Funeral Baptism/The Venom Of God/Loud Rage Music/2017 CD Review

  Funeral  Baptism  are  a  band  with  members  from  both  Romania  and  Argentina  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  very  raw,  technical  and  hateful  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "The  Venom  Of  God"  which  was  released  by  Loud  Rage  Music.

  Atmospheric  soundscapes  start  off the  album  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  a  very  fast  and  raw  musical  direction  which  also  uses  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sounding  very  powerful  while  the  vocals  are  mostly hateful  black  metal screams.

  At  times  the  music  gets  very  technical  while  deep  growls  are  also  used  at  times  and  when  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  chaotic  style  as  well  as  having  their  melodic  moments  while  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  clean  guitars  can  also  be  heard  briefly  on  a  couple  of  the  tracks  and  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody  and  as  the  album  progresses  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts  can  also  be  heard  and  the  album  closes  with  an  acoustic  instrumental.

  On  this  recording  Funeral  Baptism  plays  a  style  of  black  metal  that  is  very  raw,  technical  and  hateful  sounding,  the  production  sounds  very  powerful  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  hateful themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Funeral  Baptism  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  raw,  technical  and  hateful  black  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Seething  Spirit"  and  "Return  To  The  Void".  8  out  of  10.

 https://loudragemusic.bandcamp.com/album/funeral-baptism-the-venom-of-god
Band / album video Q&A: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8UhTr0hvco

Witchcraft Sadomizer/Mouth Fucking Holy Black Holes/Caligari Records/2017 EP Review

  Witchcraft  Sadomizer  are  a  solo  project  from  Israel  that  plays  a  bestial  mixture  of  black  and  war  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2017 ep  "Fucking  Black  Holes"  which  was  released  by  Caligari  Records.

  Dark  soundscapes  start  off  the  ep  before  going  into  a  heavier  musical  direction  which  also  introduces  bestial  death  meta  growls  onto  the  recording  while  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs bring  in  blast  beats  and  elements  of  war  metal  along  with  some  raw  black  metal  tremolo  picking  as  well  as  the  music  being  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  90's.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them   along  with  the  riffs  also  bringing  in  a  small  amount  of  dark  sounding  melodies  and  all  of  the  music  sticks  to  very  heavy  direction  and  guitar  leads  can  also  be  heard  briefly.

  Witchcraft  Sadomizer  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  a  very  bestial  form  of  black/death  metal  and  mixes  it  with  war  metal  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  raw  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  violent  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Witchcraft  Sadomizer  are  a  very  great  sounding  bestial  mixture  of  black  and  war  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  solo  project.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Schizophrenic  Roots"  and  "Tied  Burnt  Devoured".  8  out  of  10.

https://caligarirecords.bandcamp.com/album/mouth-fucking-holy-black-holes

  

Domestikwom Interview

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

The project started in 2016 as a creative outlet in response to having had my second child and essentially being stuck at home every day.  I hadn't played guitar in some time so I dug it out, started playing again, and taught myself how to program drums. My first EP Pater Vita came out last August, and a couple months later in October 2016 I put out a split EP with Necrolytic Goat Converter.

2.How would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recordings?

Musically, the two main reference points on the album are black and doom metal, however to fit with the story I wanted to tell, I incorporated elements of folk, noise and post-black metal in some sections as well.

3.The lyrics on the new album have a concept story to them, can you tell us a little bit more about the songwriting?

The concept of the album is the historical account of my great grandparents' escape from post-Civil War Russia in the 1920s and the challenges they faced upon moving to Canada. I broke down the story into sections, and then spent time figuring out how I wanted each of those sections to be represented musically. In that sense, the concept drove the songwriting.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Domestikwom'?

The name Domestikwom is essentially a pun based off of my last name Petkau, with "kwom" being an old English word for "cow".

5.Currently the project is mostly solo are you open to working with a full band or doing live shows?

While I would relish the opportunity to play with other musicians in a live setting, the fact that I started this because I was stuck in my basement looking after kids essentially prevents me from trying to put together a full band at this time.

6.On the new album you had a great amount of session musicians, can you tell us a little bit more about who they are and also their contributions to the recordings?

Initially I had only planned on having Erik Highter from Monophonic Shooting Spree collaborate on a noise track that would split the album into its two halves. Eventually though, as time went on, I decided to try and get as many of my talented musician friends and family to contribute as it made sense. My best friend Adam Ayer is a talented singer/songwriter and so he sang and played acoustic on the first track. Chris Voss from Necrolytic Goat Converter laid down a sweet black metal guitar solo on the third track. Jeremy Hunt from the noise rock band Qoheleth played some noisy leads on track four. Josh Thieler from Slaves BC did the vocals on the chorus of track seven. And on the last track, there were two additional musicians. My mom Carol Petkau actually sang the vocals for that song, and Andy Helgeton from the instrumental prog band The Wolf and The Epitaph closed out the album with the album's second guitar solo. I have been surrounded by such talented musicians my whole life and am grateful to have their voices shape what this album is.

