Fiends At Feast/Tragic Death/Purgatory Rites/Horror Pain Gore Death Productions/2014 Split CD Review

  This  is  a  review  of  a  split  album  between  California's  Fiends  At  Feast  and  Wisconsin's  Tragic  Death  called  "Purgatory  Rites"  which  was  released  by  Horror  Pain  Gore  Death  Productions  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  Fiends  At  Feast  a  band  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  mixture  of  occult  black  metal  and  death  metal.

  Demonic  sounding  spoken  words  start  off  their  side  of  the  split  before  going  into  a  very  fast  and  raw  black/death  metal  direction  along  with  blast  beats  and  a  mixture  of  evil  sounding  growls  and  screams  and  the  music  also  starts  bringing  in  a  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  some  powerful  sounding  bass  guitars  and  dark  sounding  melodies.

  There  are  a  great  amount  of  guttural  sounding  death/bestial  black  metal  growls  throughout  the  4  songs  they  bring  in  the  album  along  wit h some  raw  and  melodic  sounding  guitar  leads  being  added into  the  music  at  times  and  most  of  their  songs  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  along  with  some  of  the  darkest  elements  of  early  90's  death  metal  being  mixed  in  with  black  metal  along  with  some  elements  of  doom  metal  and   one  of  the  later  tracks  uses  a  small  amount  of  clean  playing  on  an  instrumental  before  returning  back  to  a  heavier  direction  on  the  last  song  on  their  side  of  the  split.

  Fiends  Of  Feast  remain  true  to  their  dark  and  evil  mixture  of  occult  black  metal  and  death  metal  while  also  bringing  in  longer  songs  and  adding  more  doom  metal  elements  into  their  musical  sound  which  makes  their  music  sound  more  evil  on  this  recording,  the production  sounds  very  dark  and  evil  while  the  lyrics  cover  darkness  and  occultism  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Fiends  Of  Feast  and  if  you  are  into  the  most  evil  and  blasphemous  forms  of  black,  death  and  doom  metal,  you  should  check  out  their  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Four  Winds  Of  Destruction"  and  "Into  The  Darkness".

  Next  up  is  Tragic  Death  a  band  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black, death  and  thrash  metal.

  Siren  sounds  start  off  their  side  of  the  split  before  going  into  a  slow,  dark  and  heavy  doom  metal  direction  along  with  some  death  metal  growls  a  few  seconds  later  as  well  as  some  evil  sounding  melodies  and  after  a  few  minutes  clean  and  atmospheric  parts  are  added  into  the  music  along  with  some  powerful  sounding  bass  guitars.

  All of  the  songs  the  band  brings  onto  the  split  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  along  with  a  great  balance  between  brutality  and  atmosphere  and  as  their  music  progresses  more  elements  black,  thrash  and  melodic  death  metal  are  added  into  their  musical  sound  and  the  last  song  displays  a  lot  more  of  the  bands  black  metal  sound  as  well  as  having  some  psychedelic  elements   being  utilized  in  the  background. .

  Tragic  Death  creates  an  interesting  sound  with  their  music  that  takes  from  occult  black  metal,  doom,  melodic  death  and  thrash  metal  which  they  label  as  'apocalyptic  metal'  and  they  have  a  very  original  style  to  them,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark,  occult,  and  desolate  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Taragic  Death  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  occult  black,  melodic  death,  doom  and  thrash metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band  and  there  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "The  Dissolution  Of  The  Clay  People.

  In  conclusion  i  feel  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  black,  doom  and  death  metal,  you  should  add  this  album  to  your  collection.  8/5 out  of  10.

http://hpgd.bandcamp.com/album/purgatory-rites-split-cd


  

Fiends At Feast Interview

All questions answer by Guitarist David Uttal-Veroff of Fiends at Feast

     1. Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?

1. Currently, we are writing new material for a follow up album to “Towards the Baphomet’s Throne.”  Nothing is set in stone yet but the plan is to record an EP featuring new songs that were written over the course of time it took us to release the LP.  Afterwards we will begin recording our sophomore full-length album.  The body of the album will be built on fresh song writing to ensure both consistency and innovation.  So far the material we’ve come up with is more aggressive and evil sounding then the stuff we’ve written in the past so I am excited to see how it turns out as a whole.  We recently started working with Claw Hammer PR to gain further promotion and exposure for the band, and so far things are going really well.  

2. How would you describe the musical sound of the new album and how it differs           

from the previous ep?

2.The music on “Towards the Baphomet’s Throne” showcases a more pronounced black metal influence and a greater emphasis on atmosphere.  It still retains the idea of fusing black and death metal together but it does it in a more consistent and fluid manner then the EP.   The tone of the music is dark and sinister with a helpful dose of melody to carry the music above the usual grit and grim.   There is far less pure riffing on the album and more tremolo- picked chord and melody lines to bring out more feel and atmosphere.   The main difference between the full length and EP is we honed our songwriting approach so that each song relates to each other instead of the scattered array of influences that the EP encompassed.

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the new release explores?

3.The lyrics on “Towards the Baphomet’s Throne” explore a wide array of satanic and apocalyptic themes.  For example, “After the Gates of Hell” proposes an individual’s vision of a time when demonic forces have taken over the world, oppressing humanity and crushing their faith in religion.  The song “Hedonistic Hersey” portrays various satanic cults and groups through out medieval and more contemporary history that practiced black magic rituals and sexual rites.  There is also the inclusion of more traditional satanic themes as in the case of “Walls of Worship” that explores the horrors and lies of the Christian church.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?

