Darkness/Oltretomba/Horned, Winged And Grim/Fistbang Records/War Productions/2018 Split CD Review

  This  is  a  review  of  a  split  album  between  Italy's  Darkness  and  Oltretomba  called  "Horned,  Winged  And  Grim"  which  was  released  as  a  joint  effort  between  Fistbang  Records  and  War  Productions  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  Darkness  a  band  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  raw  mixture  of  black  and  thrash  metal.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  acoustic  guitars  before  going  into  a  very  fast  and  raw musical  direction  which  also uses  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  angry  and  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  along  with  the  music  being  heavily  rooted  in  the  90's  second  wave  tradition.

  Throughout  their  side  of  the  recording  you  can  also  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  thrash  elements  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  a  couple of  the  tracks  are  recorded  live,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  raw  while  the  lyrics  cover  war,  darkness,  hatred  and  death  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great sounding  recording  from  Darkness  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  raw  black  and  thrash  metal,  you  should  check  out  their  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Endless  Wrath"  and  "Let  The  Napalm  Rain".

  Next  up  is  Oltretomba  another  band  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  raw,  old  school  and  satanic  form  of  black  metal.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  ritualistic  beats  before  going  into  a  very  fast  and  raw  musical  direction  which  also  uses  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  angry  black  metal  screams  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  A  decent  amount  of  melody  can  also  be  heard  in  the  guitar  riffing  while  some  of  the  songs  also  mix  in  elements  of  thrash  along  with  the  solos  and  leads  bringing  in  a  very  raw  and  old  school  style  as  well  as  the  music  sticking  to  either  a  mid  tempo  or  fast  musical  direction  and  they  also  bring  in  a  cover  of  Death  S.S's  "Black  Profanation  Of  Death",  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  raw  while  the  lyrics  cover  Satanism,  Blasphemy  and  Intolerance  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great sounding  recording  from  Oltretomba  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  satanic,  raw  and  old  school  black  metal,  you  should  check  out  their  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Motherfucker  of  Grand  Cross"  and  "Her  Eyes".

  In  conclusion  I  feel  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  and  would  recommend  it  to  all  fans  of  old  school  black  metal.  8  out  of  10.

https://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Darkness/Horned%2C_Winged_and_Grim/691363



    

Darkness Interview

1. Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?
Hails, M is answering!
Well the band now is a lethargic state, after that Mayhem decided to stop playing drums, he decided to stop his musical activity for a while, so I don't know if he will still be part of the band, so actually Darkness is only me.
I'm waiting for new inspiration and I'll dedicate the next efforts to the promotion of "Anti Human Life" through labels, distro's and our contacts, so nothing new in particular...

2. How would you describe the musical sound of the new album and how it differs from previous  releases?
"Anti Human Life" is fucking primitive Black Metal! Probably the Darkness' most brutal assault 'till now!
It differs from the previous releases for his extreme attitude, the previous songs had a "melodic" and classical approach, including some solo's and harmonies; "Anti Human Life" is Fucking Primitive Metal.
You can check what I mean in the cd too as the first part is formed by the new minicd and the second one is the very first demo from 2001. If you listen to it you'll keep immediately what I mean.
The sound is still raw as hell as it's one of the trademarks of the band.
About next releases...I don't know if I will keep this direction, I play what I want and feel at the recording moment, so, time will tell...

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
The usual topics of a Black-Death Metal band: war, destruction, death, suicide, killings and in particular the war against the monotheistic plagues!
The motto of the Darkness lyrics is "Darkness wants you dead"!

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?
Darkness, in his immensity, vaquity and terrible emptiness, but also in the sense of blind violence toward all! The inspiration is a destructive and self destructive energy that I try to express in lyrics and music.
Darkness express all my negativity toward the modern world!
I know that there are other bands with the same name, but I don't care, because Darkness is the perfect name for the music of this band!

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and how would you describe your stage performance?
Darkness never played live, it was born as a studio band since the beginning, because we were very involved in other bands.
The basic line up was me and Mayhem (ex The True Endless), then we had other people too, like Brumy, Soulfucker (from The True Endless) and Psychostef (from Psychofagist), but they've been session members only, there's not a proper line up for live gigs.
I don't know if Darkness will play live one day, but with the right conditions...who knows?