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

I suppose that I wouldn't turn away any interest if it came up, but at this time I'll probably continue self-releasing until it doesn't make sense.

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

I'd say that with this project still getting started, the feedback has been appropriately small but enthusiastic so far. I'm hoping I can start building an audience with this album.

9.Where do you see yourself heading into as a musician in the future?

I'm still coming down from the highs of finishing A Peace That Destroys but lately I've been thinking more about noise and electronic integration in the extreme metal framework, stuff like Violet Cold or Full of Hell. I think when I start writing again, that's what I'd like to experiment with.

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?

For this album I was inspired by Canadian band Thrawsunblat, whose integration of maritime folk into their black metal and focus on nature allowed me to picture how I could translate the life story of a farmer into music that I would want to make. My narrative inspiration primarily came from the Twilight Fauna album Fire of the Spirit, which attempted to tell the story of a specific group of religious people as honestly and generously as possible, even when the artist disagrees with the subjects' beliefs. There was definitely an opportunity to try and make my families' story more sensational, but it would not have been honest.

As for what I'm listening to recently, it's been mostly bands like Panopticon, Dawn Ray'd, Couch Slut, and a band from here in Calgary called Mind Mold.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

I've also done some freelance video production here and there, and am in the middle of a life-long quest to watch as many non-English movies as I can get my hands on. I have only 3 Kurosawa movies left to go before I move on to Tarkovsky.

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

Thanks for reaching out. I appreciate it. I hope people will check out the album when it comes out on December 1 on Bandcamp.

Bandcamp

Calques Interview

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

Sure. We are a raw punk black metal band from Montgomery, Alabama. We are a two piece. And we make music that sounds like garbage because we don't know what we are doing. But there are enough people that know how to play this kind of stuff correctly and i'm tired of listening to alot of it. We wanted to make something rougher and more amateurish because that is what i've been attracted to more lately. My name is Austin and i'll answer the questions and give the other dude in the band, Adam, a break.

2.How would you describe the musical sound  that is presented on the ep?

 We are trying to play black metal but can't get past our raw punk and industrial roots. No tough guy posturing or any of that crap. Just riffs and urban noisescapes between songs. No atmospheric melodic echo parts or anything to try to make you zone out. No epic note progressions to attempts at making tension swell up. I like some of that stuff in other bands but it's pretty cringe worthy when you fail at it. We probably couldn't trick you with it even if we wanted to. I hope you listen to the album and just hear the everyday grind of waking up and dealing with the bullshit of existing in a city. 

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

A character that is complaining against the set goodness of the rules of nature or the outdoors.Basically, I've not gotten to travel or get into the outdoors much since I've had a kid last year. I live downtown and I work with people that mainly work trying to help the urban poor. I think about the city way too much and I have gotten used to people being around. It makes me feel safe where as I usually wasn't. I live in a kinda small house and I'm just always around people. So I was trying to explore why I am not really bothered by being in groups of people, where as some of my friend may have social anxiety caused by large groups of people.

I thought it would be interesting to explore that in the lyrics and then blow it out of proportion. The turning it against nature thing is because I'm basically tired of so many metal and weird albums trying to condense nature into their albums. It's a cliché now. And so few of those albums actually manage to convey the immense grandeur of the sweeping mountain scape on their covers. I dig the music but very rarely do I visualize nature or outdoors on a lot of that music.

I thought I could somewhat approximate a sense of an urban claustrophobic cityscape or something like that with the lyrics and the artwork and maybe you could hear that in the music. Then I thought I would write it with sorta arrogant lyrics. Not totally transgressive like the characters in early Swans lyrics, but sorta damaged and with a flawed logic and a false certainty.

It was only my second attempt at writing lyrics for anything. They probably aren't any good and come off as amateurish. But I'd like to think that maybe they are at least a bit different than the standard black metal lyrics and I hope that it kinda comes off as a cohesive theme with the music and artwork.


4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Calques'?

There is no deep meaning. The definition is "an expression adopted by one language from another in a more or less literally translated form."   I liked the name. I feel like our music is not a literal translation from another language. It's probably intended to be but we didn't do a good job at it. Failed Calques would probably suit us better.


5.Currently there are only 2 members in the band, are you open to expanding the line up or do you prefer to remain a duo?

I'm hoping a few other folks that we are friends with hear the project and want to work with us at some point. But we aren't very charismatic folks and Montgomery doesn't have a ton of musicians that would want to play this kind of stuff. Metal musicians around the deep south tend to love groove and boogie rock riffs. Maybe because of that New Orleans sludge sound and Mastodon being from Atlanta nearby. I have no clue. But we don't really tend to write "fun" music. We also aren't the most outgoing people so I doubt anyone really wants to jam with us.