4.The name Fiends at Feast was the title of one of the first songs we ever wrote as a band.  The name refers to a scene in the lyrics where a man who has journeyed into a hellish underworld encounters a group of demons feasting on human flesh.

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and how would you describe your stage performance?

5.The most memorable show we’ve played was when we shared the stage with Goatwhore.  It was in Santa Cruz,CA which is where we are based out of so there was local support  from our fans and  many people showed up that had never seen us before.  We played with proficiency and passion that night and everyone was banging their heads vigorous throughout our set.   The ‘Towards the Baphomet’s Throne” CD release show with A Band of Orcs was particularly memorable with us co-heading the show and playing to more people then I think Fiends has ever had the privilege of performing to.

6. Do you have any touring plans for the future?

6.We are trying to organize a west coast tour for the summer of 2013 so for anyone that lives on this side of the U.S stay tuned for possible dates.

7. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your new album by fans of black and death metal?

7.The feedback has been overall good on an international level.  Many people have shown interest in our music in countries such as Brazil, France, Russia, Singapore, and Canada.  We contributed a track to a compilation that was organized by a guy out of Scotland, which was a very cool opportunity for us.   I think many fans enjoy the no-frills solid approach we take to Blackened Death Metal and are interested to see how we progress further as a band.  Others are not so impressed and enthusiastic and have criticized us for our lack of originality or black metal authenticity.  Ether way I’m happy people outside of the U.S are listening to our music since I have a lot of respect and admiration for the international metal community.

8. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?

8.I see us going in a much more aggressive and extreme direction.  One thing I think we’ve lack musically in the past is raw ferocity and I would be interested to see if would could maintain the same level of melody and atmosphere with a more violent and visceral approach.   We will always continue to progress as musicians so I think you can expect raised level of technicality and musical experimentation in our future releases.

9. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

9.Bands like Deathspell Omega, Portal, and Impetuous Ritual have influenced some of the stranger and more disturbing sounds we have begun to incorporate into our new music.   On the flipside, bands like Negura Bunget have also influenced us to continue writing music that is melodic and musically diverse.  We have also been able to re-connect with some of our older influences such as Morbid Angel and Immolation to sustain the death metal side of our sound.  Some bands I’ve personally been listening to a lot recently are Deathspell Omega, Morbid Angel, Evoken, Vollahn, Immortal, Dark Fortress, and Ruins.

10. How would you describe your views on Satanism and Occultism?

10.Our singer Loki gave his personal sentiments on Satanism and said “it is a choice to accept true freedom and enjoy all the carnal pleasures without hypocritical deceit”.  I think everyone in the band can stand behind that philosophy whether or not we consider ourselves to be Satanist in the truest form of the word.  

11.Outside of music what are some of your interests?

11.Along with music, I’ve always been deeply interested in film and literature and I think this holds true for the others in the band as well. Guitarist Sammer has been writing movie scripts for the last few years and also has an interest in opening a small business. Drummer Trevor is passionate about English studies and Bassist Nathan is a classical music major at the University of California Santa Cruz.  

12. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?

12.I would like to thank you for giving us an opportunity to do this interview.  Much respect and gratitude to Mike Juliano of Horror Pain Gore Death Productions for distributing and releasing Fiends at Feast’s albums.  I want to thank Scott and Ryan of Clawhammer for their great PR work and for all their help and support.  To all our fans thank you and be on the watch for news in the Fiends camp.  2013 should be a very busy year for us and we’ve got some exciting stuff in the works.

For Contact/Booking: fiendofthefeast@gmail.com
http://fiendsatfeast.bandcamp.com/
http://www.facebook.com/FiendsAtFeast
http://fiendsatfeast.com/
http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Fiends_at_Feast/3540325915

  

  

Fiends At Feast/Towards The Baphomet's Throne/Horror Pain Gore Death Productions/2012 CD Review

  Fiends  At  Feast  are  a  band  that  mixes  raw  and  primitive  sounding  black  metal  with  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2012  album  "Towards  The  Baphomet's  Throne"  which  was  released  by  Horror  Pain  Gore  Death  Productions.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  some  blast  beats  being  utilized  at  times,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  are  following  the  riffing  that  are  coming  out  of  the  guitars  and  at  times  they  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  riffs  that  combine  raw  and  primitive  sounding  black  metal  as  well  as  having  some  dark  sounding  melodies  being  thrown  into t he  riffing,  while  the lead  guitars  are  very  dark  sounding  black/death  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads  that  utilize  some  melody  at  times,  as  for  the  classical  guitars  which  are  only  used  briefly  they  use  finger  picking  and  full  chords  to  add  another  dimension  of  darkness  to  the  music.

  Vocals  range  from  grim  sounding  and  high  pitched black  metal  screams  to  some  deep  death  metal growls  as  well  as  a  brief  spoken  word  part,  while  the  lyrics  cover  Satanism,  Occultism  and  Anti  Religion  themes,  as  for t he  production it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  and  heavy  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments that  are  present  on  this  recording  with  some  of  the  songs  being  long  and  epic  in  length.

  In  my  opinion  Fiends  At  Feast  are  a  very  great  sounding  hybrid  of  raw  and  primitive  black  metal  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "After  The  Gates  of  Hell"  "I  Am  Death"  "From  Hell  They  Rise"  and  "Cold  Grey  Sky".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

http://fiendsatfeast.bandcamp.com/
http://www.facebook.com/FiendsAtFeast