Bathyum/The Church Of Euthanasia/2018 Full Length Review

  Bathyum  are  a  solo  project  from  the  United  Kingdom  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  an  old  school  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  self  released  2018  album  "The  Church  Of  Euthanasia".

  Atmospheric  soundscapes  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  operatic  voices  start  off  the  album  before  adding  clean  playing  onto  the  recording  while  the  drum  beats  are  all  programmed  before  going  into  a  heavier  direction  which  also  introduces  grim  yet  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  onto  the  recording.

  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  dark  yet  melodic  style  while  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  use  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking and  blast  beats  which  also  gives  the  music  more  of  a  raw  feeling  along  with  the  riffs  also  utilizing  dark  sounding  melodies  as  well  as  most  of  the  tracks  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length,  spoken  word  samples  and  growls  can  also  be  heard  briefly  and  the  music  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  90's  era  and  as  the  album  progresses acoustic  guitars  can  also  be  heard  on  some  of  the  later  songs.

  Bathyum  creates  another  recording  that  remains  true  to  the  old  school  style  of  black  metal  that  was  on  his  previous  release,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  raw  while  the  lyrics  cover  suicide,  murder,  celestial  entities,  paganism  and  old  folklore  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Bathyum  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  old  school  black  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Penance"  "Witches  Of  Bidston  Hill"  and  "Ceremony  Of  The  Pagan  Queen".  8  out  of  10.

https://bathyum.bandcamp.com/album/the-church-of-euthanasia

  

Bathyum Interview

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

- Bathyum is a “one man” UK Black Metal band that has been compared with early Darkthrone, Satyricon and Immortal. I started around 2013/2014 with some rough demos that eventually evolved into the songs you hear on the debut album.

2. In February you had released your first album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?

- The musical sound is very heavily inspired by the “Second Wave” of Norwegian Black Metal bands but I have taken a more modernized approach on this classic sound.

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

- Lyrical/Song topics generally include anti-religion, suicide, (Satanic!) Sodomy and general hatred for myself and this world we live in. One of the songs on the album (titled “Black Exorcism”) is about the life and death of Anneliese Michel and uses samples from the actual exorcism ritual.

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

- The name “Bathyum” has two meanings. The first is based of the name “Bathin” who is a Duke of Hell. The second is wordplay on the band names “Bathory” and “Burzum” as these two bands are a massive influence to me.

5. With this musical project you record everything by yourself, are you open to working with other musicians or do you prefer to remain solo?

- I do prefer usually to work solo but as far as working with other musicians to create music, I may consider this in the future. I have had a lot of interest from people asking if I will ever perform any Bathyum live. This is something I have thought about that could potentially happen in the future, but right now I would rather focus on creating more music as a solo act.

6. Heathen Tribes, are re-issuing your album, what are your thoughts on the final product?

- Heathen Tribes have been brilliant in the driving force to bring the music of Bathyum to the world. Having “Rituals of the Damned” on a physical format of music should push the album a lot further than through just digital only production.


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

- Feedback has been great so far. I have had people from around the world leaving me comments and constructive feedback about my music. Many reviewers/bloggers have also expressed an interest in the album with mainly positive reviews throughout.

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

- I hope to become more diverse in my song writing. I love it when a song can take you to one place then completely change direction without warning. My main aim for Bathyum is to craft a completely unique sound that cannot be compared to anything else (whilst still retaining the classic Black Metal feeling).

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?

- Bands that have inspired me are generally pretty varied, from “Darkthrone” to “Type O Negative”, from “Emperor” to “The Smiths”. I am a firm believer that dark music doesn’t necessarily need screaming and a blast beat. I am currently listening to a lot of 80s Goth Music such as Bauhaus, Depeche Mode, Sisters of Mercy etc. Even though these are not necessarily “Black Metal” they will, as with every life experience, influence me for the future.

10. How would you describe your views on Satanism?

- Satanism is something that does interest me a lot but not as far too actually consider myself a Satanist. The ideology of “LaVeyan” Satanism is a thing of beauty; to “worship yourself” as “God” seems to be the only logical religion in my opinion.

11. What are some of your non musical interests?

- I am a big fan of professional wrestling. This has interested me from a very young age. I became so obsessed with the sport that I trained to be a pro wrestler and wrestled some local shows in 2013/2014. Due to injury and wanting to pursue other paths, I decided to end this journey at the beginning of 2015.

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

- Thank you to everyone who has listened to the album (I hope it wasn’t too disappointing…). Keep an eye out for the CD release through Heathen Tribes and keep supporting underground metal. 

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Bathyum/Rituals Of The Damned/Heathen Tribes Records/2016 Full length Review

  Bathyum  are  a  solo  project  from  the  United  Kingdom  that  plays  a  very  old  school  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2016  album  "Rituals  Of  the  Damned"  which  will  be  released  in  July  by  Heathen  Tribes  Records.

  A  very  dark,  raw  and  old  school  black  metal  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  before  speeding  up  and  adding  in  blast  beats  and  grim  screams  and  the  music  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  90's  second  wave  tradition  and  the  music  can  also  get  very  melodic at  times.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  amount  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  tradition  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  and  the  songs  are  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  Norwegian  tradition  of  the  genre.

   Clean  playing  can  be  heard  in  some  songs  and  some  of  the  tracks  are  also  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  there  is  also  an  instrumental  track   while  a  later  song  also  introduces synths  into  the  music  before  returning  back  to  a  heavier  direction  and  the  last  track  brings  in  a  small  amount  of  horror  movie  samples.

 Bathyum  plays  a  style  of  black  metal  that  is  very  raw  and  old  school  in  the  90's  second  wave  tradition  while  also  adding  in  some  modern  touches, the  production  sounds  very  raw  yet  heavy  at  the  same  time  while  the  lyrics cover  Darkness,  Occultism,,  Satanism  and  Anti  Religion  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Bathyum  are  a  very  great  sounding  raw,  old  school  style  black  metal  solo  project  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Godless  Warrior"  "Satanic  Sodomy"  and  "Black  Exorcism".  8  out  of  10.

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