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

There is talk. We are thinking about trying out a few things and seeing who will work with us on some stuff. I would love to be that terrible opening band that everyone walks out on to go smoke outside and talk to their friends.


7.The ep is going to be released by 'Sentient Ruin Laboratories', are you happy with the support that they have given you so far?

Of course. That Mattia dude took a chance on us and seems to be very organized. He does a good job on PR.  But he seems to really have an enthusiasm for music which is more than some labels his size have. Some labels just find shit to package and sell to folks. I think he heard the EP and wanted to release it regardless of us having a fan base. That means alot to us. I think I only sent the unmastered demos to him and maybe one other label. But I really didn't expect him to be interested. I'm a big fan of what he releases. He does a good job curating his label with some dark heavy stuff that seems a bit weird. Buy a tape from the label. Help him recoup the money he spent on pressing this EP. I also love the label because he had a ton of patience with waiting on us to get the album mastered and get the artwork done. But besides us being happy with the label putting out our release, just check out that roster. A ton of solid releases with good packaging and a good constantly updated web presence so you know what is going on with the releases.


8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by black metal and other forms of underground music?

There have been some articles on some blogs I respect and read everyday. So that's pretty great. But otherwise, this is the first interview. So congrats. You're getting in on the ground level of telling people how uninteresting we are as people.


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

The first full album is totally structured out and most of the guitars and drums and noise parts are recorded. Some of the vocals are done. I'm really hyped about the upcoming album. We have very long harsh noise parts and clanging reverbed junk that i'm smashing together and recording. I'm expanding on some of the techniques I use in a harsh noise project i'm in called Hadals. I have audio cut ups i've run into an old sampler I have. There are some early Einsturzende Neubauten and Swans type parts. Plus there are still gonna be similar riffs to the first album with a few weirder ones thrown in. I plan on it still having a good momentum but it's gonna be covered in harsh live industrial sounds. It's really shaping up. I'm really excited about how it's gonna turn out.



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?

I've been listening to alot of Sentient Ruin releases lately. I really like that american album he put out. I've started a band called Clawing with my buddies, Matt Finney and Jeff Mcleod, so i've been listening to some of their past releases lately. Otherwise, I follow some of the main blogs for the kind of music we play and stream alot of that stuff. I also own a bunch of vinyl, cds, and tapes so i'm usually putting in something different every day.


11.What are some of your non musical interests?

Probably the same stuff as most other people around. Nothing too interesting.



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


Thanks for digging the band.

https://www.facebook.com/CalquesBand/?ref=page_internal

Batrakos Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the musical project?
1 - Batrakos is a black metal/noise project hailing from Italy and formed at the end of 2015. We are quite active, we have already eight releases under our belt and recently our lineup has been solidified thanks to the addition of Stilgar (we were a duo before). We are constantly experimenting and trying to put ourselves between the traditions of black metal and the avantgarde qualities of noise and industrial music.

2.How would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recordings?
2 - We played a lot of styles so far: we have done works that are 100% black metal, others that are full on noise and others that are a balance of the two. Our last work, the split with Aisna, reflects all of our styles since the first is an industrial/noise influenced black metal, while the second is noise/ambient.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
3 - We owe a lot to contemporary art, Futurism and the Dada movement for their strong conceptual meaning. We also often focused on the philosophical concept of ugliness and the bizarre. These themes can be found mainly on our first three demos, that have been put together in a compilation issued by the English label Order of Theta last year.

4.I know that the bands name means 'frog' in Greek, how does this name fit in with the musical style you play?
4 - "Batrakos" means "frog" in Greek indeed, but our monicker is actually a reference to "Oi Batrakoi" ("The frogs", "Batrakos" in singular), a work by the Greek comedy writer Aristophanes. We chose that name because our band is like a Greek comedy: there are many ironic elements in our music, but there's also exploration, experimentation and inspiration for thinking. We owe a lot to Aritophanes, so we decided to pay homage to him this way.

5.In the last couple of years you have released a great amount of music, do you spend a great amount of time writing and creating music?
5 - That's true, we released a lot of music, especially during last year. This year we slowed down a bit, our latest releases have been recorded in 2016, but we have recently finished writing our first full length album, which we'd like to begin recording soon. There will be a couple of releases before that though, like a split with Vashna in 2018.

6.Has the band done any live shows or is this strictly a studio project?
6 - We are currently a studio project, but in the future it would be great playing some live gigs!

7.Recently you where a part of a split with 'Aisna', what are your thoughts on the other band that had participated on the recording?
7 - Aisna is a really promising and interesting one man band, it has a great melodic taste for the riffing, reminding some bands from the Greek scene like Uranus and Agatus. We wanted to do a split featuring themes dealing with the past and the present, the Aisna guy is a friend of ours so we thought the split would be a good solution to promote both bands. Follow his project, because it's really interesting.

