Forbidden Magazine Issue III/2012 Compilation Review

  This  is  a  review  of  a  compilation  from  Forbidden  Records  which  was  released  in  2012  and  we  will  review  the  songs  one  by  one.

  Goatcraft  brings  us  "Goats  Will  Riot"  a  song  that  is  all  done  on  synths  and  has  a  very  dark  and  evil  sound  to  it.

  Next  up  is  Shadows  In  The  Crypt  with  "Embracing  The  Forbidden  Arts"  a  very  dark,  raw  and  primitive  sounding  occult  black  metal   song  with  a  great  amount  of  high  pitched  screams  and  some  clean  singing  as  well  as  some  thrash  influences  being  thrown  into the  riffing.

  Next  up  is  Plutonian  Shore  with  "A  Thousand  Eyes"  a  very  dark  and  atmospheric  sounding  occult  black  metal  song  with  some  evil  sounding  keyboards.

  Next  up  is  A  Transylvanian  Funeral  with  "Light  Cast  Out" another  raw  and  primitive  song  from  this  occult  black  metal  band.

  Next  up  is  Darkest  Grove  with  "Alone  Eternal  Part  II"  a  very  dark  and  atmospheric  black  metal  song  that  starts  off  with  a  classical  guitar  intro  and  then  turns  into  a  slow  and  melodic  song  and  then  it  speeds  up  to  a  more  raw  and  primitive  black metal  sound.

  Next  up  is  Hypnos  with  "Inverted"  a  song  that  is  more  in  the  death/thrash  vein  with  some  blasphemous  lyrics  as  well  as  some  black  metal  influences  being  thrown  into  the  riffing.

  Next  up  is  Interstice  with  "The  Wolf"  a  very  dark,  raw  and  primitive  sounding  black  metal  song  that  has  more  of  the  classic  sound  to  it.

  Closing  the  compilation  is  Oakmoon  with  "Under  Blackened  Skies  We  Gather'  a  very  fast  raw  and  primitive  sounding  black  metal  song.

  In  conclusion  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  compilation  and  I  would  recommend  this  to  all  fans  of black  metal.  RECOMMENDED.

https://forbiddenrecords.bandcamp.com/album/forbidden-magazine-issue-iii-compilation

Plutonian Shore/A Transylvanian Funeral/Alchemical Manifestations/Forbidden Records 2012 Split CD Review

  This  is  a  review  of  a  split  album  between  Texas's  Plutonian  Shore  and  Indiana's  A  Transylvanian Funeral  a  band  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  the  recording  is  called  "Alchemical  Manifestations"  which  was  released  by  Forbidden  Records  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  Plutonian  Shore  a  band  that  plays  an  atmospheric  form  of  occult  black  metal.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  some  blast  beats  being  utilized  at  times,  while  the  keyboards  bring  a  very  dark  and  atmospheric  sound  to  the  music,  as  for  the  bass  playing  it  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  is  coming  out  of  the  guitars.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  atmospheric  black  metal  riffs  that  are  very  dark,  raw  and  primitive  sounding  at  times  with  a  good  amount  of  melody  being  thrown  into  the  riffing, while  the  lead  guitars  when  they  are  utilized  are  very  melodic  sounding  guitar  solos  and  leads.

  Vocals are  mostly  grim  sounding  and  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  with  some  deeper  vocals  being  utilized  at  times,  while  the  lyrics cover  dark  and  occult  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  heavy,  raw  and  primitive  sound  to  it  with  a  couple  of  songs  being  recorded  live.

  In  my  opinion  Plutonian  Shore  are  a  very  great  sounding  atmospheric  occult  black  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  there  music.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Beast  And  The  Mirror"  and  "Path  To  Amenti".  RECOMMENDED.

  Next  up  is  A  Transylvanian  Funeral  a  1  man  band  that  plays  a  very  raw  and  primitive  form  of  occult  black  metal.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  some  blast  beats  being  thrown  into  the  music  at  times,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  primitive  riffing  that  dominates  throughout  their  side  of  the  recording.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  black  metal  riffs  that  are  very  dark,  raw  and  primitive  sounding  in  the  true  black  metal  tradition  with  some  melody  being  thrown  into  the  riffing  at  times  and  there  are  no  guitar  solos  or  leads  present  on  their  side  of  the  recording.

