  heavy  all  at  the  same  time  which  also  leads  up  to  a  brief  use  of  acoustic  guitars  and  rain  sounds  before  going  into  a  more  melodic  direction  and  adding  in  solos  and  leads  that  gives  the  ep  a  more  traditional  metal  feeling  while  on  the  last  track  they  bring  in  a  more  melodic  side  of  black  metal.

  On  the  later  tracks  there  is  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  being  utilized  along  with  the  vocals  adding  a  more  depressive  edge  to  the  screams  and  you  can  hear  a  bit  of  the  early  90's  black  metal  sound  in  the  rawer  and  faster  sections  of  there  music  and  they  also  make  every  track  sound  different  while  also  remaining  true  to  a  black  metal  sound  from  beginning  to  end  of  the  recording  and  the  last  track  also  sees  the  return  of  acoustic  guitars  along  with  a  small  amount  of  melodic  clean  singing  vocals.

  Capgrass  creates  a  very  raw  style  of  black  metal  with  their  music  which  utilizes  a  great  amount  of  aggression  in  the  true  old  school style,  the  production  has  a  very  raw  and  heavy  sound  while  the  lyrics  cover  depressive  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Capgrass  are  a  very  great  sounding  raw  black  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Dead  In  The  Crowd"  and  "Voice  Of  Perdition".  8  out  of  10.



   

Nuklear Frost/Sugjugation/2014 CD Review

  Nuklear  Frost  are  a  band  from  Minnesota  that  plays  a  very  fast  and  raw  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2014  album  "Subjugation".

  Drones start  off  the  album  along  with  some  clean  and  melodic  guitar  playing  which  leads  up  to  drums  kicking  in  which  leads  up  to  a  heavier  direction  along  with  some  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  while  also  keeping  around  the  melodic  edge  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  a  very  fast  and  raw  direction  along  with  some  brutal  blast  beats.

    There  is  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  present  throughout  the  recording  along  with  some  primal  bass  guitars  and  a  good  dose  of  melodic  Swedish  black  metal  elements  and  you  can  also  hear  a  great  amount  of  anger  and  hate  in  the  vocals  and  at  times  clean  playing  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording.

  After  awhile  the  vocals  start  adding  in  some  deeper  parts  which  gives  the  music  a  more  death  metal  feeling  along  with  the  guitar  riffing  utilizing  more  thrash  influences  while the  main  focus  remains  on  a  fast  and  chaotic  black  metal  sound  and  one  of  the  tracks  shows  a  small  amount  of  melodic  Gregorian  chants  which  also  are  used  again  towards  the  end  of  the  recording  and  the  sounds  of  war  before  making  a  return  back  to  a  more  heavier  musical  direction  and  the  last  song  is  their  epic  track  with  the  song  being  over  8  minutes  in  length.

   Nuklear  Frost  bring  a  lot  of  heaviness  ,  speed,  aggression  and  anger  into  their  style  of  black  metal  and  creating  one  of  the  heaviest  albums  this  genre  has  seen  all  year,  the  production  sounds  very  heavy  and  powerful  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  violent,  hateful,  war  and  anti  religion  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Nuklear  Frost  are  a  very  great  sounding  fast,  raw  and  aggressive  black  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Theist  Holocaust"  "Vortex  Of  Horror"  and  "Become  Death".  8  out  of  10.

      

Dunnock/Promo 2014/Psalm 88 Review

  This  is  the  final  review  of  a  promo  from  Dunnock  which  shows  them  continuing  their  raw,  atmospheric  and  depressive  mixture  of  black  metal  but  adding  in  elements  of  ambient,  noise  and  dungeon  synth  with  the  promo  being  released  in  2014  by  Psalm  88.

  A  very  fast,  raw  and  depressive  black  metal  sound  starts  off  the  ep  along  with  some  high  pitched  screams  and  programmed  drum  beats  as  well  as  a  good  mixture  of  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  following  track  sees  the  band  adding  in  harsh  noises  and  a  lo-fi  style  of  black  metal  while  also  being  atmospheric  at  the  same  time.

  On  the  second  song  the  riffing  goes  into  a  slower  black  metal  direction  which  fits  the  track  perfectly  and  on  the  last  track  all  heavy  guitars  are  stripped  away  and  the  music  goes  into  a  more  atmospheric  ambient  orientated  dungeon  synth  direction  while  still  utilizing  a  great  amount  of  black  metal  screams.

  Dunnock  shows  off  a  more  experimental  side  this  time  around  adding  more  harsh  noises  and  elements  of   dungeon  synth  into  their  raw  atmospheric  and  depressive  approach  to  black  metal,  the  production  has  a  very  dark  and  raw  sound  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  depressive  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  promo  from  Dunnock  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  raw,  atmospheric  and  depressive  black  metal  with  a  more  experimental  approach,  you  should  check  out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Raining  Season  II".  8  out  of  10.