8.The split was released on 'Xenoglossy Productions', can you tell us a little bit more about this label?
8 - Of course. Xenoglossy Productions is more of a collective than an actual label, and it's run by the same Batrakos members and a couple of other guys. We focus on experimental black metal and noise, thus far we have released projects all featuring our members, but we want to expand towards other experimental genres and feature international bands in the near future. We have many good surprises in store but I can't say anything more right now, just: follow us!
https://www.facebook.com/XenoglossyProductions/
https://xenoglossyproductions.bandcamp.com/

9.On a worldwide elvel how has the feedback been to your music by fans of black metal and noise?
9 - We are quite satisfied because we have received praise from important underground metal labels and websites. Indeed the split has been premiered by two well known extreme metal websites, and for a very underground project like ours, with music completely recorded at home, is a great accomplishment. We don't want to stop here though, so we hope to get noticed furtherly when our first full length will be out, we are really looking forward to it.

10.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are a part of?
10 - All of us are busy with other projects, we dedicate a lot of our time because it's our main passion. Things are going great and soon there will be news for two projects in particular: Veia and Thecodontion. Soon our label Xenoglossy Productions will release the second demo from Framheim and a new work from Deathvoid, a Swiss project in which Stilgar is also involved.

11.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
11 - We don't know! We let ourselves be guided by our inspiration so it's hard to make predictions. As I said before, the full length will be a crucial point for us and perhaps with it we will be able to understand how far we can get with this project. We worked a lot on the songwriting and there are many innovative solutions musically, but we don't want to disclose anything. We hope we will be able to give value to our sound properly.

12.What are some of the bands or musicla styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
12 - We have many influences, it's not easy to sum up all of them. A large influence for our music is Australian black/death metal like Portal and Impetuous ritual, also industrial, power electronics and noise rock bands like Sonic Youth.

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
13 - Thank you for the interview, we invite you and your readers to follow us on our social pages. UGLY MUSIC FOR UGLY PEOPLE!
https://batrakos.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/batrakos.uglymusic/

Valdur/Divine Cessation/Bloody Mountain Records/2017 CD Review

  Mammoth  Lakes's  Valdur  have  returned  with  a  new  recording  which  continues  their  raw  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Divine  Cessation"  which  will  be  released  in  December  by  Bloody  Mountain  Records.

  Battle  horns  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  very  fast  and  raw  musical  direction  which  also  utilizes  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  bestial  death  metal  growls  along  with  the  songs  also  mixing  in  elements  of  war  metal  as  well  as  a  small  amount  of  dark  sounding  melodies.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  spoken  word  parts  can  also  be  heard  briefly  along  with  a  brief  use  of keyboards  for a  few  seconds  and  elements  of  doom/death  metal  can  also  be  heard  in  some  of  the  slower  riffing  as  well  as  the  solos  and  leads  being  done  in  a  very  dark  yet  melodic  fashion  and  some  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  one  of  the  songs  also  brings  in  a  small  amount  of  grim  black  metal  screams.

  Valdur  creates  another  recording  that  remains  true  to  the  raw  mixture  of  black  metal  from  previous  releases,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  raw  while  the  lyrics  cover  darkness  and  occult  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Valdur  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  bestial  black  and  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Divine  Cessation"  "Plague  Born  Of  A  Dying  Star"  and  "Potent  Black  Orb".  8  out  of  10.

https://valdur.bandcamp.com/album/divine-cessation-teaser-track

https://bloodymountainrecords.bandcamp.com/album/divine-cessation-teaser-track

  

Harmdaud/Blinda Dodens Barn/2017 Full Length Review

  Harmdaud  are  a  solo  project  from  Sweden  that  plays  an  atmospheric  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  self  released  2017  album  "Blinda  Dodens  Barn".

  Melodic  riffing  and  blast  beats  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  grim  black  metal  screams  a  few  seconds  alter  while  the  solos  and  leads  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  melody  as  well  as  the  songs  also  bringing  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  death  metal  growls  are  also  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording.

   All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  the  synths  also  gives  the  songs  more  of  an  atmospheric  feeling  along  with  the  tremolo  picking  adding  in  more  of  a  raw  black  metal  style  during  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  and  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  playing.

  Harmdaud  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  an  atmospheric  form  of  black  metal  and  mixes  it  with  dark  and  melodic  death  metal  to  create  a sound  of  his  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Swedish  and  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Harmdaud  are a  very  great  sounding  atmospheric  and  melodic  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this solo  project.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Vagens  Slut"  "Andetag"  and  "Memento  Mori".  8  out  of  10. 

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Gort/A Mort Ad Mortem/Lupus Niger Prod. And Distro/2017 EP Review

  Gort  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  very  raw  and  misanthropic  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  ep  "A  Morte  Ad  Mortem"  which  will  be  released  in  November  by  Lupus  Niger  Prod.  And  Distro.

