Showing posts with label The Somberlain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Somberlain. Show all posts

Sunday, February 16, 2014

The Somberlain Interview


1. Can you tell us a little bit about the band for those that have never heard of you before?
Hello, here’s Necrogrim talking. THE SOMBERLAIN is a black metal band with black metal attitude. So don’t expect a bored extreme metal band. We’re from the cold and rainy Galicia, northwest region from Spain. At the moment we’ve released a LP called ANCIENT SATANIC CULT and a split EP with HELDE. This last release will have a CD edition through COLD RAWRECORDS from UK.

2. How would you describe your musical sound?
It could be described as old school black metal. We play what we feel, without intentions of sounding similar to other bands. We make old punk music but faster and darker. Anyway,that’s simply what black metal is: dark fast punk!!

3. The lyrical topics cover a lot of Satanism and Occult themes; can you tell us a little bit more about your views on these topics?
Occultism is part of our lives. In our Galician culture we’re surrounded of a thousand myths and legends regarding occultism. Witchery is part of our lives, so it’s very easy to make lyrics about it. We’ve grown up with it. Religions have a bunch of weird ideas, but they fear Satan. Not as demon, but the antithesis to
their ideas. So that’s why we’re into Satanism, we’re that antithesis. Our purest hate goes to religions and this stupid human race that feed them.

4. According to the Metal Archives and Facebook pages the band started in 1997 but waited tell 2010 to release the first recording, what was the cause of the long delay?
I’ve started the band in 1997; I think it was my first extreme metal band. After some months rehearsing the other members left the band and it remained as a personal project. I’ve been into other projects all these years but always waiting for the right members for the band. It was as easy as talking with Arkham and Éride to make reborn the band. We change the band name, I took back my old compositions and we recorded ANCIENT SATANIC CULT.

5. When can we expect another release and what musical direction well it be in?
We’ve already got some songs recorded and waiting to be released. It’s similar to our music in ANCIENT SATANIC CULT or the split with HELDE. But at the same time it sounds more old school than the previous material. From my point of view, the new songs are much better: pure fucking black metal.  So we’re looking for a proposal to release these songs. A split with other band would be great for us.

6. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and how would you describe your stage performance?
All shows are different. I enjoyed the last one we did in Madrid at Black Congregation Fest. It was a black metal show for black metal fans. Our performance is full of mysticism; you can feel it in the atmosphere…

7. Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
We’re always thinking about touring, we did it several times in the past. But it’s hard for us because of our jobs and other projects we’re in. Arkham is busy with his other bands NASHGUL and HONGO and I’m busy with WARPIG AGENCY, an agency of booking and promotion. THE SOMBERLAIN will make some shows, festivals, etc... And of course we will make a tour in the future if we can find the time for it!

8. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of black metal?
We are sharing pure music with the black metal community and the feedback is being great. Curiously it’s not only from the black metal fans but the punk crust people. They enjoy our music because it’s straight and with attitude.

9. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?
As everyone knows it’s just the name of a DISSECTION’s album. But also it’s the dark path we want to ride. Our deepest respect to DISSECTION music and legacy.

10. Are there any other musical projects going on these days?
Arkham is playing drums in the grindcore band NASHGUL and doom crust band HONGO.

11. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
 I think our music is influenced by a lot of styles, but we make black metal because it’s what we feel. I love a good bunch of styles but when I start composing a riff, it’s fucking black metal. I love from hard rock to electro dark. Right now while I’m replying the interview I’m listening to AGONOIZE, so you can imagine we’re open minded regarding music.

12. Outside of music what are some of your interests?
I can speak by myself. I love reading, horror movies, bikes, sex and beer. So the fine art of being a bastard!

13. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview
Thank you very much for the interview. Occult Black Metal Zine is keeping the black flame alive.  All our support goes to your zine.

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Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Helde/The Somberlain/ La Humanidad es La Plag/2014 Split EP Review


  This  is  a  review  of  a  split  ep  between  Spain's  Helde  And  The  Somberlain  which  was  released  by  La  Humanidad es  La  Plag  in  2014  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  Helde  which  plays  a  very  cold  and  raw  form  of  old  school  black  metal.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  off  with  a  mid  paced  old  school  black  metal  sound  along  with  high  pitched  screams  and  then  the music  starts  to  speed  up  along  with  blast  beats  as  well  as  bringing  in  a  mixture  of  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  they  bring  this  out  as  well  in  their  second  song  which  goes  for  an  even  more  heavy  and  brutal  sound.

  Song  lyrics  are  written  in  Spanish  and  cover  dark  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  raw  and  old  school  90s  style  black  metal  sound  to  it

  In  my  opinion  Helde  are  a  very  great  sounding cold  and  raw  old  school  style  black  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  their  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Azken  Hatsa".

  Next  up  is  The  Somberlain  a  band  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  melodic,  old  school  and  blasphemous  form  of  black  metal.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  off  with  a  dark  and  melodic  sound  before  going  into  a  more  fast  and  raw  direction  along  with  grim  vocals  and  blast  beats  and  on  the  following  song  they  start  off  with  a  more  slower  direction  before  going  back  to  their  fast  and  aggressive  sound  while  also  mixing  in  the  slow  parts  in  certain  sections  of  the  song.

  Song  lyrics  cover  darkness  and  Armageddon  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  dark,  raw  and  heavy  sound  to  it.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  The  Somberlain  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  raw,  blasphemous  and  black  metal,  you  should  check  out  the  2  songs  which  they  bring  to  the  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Black  From  the  Tomb".  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Black  From  The  Tomb".

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

THE SOMBERLAIN: http://thesomberlain.bandcamp.com   



           

Friday, April 12, 2013

The Somberlain/Ancient Satanic Cult/2010 EP Review


  The  Somberlain  are  a  band  from  Spain  that  plays  a  very  raw  and  primitive  form  of  satanic  black metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2010  ep  "Ancient  Satanic  Cult".

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  a  great  amount  of  brutal  sounding  blast  beats  being  thrown  into  the  music,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  are  coming  out  of  the  guitars,  as  for  the  sound  effects  they  are  only  used  at  the  end  of  the  last  song  and  they  bring  a  very  dark  and  evil  sound  to the  recording.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  black  metal  riffs  that  are  very  old  school,  heavy,  dark,  raw  and  primitive  sounding  along  with  some  melody  being  thrown  into  the  riffing  at  times,  while  the  lead  guitars  which  are  only  used  briefly  are  raw  and  primitive  sounding  black  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads,  as  for  the  acoustic  guitars  they  are  only  used  briefly  on  the  last  track  and  they  use  full  chords  to  bring  a  calmer  form  of  chaos  to  the  recording.

  Vocals a re  all  high  pitched  hateful  black  metal  screams,  while  the lyrics  cover  Satanism  and  Black  Witchcraft,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  dark,  heavy,  raw  and  primitive  sound  to  it  in  the  old  school  black  metal  tradition.

  In  my  opinion  The  Somberlain  are  a  very  great  sounding  heavy,  old  school,  raw  and  primitive  satanic  black  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "True  Satanic  Black  Metal"  and  "Black  Witchery".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

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