Despot/Pictures Of The Void/2015 EP Review

  Despot  are  a  duo  from  Brazil  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  very  raw,  atmospheric  and  melodic  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2015  ep  "Pictures  Of  the  Void".

  Spoken  word  parts  which  also  are  used  on  other  songs  as  well  start  off  the  ep  before  going  into  more  of  a  raw  and  melodic  black  metal  direction  and  a  few  seconds  alter  the  music  speeds  up  and  adds  in  blast  beats  and  grim  screams  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  as  well  as  adding  in  growls  at  times.

  Half  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  you  can  also  heat  both  death  and  thrash  metal  influences  in  the  guitar  riffing  at  times  and  when  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  very  dark  and  melodic  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  some  of  the  tracks  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  playing  and  synths  and  clean  singing  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording.

  Despot  creates  a  recording  that  is  very  raw,  melodic,  epic  and  atmospheric  and  the  music  goes  for  more  of  a  90's  style  of  black  metal  but  done  with  more  of  an  up  to  date  approach  and  the  music  also  incorporates  elements  of  thrash  and  death  metal  to  make  the  songs  really  stand  out,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  Atheism  and  Literature.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Despot  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  raw,  melodic  and  atmospheric  black  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Bound  Forever"  and  "Bastard  Hive".  8  out  of  10.

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Bandcamp: http://despotband.bandcamp.com
"Artifact" Single (Promo Video): www.youtube.com/watch?v=VChS0nltWnQ   

Despot/Satan In The Death Row/2013 Full Length Review

  Despot  are  a  1  man  band  from  Brazil  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  raw,  melodic  and  atmospheric  form  of  black  metal  with  elements  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  self  released  2013  album  "Satan  In  the  Death  Row".

  Dark  sound  effects  start  off  the  recording  along  with  some  synths  and  they  bring  an  epic  feeling  to  the  recording  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  a  fast  and  raw  black  metal  direction  along  with  blast  beats  and  high  pitched  screams  and  you  can  also  hear  a  good  amount  of  melody  and  atmosphere  in  the  music  along  with  some  death  metal  growls  being  utilized  at  times  and  you  can  also  hear  a  small  amount  of  experimental  elements  being  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording.

   As  the  album  progresses  clean  singing  is  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  more  death  metal  influences  and  the  guitar  solos  and  leads  also  having  a  technical  feeling  to  them  when  they  are  utilized,  after  awhile  traces  of  80's  Brazilian  black/death  metal  become  a  huge  part  of  the  recording  and  you  can  also  hear  a  small  amount  of  spoken  word  parts  being  utilized  on  some  of  the  tracks.

  When  we  get  more  into  the  album  the  songs  start  getting  a  bit  more  diverse  and  you  can  hear  a  good  amount  of  old  school  thrash  metal  influences  being  utilized  in  the  guitar  riffing  along  with  some  of  the  vocals  adding  crust  style  growls  in  the  black  metal  screams,  once  acoustic  guitars  are  brought  in  briefly  the  album  starts  having  an  even  more  epic  feeling  but  they  are  only  used  rarely  and  the  album  focuses  more  on  fast  and  heavy  parts  while  also  adding  in  traces  of  traditional  metal  and  a  good  amount  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Despot  show  a  great  amount  of  growth  and  diversity  with  this  album  and  while  it  is  self  released  it  has  the  same  quality  of  sound  some  of  the  bigger  label  black  metal  bands  have  and  could  become  a  well  known  name  in  the  future  is  he  keeps  up  this  progress,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  and  the  lyrics  cover  Satanism,  Atheism  and  literature  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Despot  and  i  would  recommend  it  to  all  fans  of  black  metal.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Matriarch"  "Satan  In  The  Death  Row"  and  "Egregious".  9  out  of  10.

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Myspace: http://myspace.com/thedespotband
Bandcamp: http://despotband.bandcamp.com

Despot Interview

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

Despot released its debut album, "Satan in the Death Row" on August 15, 2013. I'm already writing music for the follow up, but right now it's mostly just a bunch of crude concepts. There probably won't be anything new from Despot until late 2014.

2.How would you describe the musical sound of the new recording and also how does it differ from your previous demos?

The idea of "Satan in the Death Row" was to write a Black Metal album with as little influence from proper Black Metal bands as possible. By proper Black Metal I mean every band calling themselves Black Metal. To get inspiration for writing those songs I listened to a lot of Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Venom, Bathory, Celtic Frost, Candlemass, Angelwitch, Running Wild and, of course, loads of Thrash and Speed Metal like Overkill, Destruction, Sodom, etc. 

The end result is different from my previous stuff because of this concept. Everything else I had recorded until then was heavily influenced by Black Metal bands, especially those from the Scandinavian, Greek and South American scenes. 

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the new release explores and also how would you describe your progress as a songwriter over the years?

"Satan in the Death Row" is an album about ideological persecution, especially the kind motivated by religion. I also threw in a bit of scientific rationalism in "Egregious". "Forbidden" is a fictional narrative from the perspective of a prisoner of the Iberian Inquisiton gone mad after rotting in a dungeon for many years. The title track is based on the West Memphis Three, a depressing modern case of witch hunt.