  Ritualistic  soundscapes  start  off  the  ep  before  going  into  a  very  fast  and  raw  musical  direction  which  also  utilizes  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats  which  also  gives  the  songs  more  of  a  raw  feeling  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  and  the  music  also  has a  lot of  90's  influences.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  along  with  the  riffs  also  adding  in  a  small  amount  of  depressive  melodies  and  death  metal  growls  can  also  be  heard  briefly,  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  clean  playing  can  also  be  heard  in  the  background  briefly.

  Gort  creates  another  recording  that  remains  very  true  to  the  raw  and  misanthropic  style  of  black  metal from  previous releases,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  raw  while  the  lyrics  cover  hate,  war,  destruction  and  misanthropy  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Gort  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  raw  and  misanthropic  black  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Black  Glorification"  and  "The  Last  Flight  Of  The  Crow".  8  out  of  10.

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Forgotten Tomb/We Owe You Nohing/Agonia Records/2017 CD Review

  Italy's  Forgotten  Tomb  have  returned  with  a  new  recording  which  shows  the  music  going  into  a  mixture  of  black,  sludge  and  doom  metal  along  with  some  elements  of  punk  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "We  Owe  You  Nothing"  which  was  released  by  Agonia  Records.

  Heavy  riffing  along  with  some  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  start  off  the  album  while  the  solos  and  leads  also  add  in  a  touch  of  black'n'roll  along  with  some  death  metal  growls  also  being  used  briefly  as  well  as  the  slow  riffs  also  mixing  in  elements  of  sludge  and  doom  metal.

  A  decent  amount  of  melody  can  also  be  heard  in  the  guitar  riffing  while  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  along  with  the  guitar  leads  also  having  their melodic  moments  as  well  as  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sounding  very  powerful  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard.

  Some  tracks  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  guitars  and  as  the  album  progresses  elements  of  punk  can  also  be  heard  at  times while  most  of  the  music  sticks  to  either  a  slow  or  mid  tempo  direction  along  with  one  track  also  bringing  in  a  brief  use  of  slide  guitars  and  they  close  the  album  with  an  instrumental.

  On  this  recording  Forgotten  Tomb  moves  very  far  away  from  depressive  black  metal  and  foes  for  more  of  a  mixture  of  black,  sludge  and  doom  metal,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  negativity,  solitude  and  nihilism  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Forgotten  Tomb  and  while  some  long  time  fans  might  be  disappointed ,  I  can  see  this  album  appealing  more  to  open  minded  fans  of  black,  doom  and  sludge  metal.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Second  Chances"  and  "Longing  For  Decay".  8  out  of  10.

https://youtu.be/8mwk_ZY6zKo

Invertia/The Crimson Screen Vol. 1/2017 EP Review

  Invertia  are  a  duo  from  Massachusetts  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  continues  their  mixture  of  black,  death  and  industrial  metal  on  this  recording  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2017  ep  "The  Crimson  Screen Vol.  1"  which  will  be  released  on  Halloween.

  Industrial  sound  along  with  some  heavy  riffs  start  off  the  ep  while  the  vocals  bring  in  a  mixture  of  death  metal  growls  and  black  metal  screams  while  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats  which  also  gives  the  songs  a  more  raw  feeling.

  A  decent  amount  of  melody  can  be  heard  in  the  guitar  riffing  while  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts  and  when  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  give  the  songs  more  of  a  technical  touch  and  elements  of  noise  can  also  be heard  briefly.

  Invertia  creates  another  recording  that  remains  true  to  their  mixture  of  black,  death  and  industrial  metal,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  classic  horror  movie  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Invertia  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  black, death  and  industrial  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Cast  No  Shadow"  and  "Created  From  Cadavers".  8  out  of  10.   

invertia.bandcamp.com    

Evilfeast/Elegies Of The Stellar Wind/Eisenwald/2017 CD Review

  Evilfeast  are  a  solo  project  from  Poland  that  plays  a  very  atmospheric  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2017  album  "Elegies  Of  The  Stellar  Wind"  which  will  be  released  in  December  by  Eisenwald.

  Nature  orientated  soundscapes  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  atmospheric  and  epic  sounding  synths  a  few  seconds  later  which  also  bring  in  elements  of  ambient  and  they  also  mix  in  with  the  heavier  sections  of  the  music  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  grim  black  metal  screams  along  with  the  music  also  being  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  90's.

  When  the  music  speeds  up  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  while  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  some  melodic  singing  also  being  utilized  at  times  and  when  tremolo  picking  is  utilized  it  gives  the  songs  more  of  a  raw  feeling.

  All  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  while  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  some  songs  also  adding  on  a  small  amount  of  acoustic  guitars  and  when  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  and  on  track also  brings  in  a  brief  use  of  operatic  choir  vocals  and  one  song  also  brings  in  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts.