  Vocals  are  mostly  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  with  a  brief  use  of  clean  singing  and  some  spoken  word  samples,  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  occult  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  dark,  raw  and  primitive  sound  to  it  with  some  of  the  songs  being  long  and  epic  in  length.

  In  my  opinion    this  is  another  great  recording  from  A  Transylvanian  Funeral  who  also  have  the  best  songs  on  the  split  and  if  you  are  a  fan of  this  band,  you  should  check out  their  music  on  this  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Supreme  Rite  Of  Transmutation"  and  "Moonchild".  RECOMMENDED.

  In  conclusion  I  feel  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  occult  black  metal,  you  should  add  this  album  to  your  collection.  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Plutonian_Shore/3540313569
https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/A_Transylvanian_Funeral/3540277081

Lord Agheros Interview

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


Demiurgo is close to release, My Kingdom Music and all organs of distribution are moving for the better. In a few days I will also be available a video of "Thanatos". Stay tuned!

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

Compared to its predecessor, this album is not bound by a long story, it has all its concepts contained in two chapters. The sound keeps the soul due to my sound but with a touch of bluster that in the past could not be entered, this new chapter has much to offer, both in sound, both in ideas

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

The childrens of Erebus and Nyx having names representing the virtues and defects of man.

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

Everything revolves around the figure of the Demiurge of Plato. Like him, I shaped the music in my likeness embedded in a mythological context.

5. Currently the band is solo, are you planning on expanding the line up on future releases or do you choose to remain solo?


Solo can give full rein to my creativity keeping my personal sound, already a more 'would condition the originality of the sound. On my own already enough for myself

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

I must admit it was nice to find appreciation for something that he did not heed cliché, it is more 'used to follow the old school and innovations or personal influences are always seen from a distance, I wanted to dare and the response there was , for them to continue to be myself in my music. I have never liked the musical stereotypes, I do this and will always continue to do so as I would like.

7. What is going on with the other music projects these days?

Always at work, without stopping. The passion does not need breaks

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

I will continue to bring my sound, as it was yesterday and will be tomorrow as well

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

All the music ever since was born. These days I listen to the autumn wind comes up while in the background there is always an endless playlist, I love the things that make sense and that they may arouse feelings

10. how would you describe your interest in Greek Mythology and Philosophy and also are you interested in the mythologies of other cultures?

My interest stems from the fact that everything harbors teaching. The creation of myths, all cultures, has always been a means to elevate man, encourage it to break down fears and limits, trying to get him to impersonate the heroes or gods. The mythology and philosophy have given a treasure to humanity, with a few manage to use them. Many answers to our "why" is written there, but we are too blind to see it.

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

Music, movies, and literature ... but we're not going down too private? :)

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

Thanks for inviting me it was a pleasure, keep it up, yours is a great job!

Bandcamp

Facebook

Last.fm

Sparrows/Mark Of The Beast: Indoctrination/2012 CD Review

  Sparrows  are  a  band  from  Dallas,  Texas  that  plays  a  deathened form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self released  2012  album  "Mark  Of  The  Beast:  Indoctrination".

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  a  great  amount  of  brutal  sounding  blast  beats  being  thrown  into  the  music  at  times,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  strong  and  powerful  sound  with  heavy  riffing  that  dominates  throughout  the  recording.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  riffs  that  combine  raw  and  primitive  sounding  black  metal  with  the  brutality  of  death  metal  to  create  their  own  brand  of  deathened  black  metal,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  melodic  sounding  extreme  metal  guitar  solos and  leads.

  Vocals  range  from  high  pitched  black  metal  screams to deep blackened  death  metal  growls,  while  the  lyrics  cover darknes  and  blasphemous  themes,  as  for  the  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.

  In  my  opinion  Sparrows  are  a  very  great  sounding  deathened  black  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre, you  should  check out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Drunk  On  The  Blood  Of  Fool"  and  "The  Trinity  Denied".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

www.facebook.com/thisissparrows

sparrowsmetal.bandcamp.com

Lord Agheros/Demiurgo/My Kingdom Music/2012 CD Review

  Lord  Agheros  are  a  1  man  band  from  Italy  that  plays  a  very  epic  form  of  ambient  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2012  album  "Demiurgo"  which  was  released  by  My  Kingdom  Music.