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

I chose Despot because I like short band names and I think it has a nice, imposing tone to it. Also, since I do almost everything in the band, I become a despot of sorts. A decadent despot who rules nobody!

5.Are you working with a line up these days or is the musical project solo again?

I work solo, but my wife Luiza helped me with some lyrics this time around. The graphic art is by a guy named Andre Persechini, an artist from my hometown of Belo Horizonte. You can see more of his stuff here: http://www.behance.net/gallery/Despot-Satan-in-the-Death-Row/10471133

6.Recently Apechale Winter re-issued your 2010 demo, what are your thoughts on the final product?

They released the demo digitally on their bandcamp page, so there were no changes to the original material. I'm really thankful for their interest in my music. They have a roster full of interesting new artists and I would recommend anyone reading this to check them out athttp://acephalewinter.bandcamp.com/.

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

Feedback has been very positive, but I'm a very small act and have limited reach. All the reviews so far have been positive, though they all point out the rough edges of "Satan in the Death Row", which is very helpful.

8.Are you involved with any other musical projects these days?

None.

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

I will continue to write anti-social, heavy music in my own unorthodox way. I like to tread new waters whenever I sit down to compose a piece of music, so don't expect anything like "Satan in the Death Row" or my previous material again. 

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

My main influences for "Satan in the Death Row" were NWOBHM and old Thrash and Speed Metal bands as well as some cult 1980's shit like Bathory and Celtic Frost. I'm quite a fan of old Black Sabbath, too. And classic Doom Metal, both old and new (eg., I hold Candlemass and Reverend Bizarre very dearly).  Other than disgusting old Metal, I listen to a lot of old prog rock like Yes and King Crimson (my favorite band). I like me some classical music too, but I mostly only listen to early XX century composers like Villa Lobos and Stravinsky. I have a large collection of Jazz and Acid Rock albums too. These also get lots of spins from me. 

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

I'm interested in all stages of data processing. No, seriously. I'm a computer nerd. I like Linux. And programming in Python. Perl is also a hobby. And I like Math. That is math as in mathematics, not meth as in crystal meth methamphetamine . Math is sexy, meth is not. I like Android as well. And robots.

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

Sure! First, thank you for the interview. It's been a blast. Secondly, to anyone reading this, thank you for considering my music. Feel free to drop me a note at despotbrazil@gmail.com and I'll do my best to reply in a timely fashion. Please note that since I'm super famous, I get literally hundreds of thousands of fan e-mails everyday, so it might take me some time to get back to you. Just kidding - I only get penis enlargement spam in my mail box.

Despot/Cold Deliverance/Acephale Winter Productions/2013 Demo Re-Issue Review

  Despot  are  a 1  man  band  from  Brazil  that plays a  very atmospheric,  melodic, raw and  primitive  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2010  demo  "Cold  Deliverance"  which  was  re-issued by Acephale  Winter Productions in  the year of  2013.

  "Cosmic  Revelation"  begins  with  spoken  word  parts  and  a  few  seconds  heavy and  melodic  guitar  riffs  along  with  some  drums  make  their  way  into  the  music  which  leads  up  to some  grim  sounding  black  metal screams  and  after  a  couple  of  minutes  there  is a  brief  use  of  melodic  guitar leads  and  halfway  through  the  song  the  music  gets  a lot  faster along  with  some  blast  beats and  primitive  guitar  riffing  for  a  few  seconds  before  slowing  down  again  and  then  switching  back  and  forth  between  slow  and  fast  parts  as  well  as  bringing  back  the  guitar  leads.

  "The  Bastard  Hive"  begins  with  some  sound  effects  before  the  grim  sounding  black  metal  screams,  heavy  and  melodic guitar  riffs  kick  in  and  a  few  seconds  later  the  drums  start  kicking  in  and  after  awhile  some  fast  and  primitive  parts  start  coming  in  and  out  of  the  song while  mostly  focusing  on  mid  paced  and  slow  parts.

  "Cold  Deliverance"  begins  with  some  melodic  guitar  leads with  the  heavy  guitar  riffs  and  drums  kicking  in  a  few  seconds  later  and  then  the  black  metal  screams  make  their  presence  known  and  halfway  through  the  song  they  start  adding  in  some  fast  and  primitive  guitar  riffs  which  utilize   some  melody  as  well as  blast  beats  and  you  can  hear  some  keyboards  in  the background  and  then  the  song  goes  into  a  more  mid  paced  direction.

  "Rejoice  In Isolation''  begins  with  some  slow  and  heavy  guitar  riffs  and  drums  which  evolve  into  blast  beats  and  fast,  melodic  and  primitive  guitar  riffing  which  leads  up  to  some black  metal  screams  and  as  time  goes  on  by  the  music  gets  more  diverse  sounding.

  'Ode  To Jupiter"  begins with  some  background  ambient/drone sounds  and  the  song  is  all instrumental  except  for  some  spoken  word  parts  that are  utilized  halfway  through  the  song.

  Song  lyrics  cover  Atheism  and  Literature,  while  the  production  has  a  very  dark, raw  and  primitive  sound  with  some  of  the  songs  being  long  and  epic  in  length.

 In  my  opinion  Despot  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic,  atmospheric,  raw  and  primitive  black  metal  project  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  demo.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Cosmic  Revelation"  and  "Rejoice  In Isolation'".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

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