  Evilfeast  plays  a  musical  style  that  goes  back  to  the  90's  style  of  Nordic  atmospheric  black  metal,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  raw  while  the  lyrics  cover  Occultism,  Magick,  Darkness,  Nature  and  Misanthropy  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Evilfeast  are  a  very  great  sounding  atmospheric  black  metal  solo  project  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Second  Baptism  -  Shores  In  Fire  And  Ice"  and  "Archaic  Magic  -  A  Cenotaph  Below  The  Cursed  Moon".  8/5  out  of  10.

https://evilfeast.bandcamp.com     

Mortespermia/A Mao de Deus e Esquelectia/2017 Single Review

  Brazil's  solo  project  Mortespermia  have  returned  with  a  new  song  that  displays  more  of  an  experimental,   raw  and  occult  style  of  black  metal  from  previous  releases  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  self  released  2017  single  "a  Mao  de  Deus  e  Esquelectia".

  Melodic  Gregorian  chanting  starts  off  the  song  along  with  some  programmed  beats  a  few  seconds  later  while  clean  playing  is  also  used  at  times  as  well  as  the  track  being  9  minutes  in  length  and  the  experimental  elements  also  mix  in  with  the  heavier  sections  of  the  music  which  also  uses  some  distorted  yet  melodic  riffing.

  Grim  black  metal  vocals  and  screams  are  also  a  very  huge  part  of  the  track  while  spoken  word  parts  can  also  be  heard  briefly  as  well  as  a  small  amount  of  clean  singing  and  when  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  and  when  blast  beats  are  utilized  they  give  the  track  more  of  a  raw  feeling.

  On  this  track  Mortespermia  goes  for  more  of  an  experimental  occult  style  while  also  retaining  a  lo-fi  atmosphere,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  raw  while  the  lyrics  cover  Occultism  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  track  from  Mortespermia  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  experimental  occult  black  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  track.  8  out  of  10.

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Isenordal/Lughnasadh MMXVII/Hangman Recordings/Demo Review

  Isenordal  are  a  band  from  Seattle,  Washington  that  has  had  an  album  reviewed  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  mixture  of black  metal,  funeral  doom  and  neo-folk  and  on  this  recording  goes  for  more  of  an  acoustic  direction  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  demo  "Lughnasadh"  which  was  released  by  Hangman  Recordings.

  Folk  instruments  start  off  the  demo  along  with  some  clean  vocals  a  few  seconds  later  while  female  vocals  are  also  used  at  times  along  with  a  great  amount  of  acoustic  guitars  as  well  as  some  stringed  instruments  and  chamber  music  elements  and grim  black  metal  screams  are  also  utilized  briefly  and  no  traditional metal  instruments  are  ever  utilized.

  On  this  recording  Isendoral  go  for  more  of  a  neo  folk  style  while  still  also  having  a  slight  touch  of  black  metal  in   the  vocals,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  while  the  lyrics  cover  Paganism  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Isendoral  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  neo-folk  with  a  touch  of  black  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Dissolution  Into  The  Earth".  8  out  of  10.

http://www.facebook.com/isenordal.metal
http://www.isenordal.bandcamp.com

Malefic Levitation/The Ancient Plague/Sentient Ruin Laboratories/2017 EP Review

 Malefic   Levitation  are  a  duo  from  Fresno,  California  that  plays  a  bestial  mixture  of  black,  war,  and  death  metal  with  some  grindcore  touches  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  ep  "The  Ancient  Plague"  which  will  be  released  in  November  by  Sentient  Ruin  Laboratories.

  A  very  dark  sounding  intro  starts  off  the  ep  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  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  along  with some  bestial  death  metal  growls  also  being  utilized  at  times.

  A  great  amount  of  war  metal  elements  can  be  heard  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  while  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  a  small  amount  of  morbid  sounding  melodies  and  elements  of  grindcore  and  the  music  always  remains  very  heavy,  raw  and  brutal  sounding.

  Malefic   Levitation  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  black,  death  and  war  metal  and  takes  them  into  a  very  raw  and  bestial  direction,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  raw  while  the  lyrics  cover  darkness  and  war  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Malefic  Levitation    are  a  very  great  sounding  raw  and  bestial  sounding mixture  of  black,  death  and  war  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Warlord  Rites"  and  "The  Black  Wind".  8  out  of  10. 

 BANDCAMP PREORDER 

Batrakos/Aisna/Xenoglossy Productions/2017 Split CD Review

  This  is  a  review  of  a  split  album  between  Italy's  Batrakos  and  Aisna  which  was  released  by  Xenoglossy  Productions  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  Batrakos  a band  that  plays  a  raw  mixture  of  black  metal  and  noise.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  a  very  fast  and  raw  musical  sound  which  also  uses  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats  while  black  metal  vocals  can  be  heard  in  the  background  along  with  experimental  sounds  also  getting  mixed  in  with  the  heavier  sections  of  the  music.