  Drum  programming  ranges  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  beats  with  no  blast  beats  being  programmed  into the  music,  while the  synths  bring  a  very  epic,  atmospheric  ambient  sound  to  the  music  with  influences  from  classical music  and  theatrical  opera,  as  for  the  bass  playing  it  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  is  coming  out  of  the  guitars.

  Rhythm  guitars range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  black  metal  riffs  that  are  very  dark,  raw  and  primitive  sounding  while  utilizing  a  great  amount  of  melodic  riffing,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  melodic  sounding  guitar  solos  and  leads,  as  for  the  classical  guitars  when  utilized  they  use  finger  picking  and  full  chords  to  enhance  the  darkness  that  is  coming  out  of  the  music.

  Vocals  are  mostly  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  with  some  deep  growls,  clean  singing  female  vocals,  Gregorian  chanting  and  spoken  word  parts  being  utilized  at  times,  while  the  lyrics  cover  a  2  part  concept  album  with  chapter  1  and  2  being  about  the  souls  of  good  and  evil  from  Erebo's  and  Nyx's  sons  with  a  lot  of  references  to  the  philosopher  Plato  and  Greek  Mythology,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  dark,  epic,  raw  and  primitive  sound  with  chapter  2  being  all  atmospheric  music.

  In  my  opinion  Lord  Agheros  are  a  very  great  sounding  epic,  and  atmospheric  black  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Eris"  "Thanatos"  "Erebo"  and  "Ker".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

website: www.myspace.com/lordagheros facebook: www.facebook.com/lordaghero

Grue/Word Of Unmaking Interview

1. Can you tell us a little bit about the musical projects for those that have never heard of them?
Grue is a two-person black metal band that’s been slowly getting off the ground over the past year, and Word of Unmaking is a funeral doom studio project that I recorded while living in a barely-heated farmhouse the winter before last.

2. How would you describe the musical sound of both of the projects and how they differ from each other?
The back stories behind them are pretty different. The Word of Unmaking track on this split was recorded in bits and pieces over a period of several months, so I spent a lot of time adding and fine-tuning parts before burying them all in the mix. I was trying to make it not sound like “a band” (that you could visualize standing side by side with instruments in their hands), and more like a disembodied piece of music, if that makes sense. On the other hand, although I wrote all the Grue songs, the drummer and I arranged them together so the end result sounds much more band-like, to me at least: you’ve got your drum kit, you’ve got your loud guitar-thing, andyou’ve got a voice on top of it all.

3.  What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects that you explore with the music?
Both bands kind of converge in terms of lyrics, in that so far they’re all coming from a place of feeling disillusioned with a
human-dominated planet, and pessimistic about its future. Not really in the sense of being a “nature person” - I’ve lived in cities for most of my life and don’t own hiking boots - but more in the sense of feeling that a lot of human endeavor comes at a huge cost when you look behind the curtain. No matter how far we “progress” or how smart we think we’ve become, horror and futility are never far behind.

4. What are the meanings and inspirations between the names of Grue and Word of Unmaking?
“Grue” is a word that H.P. Lovecraft used in some of his letters to describe things that creepy or supernatural - I assume it came from "gruesome.” It’s also a creature in a Jack Vance book. “Word of Unmaking” was inspired by “The Word of Unbinding,” which is the title of an early Ursula Le Guin story.

5. Currently both of the projects are solo, are you planning on creating a line up for any of the musical projects in the future?
I unsuccessfully tried to put together a live lineup for Word of Unmaking years ago, before this recording. Some great people were willing to give it a shot with me, but it wasn’t really a great format for writing and arranging this kind of music. I wouldn’t rule out doing the odd one-off live show, though...

Grue, on the other hand, has played a few live shows already and was always meant to be a live band. It’s been slowing down a bit this fall but we’ve got a new drummer and are writing new songs again; hopefully we’ll be playing out again by the time winter is underway.

6. Currently you are unsigned are you looking for a label and if so, what kind of label do you feel that would be a perfect fit for your music?
In every other band I’ve been in that put out records, there was always another member with more visual art and design experience, so this demo might be the first time I’ve personally tried to convey anything through the visual presentation of the record. I know I’ve got a lot to learn in that area, so I guess it’d be cool to work with people who were also into that?

7. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your musical projects by fans of black metal and funeral doom?
So far I’ve gotten a few orders from Europe, which has been great.
Locally we’ve been lucky enough to play some awesome shows with bands like Nachzehrer, Obsidian Tongue, Hekseri - Eastern Massachusetts is a great place for metal these days.

8. What direction do you see the music heading ito on future releases?
For Word of Unmaking, I’ve been thinking about doing the next recording with an actual drummer - layering everything on top of a live bass+drums rhythm track instead of doing it all myself. For Grue, I’m excited to start writing new songs again and eventually play some more shows.

9. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
In terms of doom, I’ve been pretty picky about recent bands because I’m not usually that into the “stoner metal” and “sludge” ends of the spectrum, which means I feel pretty out of touch with what “doom”seems to mean to a lot of people in 2012. The bands that have influenced me the most in that area have been ones whose music was heavy in a way that sounded otherworldly and non-human, rather than heavy in a “dudes rocking out with guitars” way - bands like
Skepticism, Wormphlegm, Stabat Mater, Mournful Congregation, earlyAhab, Disembowelment, Catacombs.

As far as black metal goes, there’s a lot more coming out that I like these days. In the past few years I’ve been really into Mgla, Nazxul, Inquisition, Angantyr, Portal, Sargeist, Arckanum, Deathspell Omega. Locally bands like Torture Chain, Obsidian Tongue, and Nachzehrer haveput out some great records and tapes. In terms of more general influences early Emperor will always be huge for me, as well as the Quebecquois metal scene from Voivod to Gris to Forteresse.

Outside of metal, I also listen to a lot of North American, Canadian, Scotch/Irish, and Breton folk music. It doesn’t necessarily have adirect “influence” every time I pick up a guitar, but it’s always in the background for me.

10. How would you describe your views on Occultism?
I wouldn’t say I was a “believer” in the sense of literally believing in supernatural influences or revelations, but do feel a strong affinity for art and folk traditions that attempt to deal with the non-rational or Dionysian aspects of human existence. For me, musican be a big part of that but I know people for whom things like painting or chaos magic fill a similar need.

11.  Outside of music what are some of your interests?
Lately I’ve been really into older fantasy writers, like Lord Dunsany, William Morris, E.R. Eddison, and obviously Lovecraft. I think that they were much better at capturing the primal weirdness of the world as they saw it, compared to later fantasy writers who were fundamentally predictable and orderly, no matter how “weird” they tried to be. I’ll always love Tolkien, but fantasy literature took a huge turn for the worse in his wake.

12. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?
Nope. Sorry this has taken me so long to finish.

https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Grue/3540349889
https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Word_of_Unmaking/3540350079

Nidingr/Greatest Of Deceivers/Indie Recordings/2012 CD Review

  Nidingr  are  a  band  from  Norway  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  with  a  musical  style  that  I  would  describe  on  this  recording  as  being  Norwegian  style  occult  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2012  album  "Greatest  Of  Deceivers" which  was  released  by  Indie  Recordings.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  being  thrown  into  the  music,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  strong  and  powerful  sound  with  heavy  riffing  that  dominates  throughout  the  recording.

  Rhythm  guitars range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  Norwegian  style  black  metal  riffs  that  are  very  modern,  raw  and  primitive  sounding  with  a  good  amount  of  clean  playing  being  thrown  into  the  riffing,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  70's  sounding  heavy  metal  guitar  leads.

  Vocals  are  mostly  deep  sounding  hateful  black  metal  screams  along  with  a  brief  use  of  death  metal  growls  and  spoken  word  parts  in  addition  there  is  a  brief  use  of  clean  singing  being  utilized  on  one  song,  while  the  lyrics  cover  Enochian  Magick and  Occultism,  as  for  the  production on  this  recording  it  has  a  very  vintage  70's  sound  to  it  and  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording  as  well  as  having  some  songs  that  are  long  and  epic  in  length

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Nidingr  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Greatest  Of  Deceivers"  "Vim  Patior"  "The  Worm  Is  Crowned"  and  "Dweller  In  The  Abyss".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.


http://www.facebook.com/nidingr 
http://www.nidingr.no