6. Do you have any touring plans for the new release?
As I told you before Darkness is a studio band, so there are no planned tours...

7. The new album came out on Satanic Records, how did you get in contact with this label and how would you describe the support they have given you so far?
I've been contacted by Satanic Records one year ago, he wanted to release one of the bands in which I play, so at this time there was "Anti Human Life" ready, I sent him a promo and he liked it immediately offering the deal!
Later we choose together to add the "Let The Napalm Rain" demo as a bonus.
The cd has been printed in 1000 handnumbered copies, 200 comes with an embroidered patch included and 50 t-shirts have been printed too!
Satanic Records made lot of flyers and is working hard to distribute the cd in the best way.
So, I am very satisfied by his work and I think we will collaborate soon again for another release!

8. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to the new album by black metal fans?
The album has been just released so I wait to check the reaction of fans, distributors, labels and magazines!
Actually the few people who grab this piece of evilness liked it a lot!
Maybe they needed some raw-real sound in this world filled of plastic!

9. What is going on with the other musical projects these days?
As you probably knows I have several projects: Opera IX is preparing a new dvd, new gigs and new songs for the next album, The True Endless is preparing new gigs and new songs and in the meantime the new album will be released by Aphelion Productions within the next month(s). I already finished to record the new Skoll album, I have some new A Forest songs to end up and I will record the new Torvara too, sooner or later!
So there's lot of work done and even more to do, but I will do it!

10. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?
As told some answers before I don't know if Darkness will continue in this brutal way or if it will take back the thrash influences, I just can assure you that it will be always raw and primitive!

11. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
I have been influenced by all the old school bands like (early) Mayhem, Beherit, (early) Bathory, (early) Impaled Nazarene, Sodom, S.D.I., (early) Sepultura, Darkthrone, and many more...
I think that the two covers on the album ("Raise The Dead" from Bathory and "Ghoul" from Mayhem) speak better than any word about influences and listening...
I like to listen at many kind of music (from classical to grind core), but for the most is Black and Death Metal.

12. How would you describe your views on Satanism and Occultism?
They are very important, but I don't follow any path, I have my own one as I'm a proud individualistic and don't want to have chiefs and heads over me.
I take lot of inspiration from Occultism (more than Satanism), but always in the brutal way, the Darkness purpose is the destruction of monotheistic plagues and of the 93% of mankind!

13.Outside of music what are some of your interests?
I am very interested by arts (from drawing and painting to photography and digital stuff, in carving wood,bones and horns and leather work) and ancient mythologies.
All in all I am very normal and common person in my ordinary life...so nothing interesting concerning Darkness.

14. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?
Thanx a lot for your great support review and interview, the Underground needs people like you!
To all the readers, contact me if you are into Black-Death Metal here: huginnproduction@libero.it!
Support the Underground!

Horns!

Darkness/Anti Human Life/Satanic Records/2012 CD Review

  Darkness  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  a  very  raw  and  primitive  form  of  old  school  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2012  album  "Anti  Human  Life"  which  was  released  by  Satanic  Records.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  a  good  amount  of  blast  beats  being  thrown  into  the  music  at  times,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  are  coming  out  of  the  guitars  and  at  times  they  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them,  as  for  the  violins  they  are  only  used  briefly  on  one  song  to  enhance  the  darkness  that  is  coming  out  of  the  music.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  old  school  black  metal  riffs  that  are  very  dark,  raw  and  primitive  sounding  with  a  small  amount  of  thrash  influences,  while  the  lead  guitars  which  are  only  utilized  briefly  are  very  primitive  sounding  black metal  leads.

  Vocals  are  all  grim  sounding  and  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  with  a  brief  use  of  depressive cries  as  well  as  a  brief  use  of  samples  and  deep  growls,  while  the  lyrics  cover  darkness,  anti  human,  anti  religion  and  hateful  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  dark, raw  and  primitive  sound  to it.


  In  my  opinion   Darkness  are  a  very  great  sounding  old  school  raw  and  primitive  black  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Anti  Human  Life"  "Darkness"  "Reflections  Of  a  Mysanthrope"  and  "Monotheistic  Destruction".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

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