  You  can  also  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  a  small  amount  of  guitar  leads  while  the  second  track  is  an  instrumental  experimental  noise  song,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  raw  while  the  lyrics  cover  contemporary  art  and  Dadaism  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Batrakos  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  raw  black  metal  and  noise  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Le  Beau  Est  Mort".

  Next  up  is  Aisna  a  solo  project  that  plays  a  very  raw  form  of  black  metal.

  His  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  a  very  fast  and  raw  sound  which  also  uses  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats  along  with  some grim  yet  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  as  well  as  the  music  being  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  90's  second  wave  style

  Throughout  his  side  of  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  the  songs  also  sound  like  they  could  of  easily  been  recorded  and  released  more  than  20  years  ago  and  acoustic  guitars  can  also  be  heard  briefly,  the  production  sounds  very  raw  and  old  school  while  the  lyrics  cover  Etruscan  Culture  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Aisna  are  a  very  great  sounding  raw  black  metal  solo  project  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  his  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Hintail  Terasials".

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

https://xenoglossyproductions. bandcamp.com/album/batrakos-ai sna   

Dauþuz Interview

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



Glück auf!



Aragonyth: At the beginning of 2016, when things with other bands were taking shape rather slowly and I got more and more frustrated, I started to work on some ideas that would not have fit in my other bands anyway, so this frustration led to the founding of Dauþuz. Although I recorded everything by myself, I knew that I was in need of a good singer, so I sent two or three rough sketches to Syderyth who instantly liked what he was listening to. So Dauþuz was born and the debut was recorded and released in just a few months.



2.So far you have released 2 albums, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on both of the recordings and also how do they differ from each other?



Aragonyth: It’s always hard to describe your own music. I would say it’s powerful, yet raw-ish and melodic Black Metal with undertones of melancholy; sometimes we pursue rather a hateful approach. The first record was kind of a collection of unused riffs and ideas. Not that it was completely aimless, but I think what you can hear on the second record is the result of the quest we undertook with the first record. “Die Grubenmähre” is more homogeneous, more “Dauþuz”.



3.Your lyrics cover historical mining, can you tell us a little bit more about this topic?



Syderyth: The concept of the lyrics is based on old traditional mining in Germany and Europe through all centuries. The lyrics are filled with German mining terminology, some real historical stories and some fairies. They also tell about some archaic mining work processes. I figured Black Metal to be dark, cold, painful and mining is all this. It’s fitting perfectly to this music genre. It is boring for me to write about the same things everyone else does, like Satan, demons, war and other standard Black Metal themes. Mining is something special and new there. It is really more mysterious than imaginary demons or so.



4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Daupuz'?



Aragonyth: “Dauþuz” is Germanic for “death”, so the meaning should be pretty obvious, haha. I always liked the sound of that name, so it was a quite quick choice.



Syderyth: I see above, you write DauPuz. It is written DAU”Þ”UZ. This is the old letter “þ” (TH), originated from the Germanic rune “Thurisaz”. Today “þ” is only used in the Icelandic alphabet/language. In the past it was also used in Old-English and Old-High-German. A little example. Write the name of the thundergod “Thor” like “Por”. Por was the son of Oden… not, haha.



5.Currently there are only 2 members in the band, are you open to expanding your line up or do you choose to remain a duo?



Aragonyth: Not as a studio-band, no. Dauþuz works just fine the way it is. Both of us have been “stigmatized” by slow-working band-members in several other projects, so it’s just perfect to have a band consisting of members who are dedicated and productive. When it comes to possible future live gigs we would of course have session members. Nothing more, nothing less.



6.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are a part of?



Aragonyth: Schattenthron, another band both of us took part in, released a final MCD called “Qwell der Verderbniß” earlier this year, but the band split-up in the final stages of releasing it. Seelenfrost released a full-length in early 2017 and is currently kind of on hold. It might take some time to figure out where the future lies. Idhafels is currently working on a re-recording of the “Procecy of the Seeress”-trilogy, but things are taking shape quite slowly; as usual, haha!



Syderyth: My main band is Wintarnaht. There I write all lyrics in Old-High-German and write all music by myself since 1997. Temporarily it was a real Band with other members and live-members. From 201-2017 we played live, but this is history now. A new band I founded this year is Isgalder. It will be in vein of Bathory or Mayhemic Truth, but with more keyboards and atmosphere. If I feel the lust, I sometimes record Death Metal for my first band Morial. And I do the vocals for Newun, a Pagan Metal project and Vicious Sea, which plays Melodic Doom.



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



Aragonyth: For a rather new band we can be pretty satisfied how things are working out. The debut-CD “In finstrer Teufe” sold pretty well and the pre-order for the upcoming sophomore album “Die Grubenmähre” is exceeding our own expectation so far.



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



Aragonyth: We’ll see, we have a couple other songs about 60% done and will be released as an MCD somewhere in 2018 I guess. Besides that we are always collecting material, inspiration and ideas for possible other releases. There are loose talks about another MCD with a rather different approach and of course a third full-length, but both possible releases lay way ahead. We are not done yet, rest assured!



9.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?



Syderyth: There are too much to list them here. 90s Black Metal is still one of my favourites. And I still listen to this primilary today. I won´t name some Bands, but there are a few new bands I listen to. Also to acoustic and “native” music.



Aragonyth: Same here, there simply is too much to list. I also listen to Black Metal mainly, but also to several other Metal/Rock/Grunge/Alternative bands, since that’s where my musical interest started decades ago. All in all a good mixture of old and new bands.



10.How would you describe your views on Paganism?



Syderyth: Pagan religions are not a theme in Dauþuz and it will not be. My private view is easy. I do not like the common view on this, with gods, great halls and so on... I believe in what I see and this is pure Nature, I prefer a non-theistic paganism. With praying and begging you cannot achieve nothing. Deeds are the only way. The only God is Nature and we are a part of it. Everyone is his own god. I refer myself more to an older, archaic paganism.



Aragonyth: There is nothing to add here!



11.What are some of your non musical interests?



Syderyth: History and several more things...



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



Syderyth: No. Thanks for the interest in Dauþuz and take a listen to our music.




Regards,
A.S. on behalf of DAÞUZ

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Hetman/Sewn From The Ashes Book/Svarga Music/2017 Full Length Review

  Hetman  are  a  solo  project  from Ukraine  that  plays  a  folk  and  ethnic  influenced  form  of  pagan/black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2017  album  "Sewn  From  The  Ashes  Book"  which  will  be  released  in  December  by  Svarga  Music.

  Heavy  riffs  along  with  some  atmospheric  synths  start  off  the  album  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  as  well  as  the  solos  and  leads  being  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  and  when  the  music speeds  up  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard.

  Vocals  are  mostly  grim  yet  angry  black  metal  screams  that  are  very  easy  to  understand  as  well  as  having  their  clean  and  melodic  moments  while  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  melody  along  with  all  of  the  tracks  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts..

  During  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  the  riffs  also  use  tremolo  picking  which  also  gives  the  songs  a  more  raw  feeling,  when  acoustic  guitars  and  stringed  instruments  are  utilized  they  add  elements  of  folk  music  onto  the  recording  and  as  the  album  progresses  some  parts  of  songs add  in  touches  of  ethnic  music.

  Hetman  plays  a  style  of pagan/black  metal  that  is  very  melodic  and  epic  sounding  while  also  mixing  in  elements  of  folk  and ethnic  music  to  create  something  very  original,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover    Ukrainian,  Ethnic  and  Worldwide  Literature  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Hetman  are  a  very  great  sounding  ethnic  and  folk  influenced  pagan/black  metal  solo  project  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre, you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Gateway"  "Remember  Who  We  Are"  and  "To  The  Heart  Of  Everyone".  8  out  of  10.

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Red Bible Black/Zulmet/Shitskin Baby Back Ribs For Satan/Merdumgiriz Records/2017 Split Cassette Review

  This  is  a  review  of  a  split  cassette  between  Italy,  United  Kingdom,  Turkey's  Red  Bible  Black  and  Turkey's  Zulmet  called  "Shitskin  Baby  Back  Ribs  For  Stan"  which  was  released buy  Merdumgiriz  Records  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  Red  Bible  Black  which  continues  their  bestial  mixture  of  black,  war  and  death  metal.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  heavy  guitar  riffs  and  grim  black  metal  screams  while  death  metal  growls  are  also  utilized  at  times  and  while  the  music  speeds  up  it  adds  in  elements  of  war  metal,  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats  to  give  the  songs  a  more  raw  feeling  as  well  as  evoking  a  bestial  mixture.

  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  an  old  school  black/death  metal  style  while  the  songs  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  the  growls  also  getting  very  guttural  at  times,  the  production  sounds  very  raw  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  Satanism  and  Anti  Islam  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Red  Bible  Black  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  war,  bestial  black  and  death  metal,  you  should  enjoy  their  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Satanic  Monogamy".

  Next  up  is  Zulmet  a  solo  project  that  plays  a  very  raw  form  of  black  metal.

  His  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  acoustic  guitars  along  with  some  grim  and  evil  vocals  a  few  seconds  later  along  with  some  melodic  guitar  leads  while t he  vocals  evolve  more  into  black  metal  screams  as  well  as  the  music  getting  more  heavier  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard.

  During  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  the  riffs  utilize  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  which  also  gives  the  music  more  of  a  raw  feeling  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to them  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts,  the  production  sounds  very  raw  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  have  a  concept  involving  Enoch  and  his  mistress.

  In  my  opinion  Zulmet  are  a  very  great  sounding  raw  black  metal  solo  project  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  his  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Enoch  And  His  Mistress".

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

https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Red_Bible_Black/3540327719
https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Zulmet/3540424255